resqman

Why can't you iron your switch backs? I iron mine on the hot cotton setting with steam. No problems. Been ironing both my sons and mine for about a year.

"I was trying to find out are they professionals that teach this or volunteers? If volunteers, why does it cost as much as it does? In my Council it looks like what's covered in the cost of Wood Badge are "food, training materials, a hat, copyright fees, supplies, insurance and recognition." They do the training on 2 weekends, and it's held in the park our Council owns. Anyway, I was just curious what costs actually cover. Maybe my question needs to go to my Council instead." I am confused. You quote the description of what the fees cover. Food for two weekends, class materials, insurance, hat, recogintion and books. The instructors are all volunteers. They are other scouters who have taken the course. It was also mentioned if you have a financial hardship, most WB courses & councils have a scholarship program. Many troops cover a portion of the cost. Some troops require the student to pay all costs up front and reimburse 50% after the class. Some troops cover the cost of all adult training. How much would you typically budget for food per person for an adult patrol camping out Fri nite, all day Sat and 2 meals on Sunday? Include two snacks. $30, $40, $50? Double that and that would be a large portion of the WB cost since the course is over two weekends.

A common place to put all the temporary patches is on a patch blanket. The scout store sells both a red fleece blanket and a red wool blanket. I beleive both are available with a yellow BSA universal symbol silk screened on one corner. My scout store also sells blue, red, and green fleece blankets with the Eagle medal, OA logo, or Woodbadge logo embroidered on one corner. Scouts in other countries have a tradition of wearing the blanket around campfires to help stay warm. The patches stimulate conversation. Some have cut a slit in the blanket and whip stiched the raw edges to keep the blanket from unraveling. The slit allows the head to pass through the blanket and be worn like a poncho. You could also place a row of button holes down one side and buttons down the other side to allow the closing of the blanket into a tube shape to be used as sleeping bag liner. As a boy 30 years ago, our troop allowed boys to sew the patches on the back of the BSA red wool jacket. The current insignia guide limits patches to one large patch on the back of the red wool jacket. It can be a patch from one of the three high adventure bases or the OA patch. The Philmont bull, Seabase Shark, or the Northern Tier Loon can be worn on the shoulder. The scout store also sells a 3 ring binder with plastic pages. The pages are divided into pockets to accept patches. There are different kind of pages. One page style has pockets designed for council strips. One page style has pockets with approximately 4" squares for a variety of patches. The patches can be stored in the plastic pages so are protected from grimy hands. They can easly be inserted or removed to allow for trading. The 3-ring binder includes two suitcase style handles to allow for easy carrying to patch trading sessions. The scout store also sells shadow box frames. They sell one with a tan shirt material back and one with a blue shirt material back. Both of these have shirt pockets sewn onto the back. The idea is to represent a typical scout uniform and allow display of most of the badges/awards earned as a scout. I made one by buying a shadow box frame from the craft store and using the back of my sons Cub Scout shirt for the liner of the back of the frame. I removed the pocket and Boy Scouts of America stripe from the shirt and sewed them on to the cloth before gluing to the frame back. I choose a frame larger than the one at the scout store. It hangs in my sons room with all his Cub Scout badges. Very cool. I created a similar shadow bow with my Explorer shirt and patches earned as a teen. Temporary badges can be displayed in shadow box frames. I have a large piece of red felt, approximately 4' square, that my grandmother sewed all my temporary patches on. The idea was to make a wall hanging. It is stored in a closet. The idea is a basically a patch blanket to hang on the wall.

I understand the desire to discuss the merits of the knot but the whole arguement is a non-starter. It is not an offical knot and should not be worn on the uniform. Not by anyone, anytime. Period. End of discussion. How can we expect scouts and scouters to wear the uniform correctly if we don't first set the example? We should first look at our own uniform and make sure that all the patches are in the correct location, correct orientation, and we are only wear patches that are approved to be worn by the BSA insignia guide. Let's make sure we are not wearing too many of some patches, like a string of quality unit awards. Let's make sure we have correct orientation, for instance approved knots have a right and left, an up and down. If you only wear the approved patches in the correct location with the correct orientation, then this knot has no bearing.

