OneHour

Wow, what a year can do. Although we are not where we should be in terms of patrol method, but as the advertisement goes ... "we have come a long way!" Just came back from our District Camporee with 30 boys (20 of whom are new scouts)! It was a great feeling to see that these tenderfeet and second classes of a year ago have developed into great stars and lifers. They sat down and tought the new scouts lashings. They got the new boys to learn how to cook for themselves. They played with them ... and so on. This something that they did not get to experience. Another thing that was great is the patrol spirits are developing! With the SPL, they created a marching cadence that they proudly chanted throughout the camprout competition. Some of these boys who were complaining about competing at the various competitions last year are looking forward to going to each of the competition. One patrol even won first place in two of the more difficult events, orienteering (their team was one of the only 3 that finished the course) and catapult. Needless to say, I was beaming from ear to ear. It's a start of a good thing, the 20 new, young scouts took notice of this thing calls the patrol method! Now ... total boy lead is next on our list and we have a good start! 1Hour ps: yes, this was also possible because of the leadership of our new, young SPL! All of the scoutmasters congratulated him for a job very well done!(This message has been edited by OneHour)

How about to start the night off: - A nice flag retirement ceremony with patriotic songs such as: - God Bless America - My Country 'Tis of Thee - America the Beautiful - Stars Spangled Banner and finishing the ceremony with Taps (a nice one to toss it in there is "I'm Proud to be an American") - What we also did was to invite several of the parents who were or are in the Arm Forces to participate in the ceremony (namely placing the Field of Blue into the fire). When we did that, it brought a lot of tears to the campfire. - We also invited them to tell us about their service years and what was most memorable and the reason(s) why they serve (be careful on that one ... ask first to see if they agree). - We presented to them the grommets from the flag(s) that we retired. I have one WWII veteran came up to me at our Pack meeting and showed the grommet that he has placed it in his key ring. Here is a site that you can find any number of skits that would be patriotic in theme. http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/songs.html http://www.macscouter.com/top_stuff/directory.html 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Have him talked to all of the adult leaders and volunteers as to why they got their Eagles and what that Eagle rank means to them. Now, have him talked to the adult leaders who did not attain their Eagle, especially the Lifers. He will see that there are a lot of regrets and the fact that these adults are now volunteering is because what scouting means to them. As for my son, somehow I finally got him to think that scouting is a priviledge; as a matter of fact, I hold his participation in scouting hostage if he does not do well in school! Lastly, I made a deal with him. He can drive when he is 17 under two conditions: 1) obtain his Eagle and 2) getting good grade in High School. He is 1 rank away from accomplishing the first requirement! (This means that I will have to start saving for the car and insurance! ) 1Hour

The irony of all ironies occured during the Pope's funeral yesterday. All nations' leaders sat in alpha order. Isareal's president sat next to Iran's and in the back of him is Syria's. During "peace and goodwill" wishes (sorry I don't remember the Catholics' term for it) after communion, they shook each other's hands. As the reporter pointed out, in death, the Pope brought peace to the region eventhough it existed within that small space.

http://www.ropeworks.biz/reader/ladder.pdf http://www.scoutxing.com/knots/lashings/ladder_lashing/ladder_lashing.htm http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/pioneering_ladders.html http://usscouts.org/usscouts/profbvr/relief_of_mafeking/rom8.html good luck 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

briantshore, good luck on setting up the communications links. It seems that nothing worked for me when I was a CM and a DL. I had a website that had all the dates. I sent out emails about the dates. I mentioned the dates at Pack meetings and I still got the questions "When was the date for ...?" It seems that Cub Scout and the digital technologies still have a little more reconciling before full benefit can be realized! One thing that I know still works, a friendly call to remind them the night before works well. At the den level, that's not too bad, but at the Pack level, I utilize the call tree. 1Hour

1/4 participate because of the mentality of the adults in our troop. They have the "I rather pay cash than make my son go door to door" attitude. That is exactly what one father told me one time. It's very frustrating. Granted that more than 1/2 of the troop are from the more affluence side of the freeway, it doesn't mean that everyone has that deep of a money pocket, present company is in that mix of the "low-rent side." Yes, I tried to get them to understand the benefits of the boys earning their ways. There are two packs in the area as well and our Pack is on the West side and everyone participates in the fundraiser. The other pack and our troop locates on the affluence side of the fence and tends to allow fundraisers for some reasons to become optional. Uggggghhhh ... very frustrating! 1Hour

