ScoutNut

Have any of you heard anything from your council on the Realignment from 312 to 106 (currently) "high capacity" councils? Are they keeping their volunteers in the info loop on this? Are any of you in "early adopter" groups? This is the current working Resource Realignment map that National is working with - http://www.alamitosmarina.org/Realignment_map.pdf It is a big file so give it some time to load. Councils have until 06/01/06 to submit any changes. Changes will be hashed out by National & then the final council boundaries will be approved by the National Board in 08/06. I would think that after that they will work to get the new councils up & running by Oct '06 and the new GS year. Looks like lots of changes coming in 2006-07 for GSUSA.

We have a wooden track that is a only a couple of years old. It's 4 lane & runs fine. We're not into fast & wood is traditional with us, so we like it. Other than speed issues, I would think the main differences would be in space & storage conditions. The box for the wood track takes up a chunk of space, but I would think that the aluminum is not much smaller. The issue to consider might be if your storage space is very damp or humid. The wood track might warp in those conditions whereas the aluminum one would not.

"I personally believe that the better example is to wear only the adult religious emblem award/knot when it is earned." Just an FYI - While, I believe, a few of the adult religious emblems are indeed earned in some way, the majority of them are not EARNED. At least not by completing a given set of requirements. Most adult religious emblems are AWARDED by a committee of either the local, regional, or national branch of the religious organization, to adults who have supported the organization's religious emblem program. "What is it really saying? "I'm proud I got to a 10-year-old's understanding of my faith?"" Wearing the youth knot as an adult says to me that they are proud of taking the time, & making the effort, as a youth, to learn more about their faith, & how it affected them. In some cases, earning these emblems solidified a lifelong commitment to their faith. They earned it, they are allowed to wear it. Why ridicule them for it? (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

If your Council/Pack utilizes segment patches, you could give one of those. There is a tan w/red BS Sign that would work. Or - A small key chain compass made into a slide. You could also just do up a nice, or funny, certificate for him.

Make it part of your den opening ceremony. After your flag ceremony, call up your Denner (& Asst Denner if you are using one), introduce them, tell a bit about their duties & present the Denner cord. You could also do the same thing at your monthly Pack meeting if you want to wait & do it in front of everybody, not just your den.

A few more sources for paraffin : Old candles - Wonderful things! Use old broken ones or $1 store ones. They are also great for Candle Kiss fire starters. Break them into chunks about 1-2 inches long, roll each chunk in a piece of waxed paper & twist each end so they look like pieces of candy. In a pinch, I have also used newspaper to wrap. Craft Store - Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc. They all have sections on candle making & carry candle wax. I believe I saw a granulated or powered version that might work well. For the stove, we used tuna cans, cut corrugated cardboard from boxes a bit taller than can & rolled it tightly. We melted candles & poured it over the cardboard. Let it set a while so the cardboard soaks it up & then top it off. We never cooked directly on the tuna can, it was simply the heat source. The other half of the stove is a (metal) coffee can with holes punched around the bottom & top for air flow. The coffee can is inverted over the tuna can. You can put a pan on the coffee can for cooking, or cook directly on the bottom of the coffee can. When finished cooking, turn the coffee can over & sit it on the tuna can to smother the flame. When everything is cold to the touch put the tuna can inside the coffee can & put the coffee can cover (makes a good spoon rest!) on to keep it together. I store the whole sooty mess in a plastic grocery bag, tie the handles once to keep everything inside & you're good to go! Grilled cheese sandwiches are good for cooking directly on the can. My girls also liked the challenge of making sausages & pancakes on their own can (fry pans are boring you know!). If you keep the tuna cans filled up what you are mostly burning is the wax, not the cardboard, & it will last a long time. For simple outdoor cooking, don't forget about pie irons. You can cook pizza, sandwiches, pot pies, desserts & more. Also, you should introduce them to dutch oven cooking. Dumping everything in one pot is always a hit!

Both the CC & the CM need to do THEIR jobs instead of taking on things that should be done by others. The job of "Outings Chair" should NOT be one of the jobs of either the CM or the CC. It is the job of the CC to appoint another person to do this job. You, as CM, could sit down with the CC to decide who you both feel would do a good job. This person would then get others to help them as needed (Outings Committee). Any and all Pack Camping trips should be organized & run ONLY by the people in the Pack who have had BALOO training. Not having an Outings Chair does not mean the CM & CC fight over which one of THEM does the job. It means that you need to GET SOMEONE ELSE to be Outings Chair! If you can't get someone to step up for the whole enchilada then break it down by event. Get someone to organize a picnic. Someone else to be in charge of organizing Day Camp attendance. Another person to organize a Fishing Derby. Somebody to put together a night/day at a sports event. Have your BALOO person(s) run the Pack Campout. If you are lucky, maybe one of these fine folks will realize that it would not be so hard to be in charge & delegate others to do the work & step up as Outings Chair.

