qwazse

I think Venturing #s are still white on a red field. (Even on the new shirt which everyone avoids buying.) Can anybody find a color guide for venturers? I'm terrible at navigating these sites.

BT: In any case, I'm going to have to do a lot of hand-holding and peacemaking in the meantime. Yep. That's about it. And I don't mean this to be negative, but there will always be some kind of fence-mending going on in any unit you join. The good news is that 9 out of 10 times those fences do get mended. And, my solution with chatty folks (in the same language as mine or different) is offer them a job to do. That puts an end to a bunch of useless conversation, and usually starts a few meaningful ones.

I think LB has a point, but E92 is probably a little overcautious. Have your son run it by his scoutmaster. He'll be more aware of local custom. Remember it's your council that reviews Eagle applications. The district advancement chair may have a "rule of thumb" about how many signatures with the same last name would give rise to more scrutiny. I don't think location will be an issue. The scoutmaster will probably take your word that they are registered in another council.

Our crew is pay-as-you go. Some venturers are only shelling out $17 a year to stay on our E-mail list. (Covers rechartering expenses.) Others are spending thousands for those high adventures.

As long as the separate and unequal outdoor programs that the GSUSA cranks out persists in depriving our daughters of premier experience, every other exec in the BSA will see the merits of a co-ed program. I doubt that many of them are up to promoting it. Don't know if Bob is currently in favor or against. P.S. - I don't think the inequality in outdoor program is entirely the fault of the GS-USA. I learned after talking to some elderly ladies that we have a whole culture of moms who lost that pioneer spirit.

Your adults need to have their own patrol 600' away from the other troop! Have pan polishing contests: see if a patrol can get their gear cleaner than the Adults'. At COH's have a troop award (maybe a travelling trophy) for the boy with the most counselors (i.e. # of different signatures on blue cards). Somehow get it into the dad's head that his boy is missing out on a whole lot of opportunity.

Floated JTE by my crew, and they were pretty much okay with it. I'll probably have them complete it in October by way of self-evaluation. Won't bother about the ribbon unless my UC makes his appearance around then.

Hey Bart, we low-landers have more air to slice through! But you are right about newbies and weight. I had one little sister of a lodge chief take her first hike with us, and I wasn't paying attention to how much gear she was volunteering to carry. At the first incline she was almost walking in retrograde! I grabbed her pack and it was twice as heavy as mine. Had to call my officers back, circle the group together and load balance. I was used to scouts who (being younger, and male) talk a lot of smack about who's pack is heaviest. They usually sort themselves out.

I sent off to the office of Health & saftey the concern about med forms.. I asked 3 questions.. Q. Is part C required for Woodbadge if Woodbadge is broken into under 72 hour weekends? Now, MT, why on earth would you go asking a question like that? Next time just request, "Can you please give our volunteers more work to do and make sure they spend another $10 - $20 to do it?" There's no box on part C for "Watching Movies on a perfectly good afternoon when you could be out fishing".

art - My daughter and I have the same tug-of-war with the kelly green venturing shirt. Because uniforming is not a method of venturing, and our crew uses t-shirts for uniforms, it's hard for her to accept that in situations where she is representing the council, the class-A uniform allows her to command respect. Without it, her colleagues become the "invisible officer's association." Yes the way the SM's handled it was rude. But when your scouts are representing their lodge, they want to do so in a way that commands the most possible respect from the units they visit. The SM's that don't say anything may still judge your boys. OA reps that look sharp for those few minutes in front of a troop or roundtable may actually get SM's who work a troop's schedule around lodge events. Those who don't may get boys who earn a sash and then disappear. So see what you can do about getting these boys uniform pants or shorts, socks, and workboots that are clean but look like they know the meaning of service.

When her daughters joined our crew, one mom was very nervous about backpacking with us. She felt she would drag us down because she was always left behind on family hikes. She was greatly encouraged on her first hike when the other adult leader and I stayed with her the whole time. We'd catch up with the youth at any crossing. It took a lot to convince her that really was our pace and we weren't doing her any favors! Her husband, a cross country runner, simply moved the girls along at a faster clip than most of us would care to hike. That pace suited most of my crew since they were all conditioning for sports year-round. To keep them in eyesight or earshot, I made sure I took them on poorly marked trails that would require a little "stop and think" on their part.

