RememberSchiff

All turned ended up as time-share type sales pitches... Hah, very good analogy. Very few, less than a handful in ten years, from our troop have attended any of the National HA camps. The rest, including my sons, decided to be thrifty - shop local and save their money for college. Local council high adventure camps are more affordable. Alaska Ultimate High Adventure http://scoutingalaska.org/alaska-ultimate-high-adventure/ North Idaho High Adventure - http://www.nwscouts.org/camping/north-idaho-high-adventure-program/23243 Maine High Adventure - http://mainehighadventure.org/ Some OA Camp Guides have a complete list or try your luck with Google.

I thought National had stopped accepting money from tobacco companies. Has anyone seen this RDRN program in their local councils? In a letter to Robert Gates, director of the Boy Scouts of America and a former U.S. Secretary of Defense, the senators urged the organization to drop RDRN and "work with public health advocates about more effective steps you could take to discourage boy scouts from smoking than the ineffective RDRN program." Deron Smith, communications director for the Boy Scouts of America, said the organization would review the senators' letter but took no position on their request. "The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, including helping young people live a healthy lifestyle," Smith said. As part of a larger program, the Boys Scouts use RDRN "to send a clear, unambiguous smoking prevention message," he said. "Beyond that, we look forward to receiving the letter." link http://www.newstimes.com/local/artic...om-5923587.php

They are Boy Scouts, and are trained in first aid,†she (mom) says. “They were so good about it. They jumped right in to help; one called 9-1-1 and the other starting calling my family and friends.†The scouts brought washcloths and helped to clean everyone and everything up, and just kept things under control until paramedics arrived. Once everyone was assessed they were brought to Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, PA where mom and baby are both doing well. Nice Thanksgiving story. http://www.crozerkeystone.org/news/press-releases/2014/november/dmch-patient-gives-birth-at-home-with-the-help-of-her-boy-scout-/

Mergers save money, not members. Another problem is too many clueless adults in leadership roles. My $0.02,

Creepy. Well maybe Nooyi can sell blacktop or a new roof to the parent while she is calling.

This is rather silly. I cannot recall following a job interview where a HR person said to me, "Oh, we are waiting to hear from your mother before we make a decision."

New Council patch

Oops , sorry about that.

- Hang with your friends at troop meetings - Get a break from less than happy home situations - First exposure to cool, interesting activities - first aid, shooting,.. Today if I or my sons just wanted outdoors, Scouts would not be a top choice as there are school outing clubs, AMC, Outward Bound,...

Update: West Virginia voters approved the West Virginia Nonprofit Youth Organization Tax Exemption Amendment With the approval, the amendment requires the Legislature to enact laws to protect local and regional businesses from “unfair competition and unreasonable loss of revenue caused by the nonprofit organization use of the tax exemption.†http://wvmetronews.com/2014/11/05/voters-approve-boy-scout-amendment/

So a Scoutmaster run, Eagle mill troop. Scout is prevented from experiencing non-camping, Scout activities. From my experience, by the time a scout matures and realizes his troop will not correct these flaws, he has turned 13 or 14 and leaves scouting all together to follow his interests. My read is that becoming Eagle is not your son's interest (at least right now), rather Dad's. This SM sees this and the friends and so has the upper hand. You will not be able to fix the troop. Find another troop or activity. Explore other nearby troops or youth groups that have the activities your son likes and see if you can manage an invite. Say Troop B is going to the Air & Space Museum and needs at least 3 more scouts to attend, do you think you and your buddies would like to go? You would really be helping Troop B as otherwise they might have to cancel. Suggest to your son that he move up the timetable and look at other activities inline with his interests. Some scout camps now have provisional day camps for scouts. Drop him off in the morning, pickup in the afternoon. Though rare, your son can be a member of more than one troop. Divorced parents sometimes have this arrangement. Never seen it within the same council. The monthly troop activity need not be camping. Some PLC's plan community service or a day outing instead. And then there are fundraisers. There is a tendency with control freak SM's (coaches too) to over-schedule and have attendance requirements in an attempt to prevent scout's from straying into the other activities in his world and leaving the herd, I mean troop. Totally wrong-headed. Support your son's needs and interests. Keep it fun for both of you, these times will not come again. My $0.02

