Oak Tree

I think you're right, Eamonn. For most people in the US, it would make little difference whether there were any international Scouts or not. Many people in Europe just don't realize how big the US is. I had friends from Ireland who couldn't believe that most Americans did not have passports. A large majority of Americans still don't have passports, and this despite the fact that the percentage has climbed a lot recently since now you need one to go to Canada. The US is huge. It's bigger than all 44 non-Russian European countries combined. We go from glaciers in Montana to beaches in Florida, from Rocky Mountains to rain forests to pine forests to swamps to deserts. Huge river systems, great lakes. The cultural and historical breadth does not compare to Europe, but people living in rural North Dakota might easily think of New York City as a foreign country if not an alien planet.

I've been very disappointed with the quality of these programs as well. I think we can do a much better job of it within the troop, so we generally cover the items in-house and discourage Scouts from signing up for these programs at camp. This is also where you can get a lot of the troop operations drilled into the boys. How does your troop set up an axe-yard? Where is the rope, where is the axe? How do we cook meals? How do we do meal plans? The camps couldn't do this even if they were running a good program, and they aren't.

Like so much else, a lot of this depends upon the expectations that were set. Did someone tell the Scouts that they could become lifeguards for sure if they took the course? Who signed them up for it? Who encouraged them to sign up for it? Normally I would not consider reimbursement for this. But if someone in the troop led the Scouts down a path and gave them very misleading expectations, I might be more sympathetic. How much money does the troop have that could be used for reimbursement? Or is there something else that could be done to make up for mistake, assuming that there was one.

I agree - the new look is nice and modern. Some of it seems to update pretty well, but other page changes took a long time for me. Probably some optimizations to be done there.

are we doing it right? Yes. At least, as far as the boys are concerned, I'd say that you've got it exactly right. My suggestion would be with setting the expectations with the parents ahead of time. You don't want the parent to have the idea that you will try to help their boy finish the rank. When they suggest that they want their son to finish up, your immediate response could be "That's up to him. We can provide opportunities, but advancement is the Scout's responsibility." You could also do some additional communication to the overall troop. Talk about advancement philosophy, how the advancement is more meaningful to the Scout if it's something that he works to get, the way that different boys advance at different rates. Show how some boys take a long time but still get to Eagle. You could also discuss how the boys are more likely to grow, mature, and stick with the program if they are doing tasks that they think are meaningful, and not just because the adults will give them a badge for it. The more the Scoutmaster can to do share his vision of the troop with parents, the better the relationships are likely to be, and the more understanding the parents are of the way things are progressing.

Our pack always invites everyone but no one from outside the committee ever attends. The troop used to do it as an all-parents meeting back when the troop was small, but now it's just a committee meeting and usually goes pretty quickly and uneventfully - maybe half the time there's nothing really to discuss. I don't think we openly invite people, but neither have we ever turned anyone away. I don't think the UC has attended any meetings, although he'd be welcome to. As Barry's troop did, I could foresee a use for a closed session, but we've never had one of those either. We would probably deal with those situations with one-on-one discussions if possible. As far as BSA rules go, such a thing is not specified. I think you'd be well within your rights to limit the meeting to committee members only (plus Scoutmaster), or to open it as you wish. You could even go with smaller sub-committees for some issues if you want (and by "you", I mean the CO).

We always do all of recruiting in early September. In general, we've had all of the issues that Lisabob lists. The first big den leader training is usually in September - that was the best way to do it from my perspective. But now I guess it's all on-line. The training is fine, but I think there is some value in getting people together with lots of other leaders just to see that you're part of a big group all in this together.

I attended some really awful courts of honor and eventually I decided that I wasn't going to just let the boys do anything they wanted up there. In addition to being a recognition of the boys, it's also one of the main public faces for the troop. The parents are there, including the ones who aren't all that involved. The boys tended not to make much of a ceremony of anything (mumble, mumble, name, mumble merit badge). We've reached what I consider a happy medium. The boys lead most of the court of honor, but there is a lot of active coaching behind the scenes, and the Scoutmaster gets to do the rank recognition and say a few words. So we pretty much do as you say - the adults plan it with the participation of the Scouts, and the Scouts lead it.

