qwazse

Already in place ... shared between the OA National Chief and President of the National Venturing Youth Cabinet.

That was the beauty of ODL, switching programs was just a matter of switching epaulets and neckers ... Unless you decided to advise an explorer post or Sea Scout ship. For those folks, tan shirts were a step down. I was really proud of my new tan shirt until I realized that those scouts weren't shedding their greens or whites. So much for one shade to rule them all.

Welcome to the forums and thanks for your service to the boys! I have a relative who is a minister and was a CM for a while ... intense but rewarding. I was taught that all of the adult awards are in some way nominated. That process is not in BSA's control at all. But, you will have to accept that being the person who has actually looked into these things, you are more expert than 80% of us.

@@beaglelover, Welcome to the forums and thanks for your service to the boys! Situations like these tend to have local and state regulations that can guide you. Your district executive (DE) and your counsel scout executive (SE) should have the best understanding of what you can and cannot do in this situation. Arrange to contact them along with your den leader, cubmaster, and committee chair. Maybe include the mother. Sadly, we had a similar situation where a father was threatening to exercise his right as a scout-parent to spend more time with his son. The grandparents, who had custody, concluded that the safest path was to keep the boy out of scouting. At the end of the day, it's up to the custodial parent to determine what is safe for his/her child. It's on you all to know what you as volunteers can and cannot provide (in both a legal and practical sense), and let the boy's mom decide the risk vs. benefit.

Yeah, NJ it's probably a convention more than a rule. Keeps HQ from slip-ups. In fact I have only one scout who earned his eagle "with" he crew. That's in quotes because it was a slip of the registrar's mouse that caused her to click the wrong unit in the drop-down. Nobody noticed until I got a phone call (instead of the SM) to pick up the kit. By then the scout said it wasn't worth going through the paperwork correcting the NESA card, and HQ was glad for one less troop to jump through. As a practical matter, I can't see going that route without thorough communication with the SM. (Or other advisors, if the boy belongs to multiple crews.)

No transfer necessary. Think about the reverse: a boy don't have to be primary in a crew to earn venturing awards.

That's correct. I (and the ASM) know only what the scout told us. So, I can only give you the message the boy heard ... not the one that any on the committee actually said. Basically we were sitting with the scout, his two buddies (one youth one young adult), his dad and his younger brother (who will soon cross-over into this troop). But, we were chatting with the committee members before hand, while we thought the boy was going to just jump through the hoops. We kinda knew their opinion. So, I have no reason to doubt they reacted the way the boy said they did. A decade ago, I may have done the same. The ASM is going to do the follow-up. After the boys left, we did a mild re-hash of the core issues. Myself, I've been trying "speak when spoken to." On the other hand, I'm wondering if I could have spoken a week earlier and asked the board to rescind their decision and approve with no further review.

I only ever met the man as a youth at a BL exhibit. He was stuck there signing autographs. Looked like he would rather have been moving around.

I think this board has seen such documents. They are choosing to ignore them. But you are right. Boys don't read their handbooks well, let alone other BSA literature. I think he would have been better served letting the SM or ASM know his position on the matter, followed by providing the board the literature that he was reading, and letting them know in advance, then arranging a face-to-face respectfully describing why he thought it was for the good of the troop that he stands his ground. All that communication takes time. The scout is facing some challenging mid-terms. So that gets in his way. But committing real time to address issues is probably the skill he'll need to acquire.

I guess the "mess" is more than just the boy. His buddies (all from a smaller troop of older scouts who were absorbed by the large troop of younger scouts) have a few gripes. I suspect some sour grapes have been squeezed for a while. The ASM is going to talk to the SM and CC.

Museums aren't nearly as fun as scouters. When I was passing through TX last spring, I opted to for barbecue with someone on this forum instead. Even the side of chili was spicier than any scout exhibit I've ever seen, but the conversation was truly a priceless gem. The ranch is the one place where you'll have the highest concentration of scouters from everywhere ... More gems on the floor of the exhibit hall! Absolutely any museum worth its salt should share/rotate exhibits.

So, tonight's crew meeting got derailed. One of my venturers had a suspended Life BoR at his troop last week because, when tested, he couldn't tie a bowline, didn't have complete documentation of his service hours or a good explanation of what he did in his PoR. So they basically told him to come back better organized and demonstrate his skills by tying that one knot. Well he came back this week. The ASM asked him if he was ready. He calmly said, "Yes." Then went to meet with the board. I went off to prepare the crew meeting. A whipstich later, the scout comes into our meeting saying "They failed me again!" Well, actually, he told the committee that they went beyond the bounds of the board by testing scouts, and said he would not tie a knot because it was not relevant to this rank or to the purposes of the board. Then one of the committee told the boy he was immature, and would never be an Eagle scout. (I suspect the guy did not mean to be that harsh, but he is an Eagle and a little high-minded.) The boy said he doesn't want to earn Eagle in the troop anymore. I told him he could advance in my unit, but I wouldn't bother our board with a Life scout who can't demonstrate the skills. He said, "I would do any of those requirements for you. I just don't respect those adults anymore." What a mess.

I remember meeting several older British men who were competent in most all of these except knitting. The five you identified are definitely First Class skills. Many of the others may be picked up on the trail to Eagle.