Packsaddle, don't get me wrong. I have no problems taking time out and use my van for scouting function; as a matter of fact, I'm on my second van. The first one, a new Dodge Caravan, we put 130k on it for the first three years of its life. Got rid of it to get a more reliable Honda Odyssey three years ago and it is sitting at 101k and most of it are driving the troops to and fro and that's not going outside of the state, yet! Texas is a big state! I only get upset when a parent gives me a bleeding heart cry about why they can't help the troop because they are too busy! Cheers, 1Hour

I agree with Semper - Respects/Etiquette/Honors (Eagle Required) Careers: - Networking (teaching the boys about Internet, LAN, WAN, ...) - Webmastering - Firefighting - Telecommunications - Break out the Medicine piece into specialties - Texas Hold 'Em Hobbies/Sports: - Violin or Piano - Any of the sports (since we have golf, why not tennis and the likes?) - Cards collecting (baseball cards, Pokemon cards, etc.) - Stereo and HiFi - Hermit Crab Care (for my second son) - Advanced swimming (which includes BSA lifeguarding)

Thanks for all replies. You all gave me a good idea how to move forward. I now have a good backups to bring to the Committee table. As for the upcoming Camporee, $25 it is then. I do believe that subsidizing the leaders is the least that the parents in the troop could do for them since they are taking their time out of their ordinary lives for the boys and it is equivalent to paying for their gas. I will make sure that the adults going are going for a purpose not for a vacation. If it is a vacation then they are fair games for fees as the boys are. Thanks again. 1Hour

PM'ed you. Here is the previous post on bike rodeo. Bike Rodeo 1Hour

Aardvark, talking about rain, funny thing just happened last weekend, we had to punt late Saturday after we got pounded by hails and high winds. We checked back with our "in-town" contact and he informed us that the second wave with possible tornadic activities was coming our ways. That's when the adults overruled the SPL and hauled everyone and everything back. Our young SPL shined! He pulled all the boys together and packed up the camp in driving rain. Our scoutmasters were very impressed. This young man has great potentials! Our first ever evacuation, but usually, we camp in rain, sleet, snow, or sun. Here in Texas, it can rain or sun at any given time! (This message has been edited by OneHour)

GopherJudy ... smiley face use "colon with close parenthese" together (don't forget to add a space before and after) Wink (semi-colon and close parenthese) Sad (colon with open parenthese) Basically, you are using the emoticons! http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/emoticons.html Unfortunately, the formatting of this forum only recognize the three emoticons above. There may be more, but I have not tried all to find out which works. Have fun. 1Hour

Semp, we had 39 boys and grew 24 more this past month. After liabilities is the $3000. No scout account (another gripe that I have with the Committee). Only a small number (say 8-10) of the 39 boys participate in fundraiser. I feel that they should deserve some credit. I'm currently pushing for scout accounts. Treasurer does not like it. She stated that she simply does not have the time to keep track. I, of course, volunteered, but it will be tricky to work with two different people on a job that only takes one. We'll see. 1Hour

