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This doesn’t sound like the cost of material, but rather labor. The bean-counters have been converting service hours to dollars for decades. Edited to add … @DuctTape undersold himself. Based on the amount of people that could be fed for that amount 50 years ago, his project must have taken hundreds of man-hours. Even with labor costs of the time, it could have been worth a thousand dollars.

Definitely let him be a patrol member even if for a few weeks. If the patrol has a medallion, send him a care package with a few of them.

That’s been the strategy for 8 decades of membership decline.

As I’ve mentioned before, membership was increasing until the age limit was codified nationally. I think we can draw a chronology from that decision to the “schoolification” of what became required for advancement and what was removed from required lists. I would agree if the number of First Class scouts we offered this nation stayed in the millions per year. But that line is slipping. It’s only a matter of time before we produce reduced numbers of Eagles per year — not because kids can’t make deadlines, but because the award won’t seem to be much of an achievement. I also agree there is something to be said for earning a badge as a youth, and maybe awards for adults should have a different border. But, the more a badge is about skill, the less a maturity deadline matters. Two things come to the fore: how you serve your unit, and how you master skills. There will be problems with having our adults work advancement. Some may conclude that certain MBs are a complete waste of time, and team up with their scouts to appeal for change. But some might be reactionary with no sense of purpose. E.g., upping the camping nights to 50 might simply not be practical anymore in our complex society.

What percentage of scouts are doing long-term camps, to the exclusion of multiple weekend (or midweek) outings? And how is it hurting them if they don’t earn Camping MB? If they’d rather advance as far as Life, let them age out proudly. The fundamental problem is thinking that it’s a shame to disqualify from the nation’s highest scouting award youth who don’t practice hiking and camping independently with their mates. I sympathize with counselors who feel like they are having to split hairs, but sometimes scouts and their troops need that little nudge to think out of the box.

My pleasure. If you’re scouts have global interests, have them check out the International Orienteering Federation https://orienteering.sport/

@swilliams inspired me to start this thread so that scouters can learn about orienteering - the sport. For starters, check out https://orienteeringusa.org/ There’s an interactive map of clubs. Even if the nearest one is some distance from you, you may want to click through anyway to see if they’ve mapped permanent courses nearby. With one of these courses, your scouts can’t blame their navigation errors on your mapping skills!

@swilliams, you’re in for a wild ride. Since you mentioned cross-country, look up your local orienteering club and see if your troop can find time to attend their events. Lots of American youth have the discipline for running or for navigation, but few have both. You might be the person to change that.

@MattR, thanks for all of your valuable contributions. My two grandsons (who I affectionately name Thing 1 and Thing 2) are incredibly entertaining. They suck up time in a very good way. On the other hand, this class of troop parents are some of the most enjoyable, our teens are appreciative, and it’s fun to pass on skills. So I have stepped back to allow others to step up. But the troop gives me great opportunities to get away from the family. As I was backpacking with them last weekend, each time we passed a mile marker, I’d shout “another mile down and I haven’t heard anybody added to the holiday honey-do list!”

It was sad to come out of the woods and get this news. On the other hand, we can be grateful for such examples of life well lived. And, let’s not put politics aside. Carter’s ascent marked the rise in expectation of Federal resolution to clashes on social norms, the inexorable linking of the US with the fate of the Fertile Crescent, and the insufficiency of internal revenue to fuel military and civilian aspirations.

I’m a band geek as are many of my scouts, but no band that I know of has monetized their service and reported it to their school board. If they had done (in some credible fashion), the IRS might have backed off — but the Musician’s Union might come knocking!

Nothing new to see here. So a scout assigned responsibility of 10k in the troop treasury. He spends it on gear to be properly prepared for some high adventure trips. The skills gained preparing for those trips inspire in him some ideas for a community service project and he mobilizes 700 volunteer hours to complete the project. The scout is publicly recognized for his benefit. Logging those hours, BSA will translate that many hours into a dollar value amounting to about 10k benefit. It has nothing to do with P-R. Any private benefit is balanced by the public good. That is why it is much harder for IRS to go after scouts compared to athletes who raise funds to attend an elite competition.

A falling tide grounds all boats.

@AwakeEnergyScouter I feel your perplexity. But, that’s only because you’re not the first European scout who I’ve dialogued with. Americans thrive (wallow?) in paradoxes. The YMCA is chock full of non-Christians and women. My brother went swimming at the YWCA. Everybody in my town has participated in Jewish community center activities. None of that makes anyone feel trans or religion-fluid. Likewise, girls don’t shed their femininity being in programs for boys. For some it’s a status symbol. Being on-the-ground with American youth revealed this peculiar mental framework. When I started my Venturing Crew almost 20 years ago, the girls — especially Girl Scouts — who signed up were thrilled to be Boy Scouts. One told me as much and I had a hard time convincing her that she was a Venturer! There is something very valuable for many young women in this country to know that this “for boys” organization lets them work their program. I think it partly had to do with a “victim mentality” foisted upon them by activist types. GS/USA’s “girl power” mantra sort of plays off of that. In BSA, nobody told them they had any special powers. They could work the goals of this program (or not) and nobody made them feel like they were some kind of revolutionary. (Most GS/USA leaders who I knew avoided the whole “girl power” rhetoric. It was the literature that gave off an “us vs. them” vibe.) So, for some young American women, being a girl in Boy Scouts of America carried more prestige than being a young woman in Scouts BSA or Scouting America. Who really wanted there to be Scouts BSA Handbook for Girls and a Scouts BSA Handbook for Boys? No youth ever! All my boys get the one for boys (although I’ve offered to get them the one for girls if they wanted). I’d be curious to know how many girls there are who, given the choice, would ask for the “for Boys” edition.

I would say BSA intentionally obfuscated! It’s not hard to be plain-spoken when describing the programs. We currently offer: Cub Scout packs Boy Scout troops Boy Scout troops for Girls Venturing/Sea/Exploring Scout Crews/Ships/Posts for CoEds in High School and early adulthood. Tell the truth. Market accordingly. It’s not hard.