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My sons resemble that comment! Still, procrastination isn't all that hard. So, just because it takes you years, doesn't make it a challenge. I've generally found whenever a boy needs to overcome some head-game, there's the challenge, that mind-over-matter is different for every boy: That first lean into the cliff face -- trusting your rope for the first time! Holding that mask on your face. That first quarter-mile swim. Searching the bottom of the cold, murky lake. Shooting sports was rough for me ... except for archery. The staff was a great guy who gave me the hints I needed. Even so, I had to go home and shoot all year before I could steady my arm enough to qualify. Decades later, his wife was in my wood badge patrol. Finally got to thank him for it. Took into adulthood for me to figure out firearms. That 20 miler? Hardest step is the first. But, I've never heard a scout who took the badge complain about it. A day with your buddy having lunch someplace cool -- who could ask for more? The book-work. Filling that first sheet of paper can be soul-crushing. Astronomy if you live where cloudy nights outnumber clear! Socking away funds to earn that MB in a "big ticket" way.

OH. No! Our councils wouldn't notice us taking part in your event. If we were to host such an event, we might expect a knock at our door. It would be, for example, your district or county asking for a piece of your pie!

More here: http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/06/24/ask-expert-isnt-camping-night-camping-mb/ This source says that the other long term trips don't count at all. Taken to extreme, scouts could be motivated to just go home mid-week and gnome back the next day ... Thus getting at least 5 nights out of each summer camp! @@skeptic's approach could allow a boy to get six nights out of the first summer camp and the remaining 14 out of the next seven. I doubt that any counselor has crossed paths with such extreme cases.

I'd count them if I were the kid's MBC.

I'm basing my prediction on an observation of the COs in our area that field coed crews. Western PA's conservative women are hardly demure. Having sent a daughter to school in the mid southwest, I understand that isn't the case everywhere,

I think it's out of a belief that we have something magical. Those of us on the inside think we're merely capitalizing on the inherent easy-to-please good nature of young boys. Folks on the outside think we've accumulated years of privelage in a society that largely believes boys should be in the woods, and that figures girls don't have time for such shenanigans. We have, if you will, a brain trust. My 90 year old aunt recalls a Campfire Girls program that put her under canvas for multiple weeks through the summer in a program chock full of Indian lore and lots of hikes in the Catskills. Somewhere between then a now, Americans got it into their heads that girls just don't need that sort of thing. Some folks think BSA is uniquely positioned to set things aright.

I'll let folks who've experienced this first-hand share links to details. In general ... First of all, there's paperwork (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf). Councils take interest in successful events design for participants from outside the units' community. They "offer" to supply a professional for your event. (Sometime this is actually quite good. Other times, meh.) They professional will strongly suggest a portion of the proceeds to go back to council. Therefore, he/she will expect expect you to raise the fee sufficiently to meet that earnings target.

Makes sense from a mom who has not tried to give her girl the same opportunities through the GS/USA as her boys had through the BSA. What your argument boils down to is "This is not BSA's problem to solve." And, it's a solid one. Except for that third point of the scout law.

The one the boy won't even try!!!

Although the website by @@perdidochas will probably help you, you may also want to look up a real person in the "contact us" page on http://www.boyscoutsla.org/. They might be able to connect you with several people who have the kind of program you would like to be in. You would join BSA as an adult. And filling out an adult application does result in a background check. For most young people that's no big deal. But the paperwork may slow things down. That's why talking to someone face-to-face will be helpful.

It's good to see this up an running again. So, from last year's Jambowlree. How much of the proceeds went to your scouting program? Any idea how many scouts were supported as a result? I ask for a several reasons: First, you might attract a few more teams if they knew how much of their $8 went to scouting. Second, someone else might want to try this with their favorite sport, and the financials may be a deciding factor. Thirdly, fundraising from scouting activities on this side of the pond draws the attention of our councils, and where we are told the checks should go can get "interesting."

I believe you believe that. However there is no logic in unisex movements per se attracting a more liberal movement. For example, the pro-life movement, NRA, and many other social "conservative" lobbies have benefited from attracting as many women as men. It is entirely possible that, seeing a program that attracts and supports young men and women in practicing duty to God and Country, conservative CO's would be drawn back to the BSA.

What I think worked well for us is that I brought a couple boys (brothers, it turned out) from our troop to the den meeting. After introductions, the dad and I took all the parents to one room and left the scouts to talk to the Webelos. My thinking: no matter how much of a fun guy I am ... those boys are five times more fun to talk to on their bad days. All of those Cubs crossed over to a neighboring troop, but this year we decided to merge. And although the adults are making that difficult, the boys are doing fine. And the older brother who visited that den was just elected SPL. (We're ignoring any concerns about paperwork to be processed or numbers on sleeves.)

The "issue" here, is that some activist women no longer find "home" in an organization that has adopted feminist ideals. (I am referencing feminism here with the utmost respect.) The post-modern popular "ideal" of womanhood for young women with a passion for scouting is much different than the revolutionaries of the last century would have ever predicted. It's more Sacajawea than Sanger.

I knew that I was an Eagle when my project was complete to my satisfaction ... Including a three page workbook of one hand drawing and two typewritten sheets, single-sided triple spaced. Everything that followed was perfunctory.

I up-thumbed so DR's reputation will remain unsullied.

oops. Also posted the same link on the other thread. Sorry for the mess.

Also here http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/us/girls-in-california-are-latest-to-seek-to-become-boy-scouts.html

I assist the SM, so my ideas take a back seat. But I try to generate as many opportunities as possible for the boys to be more independent an responsible than they were last month. All this stuff is a "two steps forward, one step back" kind of thing.

Honestly, @@Eagle94-A1, you're doing a fine job. Any knit-picking is for other newbies in the room. Keep in mind that only Life scouts need PoR's. Sometimes it's better to give a bunch of scouts specific projects, and let the offices go to who the boys in the respective patrols decide they want to follow. There's no reason why a boy with Scout rank couldn't be a PL.

I believe so. For reference, below is Mamma's recipe. My siblings just unearthed it ... written in the back cover of the Searchlight Cook Book, labeled "Waffles": The proportions are hers.They differ from other Mediterranean recipies in that there is a lower proportion of sugar -- yielding a product that is more chewy than crunchy. The instructions are mine (from warm memories of working the stove in the basement with Dad while listening to the ball game on the radio). 1 C shortening 2 C sugar 10 eggs 2 t salt 10 t baking powder 5 T vanilla 2 T anise (optional) 10 C flour Combine ingredients in the order listed. Beat dough until smooth. Chill until ready to use. On a stove stop or propane burner. (Confession: I've been too chicken to try this on wood fires.) Heat a well-seasoned iron until water drops vaporize in about 2 seconds. (Don't know if that changes with altitude.) Scoop 1-2 teaspons of dough into a ball. Insert into iron. Squeeze about 10 seconds. Release for another 10 seconds. (The dough should hold the iron sufficiently tight.) Flip iron and heat from the other side. Heat for another 20 seconds. Open iron and drop cookie onto a cooling tray. They are stack-able after about a minute. Adjust the timing to your preferred level of brownness. Or, if you didn't season your iron properly, use a fork to pick out the bits of cookie in all of the grooves! Wipe the iron down with your favorite veggie oil, and sacrifice a few dough balls to lift the grit from the grooves. (Actually, I learned to like those gnarly cookies -- they weren't sequestered to the cookie jars.) I think this gets you about 4-6 dozen. Since there's nobody to listen to a ball game with anymore, I usually just make a half batch, and can knock it out in about an hour.