ScoutNut

Have her sit down & make 2 lists. One with all of the reasons she dislikes GS & the reasons she wants to quit. One with all of the things she likes about GS and reasons to stay in. Then go over the lists with her. Ultimately it is her decision to make, just as it was yours. As much as we would like to stop them, they have to make their own mistakes & learn from them. This is something your brand new Boy Scout son will be learning about too!

Seattle - I am curious, have you attended Commissioner training? The things you are doing are NOT a part of the Unit Commissioner's job. I don't care how bad a shape the Unit is in. Take BALOO training if you wish. Go along on the Pack campout if you wish. However, DON'T do the Pack Leaders jobs for them and don't put yourself on their tour permit. You are NOT a Pack Leader. As for what to bring to BALOO - nothing. Everything you will need should be supplied for you.

The question was not about an overweight Scouter who was endangering himself or the Scouts in his care. Most people (big, little, fat, skinny, tall, short, weak, strong, stupid, smart) know their limits & do not try to do things that they know they just can not do. The original question was: "What are suitable ways of dealing with Scouters who are obese and a poor example for Scouts because of that?" This is about punishing a Scouter simply because someone doesn't like the way he looks. I'm with CA_Scouter.

"I'm supposing that if a Scouter signs the paperwork requesting medical care for a Scout provided by a hospital, the hospital includes a contract provision making that person liable for the bill if no one else pays." I really doubt they would have someone who was not the child's guardian sign anything relating to that child's care. And even if by some chance they did, unless the piece of paper specificaly states that YOU are the responsible party, & you give the hospital all of YOUR information instead of the Scout's. In that case, you obviously want the bill sent to you & I'm sure the hospital will oblige. If some portion of treatment is not covered by insurance, for whatever reason, the hospital will send a bill to the child's parents/guardians. If they do not not pay, for whatever reason, then the hospital will take the parents/guardians to court. Why would you think they would send a bill to some person who has simply brought a child to the hospital? Why would you even consider signing something that states you are responsible for this childs bills? I have never heard of, or had this happen to, any Youth Leader in any youth organization, school, or church trip, in my area in 21 years. That is why these organizations carry insurance. Every time I have had to take a child to an emergency room they take the billing information on the child - NOT on the person who brings the child in. If you really do not trust either the BSA insurance or your Scout's families insurance, then I suggest you make sure that at all times, scouts sit in one place, don't move or touch anything & cancel any and all trips. Your only other option, if you do not trust the BSA insurance, is to take out extra personal insurance & make sure the Unit takes out extra insurance covering all meetings and activites, in and out of the regular meeting place, and while traveling. (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

We do not HOLD advancements until the B&G. We do use the B&G as a goal to aim for to be finished with rank. Some boys make rank earlier, some make rank later, most finish up in time for B&G. We hand out all of our "Thanks" awards at graduation in May.

Personal health insurance, or lack of it, should be evident from the permission form. It should include space for the family to fill in their doctor's name & phone #, medical insurance company name, Group #, & phone. Ideally a copy of the insurance card should be attached. Many hospitals will not do anything on a minor (unless the condition is life threatening) until they can get in contact with the parent/guardian.

We don't do a "Leader Box". Most of our Dens meet in the same place (different times/days). We have a large cabinet that has all sorts of supplies in it. You use what you need & replace (or add) when needed.

If it's seasoned, it's seasoned. If you want to make sure the oil is baked in the pores season it again. Frying chicken in it will only make it dirty & require it to be washed.

I don't know how you can accomplish much with only the CC, Advancement, & Treasurer at your meetings. How does the Advancement know what to purchase or who needs what? How do you plan Pack meetings? We usually have the CC/COR, the CM, the Asst CM/Advancement, UC, at least 1 Leader from each Den & 1 or 2 misc committee members. The CM brings the info from the Treasurer who usually does not attend.

I would think that burying it would dry it out to much. It is better to undercook than overcook. You can always cook a bit longer, but it is a LOT harder to turn charcoal back into real food! Have the kids test it out a few different times & ways before the actual event.

You know, if the purpose of this was to get more PWD cars for the Museum, they could have sent something out to the councils stating that. I am sure that many Packs could have put together a design team to create a special car that represented their Pack & sent that along. They could have judged the cars & perhaps the most original design could have won a free (or reduced) trip to the Museum for the Pack. Now that would have been interesting!

