ScoutNut

Again, check with your council, and/or the IRS. From my council Web site - "In 2008 the IRS introduced a new, abbreviated filing for small tax-exempt organizations with annual gross receipt of less than $25,000: Form 990-N. The BSA national office consulted with the IRS and outside counsel about if this new filing requirement applies to Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, Venturing crews, and other units. In their opinion, most Scout units do not have to file the new Form 990-N. For most units, no filing is required. The only exception is for the very small number of units that have filed for separate, federal tax-exempt status under Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Those units must file either Form 990-N (if their annual gross receipts were less than $25,000) or the more detailed Form 990 or 990EZ (if annual gross receipts were $25,000 or more)."

The IRS has a toll free assistance line for exempt organizations. You, or your PTA President could call for info on Federal taxes. A call to your state's Dept of Revenue would give you answers on state taxes. As for a CO's liability, and even tax questions, you should contact your Council Service Center and ask them. These are not new questions, and most councils have a financial person who can answer them for you. If you do not feel you are getting any help, call your District Executive and state that your CO is seriously considering dropping your charter if their questions are not answered. That will get his attention.

Your CO might want to check with the IRS themselves so that they are clear on their Federal, and state, tax obligations.

You can look on your council web site for info on unit finances, or contact your council. If your CO will not allow you to use it's EIN, your unit should get it's own. Complete IRS form SS-4, found on the IRS web site. There is no charge for this. Edited to add that at no time should the SSN of a unit leader be used. (This message has been edited by Scoutnut)

The Popcorn Kernal should be depositing all money received for popcorn from the families, and Show & Sell activities, directly into the Troop account. No special signatures or whatnot are required, just the account number, and a deposit slip (which can be found at any bank) There is no reason to deposit it first into a personal account, and plenty of reasons not to. I don't know about your council, but mine requires that popcorn be paid for by a unit check only. They will not accept a personal check. How your unit handles individual sales is another question altogether. Some units have customers make out any checks to the unit, not the seller. While this might help with funds getting to the unit, where they belong, it also, as some have stated, opens up the unit to dealing with the bounced checks from folks they do not know. Some units have customers make any checks out to the seller, who then is responsible for any that bounce, and writes the unit one check to cover. This is something that your committee needs to discuss for next year. I good idea is to have families not hold on to money. Have them bring in what they have to the Troop meeting every week. Make sure the Treasurer is there to give them a receipt, and collect the money. Or have the families drop off popcorn money directly at the Treasurer's house, where it gets recorded and deposited in the Troop account ASAP. That way no one has to have hundreds/thousands of dollars sitting around their house, or in their personal account.

I am not sure what "staff" this is, but helping units in trouble is the job of the District Commissioner, and his/her Unit Commissioners. While a boring Pack meeting certainly will not help any Pack, if a Pack is failing, there are generally a lot more problems with it's program than simply boring Pack meetings. I don't see any reason to reinvent the wheel with this Pack meeting "training". BSA already has a lot of help out there on how to run a good Pack meeting. You can find information on how to put together and run a Pack meeting, including a Pack Meeting Planning Sheet, in the Cub Scout Leader Book, under Program Planning. BSA has information on Pack meetings on it's National Web site. The new BSA Den and Pack Meeting Resource Guide has step, by step, Pack meeting plans for every month. This Guide can be purchased at your local Scout Shop, or downloaded from the BSA National Web site. If you still need more help, attend your monthly District Cub Scout Roundtable for hands-on Pack meeting help. (This message has been edited by Scoutnut)

Why would it need to be written anywhere? If I deposit Troop money in my own personal bank account, it is called stealing. Oh wait, it is written somewhere, the Scout Law. A Scout is Trustworthy.

As long as it is not an Eagle Service Project you should be fine.

As long as the activity being used to complete a requirement is done during the program year for that requirement, you can use things done at school, in the community, and at home. That means that things your son did last year, when he was a Wolf, or things done before he was a registered Cub Scout, do not count toward any Bear requirements or electives. The Webelos program is a bit different. Parents are no longer considered to be "Akela's" and able to sign off any and all requirements. The Webelos den leader is now the person who checks, and signs off on, the Webelos work. A parent, or someone else, can sign off on specific things, but they need the Webelos den leader's permission to do so. So, if you know that the Webelos Scientist Activity Badge is going to be covered by the Science teacher, talk to the den leader to see if the teacher can sign off on the requirements. It might be a good idea to talk to the teacher, and get them the requirements in advance to make sure all of them are covered.