Semp, sorry, fat-fingered. Fall Encampment is $140. Summer camp cost so much is because (again) subsidy. The book is somewhat opened. Our treasurer summarizes the incomes vs. expenses and the state of the account. Last year, I questioned the reason why we have a net gain of $xx per campout and then CC got changed and I never followed up on it. Now, I'm sitting here trying to figure whether or not I should go against the grain and charge (since I'm the adult lead for it) next campout at break-even or go with the standard $35. I'm leaning to go against the grain. I'm leaning to collect from each scout only $20. Yes, the recharter costs $60 that would include troop fee! I know that a lot of it didn't go into the new trailer because our SM got his company to do the matching gift fund that allowed us to get the trailer. Our balance is healthy, say in $3,000 range. You're right ... communications is the problem. Thanks, 1Hour ps: btw, this is not a complaint of troop mis-managment of funding or account. The extra moneys are still there in the account. It's just a gripe for a very thrifty parent who is about to have a second son in the troop. Alright, you can call me cheapskake.(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Can you tell me what your troop charges? 1) for a leader on a 2-night campout? Our troop charges 0. 2) for a non-leadership parent on a 2-night campout? Our troop, so far charges 0. Of course this helps when not a lot of parents want to go, but with this new batch of scouts that we just got, there are spouses of parents (who are helping) who want to attend. 3) for a scout on a 2-night campout? Our troop charges $35 and I have not figured out the math (I asked the committee and got the answer of it covers the costs of meals, campsites, and part of the adult costs). According to my calculations and bear with me: - $3 per meal x 5 meals = $15 (and that's eating well) - State Parks (for example) cost about $20 a site/night and they usually allow a max of 8 per site or $20/8=$2.50 or $5.00 for both nights. Camping in Council camps cost $0. a total of $20 - The ratio of scouts to adult is 4:1 (for ridership purpose). Let's assume that the above costs stay the same for the adults. So, it will take 4 scouts to subsidize 1 adult or each scout's portion is $5 which I think is fair since $5 per boy in a car of 4 kids will barely pay for the gas. The Committee can't tell me what the other $10 is for? It is getting might expensive to stay in our troop! There are the annual recharter which is about $60. There is a one time equipment fee of $70 at the start of the scouting with the troop. There is the monthly $35 fee and it doesn't matter where we go! There is the summer camp fee $300 and the fall encampment $240. There is the fundraisers which I ended up paying for $20 - $40 worth to start my son off. There is FOS (Friends of Scouting) which usually runs me about $100. Let's see that's $315 for camping per year + $60 recharter + $11 recharter fee for me + $300 summer camp + $240 for fall encampment + ~$40 worth of miscellaneous mb courses and fees or $1066 a year. This does not include $ for outgrown uniform, $ camping gears, ..., and my spending on scouting books, pamphlets, mb books, gear for myself. I really don't why the parents in our troop have to pick up so much when we have fundraisers! I asked and will be asking the Committee for an explanation again! Am I the only one that see that there is something wrong with this picture? 1Hour ps: I know ... I know ... getting the scouting experience ... priceless!(This message has been edited by OneHour)

CA_Scouter, Has the SM sit down with this scout and have regular SM Conference with him? This includes discussion of his behavior and how he can correct it (namely his advancement goals and why he is not accomplishing it!). Has the impact and consequence of not completing as his goals and requirements (namely serving his position as expected by the position and others requirements) been communicated and reinforced to him? Has the realization that Life and Eagle are not possible without fullfilling all requirements, one of which is leadership position? Has someone talked to him about his job description and trained him for it? You indicated that you will encourage him to attend JLTC. That may mean that the young man has not been instructed. We have a young man who is 13 going on 11 as you indicated in our troop. He took on the job of Quartermaster. At first, the job was left unfilled. We worked with him by having many SM conference conversations and coaching sessions with him. We even consult with his parents to find out what make him ticks and ticks off. Eventually, he served his post well and earned his Star. He is still an 11 year, especially during his medicine crash time; however, he has taken on a lot more responsibility and taken them seriously. By the way, he also took shot at another scout. Our SPL rectified that situation. Good luck, 1Hour

t487scouter, thanks for started this post. It allows me an opportunity to go back and reread other advices as well as my own advice. You have no ideas, but you have great observations from the start of this post. Anyway ... I will follow my own advice: "When one takes this forum too seriously as in getting upset ..., then one needs to stop and rereads the Scout Oath and Law." Okay... here it goes: A scout is trustworthy, loyal, HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS, KIND, obedience, CHEERFULL, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. On my honor, I will do my best. To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Laws. TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. Ahhhh ... I needed that. t487scouter, thanks again and I truly meant the gratitude. It's just an affirmation of my scouting spirits. They have been at a low lately. 1Hour

