ScoutNut

Do what ever YOU really want. Nothing wrong with either road. I stayed with our Pack. As a matter of fact, this is the first time in 7 years I have had a child in the Pack, & he is a brand new Asst Wolf Den Leader!

Found it! I was going to just put the specific address, but they have such a nice site here that I thought I would post the index page - http://www.bacarrowhead.org/roundtable.htm They have Program Helps & Planning Guides for the last 3 years along with some nice info packets.

By the time we went to tan, bought for son to wear to Webelos rank ceremony, he was just about ready to start popping buttons on his blue shirt. He wore that tan shirt for 3 years, through the end of 8th grade.

Part of the required training for Tiger den leaders (especially those who have never been registered with the BSA before) is Fast Start Training. The online version (vs the old VCR tape version) has been available for quite a few years now. As I stated, the online version of Tiger Fast Start had the Bobcat update included quite a bit in advance of the implimentation date. You are correct in that not all District/Council trainers were aware of the change & so were not including it in their Tiger Leader Specific training. However, if new Tiger den leaders had taken BSA's online Fast Start Tiger Training, they would have known of the change & could have asked questions at their Leader Specific training. Many Packs, especially those who had the old Tiger Handbooks, decided to postpone the change until the 2007-08 program year. Our Pack went with the changed format. I had mostly new Tiger handbooks, with just a few of the older ones. I hand printed the changes in the older books, explained the change to my Tiger Teams, gave the corrected books to familes who were not new to BSA & the new books to the brand new families (avoiding confusion for the newbies).

Cub Scouting is a family program. Even when the entire family is not involved in a den or Pack outing, at LEAST 1 parent SHOULD accompany their son on the outing. We make that very clear upfront in our Pack. All event sign up sheets ask for the name of the Scout & all family members attending. If it is an outing where there should be 1-on-1 supervision, the sign up sheets state that a Scout MUST sign up with a parent/guardian. Lone Cubs are the extreme exception - not the rule. If an extraordinary circumstance comes up, & a parent can not attend an outing, but wants to send their son, they will first get an OK from the Den Leader (or which ever Pack leader is in charge of the outing) & then they will make their own arrangements with the family of one of their son's Scout buddies. It is NEVER automatically assumed that the den leaders are in charge of lone boys.

We do a group graduation ceremony that includes all levels. The overall theme is usually different each year. The Cubs all get their new scarf, a scarf slide & their new handbook (hats are an optional uniform part & expensive so purchasing those is up to the family). For the 4th grade Webelos going into 5th grade, along with a new scarf slide (usually something arrow inspired), we give them either vittle kits (camp silverware) or camp dishes. Sometimes we have done a compass, but that is usually part of our package for the 5th grade Webelos.

The new version of the regular Tiger Handbook, and the brand new coil bound version, showing Bobcat before Tiger, was out prior to May '06. Some Scout Shops continued to sell the older version. National's Tiger Fast Start online training showed the new information by December '05 I believe. If your new Tiger den leaders took the required training they would have been informed of the change.

Sorry, but I don't see how this is in "service to the kids". If a boy is "bored" with Webelos, and he is 11 years old he should move up to Boy Scouts. If a boy wants to earn his AOL, he stays in the Webelos program to work on his AOL. Why would it benefit him to do both? Why would he want to? If his Webelos den is so badly run that he can't wait to get out, why would he come back once he has joined a BS Troop. Or, would his new SM then become his de facto Den Leader & plan Webelos activities for him? How could the boy transition to being in charge of his own advancement & being a part of a boy-led Troop when at the same time he is having things done for him as a Webelos. Why should the boy ever push himself to meet deadlines or follow rules when he knows that exceptions can always be made for him? How would it make the other Webelos feel who are "forced" to stay in the badly run, boring, Webelos program? If we are going to ignore one rule to be "in service to the kids", what about other rules & other kids? Why not just move the Webelos into a Troop at the end of 4th grade and let them work on both AOL and BS ranks from that point? Heck, if the Webelos programs are so boring, why not move them into a Troop at the end of 3rd grade and have them do both the Webelos rank and AOL while at the same time earning BS ranks?

