Oak Tree

I interpret it that one week of summer camp is permitted, regardless of whether the the Scouts pitched their own tent or were in an adirondack. But no more than one week. I agree it's up to the counselor, but in practice, many counselors ask me for my interpretation of any gray-area requirements.

Calls for volunteers just don't work and have very rarely worked. This is the number one point I make to everyone who calls for volunteers. It is far, far more effective to ask individuals to take on particular tasks. For events like this, I'd suggest moving to a more collaborative model. Have a group meeting. Go to a specific set of people that you want help from, tell them that you think they would be valuable as pack leaders, and that you'd like to have them come to the meeting particularly to help with planning X. Then throw out the general idea, and see if they want the pack to

How is withholding information from scouts about available opportunities helping them in any way? There are a thousand things I can promote. I can promote the new outdoor awards. I can use my limited time with the Scouts to highlight service projects or troop activities. I'm trying to steer the Scouts towards the events that I think will be most beneficial for them and for the troop. I don't have to promote the council camporee, and I'm not obligated to bring to the Scouts every possible opportunity that someone mentions to me. I don't see it as "withholding" information, because I'm not

I think if you use the term, you have to say it with a British accent.

It's my opinion that the G2SS does not adequately address this situation, especially with regards to Cub Scouts. My interpretation is that because the G2SS is so clearly inadequate in this situation, it's up to the leaders to use their judgment, following a few principles. Camp at an aquarium and everyone's in one big room. Camp on the USS Yorktown, and all the men and boys are in one large room. Camp in cabins, and each den is in one large cabin. It is not a reasonable expectation to have the aquarium provide multiple rooms, nor to divide up a huge space. It's not reasonable to leave an

We've never held a true "family" outing. We do permit chaperones to bring along siblings if they are willing to take full responsibility. However it hardly ever happens. If we were to try a real family trip, we'd set it up pretty differently. I don't think we'd focus on the patrol method.

I would have no objection to current event questions, but neither would I worry about them. Our council guide says:The board of review should cover, but is not limited to, these topics:Scout Spirit - living the Scout Oath and Law in his daily life. Scout Participation - what has he accomplished in Scouting. Merit Badges - what they mean to him; his assessment of their value. Duty to God, Country, Home and Self - what these ideas represent to him and how he's demonstrated his commitment to them. Eagle Scout Service Project - Although the project idea must be approved before work is

It does say Insignia Guide, but it sounds a lot more like Boy Scout Requirements. We have until May to find out. The 2011 Requirements book is on sale now.

HobcawChaos, I stand corrected. You are right, the $0.15 fee per transaction is gone.

You could make an argument that the red vest is not "official". But there is nowhere that it's written that there is a distinction between "formal" events where the vest is not welcome and "informal" events where the vest is ok. Essentially, it's like any jacket that might be worn on top of the uniform. Are they prohibited at all times? Does this same adult who is making this rule also make sure that Cub Scouts always have official Scout socks on whenever they wear the uniform? Good grief. What adult is trying to suck the fun out of Cub Scouting? If some Cub Scout wants to wear the r

As UCEagle72 says, go to www.squareup.com Anyone (don't have to be a registered business or anything) can take credit cards with their cell phone. Taking payment with a credit card doesn't change the taxability, it doesn't change whether it is a donation, it's no different than if they hand you cash or checks. We always end up with some bad checks from popcorn. I think the credit card fees might be cheaper. The fee is actually 2.75% + 0.15 per transaction. Not a big deal on the more expensive purchases, but if you're buying a $3.50 box of cookies, that can add up. That's w

Kevin, No such regulation exists. Ask the person who stated that to show you the regulation. If someone wants a particular flag ceremony to be without vests, just ask for that. Don't try to turn it into some so-called rule. Let the kids have fun.

Our council and district occasionally hold them, but I just never forward on the information. If someone finds out about it through another channel, they'd be welcome to go, but that hasn't ever happened, I don't think. I get all kinds of things that I don't forward on. Scout night at Pro Team X, or Harlem Globetrotters, or Minor League team Y, or Ice Capades, or whatever. I figure, if it comes to me, it's my choice what to do with it. I'm happy to camp in the rain or snow, but I have no interest in watching monster trucks. I also have no real interest in promoting merit badge univer

Yes. This is a problem. (I'll put in another plug to check out or http://tinyurl.com/4uhympy for more disucssion on this topic.) How do we stunt the hunter, warrior? (I'm not sure about gatherer). Zero-tolerance policies. Be nice. What do we do to the adventurer? Sit still. Don't take risks. I'm not sure I get number 3. It seems like women still like men. I agree men want women. They want to be admired and respected and loved. But women still like bad boys, I think. Or are the nice guys getting all the women now? The biggest change I see here is that women no longer need a m

