RememberSchiff

Boy Scouts in Virginia helped the Frederick County Sheriff’s office convert a van into an incident response vehicle, they also helped put together a new command post that has satellite service. Boy Scout, Jonathan Williams says this project is part of his path to becoming an Eagle Scout. “It’s really hard getting up to a Life Scout, service hours are the hardest part, but I figured this one would be good because this will help save lives”, Williams said. Sergeant Dave Ellinger helped make the project possible. He says the idea came from their 1033 program which transfers excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies. “They said they had a command bus they were trying to convert over but was too much of a project but they wanted it to go to someplace that would use it. Jonathan was looking for an Eagle Scouts project it would take six or eight weekends to get it done it would have an impact for a long time,” Ellinger said. Both vehicles were fixed from top to bottom with new interior design, computers, radios and more. the boy scouts had the ultimate hands on experience.... Video and more details at source. https://www.localdvm.com/news/virginia/boy-scouts-in-virginia-work-on-a-community-project-with-law-enforcement/ Mod note" This Frederick County Sheriff's office has a solid history of working with scouts and Explorers. Scout Salute.

To paraphrase Captain Ramius . Give him a thumb. One thumb only, please.

Mod note: Please remember this is a Contest not a Survey, your input matters and your vote counts! Thanks, RS P.S. And there will be a SurPrise.

I am looking at other non-profit organizations (4-H, Boys & Girls, Y, Red Cross) for better ideas. It strikes me as odd that the Executive Committee controls and not serves the Executive Board. No oversight. IMO, a see Chapter 11 addressing this, should be interesting. Initial ideas: 1. Fix the inconsistent and confusing nomenclature used in By-Laws! 2. The CSE should be the only member of the Executive Committee serving on Executive Board . CSE may not be Chairman of Executive Board. 3. Big Three downsized to a CSE (business) and Chief Scout (program, PR). 4. Reduce size of Executive Board but raise their meeting quorum to 50% or better (phone, txt, email). 5. Advisory Council should be member-elected (us) , selects Executive Board Members , and presents action items to Executive Committee. My $0.01.

P.S. My understanding from the 2017 Annual Report, (2018 Annual Report did not have this information) please correct me if wrong . Note the Annual Report and By-Laws use different names for committees. Quorums were finally specified in the 2019 By-Laws. National Executive Committee ( called National Council in By-laws) is comprised of 16 National Officers which includes the Big Three. According to By-Laws, quorum is 50%, 8 members. National Executive Board ( called Executive Board in By-laws) is comprised of "no more than 64 regular members", currently around 76 individuals. By-Laws specify members shall include Executive Board (16), Members of Regional Executive Committees and Area Commissioners, Local Council Representatives, Members at Large, Special Members. According to By-Laws, quorum is just 5%, so only 4 members needed. A lot of red flags here. Advisory Council is comprised of about 66 individuals chosen by Executive Board and are mostly from local councils. The Chairman of the Advisory Council serves as a Special Member of above Executive Board.

Hmm, I was not aware of this. Interesting idea.

Sorry about that, OP is now Verdana font . I hope that is more pleasing and web safe where original MS Comic Sans was not. ~ RS

National Executive Committee and National Executive Board too, but it will probably take Chapter 11 to get it done.

We helpful scouter.com moderators were brainstorming marketing slogans to help a fellow scouting forum beset by unhappy members when we soon realized that we too lacked a marketing slogan. What to do? Hire a marketing firm? Not us, we shall have a contest of wit, whimsy, and wisdom among us. The Contest is to write a slogan for scouter.com. Contestants will be any member or moderator of scouter.com Rules: Follow Scout Oath and Law. Only one entry per post (for voting purposes), but you may submit as many entries as you wish. The more the merrier. The Winner will be determined by the most Like votes received by Nov 8, midnight PST. Other votes- Thanks , Up/Down arrows will not be counted. The winner will be named on Nov 9. Prize: We will have a SurPrise . Let the Contest begin

I am not against bringing tech along for safety or to supplement our outdoor program,, however I have a problem bringing a home entertainment system along. If the PLC came up with this idea or other tech ideas (solar panel to recharge phones, ham radio, weather station, game cameras on an outing), IMHO it would have to be within the Outdoor Code, specifically Be considerate in the Outdoors. Another $0.02 from an old fogey who listens to owls ,

Yes I omitted product references in OP. I found "story" while researching weather-rated, wireless speakers for my security system. "Too cold for a manhunt" and "speakers at full volume" in the back-country perplexes me.