My SM and I recently decided, "we take bad kids." So hearing dish on a boy transferring isn't an issue. Sometimes its the boy who politely transferrs from troop X that will cause more grief than the boy expelled from troop Y. Regardless, our advancement committee chair would ask for the boys troopmaster records. Why? Because it saves typing and she's a nice lady so she's good at getting stuff like that. Regardless, the SM or an ASM would look at the boys handbook and ask him about the identity each person who signed on it. Why? Because we frown on requirements signed by relatives (or other adults) and want to see if the boy really knows the skills needed to earn his next rank. We may ask the boy up-front what kind of trouble he's going to cause us. Why? Because that way the boy will know that we do "cheerful" and "friendly" even when we know it might not be easy. We won't have much else to ask, because my experience is that anything bad that can be said about a boy will make its way to us faster than we could request it.

Not jumping on your case SP. E73, talk to your council about getting as many of your shooting instructors NRA certified. This is a huge bottleneck for any scouts who want to go shooting as a troop or a patrol. It is possible that your council will require NRA certification before accepting an individual as a MB counselor. And, brace yourself, similar certification from the NAA may soon be required from any expert on bowstrings and fletchings. As for the details: somebody asked someone else to make a rule. And this is what you get. It's not getting changed back without much pain. But, if you think it will be better for the kids, start the crusade by giving a call to the national office. (Now everyone who's tried this can jump!)

Tell your DE your troop hasn't saturated (reached all the 12-17 year olds in town who could be scouts), and because you'll jump through paperwork hoops for him, he'll jump through recruiting hoops for you. Your boys need to do a couple of p.r. service projects. Here are some ideas: - Build a pioneering "gatway" on the roadside into town. Weave "Welcome to ___, Troop ###" in the lashings. - Help the veterans place flags on Memorial day. - Hold a father-son event, like a fishing contest. - Provide color guard at the opening High School Baseball game. - Get a picture of your boys and the SM at a campout in the local paper. - Offer to hold a flag retirement service on Flag Day. Have your boys pick their three favorites and go for it. (Pick three because in all likelihood two will fall through.) These can also involve your Pack. The point is, you want people in town asking their boys (or young ladies asking their boyfriends -- it happens), "Why aren't you in that troop?"

Marriage has its adavantages. One of those is learning to say "I'm sorry" -- even when your sure you're right. Your "English only" adults owe the chatty Polish moms an apology. Not because what you think would help them and their boys "get with program" was necessarily wrong, but because you really do want them to feel welcome and your complaints about the language made things worse, not better. You do want things to get better, right? Then encourage each Anglo mom to invite each Polish mom over for dinner, or to go dress shopping, or a simple play date. You may offer to take their husbands (or other male family, they're single moms) fishing. It takes years, sometimes, for people to feel comfortable talking in a language they have never learned from their youth. You could offer $1000 and they wouldn't get it. Offer friendship, and they'll do it in a couple of months. Besides, that's the only way you're gonna find out if there's any real dish about the Cubmaster!

Yep, this would have come in handy for youth to know on several occasions. But, it's not that the youth that I'm thinking of weren't trained -- so, dS15, your real goal is to bring it the YPT points home. I think you tell the kids up front: "I'm teaching you straight from the book because this is what we adults have to learn. You need to know how to expect us to behave, but you also need to know how YOU need to handle things." If the camp director is around to lay out how he would implement YPT among staff, it would help nail your talking points to something practical.

Yep, your troop can block advancement on so many levels until the boy shapes up. Nuff said. Mom's family Eagles? Ask her to call Uncle or Grampa and see if they'll come camp with the boy.

So, Scout Mom, your son "outsmarted" the bureaucracy without knowing. Star and Life ranks are managed by your troop, so if the troop decides it needs an LNT Instructor, and a boy who has been trained "unofficially" steps up and serves his unit, it's an official position. The Eagle application, requires the boy to report: - His date of birth, - MB's earned in his scouting career, - Date Life Rank Was Earned, - An approved and completed service project while Life, - Nationally approved positions of responsibility held while Life. - A completed Eagle Scoutmaster Conference A council has a responsibility to validate all of those before forwarding to National. So if your boy is doing a unique POR, make sure you and your SM are clear with your council's advancement chairman that everything is on the up-and-up.