The Scoutmaster could bring it to a head, too. He could say, "I've been approved by the COR/IH to oversee the troop program. Unless they remove me, program decisions go through me, not the committee. The boys will elect their own leaders." Of course, that sets you up for a pretty bang-up adult clash. Going in quoting rules and books isn't going to fix this. At all. If you want to change the troop, you're going to have to change minds, or at least recruit advocates. The Scoutmaster and the CC need to agree on their vision here. You can pick your battles, or you can fight every po

We have a membership coordinator whose job it is to do all of that. The treasurer is also involved, in that we have to take a check from the family and turn in another, smaller check to council. The membership coordinator enters all of the individual's personal information in TroopMaster. We have a separate advancement chair, who is primarily in charge of TroopMaster, and covers advancement, positions of responsibility, etc. We also have an activities chair, who enters all of the trip information in TroopMaster.

The insignia guide recomends you wear no more the 9 knots but its only a recomendation. I've never seen this anywhere. Can you provide a page number or link where I could find it? Sea Scouts has a limit, but I've seen a recommended limit for the Boy Scout uniform. I did find this quote in the official policy, where it lists several reasons for the uniform, including: Achievement. The uniform shows the wearer's activity, responsibility, and achievement. What each youth or adult member has accomplished with program opportunities can be recognized by the insignia worn on the uniform.A

I will tell them that the DC needs to be removed from his District position for making trouble in the units he's supposed to be supporting. You're welcome to do this. I don't know that a different approach would be any better. But here's what I would do. I wouldn't focus on telling them what they should do. They clearly already understand that this guy screwed up. They might already be ready to fire him, but that's hard to know. What I would say is something like: "Our DE, who is supposed to be supporting our program, has instead become a source of great frustration to our leaders.

Like Lisabob, I look at some of the attitudes represented here and think "I've never seen that." Certainly I didn't see any student or staff member at my Wood Badge express any opinion like that. Maybe I just don't run in the Good Old Boy circles, but they did ask me to be on staff this year, so it doesn't appear that any such club membership is required. The staffers I saw did a good job teaching the material. Sure, some of it was a repeat of stuff I've had before. But the course was well done, and our patrol had a great time. The networking was excellent (one reason I wouldn't recommend

does the SMC have to be done prior to the BOR? Yes. The purposes of the board of review include the objective: "To make sure the Scout has done what he was supposed to do for the rank." Also, "When a boy satisfactorily completes his board of review for a rank, tenure for his next rank begins immediately." It doesn't say 'unless he has another requirement to complete.' And "After a Scout has completed all requirements for [ranks], he appears before a board of review." [emphasis added] I'm with Twocubdad on how to handle Scoutmaster conferences by the letter of the law

Around here we regularly see LDS people at roundtable, at the University of Scouting, at district events, and at training sessions as both students and instructors. From what I've seen, that's all good and the people doing that are fine. However, it's also the case that in the council office it appears to be an accepted fact that LDS units are hard to get a hold of, will be the last ones to verify their membership rolls, and generally seem to be more likely to be off the reservation. And yes, I've seen non-LDS units do that, and there look to be some good LDS units, but statistically ther

I'm trying to think of what support I need or want from my council. The answer I find is not much, but there are some items that are convenient, and there are some items we've made some use of. I do expect my council to be polite to me, tell me the truth, answer questions about the program, etc. They do all of these things. The most convenient support I receive is that council operates the Scout store. It's nice that it's well-stocked. I guess I could order everything from national, but it's nice that I don't have to. The district sponsors roundtables. These are fine, but

I typically see my UC once a month at roundtable, where I also see my DC. I'm happy to see them, we're friendly. There's really nothing I need from them, though. I think a good UC can be helpful to a unit, just as any experienced Scouter can. I'd be happy to have more volunteers, but I don't need them to stop by at meetings and just check in on us. I don't really expect anything of my UC, but if he helps out, that's a bonus. SeattlePioneer - you sounds like you're doing good work. I know my DC seems to put in about 70 hours a week doing Scouting stuff - he's retired and this is what

This is troubling all the way around, no matter what. The boys complained to their parents, but wouldn't mention anything in the troop. The parents execute a power play to remove the Scoutmaster. The CC/COR/IH/UC/DE go along with this. It's all just very sad, and a bit odd. Stosh acknowledges that the root of the problem was communication. I've always envied his ability to focus on working with the boys, but I always felt I had to spend half my time talking with adults about the program (or sending out emails that accomplish some of that same "good news preaching"). I don't

The most accurate way to figure it would probably be the total number of eagles related to the total that left scouting that year. Pack212Scouter, that's a reasonable method. In any given year, approximately 50,000 Eagles leave Scouting. Approximately 300,000 Scouts leave Scouting altogether. So 16.7% of Scouts are Eagles. Once upon a time I did a long post on this topic, tracing an imagined set of cohorts of Scouts through the system and having various numbers of them drop out in various years and various numbers of them earning Eagle in various years. In the end, all it shows is th