Back in the day, we acted shadow creatures using a white sheet and flashlights...or watched the stars. Recently, ten scouts and three leaders from two local Scouts BSA Troops from Montgomery, Alabama embarked on an overnight canoeing adventure,” explained McNew. “We were canoeing part of the Coosa River, which is a local whitewater river in Wetumpka, Ala., and camping on an island. The rule in our troops on normal campouts is that if it's not warm enough to play manhunt in the evening or at night near our campsite, then I’ll show a movie instead… On this particular occasion, McNew explained that since the clearing on the island was so small and they were all packed in so close to the fire pit, there was no way to safely have a campfire, nor room to have a campfire program. “So, instead, an old bed sheet was tied between two trees and two wireless speakers were tied to the trees on either side of the screen so we could watch a movie,” McNew said. “The wireless speakers work so much better than other options in a remote situation like this as there is no discernible lag in audio and they provide true stereo sound. ...Everyone enjoyed watching the movie before heading off to bed. Simple set up and simple tear down.” McNew added that during another recent shakedown hike leading up to his troop’s Philmont trek this summer, he decided to add about three pounds to each Scout's pack to account for some of the crew gear that they would have to carry this summer. “Each time we hiked about nine miles on the Pine Mountain Trail in Georgia with each Scout carrying one of the following: one of five speakers with a battery, the projector, the tripod, or the screen with a battery to power the projector,” McNew explained. “The Scouts were more than happy to carry the extra weight knowing that they'd be watching a movie that night. So we were in a backcountry campsite at least a mile from the nearest other campers with the speakers at full volume surrounding the Scouts watching the movie... Source: https://www.twice.com/the-wire/boy-scouts-of-america-troop-goes-skaa-wireless-when-with-mother-nature

1. Upfront, National needs to respect and trust volunteers. Respect their time and money investment. Respect their privacy. Trust them to do their best in safely delivering the program. 2. Listen and respond to their feedback. 3. Train remembering #1 and #2. My $0.02

YES! When I was a Cub Scout in the 60s we still had arrow points, no plastic beads. No instant recognition either! More about Fun and Do than Bling. When I became a DL and WDL, I dug out the old stuff. We built crystal radios on wood breadboards, made kites from scratch (Cubs were some impressed with my target kite) whittled neckerchief slides and PWD cars, used hand tools, assembled a covered wagon, rode bikes, went to the shelter and walked dogs, climbed trees (that was a requirement back in the day), made Christmas gifts for parents... the new books were just used for parent sign off, not thrifty. Before kids were called "makers", they were called "scouts". Lets get that back. My $0.02

Same Boy Scout troop 175, now with a female Boy Scout troop 1175, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for the third time this past summer. Good information about what makes a strong program - scout lead, adventure, outdoor-experienced (not trained in classroom) leaders ....a little risk goes a long way in building the Scouts’ character. “We’ve engineered risk out of almost everything for teenagers these days,” Mead said. “One of the great things about a Scouting program is that it’s allowed to go into these environments where you don’t know what’s going to happen. We find on these trips, while we do strong safety overlays, it challenges people. You can’t suddenly go home. You are in hostile environments sometimes and you can’t just bail out. That’s an unusual experience.” ~ Scoutmaster Brad Mead “We run these types of trips every summer for our older scouts. We have taken them deep into the Amazon Jungle, sailing down the Belize Reef, exploring through Thailand, Rafting down the Zambezi River (Zambia Africa), SCUBA diving in Honduras, sailing through the Greek islands, and even a cultural expedition in Cuba,” said Scoutmaster Mead. “Properly prepared, teenagers can do extraordinary things. The Scouting BSA program provides those opportunities.” More details of experience and photos at sources: https://www.courant.com/community/simsbury/hc-va-simsbury-boy-scouts-mount-kilimanjaro-20191031-20191029-3t4wrtft5bfjlcrxvi2qzdrd3a-story.html http://simsburytroop175.org/troop-news/simsburys-bsa-troops-175-and-1175-on-top-of-africa/ We are proud of our adult leadership at Troop 175. It’s deep and experienced. Our Adult leaders have camped, climbed, fished, hunted and explored on many expeditions. They are all great teachers. In addition we have a very high participation by the Dads in our Troop and it is not unusual to have 10-15 dads on a trip. No experience is necessary and if you were never a Scout as a boy this is your second chance to learn the ropes. We have a Dads/Leaders Patrol, the “Usual Suspects,” on each trip and we eat very well (a source of some pride and a fair bit of competition) and share a lot of experiences as Dads and as professionals from all walks of life. Our Troop is Boy Led and our Boy Leaders are selected by the adult leadership based on their performance and ability to lead. The senior patrol leaders and patrol leaders share their wisdom and pass on their knowledge to the younger Scouts through our trip and advancement programs. The Boy Scouts is one of the very few organizations where boys can be put in leadership positions at ages as young 12. Good leaders often appear early and the fun of Scouting is watching them "take the lead". Troops are only as good as the boys who want to step up and take charge and the adult volunteers who are there to assist. This years boy leaders are:.... https://sites.google.com/site/simsburyboyscouts175/about/troop-leadership (older link, likely before girl membership ~RS)

I have wondered if there was an earlier radio net(s) similar to scouter.com K2BSA Radio Station

Hmm, I wonder if we could replace World Citizenship merit badge requirement with a WOSM scouting organization badge of a scout's choice. Sure, there will be some logistics and safety issues or maybe we piggyback with online course providers EdX, Coursera, etc.