You can search for some past threads on this topic and you'll see there's quite a variety. Our district does require 1. A complete list of items - the assumption appears to be that you're going to have to go to the store and buy them, so you need to know how many to buy. "Lots" isn't sufficient. 2. A complete list of tools, yes. This isn't so bad. 3. An estimate of Scouts/time. This is purely an estimate. I just encourage Scouts to give it their best guess without spending too much time thinking about it. 4. Total anticipated man-hours. Just add up #3. 5. A full cost estimate - yes, this is required and seems pretty reasonable, although I'm not sure we'd need tax or shipping to be itemized separately. 6. There just needs to be some fundraising plan that will work. If you don't like to write or type, the plan is not going to be fun, that's true. Our district has recently moved to an email review which gets done ahead of the official review. That drastically shortened the process you describe, which is what our district used to have as well. It used to be quite rare for a Scout to get approved on the first review, but now it's rare not to be approved, and the process is much shorter.

I'm going to go with Twocub - I would prefer a different form for permission slips - I don't want it mashed into the medical form. I get parents asking what the point of this line is, and which of the two options is the controlling option. All in all, it would be better not to have these lines on the medical form. It's just confusing, and we basically ignore it.

eisely, non-swimmers have relaxed requirements now. There is no longer a need for a lifeguard in the case of boating non-swimmers. "For activity afloat, those not classified as a swimmer are limited to multiperson craft during outings or float trips on calm water with little likelihood of capsizing or falling overboard. They may operate a fixed-seat rowboat or pedal boat accompanied by a buddy who is a swimmer. They may ride in a canoe or other paddle craft with an adult swimmer skilled in that craft as a buddy. They may ride as part of a group on a motorboat or sailboat operated by a skilled adult."

Still one mention of him on the national museum web site. One of the benefits of donating at the $500 level includes a copy of the book Baden-Powell The Two Lives of a Hero by: William Hillcourt http://www.bsamuseum.org/SupportTheMuseum/Membership.aspx

Agreed, the islands are alluvial and wet, so decomposition should go quickly. The Forest Service says "Visitors are encouraged to use already established campsites whenever possible and remove all traces of human presence when breaking camp." I did notice that Chief Cornplanter Council rents canoes, but one of the big advantages of using an outfitter is for logistical support. They'll get all of the people and all of the canoes to the start of the trip at the right time, and they'll pick you up at the end and take you back to your cars. From the rental form on the council's web site, it looks like they'll rent you a trailer and canoes, but then you'd have to pick it up, get it to where you're going, provide a chase vehicle or two to meet at the end, take the trailer and canoes back, etc. Maybe if someone lived in the area it could make sense, but it didn't for us. The camp isn't real close to the boat launch - maybe 45 minutes.

We do offer a mix. Maybe half of our outings are cheap and the other half a bit pricier. We have a ski weekend, a climbing lock-in at a gym, a whitewater trip, zip lines, boating, caving. I would guess our average weekend is $50 and some are well above that. We don't do anything special to fund these. We do offer the Scouts some ability to earn money for their Scout accounts, but mostly the parents just pay for the trips. I do agree it's better at keeping the Scouts' interest. Some families don't do some of the more expensive trips. While we do offer to help with anyone who doesn't have the money, I think most families don't want to ask for help. At least in our area, people are indeed willing to pay for a more expensive program. There is very little correlation between cost and attendance - if I had to guess, I'd say that our more expensive trips typically have better attendance.

We've had great luck with Allegheny Outfitters. http://www.alleghenyoutfitters.com/ and their Indian Waters subsidiary - http://www.alleghenyindianwaters.com/scouts.html This is a great trip. Are you planning on doing just one night? You can start at Kinzua Dam and stay overnight at the Buckaloons, a National Forest Service Campground. You could also try camping on some of the wilderness islands. It depends on how experienced your Scouts are and how much time you have. Be prepared for rain. Don't build an itinerary around the assumption that it will be sunny.

[holds right hand up] I hereby promise to read all questions more carefully in the future. rraffalo - As I think about it, I don't think we're going to end up with a situation where one leader will be responsible for multiple Scouts on an airplane. Not that it would be a problem if we did. If we had two adults seeing them onto the plane and two adults at the other end, we'd be fine. Today, with cell phones everywhere, especially on airline routes, it's not like you're ever really going to be out of touch except while you're actually on the plane, and not even for sure then. I wouldn't try to argue about the letter of the law - I'd go with the intent. The intent is that there would be a second adult around to help out if necessary. Will there be? Sure, there will be a ton of them. So for me, no big deal. However, your CC could reasonably say that when air travel is involved, he wants two adults traveling with the Scouts, regardless. You never know what might happen. There could be a problem at security. I don't think the rule was written precisely for this scenario, so I wouldn't argue over exactly what it says. I'd have a discussion over the right thing to do.