Well, with my council, I guess that's now 3 councils who are not participating, & considering the lack of response I'd say there are a LOT more out there. To tell you the truth, the National Scout Museum aside, this does not sound like a lot of fun for the boys. It sounds to me like another reason for parents to go crazy & have boys in tears because they did not win. Our PWD was in Jan & the boys had a BLAST! We did not measure the speed of the cars or use big price tag finish lines. We used Boy Scouts/Scouters as line judges & just raced away until the boys were tired. I kind of prefer a boy saying he had tons of fun at our Pack's PWD over a boy getting a letter telling him his car is the fastest in the nation & boy did his councils SE have fun racing it.

As with all Charter Organizations, LDS is able to make changes to meet their particular needs. In LDS, the BSA programs are their youth programs & are incorporated fully into the life of the church. Leaders are church members who have been called (assigned) to a particular position in a LDS Unit by their church leader. They are not volunteers. LDS does not do Tiger Scouts at all. They also do not advance in the same manner as "regular" Cubs. LDS Scouts change levels at their birthdays so there are boys "graduating" at all times during the year. This reflects the fact that a boys age determines his position, or level of training, in the church. Bobcat/Wolf - 8 years old Bear - 9 years old Webelos - 10 years old Boy Scouts - New Scout Patrol (Blazer) - 11 to 13 years old Varsity - 14 to 15 years old Venturing - 16 to 18 years old (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Jark - Since you said that other parents will be popping in & out during the week, it seems that the camp does not have strict cut off dates for camping. From your profile it looks like you are a parent/Committe Member & not involved in the week to week Troop meetings. Perhaps the SM, or the ASM who is also going to summer camp with the boys, could make a pitch for additional adult summer camp help at the next few weekly troop meetings. At the worst, you still have 3 adults going. At the best, you might pick up 1 or 2 more. It certainly couldn't hurt, & it could help to satisfy any lingering questions.

You need to have a talk with your Webelos Leader and find out what they WILL accept. Most Webelos Leaders have the boys who do things at home bring in their work to show them & describe what they have done. Your son could keep a notebook with all of the things he has done for each activity pin. A Eamonn stated, the Leader (or whoever they designate) is now the one to sign off on completed activites. Webelos is a transition time between Cub & Boy Scouts, & as part of that, responsibilty for achievements is taken from parents & given to other adults & the Webelos Scout. You said the Leader does not do much with the boys. Have they earned their Webelos Rank Badge?

At the Cub Scout level the Unit Advancement Report is for Rank awards only. There are order sheets for some other awards, like the various 75th Anniv, but they are basically to make ordering easier. Most awards that are considered "unrestricted", like Belt Loops/Pins, can simply be purchased at your local Scout Shop by anyone. Remember, for Loops/Pins & many other things, the award is signed off & approved by the parents. Your Pack isn't NOT offering the entire Scouting program. It is simply saying they will not pay for the extra awards. You son (& other boys from what you stated) has obviously been participating in and earning the various other awards. You don't say if you hold a leadership position in the Pack. If you are in fact a Den Leader then you can talk to your Committee Chair about the Pack purchasing the awards for the boys if their parents pay for them. I do not see how they would have a problem with that as the Pack would not be using any Pack money. As Den Leader you could also collect the money for the awards from the Parents of the boys who have earned them, and then go yourself to purchase the awards. You could then either present them to the boys at a Pack meeting or a Den meeting. If you are simply an interested parent than I suggest you talk to your Den Leader about parents paying for awards the Pack can't afford. When the rest of the boys in the Pack see either the boys receiving the awards, or the boys wearing awards they received at Den meetings, then maybe they will be interested enough to earn them also. As I said, I really can't see a problem if the parents are willing to pay. If the parents refuse to pay and want the Pack to pay for anything & everything, regardless of weather the Pack has the funds for it, then that is a whole different problem.

Am I the only one who wonders why an 18+ yo Eagle scout thinks it's ok to pour liquid fuel on a fire? Was he never trained in fire saftey when he was a youth member? Whooo Boy! Your Committee Chair (who is in charge, along with your Charter Org Rep, of providing leaders) needs to have a talk with this guy. Along with other things, he needs to find out if he is really serious about staying connected with the Troop in a leadership position or if this whole year was about having fun with the other scouts until he goes away to college. Your SM's wife is wrong, you do not HAVE to put up with him. You say that your District does not have training until May. Just an FYI - You can take training in any District & even in another Council if need be. You might also pick up a copy of Boy Scout Troop Program Features, Boy Scout Troop Program Resources & the Guide to Safe Scouting (which can also be found on-line at scouting.org) at your Scout Shop.