LOL

Agreed. My recommendation, go back to old Tenderfoot requirements with its simple focus of Being Prepared for first campout. Get rid of Scout rank. All kids who join are scouts who start work on Tenderfoot requirements. Another $0.02

My SM and ASM were no nonsense WW2 veterans. While not an official BSA policy, in my troop, if a scout could not achieve achieve the little asked in Tenderfoot requirements quickly, why are you there? This was common with other troops at the time, particularly those with waiting lists. This may seem unkind today, but my SM was not there to babysit, he was there to develop first class scouts. You didn't waste his time . I took a long time to earn First Class too. Somehow, I eventually passed Morse Code after failing, trying Semaphore and failing, and trying Morse code again and again. I was particularly unskilled at understanding messages. Meanwhile, my Great Lakes (he said it was a Scout camp ) trained father tapped away at 20 wpm. My $0.02

Update from Narragansett Council (MA): Alert: Oct. 28, 2019 - The Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut Depts of Public Heath have identified numerous communities in Southeastern New England as at serious risk for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). All overnight camping at Council properties will be cancelled until the first hard frost. Stay up to date for camp closings, program updates, and safety guidelines updated each Monday at NCBSA.org/EEE.

Interesting ideas. Back in the 60's, most troops required that scouts earn Tenderfoot as a prerequisite for their first campout. Not hard to do and the name made sense "Tenderfoots on their first campout , where they are working on Second Class " . The speed of earning Tenderfoot was also gauge of Scout Spirit and Patrol Method. If the fault of not earning Tenderfoot, in say 2-3 months, was the scout's, he was usually asked to leave. The Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class were , in part, a common sense skills progression of outdoor skills. Every scout started at the beginning and no scout wanted to be a Tenderfoot or Second Class for long, they wanted to be First Class scout. So did their SM and BP. Your experienced scout would advance quickly. IMHO, the whole "Scout" rank/non rank is unnecessary confusion for a non-existent problem. Every kid who joins is a scout. Skills mastery was demonstrated by doing and not assumed absorbed from x number of campouts/overnights. My $0.02,

Hiking through the religions of Rochester (MN) On Saturday, around 100 people... took part in the eighth Ten Commandments Hike hosted by Gamehaven Council and the Boy Scouts of America. The daylong, three-mile hike through Rochester’s faith communities aims to help the scouts and their adults develop an appreciation for diversity, said Pam Legried, a registrar with Boy Scouts of America Gamehaven Council. As part of the day, faith leaders or representatives from each congregation gave short presentations about one of the commandments at each of the faith locations. The 10 stops on the hike were Christ United Methodist Church, Zumbro Lutheran Church, First Presbyterian, Calvary Episcopal, Masjed Abubaker Mosque, Salvation Army Church, Holy Anargyroi Greek Church, B’nai Israel Synagogue, Church of Christ and the Rochester Mennonites. More at source: https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/hiking-through-the-religions-of-rochester/article_ae4a6cca-f832-11e9-8c04-6fa977d66004.html

Why not just Google his name as I did. He may not be currently in that position but he was in the past. I am more interested in his comments as a long time scouter than who the messenger was.

Negative feedback on fees increase continues from members on Bryan on Scouting and the New York Post The once-storied organization sent out a notice to leaders that the registration fee will nearly double from $33 to $60 on Jan. 1, blaming the increase on the rising “cost of insurance.” “Everybody knows what this is really all about,” fumed Charles Greinsky, vice president of the Staten Island Council Boy Scouts of America, who has been involved in scouting since 1963. “This is about the pedophiles and the insurance we have to pay because of these pedophiles and the fact that the Scouts knew about many of them for years.” Greinsky called the hike “horrendous,” charging that the scandal-scarred Scouts have been “mismanaged at the national level” for years. “The Scouts have been fighting for survival. There’s been a dwindling membership. … I’m afraid that scouting is on the verge of extinction,” he said. Source: https://nypost.com/2019/10/26/boy-scouts-membership-fees-nearly-double-in-wake-of-sex-abuse-lawsuits/