Was in Cub scouts one year. Boring. Webelos was better. Earned AOL and den moved up to Boy Scouts. Earned Life and joined an Explorer Post at age 14. Earned Eagle and stayed in until went off to college. My Dad was ASM while in the troop and Asst. Post Advisor while in Explorers. He became the Post Advisor when I went to college and kept the Post alive for several years. 20 odd years later I encouraged my oldest boy to join. He joined in May as a Tiger. Summer activities were limited. He quit and took up sports by mid fall. 4 years later, younger son started as a Wolf. I became den leader and later WDL. All members of the den earned AOL and moved on to troops. Son is tenderfoot after 8 months and I am an ASM. During the 20 odd year gap between scouts I joined a volunteer fire department. I moved and joined a different department. Earned my EMT. Once kids came along I took a break for a couple years. I missed belonging to something so went looking for a Search & Rescue team. Joined a rescue squad that had a SAR team. The rescue squad also performed Trench, Confined Space, Building Collapse, Rope, Swiftwater, and for a while Hazardous Materials response. They dropped Haz Mat and added a Dive team. The chief is an Eagle scout. It was a group of mostly males who wore uniforms, met regularly to practice skills, earned certifications, were awarded patches, provided community service, and went camping and hiking (SAR). The rescue squad was divided into teams with officers that specialized in specific rescue disiplines. The SAR team members had personal equipment they carried in Packs while the rescue squad provided common gear like night vision goggles, radios, and GPS units. Monthly training consisted of two full weekend days. Specific requirements were taught. Skills tested and written tests taken. State certifications were awarded after succesfull completion of a set number of requirements which took 200-250 hours of training. Members were encouraged to complete as many certifications as possible but not required. Experienced members became certified trainers and we taught classes to other rescue squads. Once a year we would travel to the coast for water training. Members were taught skills and then put allowed to push the limits of their training in the extreme currents and waves. For me it was a decade of Boy Scouting for adults. I was taught skills, tested on those skills, and then later asked to teach those skills. We had high adventure outings.

As a Den leader, I bought the Patrol Neckerchief slide, 8-pack mentioned above for about $8-$9 (Item: 17489) I purchased the small Block Alphabet and Numeral Set(Item: 1725)for about $22 and the Bear and Wolf emblem stamps from the scout shop for about $4 each. I already had some mallets. http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsasupply/ Go to crafts, and the leather. Scroll down for items. Had a patrol meeting and the boys stamped the rank emblem in the center of the leather slide. They stamped PACK across the top arching over the rank emblem and the pack number under the bottom of the rank emblem. Down one side I had them stamp their name. Down the other side I had them stamp the year 2007-08. Each boy made a personalized slide that was dated so they have a remembence later in life. The scout store also sells the Small Leather Tool Set, Indian Lore(Item: 17931) It has 4 leather stamps with Indian style symbols. Cost about $7.50 Tandy leather sells a Native American Symbol Stamp Set for about $28. Tandy describes the set as "Forty-three different symbols and a handle are included in this boxed set. Each set includes a list identifying the name and meaning of each symbol. Ideal for projects of all kinds." Native American Symbol Stamp Set 8160-00 http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?Dept=425 The Tandy set contains very similar but slightly different versions of the 4 in the Scout set. Either indian lore stamp set, 4 or 43 stamps, would allow the boys to add some Indian flavor to the slides. Maybe the Pack could pay for the stamps and keep them as Pack supplies to reused. All of the Cub Scout ranks from Bobcat up through Webelos and AOL are available as stamps for about $4 each. Even the youngest Tigers can beat a metal stamp with a mallet and make something. I had boys who made them as Wolves still wear them as Webelos.

You may also be confusing Cub Scouts with Boy Scouts. Cub Scouts (ages 7-10) requires parental involvment. Pack campouts often encourage family camping with not only parents but siblings. Boy Scouts (11-18) usually have troop leadership and enough parents to drive the boys to the campsite. We have 40-50 registered boys and typically 30+ scouts attend campouts. We have at least 15 registered & trained ASM. We need at least 6-8 vehicles to move the people and equipment. The adults act as a patrol and set up in area away from the scouts. There primay goal is to maintain safety. Parents who drive but are not registered are kept busy away from the scouts. Registered leaders guide older scouts so the scouts can lead the activities for the weekend.