Here is a good one with lots of info - http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/Junior.htm You should get a copy of the Junior Badge Book & Junior Leader Guide ASAP. The Junior program was changed a while ago & some of the info might be for the old requirements. Have the girls done any camping yet? Are the Leaders trained for camping? If the girls are campers, summer is a GREAT time to go on weekend trips & work on the Outdoor badges. If the Troop does not camp, day trips to nearby State/National Parks are good too. See if any of your local museums run GS badge workshops.

Not in his own backyard. He & his dad can pick up trash from your local town park, around his school, church, or library. How about some clean up work around your CO. Local Forest Preserves, Nature Centers, State Parks, Friends of Rivers, etc, will often have work days to help clean up trash, pull non-native plants, spread seed, etc. Check to see if any are coming up this Spring.

As we have mentioned, this does NOT have to be a TROOP commitment. This can be something 1 or 2 boys feel like they want to take on for either A) a one-time only clean-up B) A short time extended commitment or C) an long time extended commitment. Just as BSA says it is not up to the unit to decide if a prospective volunteer has the time to commit, that the decision is up to the volunteer, it is not up to the SM to decide for the boys in his Troop that they are to busy to do service. That decision is up to THEM. We encourage the boys in our Troop to give service when they see a need. It can be something as simple as helping a neighbor to shovel their walks, helping a stray find it's owner (BTW-please put your phone # on your pet's collar. My son is ever so much happier to send a pet to it's home than to send it to the animal control guys - end of advertisement!), cleaning up trash, helping a friend's family paint, or volunteering for cancer & suicide prevention walks. My son likes working with our council's popcorn team. He helps at popcorn distribution & popcorn return. Long, tiring days, every year, of schlepping cases of popcorn. We want boys to get in the HABIT of helping. That means encouraging them to do so. Other than encouraging the boys to offer "cheerful service", this should have no affect on your Troop, or the number of "official" service projects it does. Let the boys know that there is a request out there for help. Let THEM decide if they want to offer that help & how much of a commitment they want to make. Let THEM contact little old lady A-Z if they are willing to help. If no one has the time, or inclination, simply let little old lady A-Z know that none of the boys are available at the present time. You could offer to pass the request along to other Troops in the area if you wanted to be "helpful".

Most District Roundtables are geared toward training & information for the units. The Scouters who are in charge are members of the District's Training Committee. The Scouter's who attend are usually registered members of units in the District. While many MBC's are indeed registered unit leaders, many are not. They would simply have no need to attend a District Roundtable. Also, your District's Roundtables might be different from ours & draw 100% attendance of your District Scouters. At ours, I don't think we have ever had a time when even just 1 person from each unit was in attendance, much less registered MBC's!

While it is true that the Catholic church is requiring all persons working with youth in their schools & parish organizations to take their own version of youth protection training, this has nothing to do with Merit Badge Counselors. The Catholic church does not require adults who have contact with their youth OUTSIDE of their parish organizations to undergo their youth protection training. Catholic units are NOT required to restrict the MBC's the boys use to ONLY those who have undergone the Catholic youth protection training. If they did this the number of MBC's available to the boys would go down considerably. The boys would not be able to earn merit badges at summer camp or the Merit Badge Academy held at the local Lutheran church. Of course, this is according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. Beavah's area might be different, but I have seen no documentation out of the A of C to support it. While a MBC does not have to pay a National registration fee, they DO have to fill out an adult BSA application and agree to a BSA background check.

Why are the service projects your Troop does strictly a SM decision? Why does this have to be a Troop project? Why not an individual project? Share the info at your PLC & see what your Boy Leaders have to say. The PL's can take it back to their patrols or the SPL can present it to the entire Troop. If any boy(s) is interested (maybe Mother of a Scout's son) they can contact the woman in question directly. This sounds like it would be an ideal way for the boys to earn service hours if THEY are interested.

It seems that as of the next program year, BSA is bringing Tigers a few steps closer to being a "regular" Cub den. Previously, they lost their "Big Ideas" & their iron on Tiger paws. Then their Tiger Promise & uniform went away. Their Tiger emblem also went thru a few changes. Now they are losing their Tiger Motto and joining the rest of the Pack with regards to when they earn Bobcat. About the only things that BSA has yet to change is the fact that Tigers MUST have an Adult Partner register with them & that the den is run using Shared Leadership. Considering the pilot kindergarten program out there, I will not be suprised when the Tigers also loose this in a few years. BTW - The Bobcat change is mentioned on the new Tiger Fast Start training in the new Elearning site - http://scoutnet.scouting.org/elearning

To answer your questions - As of 06/01/06 - 1) NO 2) NO 3) You would think ASAP, but considering that the current book still shows the Tiger uniform as the orange t-shirt - Your guess is as good as mine!