The Astronomy Belt Loop & Pin is the only astronomy related award that a Webelos can earn. Bob gave you the link for the requirements. They are pretty basic and all very hands on. I can see covering the requirements with small group sessions, but on stage - in front of 200 Webelos, I don't see it. You will just basically be putting on a show for them while they sit & watch. You will probably do a great job & it might be fun to watch, but none of the boys will have earned any part of the Belt Loop or Pin. If you want to talk about astronomy & the native American, constellations and their stories are a great place to start. There are a lot of neat stories about how the constellations got their names & how they got into the sky. You could have your assistant walk around with a large picture of the constellation with the related image superimposed over the stars while you tell the story. There are enough constellations that this might fill up your 45-60 min time frame. I could not find any fun astronomy related songs or skits. I don't think that a skit would work well with only 2 people on stage preforming it. If you could find some astronomy related run-ons or even knock-knock jokes, those might work better for just you & your asst on stage. I am not sure how art comes into the astronomy session. Are you running 2 sessions for the Webelos, art & astronomy? It sounds like your art session will be COSIDERABLY smaller than your astronomy one. I can understand why the camp would want all sessions of art to cover the same things. It would simplify figuring out who earned (or did) what. Find out who the other art presenter is and get together with them to plan the sessions out.

If your Pack will not purchase the belt loops (or any other unrestricted award) that your son has earned, then yes, you should purchase them yourself. You can ask your CM if he has a problem awarding them at a Pack meeting. If he does, then award them at a Den meeting.

OK - So what you are saying is that it is not good to give your child medication prescribed by his doctor, but it is just fine to beat him? Alrighty then.

I would not have him participate in a crossover ceremony. He is already a Boy Scout and has been one for almost a year at this point. If your Pack has no objection, I would see if the boy would like to be recognized at an AOL ceremony at your next Pack Meeting. Do not wait until September.

I suppose you could use Scouting for Food or Change for Children as he had some direct effect & input. I would not count his parents spending $100 towards HIS act of service. IMHO, I would do something new, & hopefully more personal, that he himself has picked specificaly for this requirement. Remember, it is supposed to be under the direction of his religious leader (his dad).

An "act of service" has you stumped? This should not be so hard. Your husband, who is acting as his religious leader, needs to talk to him about what he considers to be "service to others" and then pick one & do it. Help an elderly neighbor by pulling weeds, cutting grass, etc. If his school participates in Market Day he can volunteer to carry boxes to cars. He can volunteer to help watch younger children during PTO meetings. Visit Senior's at your local Nursing Home. Run errands for a neighbor who can't. Volunteer to read to little kids at your local library. Walk a young neighbor to school each day. There are lots of ways to help other people.

Are you using your Adult Partners? Give each one of your Tiger Teams a week and have THEM come up with a fun activity for the den. Scouting is NOT about earning an award every time you turn around. It is about learning & having FUN. Some ideas - Den kite fly with home made kites Visit a Nature Center Take a Clean-Up walk around the neighborhood Do a park clean-up Make a Mom's Day gift Make a Dad's Day gift Take a hike in the woods Game Day Have a picnic Take a tour of someplace Visit your local animal shelter (May's Pet Pals) Participate in Scouting for Food Attend a program at local State/County park Do a Bike Hike Have a themed den party Make end-of-school gifts for teachers Visit with Senior's (maybe put on a few skits) Prepare for upcoming Pack meetings More than enough to take you to the end of the school year. All of my Tigers, but 2, have earned their Tiger rank. Last month we worked on making props and learning 2 skits for the Pack meeting. This month we have been making our den's Cardboard Box Boat for our Pack's Derby. The BSA TIGERJAWS is just about finished! Next month we will visit the fire station & a local Wildlife Center. We are also having a "Scout & Me" Pack campout which I hope some of my Tigers will be able to attend.

I wouldn't think so. They are 2 different programs now, even though Explorer was originaly the BSA's co-ed older youth group. IMO, it would be like wearing your Venturing uniform, in place of a Boy Scout uniform, for your BS Troop meetings. But, I am sure there are others here who could tell you for certain.