We had a pack of about 45-60 boys. The Camping & Outings committee was in charge of planning the campouts. The committee would meet a month or two before the campout and choose a location. They would also decide on activities, menu, and supplies. The tasks would be divided up amongst the committee members. Typically we would have 120 in attendance including family members. Food was personal responsibility except for Sat night the Pack supplied and cooked. The Webelos and occasionally the Bears would cook as a den. Activities usually centered around outdoor skills. We have had a map & compass course, first aid training, marshmellow gun making and shooting, bird house and bat house making, matchless fire starting, plaster cast neckerchief slide making, tree & leaf identification, hikes, fishing rod casting, knot tieing, rope making, fishing, tug of war, sack races, baseball game, box oven making/cooking, poisionous snake/spider presentation, edged tools safety, etc. We also usually try to attend a Park Ranger presentation. One time we had each den prepare and present a topic. The Tigers made a poster, one den discussed edged tools safety (whitling chit), one den made a box oven and cooked cookies, another den discussed fire safety, etc. The dens are given the topics a month or so in advance so they can prepare and train as part of their den meetings. At the campout, each den gets up in front of the rest of the attendees and is given 10-15 minutes to present their topic. If forces the scouts to learn the topic they are presenting and it involves everyone. The younger scouts help make a poster or maybe perform a skit since they generally are not able to present very well. The older scouts tend to be better at doing their own presentations. Fun and learning were our goals. The bird/bat house making required some up front work by the committee members. Lumber was purchased or donated. It was cut to size and some pilot holes for nails/screws were drilled. All the pre-cut pieces were stored together along with fasteners and hand tools. The kits were brought to the campout. Each den was given an opportunity to assemble the kits. Each den was allowed to take the assemembled animal house home. In one instance we built duck nesting boxes which were presented to the park rangers for distribution at the park. Community service and fun! Some of the events required a committee member going to the campsite ahead of time. The map& compass course consisted of paper plates stampled to trees. Bearings were taken and recorded. The bearings were printed on slips of paper and issued to the dens so they could run the course. The paper plates had letters on the plates. The scouts recorded the letters and unscrambled them to figure out the word.

The school has a TV Free week once each year. We tape a page to the front of the sets and no one gets to watch TV that week. Of course we get some grumbling the day before and day one. After that, no complaints. We play cards, board games, read or do other things as a family. Sure, we could live without TV without much difficulty. While I was single, I unplugged my only TV and put it in a closet for a little over a year. Spent a lot of time reading and listening to music. Never missed it.

My scout store carries stamps for the various Cub Scout ranks, AOL, Eagle, BSA emblem. Never saw any for the Boy Scout ranks. Just checked out the scout store web site. Go to CRAFTS, LEATHER, LEATHER STAMP TOOLS (Look for leather square with Tiger) They have a list of stamps, but none for Boy Scout ranks, POR, or Adult Ranks. The description indicates "Now with more detail". Hope so. I have a set of the Cub Scout ranks I bought to allow my den to make leather neckerchief slides. Stamps made very poor impressions. http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?ctlg=05NDC&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=CRAFTS&C3=LEATHER&C4=&LV=3&item=174LST&prodid=174LST^8^05NDC&

Our Pack had about 50% participation in the red felt brag vest. Those that wore them, wore them with pride. Occasionally there was a discussion of having somebody handy with a sewing machine make them. The idea was to buy one or two in different sizes to make patterns. Once the pattern is made, then vests could be made for just the cost of the material and the donated time of the seamstress. My son never seem interested. I got some stiff felt at the craft store about 12"x18" and hot glued his patchs to that. My thought was eventually to move them to a patch blanket. As a Scout in the 70''s, I sewed all my patches to the back of my red wool scout shirt-jac. Apparently the uniform guide now indicates you can only wear one patch on the back of the wool shirt-jac. My grandmother removed all my patches and sewed them to a large piece of red felt with the idea of making a wall hanging. It stayes rolled up in the back of my closet. I like the idea of sewing them to a blanket. My problem is most of the fleece blankets are so small, 48"x60", that they do not cover my 6''2", 240lb body. As already mentioned, it is common in scouting around the world to cut a slit in the blanket, hem the edges, and wear it as a poncho while sitting around the campfire. The patches spark interest and help start conversations.

