ScoutNut

Palm Trees Leis Coconut cups with paper flowers Pineapples Outriggers Parrots Grass Skirts Sea Shells Something with hello & good-by written in different languages. It kind of depends just where your Pack is going with the Aloha theme. Check out the Programs Helps. They always have centerpiece or craft ideas. Also Baloo's Bugle is a good resource for theme related stuff. Take a look at Oriental Trading Company. They have a lot of tropical stuff. Your local Party Store or $1 Store are good bets too.

Yes, there is more to earning the Firem'n Chit than building a "natural" fire. As a matter of fact, starting a fire without the use of matches is not a part of it at all. Also, the participating Webelos would not be able to earn the Firem'n Chit at all. It is a Boy Scout award, not a Cub Scout award and Webelos are not eligible. If you are planning on having Cub Scouts at your district Klondike, you must either provide Cub age appropriate activities for them or let them observe only. Boy Scout level activities are not appropriate for Webelos Cub Scouts.

"BSA has been publicly criticized for its position of not admitting younger girls -- but those same critics don't say anything about GSUSA's opposition to BSA admitting younger girls. I just wonder why GSUSA is let off the hook by those who complain about BSA?" Not confusing at all. It makes perfect sense. If GSUSA is against BSA admitting younger girls it is because they feel that it would have an impact on the GSUSA membership numbers. This would be the same way BSA would feel if GSUSA decided to admit boys into it's program. Personally I do not feel that Venturing is having a significant impact on the GSUSA older girl numbers. Venturing is still pretty small in terms of numbers. Most of the girls I know who are members of a Ship or Crew are either still members of GSUSA (dual registered in both scouting programs) or have aged out of GSUSA's youth program. However, if either GSUSA or BSA went co-ed at the youngest levels it would have a very significant impact on the membership levels of the other program. The young kids would not be likely to dual register in both programs so the non-co-ed program would take a membership hit. It's all about the bottom line.

"I thought it was interesting that this article points out that GSP opposes the introduction of girls into BSP. I suspect that GSUSA also opposes girls in BSA." From reading the article in the original post, it appears that BSP & GSP are tied together in some way. The article stated that in order for BSP to become co-ed the charters of BOTH BSP & GSP would have to be changed. It goes on to state that the BSP would be making it a prerequisite for girls 13 to 17 years old who want to become members of BSP to be current members of GSP. So, in essence, the BSP would be siphoning off all of GSP's older girls. The BSA & the GSUSA do not have that kind of inter-dependent relationship. While GSUSA might feel their membership would suffer if BSA went completely co-ed, there is not ANYTHING that GSUSA can do to stop them.

That would be a Program Aide. They are Cadette or Senior aged girls who have taken PA training and work with younger Troops. Ask at your next SU meeting to see if anyone has any girls working on PA hours who might be interested. There might also be some Junior thru Senior girls working on various leadership awards who would like to work with your Troop.

You can purchase it from your local Scout Shop.

Dan, remember that if your church charters both a Pack & Troop, the same COR will serve both units. Also, in order to be REGISTERED as a COR, they can NOT be registered in any position other than Committee Chair or Committee Member.

According to the BSA, the COR "Is a member of the chartered organization other than the unit leader or assistant unit leader. Is appointed by the chartered organization to serve as its official Scouting representative and is registered as an adult leader of the BSA." Our CO is a men's organization within our local Catholic church. Our COR is one of their board members whose son went through the Pack & Troop many years ago. He will usually attend committee meetings, where he will let us know what is going on with the CO. He will also take back any request from us to the CO. I have no idea if he is active at the district or council level. Since it is the responsibility of your CO to pick it's own representative, I think you should talk with the head of your CO about it.

Jeff - You are looking at the OLD requirements for earning the PIN. Using the current (updated in 2003) requirements the boys have indeed earned the BELT LOOP.

You said that you have done WDL Specific before in another council. Unless your Training Chair is rearranging some things to reflect the facilities available, there should not be much of a difference. That is the whole point of using a National syllabus, everyone gets the same basic training. You should talk to the Training Chair for the event & see how he is planning to set it up. Find out if there is anything specific he has in mind for you to do. As far as adding stuff to the training, remember you have a set time frame to work in. There will not be a lot of "extra" time to do much in the way of games much less a complete den meeting. After you get a copy of the syllabus & have talked to the Training Chair, you will have a better idea of your framework. As someone stated, most of these leaders have already been den leaders for Tiger, Wolf, and/or Bear. They will know how to run a den meeting. You can ask how many are brand new & if you have newbies you can go into a more detail on meeting basics. What you need to do is help them understand the difference between the Webelos program & what they have been used to. There is not a lot of time between now & Saturday, but I think one of the best things you could do is to put together a listing of places & people in the area that do Webelos programs. Give them a list of ideas of where to go for help so that they know they do not have to do it all themselves. Let them know about all of the great resources in your community!