Yeah, sure, I agree with Beavah on this. I also agree with Calico and want a newspaper. We wouldn't even give this a second thought. We're actually doing this for Philmont this summer. People are mostly going as a group, but some are going early and some are going to meet us there. Good grief - it's a father and son! Just makes you shake your head.

We've had families bring dogs on pack camping trips, and pretty much kept the dog around their tent. No real problem. We've been to one of BSA bases where the head guy has a couple dogs that have their run of the camp. The kids love them - they are like camp mascots. I generally agree with the above posters who don't allow dogs on the trips, but my own personal experience has been fine.

Commissioner Service in its current form will work No, the Commissioner Service in its current form will get exactly the results it is getting.

also offensive is holding up a single family as representing an entire racial, ethnic, cultural or religious group. I'd say that every individual represents their racial, ethnic, cultural and religious groups. If I think about what it's like to have Jews in a troop, I think of the actual Jews who have been in the troop. There are some things that are common across groups - that's what starts prejudice, but that's also what allows statistical sampling techniques to work, too. What's it like to have Hindus? We have a number of those. Another thread asked about Jehovah's Witnesses. Sorry if you don't like it, but people will draw conclusions from your behavior. You fit into a pattern, most likely. I think that Scoutfish's comment and jamist649's approach are fine - it's a reasonable goal to get people to meet an actual Muslim. It's harder to retain prejudicial stereotypes when you actually know people who are from the group but don't fit the stereotype. It's hard to hide your religion completely, especially if you actual follow the precepts, and particularly if you require certain food. We always try to have vegetarian options available when we have vegetarian Scouts. Or we might have Scouts who will eat meat but not beef. Or other Scouts who eat beef but not pork. On the other hand, we've had Jews who loved bacon. But for the most part, you get some pretty strong hints about people's religion. And people do draw conclusions. If you don't want people to draw conclusions about you, don't get to know any actual people.

Legal. Hmm. Fine for him to open a bank account. Fine for him to deposit cash in it. If he already had cash, how is depositing it in a bank any worse? Did he deposit checks? Whose name was on the account? Who were the checks made out to? How did he sign the checks? What types of checks and balances do you have in the normal case? How do you know that someone turned over all the money in the past? I definitely agree it's a problem that he won't give you details. He has to give you details, or the whole thing is a non-starter.

Right, it wasn't the Promise that caused any issue because all it refers to is "my country", so people can say it while meaning whatever country works for them. It was the pledge that was questionable. The Tiger rank says: Practice the Pledge of Allegiance with your den The Wolf rank says: Give the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. The Webelos Badge requires a Webelos Scout to "Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance from memory," which I guess you could do without technically giving the pledge. The Scout Badge says "Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance." This requirement would technically disqualify non-citizens from earning First Class, I'd think: Visit and discuss with a selected individual approved by your leader (elected official, judge, attorney, civil servant, principal, teacher) your constitutional rights and obligations as a U.S. citizen. But the national web site definitely indicates citizenship is not required: Must I be a U.S. citizen to join Cub Scouting?Citizenship is not required of youth or adult members. I'd presume they recognize that citizens of other countries may not be willing to take the pledge.