Recently out troop camped at a state park. There were two other troops at adjoining campsites. Basically it was an open field with 2 or 3 trees in the middle. It was interesting to see the differences in troop behavior. One troop had 2 large metal frame work covered with 10''x20'' tarps set up. They brought 3 or 4 folding tables, chairs, and all sorts of additional equipment. Tents did not match leading me to belive the scouts provided their own. I don''t believe I ever saw any of the boys wearing any part of the uniform. I seldom saw the adults but don''t recall seeing any uniforms. The next troop had one tarp set up over the picnic table. They had a wooden pole at each end of the picnic table but the sides hung down and touched the sides of the table. Again tents did not match leading me to believe scouts provided their own tents. All the scouts and leaders wore red T-shirts with troop logos silk-screened all weekend. I don''t believe I ever saw any of that troop without a red T-shirt. My troop has troop tents. Adults provide their own. We arrived in full uniform, removed uniform shirts, set up tents, and began cooking evening meals. 3/4 of the boys continued to wear their scouts pants through out the weekend (probably because they never changed). Sunday morning Troop 1 broke down all their gear and loaded it into custom wooden crates and packed their trailer. Troop 2 broke down gear, packed, and headed out. My troop cooked breakfast by patrols and packed personal gear. Class A uniforms were donned, the flag was raised on a lashed camp craft pole, a scout''s own service was lead by a scout, a Roses & Thorns session was held, the flag was retired, and the pole dismantled. Once all troop gear was moved to the parking lot, then personal gear could be moved to the parking lot. Trip home was in full uniform. I guess I could have engaged the other troops leaders in discussion about their uniforming preferences, troop gear purchases, and leadership styles, but instead I was involved in watching for safety issues with the scouts in my troop. The forum allows me an opportunity to discuss with other scouters the real world vs the book documented method of scouting. My goal is to always encourage my troop to move ever closer to the ideal book method. Reading about how other troops and leaders manage issues helps me to better able work with my scouts. I wear my Class A uniform as correctly as I can. I make a point of wearing it as often as possible while around the scouts. I have one pair of shorts, one pair of long pants, one pair of switchback pants and two properly badged uniform shirts. I make a point of wearing scouts pants all weekend long during campouts. If not in a dress uniform shirt, I will have a troop T-shirt or BSA T-shirt on. How can I expect the scouts to wear a correct uniform if I do not hold my self to the same standard? I tend to think had I queried the other troops regarding their uniform choices, I may have been percieved as a busy body. I preferred to lead by example showing the scouts in my troop as well as the others that one can wear the uniform, maintain a level of cleaniness and still have fun. I have noticed that the adults in my troop have made mention to individual scouts to tuck in their shirts, button their shirts, etc. To reduce the number of lost neckerchiefs & slides, the scouts are asked to leave them in the vehicle they rode to the campout in, and retrieve them for the ride home. At $15 per custom embroidered neckerchief, this has proven a cost effective method.

I am new to my troop, joined in February. They pay for all adult training. I asked specifically regarding WB. A couple of the committe members shrugged shoulders and answered, Yes the troop pays full cost. A month later I found out that we have several members of the committee/ASM that are running WB this session. At the mandatory new parent orientation that lasted 4 troop meetings, it was taught that a troop of our size (35-50) boys should have at least 3 WB trained leaders. With leaders retiring yearly, then new leaders are encouraged to attend to keep the ratio. I know we have at least 4 WB''ers and 1 will be attending this month. Adults do not pay the normal troop camping fee for weekend campouts. The troop funds the meals for the adult patrol. Last weekend the troop traveled 300 miles round trip for a campout. Monday there was a check in the mailbox from the troop treasuer for $25 to defray fuel expenses. This summer the troop took 32 boys and 5 adults to summer camp. Adult costs were covered by a combination of higher fees to the boys and troop funds. Adult scouting is not free in my troop, but comes pretty close.

On the clipart section in the Adult knots section, they seem to be randomly placed. You have photos and line drawings of the same award placed apart from each other. You have photos and line drawing intermixed. I would recommend that you place a line drawing and photo of the same badge together along with a title or desription of the award. For those awards you do not have photos of, just head down to the scout store and ask to take photos of each badge.