Once again - There is no such thing as not signing off on a SM Conference. The conference either happens, or it does not happen. From the Advancement Committee Policies an Procedures - "The requirement for advancement is that the Scout participates in a Scoutmaster conference, not that he passes the conference. When advancement is going to be deferred, the Scout should not come to the Scoutmaster conference thinking that everything is OK and then be surprised that his advancement is deferred. He should have had plenty of warning and guidance prior to the Scoutmaster conference. This is not a time to shut the door on advancement, but rather to work with the Scout to create goals that will allow him to succeed. However, even after a negative Scoutmaster conference for the ranks of Tenderfoot to Life, if the Scout desires a board of review, he should be granted his request." As far as the OP poster's question, this is covered in both the SM Handbook and in Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures - "If the board decides that the Scout is not ready to advance, the candidate should be informed and told what he has not done satisfactorily. Most Scouts accept responsibility for not completing the requirements properly. The members of the board of review should specify what must be done to rework the candidates weaknesses and schedule another board of review for him. A follow-up letter must be sent to a Scout who is turned down for rank advancement, confirming the agreements reached on the actions necessary for advancement. Should the Scout disagree with the decision, the appeal procedures should be explained to him." The BOR members should have followed the above procedure and told the Scout, then and there, that he did not pass his BOR. It is not your job to tell this Scout, or to figure out what he now needs to do. What did the BOR tell this young man? What did the BOR tell you? The BOR needs to send this Scout a letter ASAP, and copy you (as SM) on it, so that everyone is on the same page. After that happens you should sit down with the Scout and talk about what he needs to do.

Who is putting this pilot program together?

You can not just assume one religious emblem program (God & Me, God & Family) will work for all faiths. It will not. If your boys are of one of the Protestant faiths, the P.R.A.Y. program of God and Me, Family, Church, and Faith might work. You should have the families check to be sure. If your boys are Catholic, the P.R.A.Y. religious emblem program will not be recognized as they have their own program. Many other religious organizations also use their own program. Jewish, Buddhist, LDS, and Church of Christ, are a few. Most religious emblem programs, including the P.R.A.Y. program, require that when completed, the boys booklets must be gone over, and signed, by a member of the religious organization. In other words, if you work on the booklet with your son you can not sign off on the back page for him to receive the award. It must be done by your Pastor, or someone appointed by him. Talk to the families. Find out who is interested in working on their religious emblem. Find out what their religious affiliations are. Have them find out what religious emblem program their faith uses. If all of the faiths, of the families that are interested in earning their religious emblem, use the P.R.A.Y. program, you might be able to do a group class. In order to do a group class you need to talk to the pastors of the boys churches to get their permission to be the boy's Counselor. You will need to work with them on who will sign off on the booklets. Some might want to go over their members booklet themselves. Others might let another pastor (yours?) do it. The emblems should be presented to each boy at/by his own church. If they do not have a specific church, the church of pastor who signs the booklet might be nice. Remember, if you are doing a class, instead of the individual families working with their sons, you also need to get signed permission slips from the families.

AK, while you state that nobody attends the same church, are all of the boys of the Protestant, Independent Christian, group of religious organizations? Different religious organizations have different awards. The families of the Scouts in your den should check with their own religious organization to see if they have a different religious emblem program.

The BSA Age-Appropriate Guidelines are not hard, and fast rules, and are not meant to be. They are general, overall, guidelines. From BSA National Web site, Age-Appropriate Guidelines, in Scouting Safely, and, I believe, on the actual Age-Appropriate pamphlet - "The BSA recognizes that youth in various parts of the country develop at different rates. These guidelines are designed to demonstrate the mainstream of youth capabilities. For instance, Cub Scouts may be involved in winter camping in Alaska, where cold-weather activities are part of the culture. On the West Coast and Gulf Coast, surfing may be appropriate for Boy Scouts. In the Northeast, youth begin playing street and ice hockey at an early age. Because of the varying development rates among youth, these activity guidelines are flexible and should not be perceived as requirements or rules. They address the mainstream of youth abilities while allowing for exceptions for Scouting units and groups based on the consideration and judgment of unit, district, and council committees and boards."

With as crappy as you state your Troop has been/is, are you really surprised that the Webelos in your CO's Pack are going elsewhere? Your Troop will have to prove to the Pack, and especially the Webelos dens, that things have improved, and will continue to improve, in the Troop. This might be an uphill battle. You might ask your COR to speak with the CM and let the Pack know there has been a leadership change, and there will be some major house cleaning going on in the Troop. If you get your act together, your SM can personally invite the Webelos dens to a Troop activity to showcase the new Troop. Although stranger things have happened, I would not expect to win over this years Webelos group. They can see that the Troop has one leg, and one arm, in the grave. They will also know that the problem families have still not been dealt with.