As has been stated before, the new Pack will NOT really need ANYTHING from you. The scout will start fresh in his Wolf year with the new Pack. If you have the time & inclination, give his folks a copy of the Packmaster printout, if not fine, it is NOT needed by the new Pack.

Whoops !! I replied to a post about 12 hours BEFORE it was written! Looks like we are back from the future! YEA!!!

You can if you want to & have all of the historical info handy. However, for Cubs it really is not necessary. Your Pack (his current one) will be giving him all of the things he has earned with them at his final Pack meeting, correct? His rank (Tiger and/or Bobcat) will be on his shirt for everyone to see. Any belt loops will be on his belt & everything else will be on a "brag" vest, if you use one. Ranks & such are not as important to Cubs as they are to Boy Scouts. He will start fresh in a Wolf den in September, weather or not he earned his Tiger rank. Once he gets to Boy Scouts the only thing that will have a bit of impact will be his Arrow of Light (AOL). What does your Pack regularly do for their final Pack meeting of the school year? Do they hold a graduation ceremony & move all of the boys up to their next level? Do they give the boys their new scarf & handbook? Has your Pack ever done anything "special" for boys they knew were moving away? My Pack gives all of our boys their new scarf, handbook & slide at our "Graduation" Pack meeting at the end of May. Any boys moving will take those with them to their new Pack. We will also give the families a good-by, good luck, & a round of applause, but that is about it. When the families get to their new neighborhood they find a Pack they like & fill out a BSA registration form with them. On the form it has a spot to check if the boy has an unexpired membership card & a place to put the council, unit type & unit number. That is all the info the new Pack needs. After that it is up to the Pack to decide what, when & how to charge the family.

If you contact your council you should be able to get a phone # for your local Service Unit (think District) Manager (or whatever they call it in your neck of the woods). The SUM will be able to put you in touch with some nearby GS Troops. If you do an evening ceremony the girls can make punched tin lanterns to put on the bridge. They are easy & fun to make & are another lasting rememberance. One of my favorite GS songs is from a GS Cookie program theme. Singing "Celebrate Together" always makes me see the girls grow up before my eyes. My girls used it in a bridging ceremony many moons ago. This has the music & words - http://www.fament.com/gsinfo/songs/celebrate.htm It might be a bit long for the younger girls, but maybe some older Girl Scouts could sing it to the younger ones after they cross.

Are all of the girls in the Campfire group transitioning to GSUSA? Are the Campfire leaders forming their own GSUSA Troop or are the girls going into different GS Troops? You said the girls were in 2nd & 3rd grades currently. How many girls are there? Do they all go to the same school? The questions are because GSUSA levels are by age/grade. The girls going into 3rd grade will be in their last year of Brownies while the girls going into 4th grade will be in their 1st year of Juniors. For leaders brand new with GSUSA, a new multi-level Troop might be a bit overwhelming. If there are already GS Troops set up in the school(s) the girls go to it might be easier to simply join those. Either way, it would be nice to include Troops from your local Service Unit to welcome the girls (either from the Troop they will be entering or others). Do you have a local park with an actual bridge you can use? Outside ceremonies are always nice. You can have the folks on one side of the bridge with the Campfire insigna, shirts, etc, on. They cross the bridge, are welcomed by Girl Scouts, receive a daisy (symbolizing the woman who started GSUSA) with a ribbon the color of their GS level (brown-Brownie, green-Junior) tied around it & perhaps their pins, vest & handbook. You could include candles, GS songs, GS Promise & Law. Here are some sites with ideas - http://www.kidslist.uc.edu/kidslist/gs/neil/cerem_002.html http://gsleaders.org/files/Investiture.htm http://www.gspv.org/_GSPVC/Leaders/Resources/ceremonies.htm http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/Traditions/Ceremonies.htm Hope this helps!

"You need to remember that communication with anyone who did not sign the boy's application about his activities could be a violation of his right to privacy." You can't be serious. So, do you communicate with ONLY the parent who signed the application in a 2 parent household? I REALLY doubt it. These people are divorced, but unless there is a major problem (for which there will be court documents spelling out who can do what) , they both still have LEGAL responsibility for their children. It is enough that some split families play games with their kids in the middle, the Scout Leader should NOT be doing it too. Give them both all info. What they do with it is up to them, not you.