My old pack had a homemade wooden 3 lane track. Each of the lanes ran at a different speed. It was quite the puzzle to put together. We had adults eyeball the winner with a poster board on the wall and somebody filling in the blanks on with a magic marker. Lots of complaints by sore loser adults and unhappy kids. We had several good/great years of popcorn sales and sprung for a new system. Aluminim track, software, electronic timer, all hooked to a computer that displayed the results on the wall 10 feet wide for all to see immediately as the race was run. All cars run on all four lanes against different cars in all the heats. We chose to declare winner by lowest total time of all heats. Kids love being able to run their cars at least 4 times. Parents no longer complain that their sons car did not get a chance to run in the fast lane, against the "correct" set of competitors, or whatever else. Fun quoitent went up dramatically for all. Our pack has hosted the district event for the past 3 years. We offered to set up our track and run a PWD for any Packs that could not or did not want to run their own event prior to the district PWD. The deal was we would keep the money from any concessions we sold. Not a single pack in the district took the offer. We have two old wooden tracks we would willingly dontate to any Pack that is in need that is willing to come get it. I would suggest you contact council about other Packs that would be willing to lend or sell your pack an old track or even run the event for you until you can raise the funds to handle on your own.

I will probably recieve a lot of flak for this but... Just because you love Rover, why does that mean that I must enojy your slobbering mutt sniffing me and rubbing his wet nose around my crotch. If you must own a pet, then do the world a favor and take yourself to doggy school and learn how to control your animal. Too many people seem to overlook that a pet is a priviledge not a requirement and it is incumbent upon the pet owner to learn how to manage their animal. Pet lovers seem to be blind to the fact that not everyone wants pet hair, slobber, and the constant yapping that comes along with their animated toy. Pets of all types should be left at home along with the electronics. Pet owners who complain they could find no one to watch their pet really mean I was unwilling to pay to have the vet maintain my pet.

Scrambled eggs in a zip bag? Write name on outside of quart sized ziptop bag with Sharpie Marker. Break 2 eggs into bag. Scramble eggs in bag by mashing bag and contents. Spinkle salt and pepper to taste. Add splash of milk if desired. Add pre-cooked bacon, pre-cooked sausage, grated cheese, diced onions, diced bell peppers, sliced mushrooms, diced ham, or other favorite omlette style fillings. Burp bag of any air and zip bag closed. Drop closed bag into pot of boiling water. Wait several minutes. Remove bag with tongs and check the eggs to see how cooked they are. (Caution: Chesse will keep the egss soft no matter how long you boil them.) If eggs are firm, open bag and eat with spoon. Throw away bag. Use boiled water to clean spoon. No pots to clean.

Most of our new scouts cross over in Feb/March. We work with them to get most of the skills presented before summer camp. All dozen of them attended summer camp that ran a program for new scouts to complete 75%+ of the requirements for Scout through 1st Class. We held a skills check for the last two meeting nights so that all would be able to particiapte in this weekends COH and recieve their next rank. All will be receiving their Tenderfoot rank. Feb/Mar to Aug is 6-7 months. They probably have 75%-95% of the requirements for 2nd and 1st class checked off as a result of summer camp program. It is feasible they all could be 1st class by Feb/March. More likely is most will be 2nd class and very close to 1st Class when we get the next crop.

What did Scouting do for me? Everything! While in scouting it was my source of accomplishment. While others may have been a member for a sports team, band, or school club, I was a Boy Scout. It taught me self reliance and pride in my accomplishments. Later while an Explorer, I trained for my later advocation. As an adult, I took the training I learned as a Boy Scout and joined the fire department as volunteer. I spent over a decade as a EMT and rescue technician. The medical training I underwent as part of an Explorer Post jumpstarted my EMT training and service. The outdoor skills and training supported my time as Search and Rescue team member. The morals and character training has defined my entire life and the way I respond to daily life. In short, scouting made my who I am today.

I handled it this way. Collected money from the parents to pay for the AOL cermony and "awards". I had a grandfather of one of the boys use a router to carve the arrow of light into a board and put a decorative edge around the board. I stained and polyurethened the board. We had metal plates engraved with the boys name, pack number, and date and affixed them to the presentation board. Ordered bone tip, turkey feather fletching, hand made by a Native American arrows and mounted them on the presentation board. Made tangles from a leather thong. The thong had colored beads indicating their ranks on one leg and colored beads indicateing the webelos activity pins on the other leg. The ends of the thongs had turkey hackle feathers tied on with imitation sinew. The dangles were tied to the presentation arrow. The Pack provided a standard BSA framed certificate indicating AOL award. We had a big cermony where the Den leaders dressed in native american style costumes I had custom sewn and later dontated to the Pack. Made a "medicine man" head dress from a Viking style horned helmet covered in faux fur to look like a buffalo. Got two pony tail black wigs during halloween for the Indian Braves and a feather headdress for the chief. I personally carved the three finger Boy Scout salute neckerchief slide for each of my den members. The first one took the longest trying to figure out how to do it. I can carve the 3 finger salute slide in about 1.5 hours from start to finish now. There is a website where a fella carves the slide ($8.50) or can provide you plaster of paris copies of a slide he carved for about $2 each. http://scoutguy.com/handcarved.htm The webleos den leaders signed and wrote a brief note to the boy on the back of the presentation arrow boards.