I would pick the church that the majority of the interested boys belong to, and then go speak to the pastor.

Hey 83, or should i say - hey 83? if you can come on over and convince my 'puter to play nice with the "format this post" button, i would be perfectly happy to stop using caps for formatting purposes. just like some folks do not read anything past the first page of a document, or anything at all with a staple in it (true story), some folks just do not read complete sentences. for them i feel a bit of formatting is helpful. it also acts to replace tonal emphasis which we can not get online. in your case, you are quite loudly, for a non caps user, stating how horrible we all are because we are being so negative to the op. yet, as clemlaw has tried to point out to you, twice now, you also made a negative statement. i take it then that you are the only poster who is allowed to do so? as for me, in your pounce list you quoted only the last part pf a sentence i wrote. did you not read the first part? i never unequivocally stated >>"you are denying them the chance to try and earn their rank award"

It's called Feedback. I hear it is a gift, and it IS gift giving season!

Bobcat requirements are EXTREMELY simple, and should take a month, at MOST to complete. If you are keeping these Scouts from participating in activities with their dens for more than a month, you are denying them the chance to try and earn their rank award, and to get to know their fellow den mates before Summer sets in.

From the BSA Insignia Guide - "No alteration of, or additions to, the official uniforms, as described in the official publications, or the rules and regulations covering the wearing of the uniform and the proper combinations thereof on official occasions, may be authorized by any Scouting official or local council or any local executive board or committee, except the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America after consideration by the Program Group Committee." "No alteration of, or additions to, the official badges and insignia or in the rules and regulations governing their use or their location upon the uniform may be authorized by any Scouting official, local council, local executive board, or committee except the national Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America and committees specifically authorized thereof." "Boy Scouts or Venturers who are members of bands, drill teams, or drum and bugle corps affiliated with a unit or a local council must wear the official uniform for their registration status." "The wearing of special helmets, scarves, gloves, unofficial leggings, and the carrying of ceremonial guns or swords by members of such organizations using the uniforms of the Boy Scouts of America is in violation of the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America." So, BSA is VERY clear that your berets, color guard pins, shoulder cord, color guard patch, shoulder flash, bibs, gloves, and rifles, etc, are all NOT allowed, under the BSA policy of no alteration of the uniform, or it's insignia. What other organizations do, or wear, when preforming a flag ceremony, has nothing to do with what the BSA allows. Have you ever talked to your Summer Camp Director about requiring all flag ceremony participants (caller, flag bearers, color guard) to be in full uniform? If you want people to say "WOW" when they see your Troop do a flag ceremony, instead of pushing your boys to imitate a military color guard, even though it is against BSA rules, have them wear a COMPLETE BSA UNIFORM. To distinguish the members of the Troop color guard from the other Troop members, you should get your Council Scout Executive's permission to do custom neckerchiefs.

Service stars irritate the heck out of me - literally. The pin back is scratchy, irritating, and has a bad habit of getting stripped and falling off. If BSA could get a decent pin back, I would probably wear them. I wear the 60 year Veteran Bar. Folks in our unit who did not get one when they got their uniform usually do not want to go to the trouble to take off their patches and sew them on again. I make sure new boys know that it is available if their parents want to purchase it. Some do, some don't. Scouting is a worldwide movement. I wear the World Scout Crest, with the Centennial Ring, to commemorate that fact, and to remind the Scouts of it when they ask about the patch. I wear a Trained patch. I AM trained. In a number of different things, and have a number of trained patches to show for it in my dresser. When I attend, or staff, a council event where I am given a participation patch, I will wear it in the temporary patch position for a while. If it is from staffing Cub Day, or Summer Camp, I will make sure to wear the patch when it is time to talk up registrations for the coming Summer. It gives the Scouts and their parents something to see, and ask about. Then there is the Quality Unit Award. Personally, I am not a big fan of this award. The criteria for it has always been a bit off. The way it has been administered has DEFINITELY always been a LOT off. I do not think that it means a whole heck of a lot. That said, we know we run a quality program, and every year we jump thru the paperwork hoops to "earn" the award, so every year we purchase the patches for the boys.