While it might make sense, & be the prefered way to handle supervision for Cubs without family present, it is NOT a BSA REQUIREMENT. If you look thru what anarchist posted, you will see that the rule is - "In all cases, each youth participant is responsible to a specific adult." Nowhere, in any BSA publication, does it state that the "specific adult" must not be a Pack leader. In my opinion, in such cases a more important rule, that IS spelled out in the Youth Protection portion of the "Guide to Safe Scouting" is - "When camping, no youth is permitted to sleep in the tent of an adult other than his own parent or guardian." Also, there is no BSA rule that states boys sharing a tent must be in the same rank. Just that there can not be any adults (this includes 18 year old Boy Scouts who are no longer considered youth).

I think this is something the Scout & his dad should work out together. Dad might already have the summer planned out. You could tell the Scout where to get info on the local Council & Troops (Scout Zone). If the Scout & his dad are interested, the dad should contact his local Council ASAP to find out what his son's options are.

I have always had a problem with the Junior GS "Looking Your Best" badge. This is obviously a VERY mixed age Troop. The 2 sisters, who are both in the Troop are 6 & 12 years old. This is a span from at least kindergarten-Daisy to 7th grade-Cadette. One of the problems with a Troop that covers that many levels is how to keep Troop activities age-appropriate for everyone. The badge the Troop was working on, "Looking Your Best", is a Junior level badge. Currently, Girl Scout Juniors are 8-11 years old.

We have never had a problem with Tigers at BB's or archery. This is usually their first experience with these sports & they are excited to do it. Yes, you do have to take a bit more time working with them, but it is worth it to see their face light up when they hit the target! Also, as Lisa mentioned, Tigers always have their Adult Partner with them at all times and they help with the mechanics involved.

I would not purchase one. As you mentioned, if the pad is minimal enough that it does not cause extra bulk with the bag, then it must be a pretty wimpy pad. Also, I tend to roll, toss & turn when I sleep. I have been known to wake up with my bag hood over my face. If I did that in one of those bags, I would also end up sleeping on the hard, uninsulated, ground. No thanks!

I realize from looking at your past posts that while you are active at the District level, you have not been active in a BSA unit for some time, perhaps that is the reason for your comments. BSA units DO reach out to the community. They DO attempt to make their units more visible to the community. They do this thru recruitment drives, community service, Scouting For Food, marching in community parades in full uniform, being active in their schools, and many other ways. I think most Unit Leaders out there already "do their BEST TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES." Part of that is doing their very best for the youth in their units & running a great BSA program. A BSA program that will achieve BSA's purpose (to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness), and mission (to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law). A BSA program that will attract as many boys as possible to that program. BSA itself is also concerned with reaching/helping as many youth as possible. That is why they have formed the Scoutreach Division. Many Unit Leaders already use many of the resources available to them thru Scoutreach. For more information on Scoutreach - http://www.scoutreachbsa.org/ Perhaps you, as a District Committee member, could work with your DE & other District Committee members to form a Scoutreach Committee in your District. Perhaps as an OA Advisor you could work with the Lodge Chief to implement the OA Scoutreach Mentoring Program. As Unit Leaders, we would be more than happy to encourage our unit's OA members to participate in a OA Mentoring program.

The newspaper option does not have to be expensive. Most local papers have a "Community Events" page where they list things that different community organizations are doing. It is usually free. Contact your local paper to get their info on what they need from you & how far in advance they will need it. Also for your local churches, do not do fliers. People coming out of church will not pick them up. What they DO pick up is a copy of their weekly church newsletter or bulletin. Contact your churches and find out how to go about getting a notice printed & how far in advance they need the info. Find a family from each school who has a copy of the school contact list. Many schools print them up & include them with the yearly registration packets. Since only those families who have given their permission will be included, the list will probably not include everyone, but it will have some. Mail out invitations to all of the kindergarten families to attend the event. Put on the invite to please spread the word to any families they think might be interested.

To be certain you can either contact the Charter Org listed, or contact the Galveston District Executive in the Bay Area Council.

Troop 107 is listed in the Scout Zone Troop Locator as being chartered by the Moody Memorial United Methodist Church, located in Galveston, TX.