Doing a search on Mackin Group, it seems they do make BSA endorsed craft & activity kits. I have not seen any of their kits at our local Scout Shop, but they seem to be sold at various online hobby shops. I can't find a website for them so I am not sure what their corporate story is.

I looked at Kmart's website. These are NOT official BSA kits. Official BSA kits would say "Cub Scout Derby" on them. These kits are "My First Craftsman" wood kits. They are also 3X as expensive as the BSA official version. The Kmart, My First Craftsman Wood Vehicle Racing Car Kit is $9.99. The BSA official Pinewood Derby Car Kit is $3.55. The Kmart version comes pre-cut, pre-sanded, pre-drilled & comes with paints, a paint brush, & a Craftsman screwdriver. I suppose if you have a family who does not have any tools in the house or has no time to spend actually creating the car with their son, this kind of thing might appeal. However it is NOT an official BSA kit. The other Kmart wood kits are also priced at $9.99. Most of the BSA kits run from $3.60 to $8.75. Also, if purchasing from Kmart you add tax onto the cost. When purchasing from a BSA Scout Shop you do not.

Your taxes only pay for the expenses generated in keeping the building up & running during school hours. If you want to use the buildings during the times when they are normally empty & closed up, many school districts will charge (anyone) for that use. I have looked into using public school gyms for various different programs, some BSA, some GSUSA, some neither. What I was told was that the rental fee covered all utilities (heat, light, etc) used and the cost to have security and/or a janitor present (basically overtime for them).

I do not suggest forcing your council to make an exception in the award's requiements for your Cub Scouts. What I would suggest is that you look at some of the online patch companies & purchase your Pack's own patch for your boys. Many have winter or foul weather camping stock patches. Or, if your don't like the stock patches, you can always create a custom one. Here are some sites- http://www.advantageemblem.com/ http://www.design-it.com/ http://www.patchsales.com/index.php?pageid=home

"Maybe the Tobacco companies could teach us not to smoke." Actually, as a consequence of the lawsuits against them, they do. The campaigns are aimed at youth.

Good for him! I hope he earns the award! Give him lots of encouragment & remind him he can earn it again next year & add a wolf track to his badge. If he attends summer camp & earns the Summertime Award, he will have 2 requirements done by the end of summer (along with having a GREAT time)!

I think that it might qualify if they stayed overnight. It is a council camping experience, not simply a Pack one. If you want it clarified, contact your council and ask them if they would accept the weekend overnighter instead of summer camp. What level is the Scout?

You can't get a training/performance award for something you have not done yet. The awards are given AFTER the time of tenure in the position. The Tiger den leader must serve as Tiger den leader for 1 year. During that 1 year he/she should, using the Tiger program of Shared Leadership, be contacting the host Tiger Team families to offer help & support. The things that are required for these leader awards are simply the things that, if you are running a good den program, you would be doing anyway!

Per Brian's question on what Scouting would look like if it was started in 2006, I think David & Brian got it right. You could NOT have a B-P in today's society. He was a product of his time. The right man, in the right place, at the right time, with the right idea. He caught the imagination, & heart, of a WORLD. Not just 1 town, county, or even country, but the whole world! His "dorky" ideas, songs, uniforms & activities, sparked, NOT ONE (1), but TWO (2) WORLDWIDE Scouting Movements!! I don't think there is ANYONE today that could recreate that. Certainly not with one badly written web site. If you want to see modern attempts to duplicate, and/or improve on B-P's work, they are out there. Scouting For All is only one. They have nowhere near the membership BSA does, much less a chance of growing to be world organizations. That should tell you something about the strength of B-P's vision. BSA HAS changed over the last 100 years. BSA will CONTINUE to change. The changes will NOT be quick & glitzy, but they WILL be carefully thought out to fit in with B-P's vision. BTW Brian, you stated - "merit badges like skateboarding and gaming and rollerblading would be there". I can only assume you have not kept up with the changes BSA has made to it's Merit Badge program.