Contact info for all parties is VERY important. This year, as Tigers, they have a parent with them at all times. Starting next year, they are on their own. You stated that the split families all have joint custody. That means that they will be spending time at each parents house. Unless there is scouting info at each house things will fall between the cracks & get lost and/or forgotten. If you are on an outing, both parents will need to know the info on where their child is. Also, if something happens on an outing, you must know how to contact BOTH parents. "notifying 6 extra households of the den's calendar" is exactly what you should do. The extra time or postage to email or snail mail newsletters, calendars, etc, will be well worth it. When you make up your info packet for the new scout year include with it a contact sheet showing info for EVERY household. That way the split families know that everyone is getting the same info & they will all be included on any calling tree.

Have you considered contacting the Scoutreach division of your council? They might be able to help with some of this. At the very least they might be able to help with some used or low cost uniforms.

As FScouter said, ALL of you REALLY need to get trained. Scouting has changed in the last 20, 30 years or so & being a Scoutmaster is a LOT different than being a Scout. Fast Start is a great place to start. After that contact your District Training Chair to see about bringing training out to your unit. Here are some additional training modules online at the National website that might be helpful : http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/index.html http://www.scouting.org/relationships/04-113/index.html Your COR can NOT register as both a COR & the Scoutmaster. The COR can double register as ONLY the Committee Chair or a Committee Member. He has to choose what he wants to do & since you state that he will not be attending any meetings, how can he be the Scoutmaster? For Board of Reviews you can NOT have a parent serve on the BOR for his son. You can also NOT have the SM or ASM serve as as a BOR member. You have 5 new scouts, REQUIRE 1 parent from each family to register as a Committee Member, this will solve the problem of parents on their son's BOR. Talk to the head of your VFW, not the COR, explain that if they want THEIR unit to succeed the unit will need their help. Maybe you could attend a VFW meeting and talk to the membership. Tell them about THEIR Boy Scout Troop & explain that you are in need of a few members to become ACTIVELY INVOLVED. When your District Training Chair comes out, be sure he includes CO, COR, & Committee Challenge training. Troop positions - Adult IH - Institutional Head - Head of the Charter Organization COR - Charter Organization Representative CC - Committee Chair MC - Committee Member SM - Scoutmaster ASM - Asst Scoutmaster Troop positions - Youth SPL - Senior Patrol Leader ASPL - Asst Senior Patrol Leader PL - Patrol Leader APL - Asst Patrol Leader There are other positions (adult-FOS Chair, Advancement Chair, Merit Badge Counselor, Treasurer, etc, etc. Youth-Den Chief, Scribe, Quartermaster, etc, etc), but these are the main ones you were interested in. Notice, there is no such thing as "Troop Leader" or "Asst Troop Leader". BTW - Some unsolicited (& probably unwanted) comments from a scouting "purist" - This is JMO, but "doing whats best for the boys" should NOT include "tweaking" MAJOR requirements for the AOL. Doing activities with a Boy Scout Troop is is how the Webelos learn what a Boy Scout is & what they do. How do they learn that doing activities ONLY with their own Webelos den? It doesn't matter if you were planning on starting your own Troop in the future - they were/are Webelos NOT Boy Scouts. OK, 60 miles is not right next door, but I bet that your families have gone at least that far for a vacation or for shopping. The boys deserved the chance to see at least 1 established Boy Scout Troop in action. What is your new Troop planning to do about Summer Camp (or regular Troop camping)? Are there certified camping facilities or council summer camps under 60 miles away? What about council activities like Camporees or National Youth Leadership Training. What about merit badges? Will you have in-house counselors only? Will they be registered & trained merit badge counselors, or just parents? Not that I want to start another "tweaking" discussion, but once "tweaking" of BSA policies starts it can easily become a habit. edited for speling(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

I try to be flexible, so the little guys & their folks don't get frustrated before they get really hooked on scouts. I have always allowed Tigers to make up missed Den activities at the family level. The problem with this is that they don't always do it. To help with that, I also do many of the things 2X, in different ways, so that they will have multiple opportunities. We visit both Fire & Police if necessary. I did the food pyramid in a den meeting, we will also go on an outing to our local grocery store. We went to see the girls play basketball at our Y, the Pack is also going to a pro hockey game, & if push comes to shove, I will allow the family to watch a game (March Madness!) on the TV & explain the rules to their son. For the history portion we attended a Revolutionary War recreation, visited our library & we will visit a local nature center that is a historical farm. For the leaf rubbing, I will incorporate it into various crafts during the year (scarf slide, picture frame, bookmark, etc). Communication is tricker, but the 911 center (they also demonstrate reverse 911) at the Police station will work in a pinch. Now, if I could just hold the parents down & glue a pencil & the handbook in their hands!