Again, cooking for a bunch of adults at a training, or a den of Webelos, is different than with a bunch of families of all ages. I never said that ziplock eggs should be on every menu, for every Scout overnighter, of any kind. I also never said, or implied, it was the only way, and/or the only thing, we ever cooked. That would be silly. However, it IS a FUN, and perfectly nutritious, breakfast for Cub families, at a Pack Family Campout, every once in a while. Our Pack families, parents, Scouts, and siblings, alike, all enjoyed it. They also enjoy other kinds of breakfasts, lunches (hot and cold), and dinners. We like variety for our Pack Family Camp menus, with a bit of fun thrown in as well. Personally I think that trail mix, and granola bars are great for trail snacks. Gives the little guys/gals some extra energy to last them until lunch. You are free to cook any way you wish at yours. (This message has been edited by Scoutnut)

Since BSA just recently came out with a different necker slide for each Cub level, I doubt they are planning on doing away with neckers any time soon. As for socks, please, don't give National any ideas. We will end up with orange, yellow, blue, and plaid, topped socks!

OK, can we please remember the OP was talking about CUB SCOUTS here, NOT Boy Scouts. BIG difference. Weird cooking methods are simply FUN for CUBS to do. When they get to BOY SCOUTS then they can cook however they want, including in a ziplock bag if that is what the PATROL wants to do. For ziplock eggs - This is NOT a fast, last morning, breakfast, by any stretch. This way actually takes quite a bit of time, especially if, like the OP, you have 100+ people. Using only 1 big pot would slow down the process even more. If you want those bags to cook the water has to be at a full ROLLING boil. As soon as you dump in the bags of cold eggs the temp will drop, a lot. It is going to take about half an hour, at least, to get a big, industrial size pot to a full boil. Then, the more bags you put in, the longer it will take to cook them. Eggs MUST be FULLY cooked. Use tongs (rubber tipped high temp are best) to mash up the eggs in each bag periodically. With lots of people, 2 or more pots works better, and if you have a high heat burner, or two, that will help cut down the time to boil. Also, not a big fan of sucking the eggs out of the bag (or with using fingers). Maybe the adults can manage the clumps of egg this way, but the little ones (scouts and sibs alike) will end up with more egg on, than in. When we do this, we will do it Saturday morning. Even with lots less than 100 people, we always do at least two pots. For the "fixins", we usually have sausage, cheese, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Folks add what they want to their eggs. We also have coffee, milk, and fresh fruit. Can't forget a properly balanced meal! Sometimes we will do plastic silverware, that is then tossed in the trash with the used baggies. Other times we have everyone use their own "real" utensils. When breakfast is over, the pots of water are used for clean-up. By then the water has cooled down a good bit, or we add a bit of cold to it. The trash is placed next to the pots. Trash gets dumped, and utensils (if used) get scraped. If we have dishes to be washed, soap goes in the first pot, and a bit of bleach goes in the second. Camper dumps, and scrapes, then hands their spoon/fork/cup to washer, and their dunk bag to rinser. Washer cleans then gives dishes to rinser. Rinser puts stuff in dunk bag, rinses in second pot, and gives dunk bag to camper to hang on line (we do two heights so everyone can reach). If there are no dishes the two pots are used for the washing, and rinsing, up of the campers. At the end, water is disposed of properly. Left over "fixins" work well with sandwiches, or tacos, for lunch. Anything left over goes into the pasta sauce, or chili, for dinner. For Sunday morning we will have a quick, no cook (OK we will have some hot water for coffee/tea/cocoa), or clean meal. Paper cups (or their own camp cups), plastic utensils, fruit, bagels, milk, and single serving boxes of cereal that turn into bowls (kids love that!). Everything is then dumped in trash, and rinsed out in hot water(to be properly washed at home). We usually have some families leaving early, and some staying around for additional activities, so this can easily accommodate both. Remember, this is CUB SCOUT Pack family camping - NOT Boy Scout backpacking.

"It is inappropriate to use any device capable of recording or transmitting visual images in shower houses, restrooms, or other areas where privacy is expected by participants." Well DUH! This is exactly what Shortridge said. However, this does NOT state that BSA bans cell phones. "Sexting is neither safe, nor private, nor an approved form of communication and can lead to severe legal consequences for the sender and the receiver. Although most campers and leaders use digital devices responsibly, educating them about the appropriate use of cell phones and cameras would be a good safety and privacy measure." BSA is STILL NOT stating that it is BANNING cell phones. What it IS stating is that youth, and leaders, should be EDUCATED about cell phones. So instead of educating your members, you are going for a complete ban. You know that a lot of inappropriate things can go on in a tent with more than one boy. Yet, it is OK with you to allow 2-3 boys to be alone in a tent, together, with digital cameras? Are you going to ban non-phone digital cameras? How about banning boys being together? Why not go with single tents for everyone? That buddy system sounds inappropriate to me.