Easy there, Scout John, you're about to get me up in arms! I'm beginning to get addicted to the Kettle Corn and the Chocolate covered ones! Not to mention my annual fixed of Thin Mints and Tagalongs (and the others)! This is injustice! Where is the ACLU when you need them! (This message has been edited by OneHour)

your html href syntax works I think that the java's active server page is what toss it for a loop! The "?" of the Trip ID is preventing the link being recognized as a link by the forum auto-formatting. Okay here a test: http://www.cubmaster.org and with the asp http://www.cubmaster.org/cub-l.asp yep the asp extension threw it off. href will allow the whole link to work including the asp portion. I learned something new. 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

ps56k, Sometimes, when the message is posted the html formatting of scouter.com can recognize that there is a link. Usually by keeping the link on a separate line would help the formatting process that it's a link and apply the appropriate html syntax. However, in case that it doesn't recognize it, the formatting of this forum can recognize href html syntax. http://www.pageresource.com/html/linking.htm Or sometimes just put http infront of the link will help it to identify it as a link. http://www.usscouts.org 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Kristi, ... then how would he ensure that it's a fair race? If lane 2 has a small bump on it due to warping or what have you and the car that ran on that lane jumped the track a bit. It could cost the car to jump, to slow down, or to lose the race. would that kid or any kids who have their car assigned to that lane be the only ones penalized? Ask him that would he like to have his son's car run on that lane at all times? Unless all the lanes have the same racing condition and the only factor is the boys' cars then single elimination is a very fun event and is a must! ... but wooden tracks tend to warp over time, aluminum tracks sometimes don't fit well ... We use Stearn Method (using Derby Master) in our Pack due to the large number of entries (100+ cars). It is not as perfect as Perfect-N or lane rotation, but it does provide the next fairest lane rotation. Derby Master spits out the ranking based on the fastest average time. We award 1-5 at the each rank level that night and 1-5 Pack overall at B&G. Two years ago, our sensor broke and we had to resort to single elimination. That was not pretty! There were more teary eyes in the room than we would like. There were angry parents wondering why their sons' cars ran on the "bad" lanes. From then on, we vowed not to return to elimination methods. Running Stearn Method, our boys (and parents) were very satisfied ... they still cheer for the cars and their friends' cars. Their parents stop looking over our shoulders when we started to project the result of each heat on to the big screen! In sum, everyone has a great time! Good luck, 1Hour

Does BW's comment warrant my reply? Why not ... I have plenty of sarcasms left! "You cannot do this with merit badges, others may teach but only the registered and approved counselor can sign." We did not fall off the turnip truck nor we were born yesterday. We are very aware of this and all of our counselors are registered with our District. "Second, you ask someone who did not actually see or test the scout to sign for the person who did?" Uh ... I do not believe that I see you at any of our troop meetings nor am I aware of the fact that you are a member of our troop. The junior instructors and/or another scoutmaster is teaching/assisting/testing. Person who tests the scout signs off the requirement. "There is a great lesson in citizenship!" You're not mocking me. Are you? I may not be a native born, but I can teach many native born many things about citizenship of this great Nation! Don't lecture me on citizenship, sir! "No your Honor someone else actually witnessed what happened, I just agreed to sign a document saying that I had. If a person is qualified to test then they are certainly qualified to print their initials. We lose more scouts to bad leadership than to sport, girls and gas, combined. Let's get back to the actual scouting program and stop doing "stuff" in a scout uniform." This bad, half-baked assumption of what the adult leaders in our troop actually do does not warrant my comment. "bad leadership?" If you are the top of the good leadership that BSA has to offer, then ... (neah I changed my mind ... it's unscoutlike to rebutt that statement). Imagine that, you did have my respect and I was one the ones who regretted to see you leave twice before. Before you criticize someone and quote someone out of context, have the decency to get some damned clarification first. For God sake man ... get the facts before condemned a man! I will not be the one who will be the cause for your self-banishment this time. I refuse to play your game. Good day sir!

In our troop, there is an unwritten rule. A scoutmaster or a counselor may not work with his/her own son on a one-on-one basis nor sign off requirements for his/her own son. If the mb or requirement is offered and being done in a group basis, then the scoutmaster or counselor can sign off for his/her own son mb, but he/she should defer the testing and signing off rank requirements to SPL, Instructor, or other scoutmasters for his/her own son. 1Hour

I'd say talk with your DE and COR and have a coup-de-tat. Talk to the other two remaining parents and work out a solution to start a new troop within a troop. The situation seems dired and resurecting a dead horse takes a lot more energy and emotional impact. As Eamonn pointed out, punt! I would if there is not another troop nearby. 1Hour