As has been noted by others, neckers are optional at the Troop level and the boys in the Troop are the ones who make the decision about weather or not neckers are a part of the Troop uniform. Now since only 2 youth & 2 adults were wearing neckers (you never said how many were NOT), that could mean either of two things - 1) Most of the boys in the Troop do not like wearing neckers & have voted to NOT have them as part of the Troop uniform, but 4 folks really like them & so wear them anyway. 2) Sometime in the past, the boys decided they liked neckers & voted to wear them as part of the Troop's uniform. Now, however, most of the boys & adults do not like to wear neckers. Brian, you say this is YOUR TROOP. If that is true, then YOU should KNOW which senerio is correct. If it is #1 - In this case I do not see a need for the Troop (or BSA) to make any changes to the necker or the uniform. However, the 2 youth & 2 adults should NOT have been wearing their neckers to the COH as it is NOT part of the Troop's uniform. If it is #2 - In this case only 4 people in the Troop are wearing what the BOYS DECIDED should be the Troop uniform. The non-necker wearing folks should have been wearing their neckers to the COH. This issue should be addressed at the next PLC. Maybe the boys should take another vote & change the necker option for the Troop uniform. Instead of crying that the sky is falling, you should be more aware of what is going on in your own Troop. BTW - You have said that you are a VENTURING leader, not a leader in a BS Troop. Are you a member of both a Crew (who do not have any uniform at all and are STILL losing members according to you) & a Troop?

BTW - Who is running this focus group? What is it's purpose? Do you know how/why participants are selected?

"...would seem to be in direct violation of Item #4 on the BSA "money-raising" application." Except that the popcorn is NOT a commercial product. It can not be purchased at any commercial store. Sure, you can buy popcorn anywhere, even the Scout popcorn makers commercial varieties. However, the commercial popcorn is NOT SCOUT popcorn. Scout popcorn is specially packaged & marketed for BSA. Part of the profit goes to support local councils. Part of the profit goes to support local BSA units. The fact that by purchasing Scout popcorn you ARE supporting Scouting in your community, is one of it's BIGGEST merits! Selling Scout popcorn can "improve the Scouting program" in many ways, not the least is to fund it. Depending on how individual units run the sale, the boys can learn a LOT by participating. GSUSA hit the nail on the head with their cookie sale. A few years back they stopped calling it a Cookie SALE & started calling it what it really was, a Cookie Product Program Activity. The Cookie Program is a tool used to, not only fund councils & Troops, but to teach girls many different things. Selling Scout Popcorn can teach boys many of the same lessons. Some of these are : Budgeting Money management Math skills Time management Goal setting Merchandising Public speaking Graphic design Salesmanship Self confidence Some will say that the boys can gain all of these by selling any product & that is true. However, no other product also supports your council. Yes, you could simply write your council a check, but how many units would do that? With states putting more restrictions, paperwork & taxes on retailers, why not just use a program that is already set up. Yes, popcorn is expensive, but so is any other product specifically for fundraising. My Pack has always managed to fund our entire year on just the popcorn sale. I would not want to have to do multiple smaller money-earning projects to net the same profit we do from the popcorn. Considering all of the other sales most Scout families have to do (school, sports, church, etc), one Scout sale is enough.

I would not deplete the Pack's account just to give money to the Webelos. They are still Cub Scouts and should still be "helping the Pack go". Simply giving them a lump sum teaches the Webelos nothing. You want to give them a taste of Scout Accounts & the opportunity to have some funds to take with them into a Troop. The key word here is "opportunity". What, if anything, they make of it should be up to them, as it will be when they are in a BS Troop. Plan a separate fundraiser earmarked just for the Webelos Scout Accounts. That way you are not taking money away from the Pack. If the boys participate, & make some money to take with them, great! If they choose not to participate, then it is their decision & they will not have anything in their account. I would also do the fundraiser in the month before they are scheduled to cross into a Troop (Jan or Feb?). That way it will not interfere with the Pack's fundraising & they will not be tempted to use the money before they cross over.

My first reaction was, why did the PL wait & tell his parents about this at a later time? Why did he not tell anyone about this at the time it happened? If the SPL was standing right there why didn't he talk to the SPL about this? Also, If the SPL witnessed this bad behavior why did he choose to ignore it? Was he not SPL at the time? If he (SPL) felt the behavior did not warrant mentioning to anyone at the time, what changed his mind a week later? Could it be, he felt that the incident was minor until he caught flack from this PL and/or the PL's parents? As for the boy, you state that he had a slight behavior problem 2 years ago, but since then his behavior has been fine. Why hold his behavior of 2 YEARS AGO, over his head now? Seems a bit extreme to me. To me, who was not there & can only go by your description, this does NOT sound like bullying. What this sounds like to me, is a possibly impulsive young man, venting spoiled grapes on losing the election to someone he dislikes. You stated yourself that this boy's comments seemed like "nothing big". Yes, the comments were inappropriate. Yes, they should be addressed. A SM conference would be the way to go in my mind. However, you need to keep your personal prejudices about this young man ("our bully") OUT of the SMC.

There are definitely studies that show a biological component to homosexuality. Modern Psychologists have discovered that there is very little out there (if anything at all) that is 100% nature or 100% nurture. Most things have elements of both.