For all Pack events, except council/district summer camps, our Pack covers the cost for the Scout. Other family members, including parent Scouters, must pay for themselves, if there is a fee. When we go to baseball or hockey games, our Pack pays for a bus. Pack family camps are no cost to the participants. The Pack picks up the entire cost. Sometimes we will have each family bring 1 dish or food item. There is a minimal charge for everyone (except for kids under 4) for our Blue & Gold dinner. This year it was $7 for adults & $5 for kids.

Have you talked to the dad? Does the dad understand that it is not necessary that he accompany his son to Summer camp? Is his son a bit wary about going this summer on his own? Is it a case of on overprotective dad? For a brand new scout, there can be many reasons for not going to their first BS summer camp. The dad might just not feel like discussing the real reasons. Not much you can do if the family will not send their Scout.

There is one clear BSA rule - "No one may register in more than one position in the same unit, except the chartered organization representative." So you could be a registered committee member (or other position) in a Pack, Troop, Crew/Ship, & Team, all at the same time. You can not REGISTER as both a Den Leader and a Pack committee member in the same Pack. However, you could be both a registered CS Pack Den Leader & a registered BS Troop committee member. As noted, this rule only covers those positions for which you are registered. You can fill any number of positions, in any number of units at the same time. You simply can not register in all of them. Some folks can handle multiple positions, and anything else that comes their way, others can not. It is much better to do only 1 job, & do it well, than to hold down 3+ jobs, do none of them justice, & possibly get burned out quickly. AH-HEM, I would just like to stand up and say that I admit it, I, Scoutnut, am a multiple hat wearer. I am also going to start on a campaign to divest myself of some of my hats & encourage others to put them on. I can do this. I can do this anytime. I WILL do this. I will do this right after I finish planning the next BALOO training, putting together our Pack Fishing Derby, finding a cool graduation ceremony for my Tigers, sending out our Pack summer event fliers, organizing our Pack Family Camp, staffing Cub Scout Summer Camp, organizing our Pack Picnic/Rocket Shoot, attending our District popcorn Kickoff, registering my brand new Tiger group, finding a cool Bobcat ceremony .... Whoops! I, Scoutnut, am an incurable multiple hat wearer.

"Boy Scout Troops are considered 501 ©(3) NFP's." Not the individual units. BSA units are OWNED by their CO, not by the Council. While all BSA Scout COUNCILS are considered 501©(3)'s by the IRS, the individual units are only considered not-for-profit if their CO is, or if the unit has applied for their own 501©(3) tax status & tax number. I doubt that any Council out there will give out their TIN to units. If a unit does not have a NFP CO, or their own number, & a corporation expects their donation to be tax deductable, the check has to be made out to the local BSA Council.

Just a guess, but it sounds like a Cub/Parent event. For info contact your District Executive.

The Religious Emblem itself is NOT a BSA award. All Religious Emblems (weather recognized by BSA or not) should be presented to the Scout by their religious institution at an appropriate service. However, only those emblems/medals from programs recognized by BSA should be worn on the BSA uniform. The Youth Religious Square Knot is a BSA award that recognizes those youth (& adults) who have earned a religious emblem as a youth. It should be awarded to the Scout at an appropriate Unit ceremony (Pack meeting, Troop COH, etc). I would not restrict the square knot to only BSA approved programs. It is simply a recognition of the Scout having earned a religious emblem. I cannot find where it states it must be only from an approved program, just that it be earned as a youth. While the unapproved medal can not be worn on the uniform, if a Scout feels strongly enough about his faith that he earns it's religious emblem, I have no problem with awarding him the BSA square knot to recognize his effort.

Some Scout Shops will sell you the silver on purple Youth Religious Knot without any paperwork, some require you to put the scouts name & info on a Unit Advancement Form. Have your Advancement person give your shop a call. Your Advancement person should have advancement forms, but if not they can be found on BSA's forms page - http://www.scouting.org/forms/34403.pdf You should also consider purchasing Webelos knot devices. They are teenie, tiny pins that go on the knot & signify what level the award was earned in.

This is not an incidence of child abuse, you and your son were assualted, and you should have called the police ASAP. It is not to late. Filing charges against this man is the first step to keeping him from hurting others.