Ok, I looked over my dad's handbook, and there are a lot of things I'd personally find very strange to have in today's program. Just the names of the badges sound strange for some of these. It's not so much unnecessary, just very different. Automobiling: Scout has to pass a driving test. Corn Farming: Grow a patch of corn of not less than 300 square feet. Farm Home And Its Planning: present a drawing plan of sewage disposal for a country home. Farm Mechanics: Demonstrate how to adjust and actually operate one or more of the following farm machines: [7 choices] as used on the Scout's home farm. (pretty much requires the Scout to have a farm.) Farm Records and Bookkeeping: 3. Make out a bill of sale for the following to Jones Produce Company, Chicago, Illinois. ... 1 Cockerel for breeding purposes... 6. Explain what records are needed in making out an income tax report for his State or Federal Income Tax. Fruit Culture:3. Prepare and demonstrate how to use the following apple or other fruit tree sprays: (a) dormant spray; (b) bud spray; © calyx spray. Pigeon Raising: 1. (a) House at least two flock units (viz., pairs of pigeons), ... Here's killing a chicken... Poultry Keeping: 2. Understand, through experience, rearing, feeding, killing and dressing birds for market. Taxidermy: 3. (a) Present a satisfactory specimen of a bird or small mammal mounted by himself Zoology: 5. (a) Keep a young animal such as a squirrel...for at least three months. As for the zealous addition of requirements in today's list, I'm going to go with the overkill of safety requirements. Anything that's already required for First Class doesn't need to be repeated in merit badges, and these are mostly recent additions. Some safety requirements are fine, when they are specific to the badge - Radio - Explain the safety precautions for working with radio gear, including the concept of grounding for direct current circuits, power outlets, and antenna systems. But so many just seem like some zealot with a word processor did a lot of cutting and pasting: Basketry: 1. Describe precautions you should take to safely use basketry tools and materials. Astronomy: Describe the proper clothing for safely making observations in cold weather. Tell how to safely observe the Moon. Explain first aid for injuries or illnesses, such as heat and cold reactions, dehydration, bites and stings, and damage to your eyes that could occur during observation. Rowing: Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses that could occur while rowing, including cold and heat reactions, dehydration, contusions, lacerations, and blisters Golf: Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while golfing, including heat reactions, dehydration, blisters, sprains, and strains. Hiking: Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while hiking, including hypothermia, heatstroke, heat exhaustion, frostbite, dehydration, sunburn, sprained ankle, insect stings, tick bites, snakebite, blisters, hyperventilation, and altitude sickness. Fishing: Discuss the prevention of and treatment for the following health concerns that could occur while fishing, including cuts, scratches, puncture wounds, insect bites, hypothermia, dehydration, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and sunburn. Geocaching: Discuss first aid and prevention for the types of injuries or illnesses that could occur while participating in geocaching activities, including cuts, scrapes, snakebite, insect stings, tick bites, exposure to poisonous plants, heat and cold reactions (sunburn, heatstroke, heat exhaustion, hypothermia), and dehydration. Canoeing: Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while canoeing, including hypothermia, heatstroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, sunburn, insect stings, tick bites, blisters, and hyperventilation. Small-boat sailing: Explain first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while small-boat sailing, including hypothermia, dehydration, heat reactions, motion sickness, cuts, scratches, abrasions, contusions, puncture wounds, and blisters Motorboating: Explain first aid for injuries that could occur while motorboating, including hypothermia, heat reactions, dehydration, motion sickness, insect stings, tick bites, and blisters. etc. Also the addition of "with your parent's permission" in requirements - aren't all of the badges done with your parent's permission? Art: 4. With your parent's permission, visit a museum Geocaching: With your parent's permission, go to www.geocaching.com. Journalism: Read (with your parents permission) an online news source [it's very odd here about which things they don't say this for - visit a television station, watch a national news broadcast, talk to a newspaper executive - and the things they do state you need your parent's permission for - read an autobiography, anything on-line.] Pottery: With your parent's permission, do ONE of the following: (a) Visit the kiln yard at a local college © Using resources from the library, magazines, the Internet (with your parent's permission), [yep, twice in one requirement] Composite Materials: With your parent's permission and your counselor's approval do ONE of the following: Visit a company that manufactures or repairs products made with composites. Coin Collecting: With your parent's permission, attend a coin show or coin club meeting Someone is clearly terrified of kids going on the internet without their parent's permission. Also, visiting museums. Other uses don't follow quite the same obvious pattern - it could be a pretty odd list of what things you can do without your parent's permission, and which ones require it.

Does that violate that belief system, to PLEDGE oneself to an entity that is not God? Yes. It definitely violates their belief. That's not to say that they won't do it. Or, he might say it for rank and then just abstain quietly. We've had citizens from other countries in our units and it has always seemed odd to require them to say the pledge - we may have just quietly skipped that requirement for them, and I know we certainly let them abstain on a regular basis.

It strikes me that this is similar to the "reasonable accommodation" required by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). It's reasonable to shift a work meeting to another time. It's not reasonable to expect other workers to change what their work hours are. It's reasonable to alter the marginal parts of the job. It's not reasonable to alter the essential parts of the job. The law doesn't apply to Scouts, but the principle seems pretty reasonable.