I hear what your saying. This is becoming a dog mess waiting to be stepped in. Here's an interesting read "What are a church’s responsibilities when they host Boy Scouts?" http://www.churchadminpros.com/scouts.htm

Strange there is no information collected about unit finances at chartering. For example does the CO or unit have an EIN, Who is the treasurer.. Where is the unit checking account(s)? What unit financial information should be documented at rechartering? Unless there is a downsizing of the IRS, I expect increased IRS oversite into charitable non-profits. If the FBI can ask for membership information from a Council, I imagine the IRS can ask for unit financial information from Council Another $0.02

B.P. must have visited Iowa.

For scouts, just a functional, full size, square troop necker and a scout baseball cap. Rank can be on slide (woggle) and POR on cap. Troop performance (wicking) t-shirt. Merit badge sash. No special uniform shirt, pants, belt, or socks. Done. For SM, ASM's, just a full size, square troop necker and a Smoky campaign hat or ball cap. Troop performance (wicking) t-shirt. MIght go along with a "utility belt" which had a first aid kit, cellphone/tech. Made in USA. Thrifty, simple, fun. For those who want a military-like uniform, there is CAP, Young Marines, JROTC,,. My $0.02

Not all CO's (e.g. fraternal organizations) incorporate and hence have no EIN. Whether this is done legally is between the CO and the state and IRS. For example, as I understand if the fraternal organization had a fundraiser then it would loose its exemption and would be required to have an EIN. Anyway, that's my understanding another $0.02.

Something like this. I use humor to put scout at ease. I do try to be accurate regarding his name and his unit. [video=youtube;jdWO9ozir1Y]

Show me a committee with only one vote and I'll show you a one person committee.

Granted dual signatures are not perfect but it is still better than allowing the Treasurer to easily withdraw money as if it is his or her personal checking account. Another consideration, if the second signature is forged or if there is two person conspiracy, criminal intent is clear and prosecution is easier. Besides as mentioned earlier, dual signatures for unit checking accounts is BSA policy. Showing cancelled check images to your CC is another imperfect but good idea. Imperfect as the money is already gone and second those images can be edited. Both imperfect measures demonstrate the Committee's honest attempt to protect the troop's assets, which is after all the Committee's, not just the treasurer or CC, responsibility. Another $0.02,

Suppose you wrote a fraudulent check to yourself or others, without dual signatures required, how soon would this be discovered if at all? Withholding/diverting a cash deposit is another concern even with receipts, it would be helpful to post an IOU deposit transaction to bank at time of receipt. We don't use accounting software apps; we are a small unit and as noted training is a hurdle we don't need to filling the Treasurer position. Another $0.02

Mostly the only time we see cash is during fundraisers and that is documented by the sales transaction and resulting deposit. We did have a cash receipt book a long time ago. A scout paid $x for dues or campout and a receipt was generated. Maybe a practice we should bring back for the few transactions where checks are not used. Or have these methods been replaced by credit cards, PayPay, Apple Pay, BitCoin? Our unit can't handle any of those methods.

Not entirely well, some checks would sit for months in the SM's attache case. Some parents insisted that payments be deposited after meetings, so the Treasurer got in the habit of collecting payments at Troop and Committee meetings and then an after-hours deposit at the bank. This worked for most situations but fundraising which often requires change and occurs at different times and with different adults remains problematic.

Can I come? Ask about rabies and other sick animals and what scouts should do. How to be safe in the outdoors (hiking, in water, in a boat). How to stay found. Ask about non-native species (boas, piranha), invasive plants (how is DisneyWorld (and other zoos) allowed to plant bamboo?). Killer bees, fire ants. Ask about protected species (manatee) Ask about how to get a fishing license and the rules. Ask how scouts can help dept. Impact of weather and pollution on wildlife. Very cool. Recommend scouts/parents write down their questions in advance on 3x5 to make efficient use of time.