PatB

Your leaders are correct.

I have a stamp that I use for bulk signing. 30 kids at camp taking 3 merit badges is 90 signatures to open the blue card, 180 when they are completed, and 270 by the time I get to the completed award card. For the random signatures at troop meetings, a pen works just fine and takes up less space in my pocket. In case you were wondering, I ordered mine online through one of the office supply stores. Pat

The concept of expectations has been brought up in earlier posts. As an experienced pack leader, you know how to run a fun-filled, exciting meeting that is organized and efficient. Do you expect something similar in a troop? Even with plenty of mentoring, I doubt that a teenager will be able to do as good a job as you can. But, that is not really the point in Boy Scouts. The point is for the boys to do the planning and implementation. There is a huge difference between what I would like to happen and what actually does happen. Things are forgotten, people aren't prepared, stuff happens. These are all learning experiences that allow the youth leaders the opportunity to grow. As a scoutmaster, I can tell you that it is a constant task to work with the youth leaders to develop their skills. Once you understand what is going on, you can see the magic of development happening from the back of the room instead of seeing unorganized chaos. Could I run the meetings better than the SPL? Yes, but I won't. I would be cheating him out of the opportunity to develop as a leader. ​By the way, I don't hold special Webelos nights. I welcome them to come and see us in our natural state. I have a CC or ASM who talks to the parents and explains what is going on while the boys are integrated with a patrol. As you visit your CO's troop and other troops, consider whether you are looking for a Webelos III experience or a Boy Scout experience. Both types of troops can be fun, but your son will grow so much more as a person if he gets to participate in the Boy Scout experience. My advice to you is to be involved, but get a chair and a cup of coffee so that you can sit back and watch the magic happen. Oh yeah, you should go through the SM/ASM training so that you can understand what that magic is supposed to look like. Have fun with it! Pat

Earlier this year, the district was giving a big push to turn in the goal sheet for the troop's journey to excellence. They made a big deal out of having the PLC being involved, so I decided to give it to the youth and ask them to fill it out. We haven't had a problem meeting the form's gold standard and I anticipate the same results this year. However, the boys had lower expectations and set our sights on silver. I got a chuckle out of putting a note on the form that our unit had lowered it's goals based on input from the youth. I am sure that made some commissioner pucker up when he read it!

"I was all ready to chalk up the camping trip as guys together for the first time camping working things out. But now I have different people telling me stories that all end with the same name." You have at least one person who disrupted the meeting and possibly caused some challenges during the campout. You might want to have a patrol meeting to do a start/stop/continue or roses/thorns type of debrief for the outing. Have the SPL and yourself sit in on it and give people a chance to discuss the issues without making personal attacks. This method will allow those with grievances to bring them forward and give the other person a chance to respond. This is a good format for setting the expectations and recognizing the effects of certain actions. After the patrol meeting, you can have a shorter SMC with the boy, but you will already have a specific set of expectations that he will need to work on to improve. (The bonus is that they came from the PL, not some adult.) After you have heard the full story and seen how he reacts to the situation, you can decide whether you want to delay advancement. I try not to get too excited about a situation without hearing both sides. Having them state their grievances in front of each other is an excellent way to remove the exaggerations and get you a better understanding of what actually happened. Good luck. Pat

I would suggest planning some day hikes and short overnight trips. Michael Ray wrote a dissertation on lightweight backpacking that is aimed at the scout leader and is well worth your time to read. You can find it at: http://topshotsystems.com/Lightweight_Scouting_Dissertation.pdf I get frustrated by the amount of time spent on gear when we go car camping and I am happy that the PLC has incorporated more backpacking trips into the schedule this year. Have fun! Pat

When I was a den leader, our pack had $10 den dues that were added on to the annual fee. Once all the scouts in the den had paid their dues, the den leader was given a check in the amount of $10 per boy. That money was for the den leader to use for any den expenses throughout the course of the year and if there was anything leftover, it could be used for an end of the year treat or to subsidize the cost of an outing. Obviously, this won't work in all areas and doesn't solve trust issues, but it was a great way handle the small expenses that were regularly incurred in preparation for den meetings.

While there are no national standards, my council has decided to adopt the policies in the linked document. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwsQSCovZQwUNzhiODZiOTEtZWIxZi00MzhjLWE3NDYtY2JjZmZjYzM3MTQ2&hl=en&authkey=CNql9NEB They require a rangemaster to attend this training and provide the certification for 2 years, much like the other training courses we take. Pat

Sheesh! All this reading and attention to detail is enough to keep a guy out of trouble! My first inclination was to suggest that the OP just go through the Tooth of Time Traders, http://www.toothoftimetraders.com/philmont/, because they are all set up to do custom orders for crews. I hesitated because I figured that anyone organizing a crew would have already come across that and tried to do something different due to cost or creativity desires. However, everyone who pointed out the licensing issues is correct. If you want to save a few bucks, you need to go with a more generic design. Pat

MyScouting.org has logos under scout source | Marketing | current logos. http://scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/Marketing/Downloads/CurrentLogos.aspx

Thanks for confirming that. I was a little worried because it was such an ugly link. Pat

The private messages do not allow me to attach files, nor do they show an email address, so I'll try another method. I put the files on Google docs and the links are below: QM Training slide show https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwsQSCovZQwUNzk0YTFmZTUtNGMwMS00MWI3LWI4NDctNjNiYzM4N2JkNTE0&hl=en&authkey=COCls64N QM Handbook document https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwsQSCovZQwUMjc1Njk4Y2ItN2Y4OS00MjExLTk4OGEtYTMzMDk1Zjk1YmUy&hl=en&authkey=CJyGxe8F -Pat

I have recently completed a project I was working on and wanted to make it available to anyone who is interested. I created a brief training and a quartermaster handbook to give some guidance and direction to the youth quartermasters in a troop. If you would like a copy of the files, please send me a message and I would be happy to share them with you. Pat