Class A most of the time. I have 1 switchback, 1 older style long and 1 older style short pants. Two short sleeve shirts. All patches are correct and current with the exception of the troop culture of the adult patrol patch (Zulus). I wear a bolo for troop meetings and neckerchiefs for COH and more formal occaisons. I have about three dozen hand carved slides that I use to encourage my son to wear his neckerchief. I took most to summer camp thi summer and they attracted a lot of attention. I expect to see more custom neckerchief slides within our troop. I have several troop T-shirts and a few BSA T-shirts I wear during Class B times. I used to wear green shorts and BSA T-shirts but for the last couple of years I only wear offical shorts. If I don't, how can I expect the boys to.

While my level of geekdom could certainly be challenged, I find that I am more fond of knots than most. Started out by being assigned the Pioneering Merit Badge course my first year as a Camp Staffer. I quickly learned and taught 13 knots each week to the campers. Of course, I also taught lashing and splices. That summer started my enjoyment of knots and ropes. Later I joined a technical rescue squad involved in High and Low Angle Rope Rescue. Each monthly training session started with tying knots. Always new members joining that had to be taught how to tie and and then apply knots in the various rescues. Later I took the state certification for Rope Rescue Technican which involved 60 hours of mountain rope rescue classes. After more than a decade on the rope rescue team, I developed a strong affinity for all things rope and knot related. As a Cub Scout/Webelos Den leader, I have the opportunity to teach boys the scout knots. I built a rope making machine and had the boys make their own rope. While they all enjoyed the process of learning new skills, none seemed to really "get the bug". This past summer, I had the opporunity to teach a dozen first year scouts knots while at summer camp. Several were the cub scouts from my den. They are beginning to show an interest in ropes and knots. My son goes for his skills check regarding Tenderfoot knots tomorrow evening. While he is not a rope/knot geek, he is at least showing some interest. Maybe because he has seen me use knots all his life.

My son and I watch Surviorman with Les and enjoy him truely working to stay alive on his own. I prefer not to watch Man vs. Wild because of all the stupid things he does. In a recent episode, he jumped 20 feet into unknown water. The water was literally freezeing cold, with a brisk wind, and his claim was that he could see steam rising off the ground a mere 20 minute hike from the freezing water. His plan was to jump into freezing water, swin across the creek, jog to the steam 20 minutes away and warm up in the volcano heated mud baths before hypothermina set in. It seems in almost every episode he jumps from more than 6 feet into unknown water, during cold temps, spends an extended period in the water, and then climbs out in the hopes of finding a heat source. In one episode I though I detected a PFD under his sweat shirt as he washed up to the feet of the cameraman. Man vs. Wild is a show about what NOT to do. Surviorman actually survives alone while taking mininal risk.

Someone sent me a different article regarding this fella. Apparently he earned a merit badge that has since been discontinued thereby earning one more than are currently available. Mom is a lawyer, Dad is a surgeon.

Hey! I resemble that remark. Earned my Eagle in '79. As a youth we were not allowed to use gas stoves or folding chairs. Nowadays youth only cook on a stove and most bring along the folding chair. Times they are a changin' I have taken Cub, Webelos, and Boy scout leader position specific training, safety afloat, climb on safely, IOLS, Webelos Outdoor Skills, University of Scouting and attended a number of round tables. None of them were leadership classes. While training will help leaders talk from a common playbook regarding youth protection, paperwork completion, and uniforming, I have not taken any that helped me to lead boys or parents. Training is important but what is offered with possibly the exception of woodbadge, does not teach leadership. Having the red, white & blue knot on my chest only means that I have some experience as a boy. It means I have a memory of a program that no longer exists. It means I have to forget much of what I know about scouting and learn all over again.