Well, thanks everyone for taking this thread down a beaten path. We all agree that Eagle has it's perks. Let's just keep in mind that our goal is not to give boys "perks", but award boys who measure up.

My opinion differs from E92's. Be very careful of offering to do anything "just this once". You'll waste no more time if your SPL's first PLC is a little rocky and you coach him afterword (or, give the SPL the first 15 minutes of the meeting and ask him to hand it over to you for the last 5). Think of it this way: your SPL has 12 months (maybe 6 if you have your way with biannual elections) let's assume that that means 50 meetings (including crackerbarrels at camp) and maybe 25 PLC's. (Those are large numbers, but I'm rounding.) Consider every one of those where he's not front-and-center as a squandered leadership opportunity. One PLC where you are in charge is 4% of the PLC's that you miss out on listening and guiding your boy. (That percentage is the minimum. It'll be larger if numbers of meetings are fewer.) I may catch flack for telling a youth to skip the "Demonstrate" in EDGE, but keep in mind that your SPL has seen meetings before, he just needs to find the style that will work with his PL's. And, as you may know from my other posts, I believe a book in the hand can be very enabling. Enjoy the JASM gig. I'm sure you'll do a fine job.

I can imagine a situation where a boy may request FOS. For example, if and FOS-supported summer camp was his only vacation and maybe he went on a campership, this could be his way of "giving back" or shining a light on a program that brought him to where he was. Eagles have full reign over the format of the ceremony. In principle, most boys stick to whatever traditions their troop has. I'm glad yours was a touching moment, and I hope many more boys with think to invite you to theirs!

After several incidents which lead folks in our troop to part ways -- and an inability to get certain scouts to go check out the new troop -- I think we get the Calvin! Oldest son fessed up to mom that during a backpacking trip he found himself explaining to his amased college buddies "well this how my dad taught me ..." Gimme points for not replying to mom, "See isn't it good we didn't waste vacation time on cruises?"

ES2010, Here's the "dirty little secret" about boy-led. As soon as it comes together, that group of boys moves up or on or out and you're starting all over again. On the other hand, that's what makes it fun. For example, our SM assigned patrols. For a couple months they would sound of Patrol 1, Patrol 2, Patrol 3. Every time, I would yell, "Are we in cub scouts? Dens have numbers, not patrols!" It took them a while to catch on. Still no flags. But at least the PL's are starting to work a little better together. They actually have appetizing meals planned for the next campout. For your meetings, I have two words: Dodge Ball or maybe these two: British Bulldog or more generally: Opening Activity Here's another: Sing (Do guys still do that? You know, it's what those little folks inside the MP3's do when they're not cussing.) I have little patience for meetings that go over 20 minutes, so there's no reason to expect your boys to tolerate 90 well. You literally could accomplish a PLC in part of the time you have troop meetings. So give your boys a chance to have a little fun before flags. At the 60-minute mark, dismiss the troop (younger boys could have SM conferences or boards of review while they wait for their parents to come), pull your youth leaders aside (as JASM you may have to bring a chocolate bar or some other officers privilege) and do a "what went well, what didn't go well, what should we do differently" review of the meeting. You'll have to put your opinions on the back-burner for this, the goal is just to get your key guys listening to each other. After a couple of these "on the fly" PLC's, you may get the boys figuring out if the "two knots a night" routine needs revamping.

And this is why we can't have an English exam for citizenship, too few of us know how to speak it in the first place! Actually, this happens in other languages too. For a while I lived in a town in Italy where the word for "little boy" or "little girl" was a patent obscenity in standard Italian. Other Italians seemed used to this peculiarity, but for the folks who learned Italian someplace else it was mortifying hearing the mama's shout F-s, come home dinners ready!

May not be your case, but I know some folks who saw their "you're-my-only-unit UC" as intrusive ... sort of an SM-emeritus. Probably if that fella had 3 other units to attend to, he could have balanced out that impression. On the other hand, the SM may have just been taking things a little too seriously. Don't know how you guys would factor any of that into the numbers game!