Sorry for your loss. Is this a person who could have been awarded some knots, but never really bothered? You could probably talk to your DE about that. Your DE may also suggest, if your people want to take up a collection, awarding a James E West fellowship in her name. Although, also consider that if she wasn't much for awards while alive, posthumous awards might not have that much meaning. What about pack-life did she enjoy the most? For, example, if it was pinewood derbies, name the track in her honor. If it was a song or skit, teach the scouts to perform it in her honor.

concessions at a school are like offering plates at church. I'm pretty sure BSA doesn't want to meddle in either. Revenue that isn't under the rightful eye of the CO is where the start to worry about their brand being protected.

Welcome to the forums! And, congratulations on your progress thus far. Once upon a time projects proceeded without mentors. That was when America built things more than drafted grants and contracts. I'm sorry that this has become a roadblock. It sounds like "with all due respect, sir ..." will be your pet phrase for a while. It is very rare that Institutional Heads put their feet down about such things. Yes, talk to the Institutional Head, explain that as you read your project workbook recommendations, you don't see any place where the choice of mentor is anything but the scout's, or is limited to the scout's unit. Explain that you don't understand why just because a relationship was broken with the church leadership it should be broken with the rank-and-file. Then be prepared to listen. After each of you hearing both sides, one of you is going to have to give. Either the IH will have to let that person work with you (either by relaxing his rules within the troop or seeing you transfer to another troop or crew), or you will have to accept his decision and let a less politically polarizing person be your mentor. Proceed cheerfully and courteously. This may be a Paul and Barnabas moment: rough at the time, but looking back, you all may see things work together for good. Good scouting to you.

Welcome. Thanks for your service to our boys. And good luck in your endeavors. Your FB live stream looked cool, but it conked out on me at minute 4. As far as gear for me goes, I just transport scouts and venturers. I wind up collecting new gear after every trip!

Inexpensive? I dunno, I could get a lot of babies sat for what I paid in uniforms, books, and camp fees.Mamma certainly wouldn't have had to burn her fingers on hard tac for my Jambo fees if I'd just stuck with band. Scouts UK may be a one-stop shop, but they aren't just putting anyone behind the counter. That first decade of co-Ed explorers will be bringing their kids in through the door pretty soon. They are set to impress.

Nice. The typical patrol flag around here is somewhat leaner and meaner. It often doubles as someone's walking stick. The dirt and smoke that it collects is part of the mystique. Less swag, more brag, I guess. But you have definitely given your boys the right idea.

If I were to criticize one thing about my SM growing up, it was that he appointed the SPL. (At least I don't recall a vote.) But, like Stosh's 4-patrol troop, patrols were very strong and independent ... camping on opposite sides of the cow pasture. SPL didn't do much except read announcements, fill in rosters, and look out for boys who may be "falling through the cracks." It really was a fun job and not much work. The QM and PL's clocked far more hours on troop business than I ever did.

Let me suggest you advance this on two fronts: 1. Have the adults consult with the troop PLC about if this should count. After all, it is the SPL/PL who should be signing off on 1st class requirements, and if that's not the case now, you all should be moving in that direction. This isn't hard. The SM arranges some time with PL/PLC and the advancement chair. The AC then asks "Guys, I just want to know from you all, how I should record this. Read the requirement, and tell me what you think is fair." 2. Look beyond the participation requirements. Talk to your district or council advancement chair about how other requirements work for scouts with disabilities.The book already has instructions on doing this with the land navigation requirement, but I had to help this boy waive the swimming requirements. Paperwork is involved, and it requires agreement between the boy, his parents, and his physician, but my DAC was extremely helpful in outlining the steps to make it work.

Similarly, my Czech contacts work a similar program. From the parents' point of view it's a necessity because too few parents step up. (Doing so in the past came with a jail scentence. That culture has carried over to the present, but also there are economic challenges.) From the youths point of view, it's just what they do. I don't think it's part of the advancement program. It's more like the apex positions of responsibility. Think Denner to PL to SPL to DL to Camp Staff (half the older youth in a troop come a week early and set up camp for the Cubs, the other half stay late and take down). It wouldn't surprise me if the real indicator of growth in any given program worldwide is correlated with the proportion of older youth "serving down."

I'm not saying calling any BSA staff is unpleasant. I'm just balancing the fun doing that against the fun letting the boy know you're really excited to have him back and want to know about everything he accomplished in his last pack.

We didn't have gangsters so much as camps ... primarily Chevy vs Ford. But, yeah, the kids from the rough part of town were golden. It hit me at a class reunion when one fella (more into athletics as a kid) said "You were so unapproachable back then." Broke my heart that anyone would think that.

I thought one way of making the pack program less "bloated" was via Venturing females and males who could be den chiefs. Based upon what I had learned from Israeli scouts, and what I had known from capable young men and women, I thought this would be a natural opportunity that any scout who wasn't about advancement might want to consider. It got zero traction. One or two of my venturers were counselors in their church's youth program or coached at the YMCA or were on staff at cub camp, but it was too much of a leap for any of them to consider adding one more day a week to their agenda. Furthermore, as much as cub moms & dads admire older scouts, they really don't see them as capable of running a cub program with their assistance. What is second nature in other scout groups around the world just doesn't fly here. I'm hoping the revised cub AoL program allows for better transition into patrols. But, I think the harsh reality is that we don't have enough older youth "serving downward" to the packs they left. If that culture isn't in place, we don't begin to solve the adult problem. If we don't do that, boy scout membership will barely break even. You know, I think parents of young kids are looking to run around less. But the folks who would gripe about running around less might be the same folks who don't or can't do as much volunteering in the first place.