Sentinel947

I'm too cheap to buy multiple shirts. One shirt to rule them all!

I've met a lot of really great, humble volunteers who could pass as banana republic generals with all their knots and other adornments. Other folks I know wear very simple uniforms. As long as they aren't a jerk, I don't care if they have all sorts of stuff on their uniform. I find it entertaining to shoot the breeze with the long time guys and see what all the stuff means. Some of those guys are huge know it all jerks, but they'd still be jerks regardless of what they put on their uniforms. Some folks take pride in the stuff they've done and show that on their uniforms. Some folks take pride in what they've done, and they internalize that. Both are fine. Me personally, I keep it simple. I wear the three knots I was eligible from being a youth: Eagle, Religious knot and Arrow of Light. I only wear the Wood Badge beads when I'm at a training or Wood Badge function. I wear the Neckerchief for the occasion, so my Wood Badge and Eagle ones don't see much wear, I mostly wear my Troop Neckerchief. I have a handful of Eagle Mentor pins, and out of many of the trinkets and awards I've received through Scouting, I value those highly, but I don't wear them. They technically aren't for uniform wear at all, but more so, I'm afraid I'll lose them if I wear them around on the uniform. More than not wanting to look like a know it all, I keep the uniform simple because I don't want to overshadow the Scoutmaster of my Troop. He's pretty fresh to the program, and I don't need to be rocking all sorts of knots, pins, medals and special neckerchiefs. I don't think he'd care either way, but it's more about making sure parents and other leaders don't go around him to me. He's the guy, and I'm there to make him and our Troop program successful. I think it's a subject that comes up more than it really ought to. There are sloppily uniformed folks, banana republic generals flaunting their bling, and all sorts of folks in between. We should just strive to be polite and helpful to one another and let the chips fall where they fall.

We are fortunate. We provide Tents, patrol boxes and stoves. We have a few loaner sleeping pads, bags but most Scouts have their own.

So many to think of. A few that come to mind: The night I passed my Eagle Board of Review. Waking up one morning at Philmont after a horrific rainstorm to a valley sunrise shrouded in fog. The Scouts were still asleep, so the advisors just enjoyed the quiet and peace. I just finished staffing an NYLT course last week, and I have one from that. After the course ended the SPL gave me a hug and told me "I wouldn't have made it through this week without you, you need to come back to staff next year, and you'll make a great Scoutmaster someday." This was a youth that I'd impacted very strongly in our limited time preparing for the course. It was very humbling. @The Latin Scot: I like that idea. I'm going to start carrying a pocket journal around. I've had so many great things happen in my Scouting experience that have been blurred by time. I'm really sentimental, so I'd love to have a stronger recollection of things.

I'll still be here. I just won't have the consistent time being a moderator requires. I don't hold titles if I can't do the job.

Funny, because for us the only campsite we don't have to pay for is the Council's camp outside of summer camp. Different experiences in different places!

Complete with the recommendation from a previous officeholder headed out the door. Congrats @MattR and @desertrat77. You'll be great members to the moderator team.

@NJCubScouter Look at that 14 year old typo! Oscar de la Hoya is a boxer, Oscar de la Renta made the 1990s-2000's uniform. =P

I'm in favor of it, and I'll leave the long answer for another thread so it doesn't trigger an argument. That being said my background. Thanks for the great format to copy @desertrat77! Cub Scout 2002-2005, Wolf to Arrow of Light. Boy Scout 2005-2011. Scout- Eagle. SPL. OA: Ordeal 2007, Brotherhood 2009. Adult years. ASM 2012- current, Council Eagle Scout Association Board member, Council Summer Camp Staff (2015) High Adventure: Northern Tier, Sea Base, Philmont. Training: NYLT Youth Participant (2009), Wood Badge (2015), NYLT Adviser Staff (2018). As desertrat77 but it, all other training as required for roles.

Yea. I'm working full time while taking classes. I'll look out for ways I can still contribute, but it won't look much like what I currently am currently doing.

My breaking point is going to be 2019. I'll be starting graduate school, and I just won't have time any longer. When that's over, I'll reevaluate what the situation looks like. My life mentors I've met in Scouting. My closest friends I've met through Scouting. Scouting has been the biggest influence in my life, just behind my family and my church. Looking forward to NYLT Staff this summer, and providing the incoming Scoutmaster in my unit with the experience and institutional knowledge I've gathered from the last 13 years with my Troop. As for girls, I'm all ok with girls in the Boy Scouts, so long as Troops that want to be all male can stay that way. I'm not sure what my Troop is going to do, and frankly, I won't be there for it, so it's not my decision to make.

I don't believe there are any BSA guidelines on who can be SPL. My Troop requires the Scout to be at least First Class and that they have attended NYLT. (We pay for our Scouts to go.)

Throughout the Eastern US, we're seeing a surge of tick borne illness. I've read online that some scientists attribute it to mice as the carrier, and that we've done a good job killing snakes, predatory birds and coyotes that would keep the mice in check.

Labor regulations. It's easier to just hire 16+ year olds because they come with less rules and restrictions. As an added bonus they can theoretically drive themselves to work.

I spent my late teenage years and college years working at a Hardware Store. My senior year of college, with my goal of graduating without student loan debt in sight, I took a job as a Rifle Director for one summer at the local camp. I'd been asked for years to be on staff and turned it down, because I had a goal of not having the Sallie Mae monster follow me around after graduation. In High School, College, and immediately after graduation, having an extra thousand bucks or more in your pocket makes life a lot easier to get through. In the Human Resources field we talk a lot about "Total Rewards." Which means all the financial and non financial benefits to a job. There are definitely some strong non-financial benefits to working at camp, but ultimately you have to look at finances first. Just because you didn't work at camp this year doesn't mean you won't have the chance in the future. Good luck with your work this summer. You're building good habits that will last a lifetime, and getting some money to go with it. The youth participation rate in the labor force is abysmally low, so I'm glad you're getting out there and making something of yourself during your time off from school.

"But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people." Sir Robert Baden Powell

My troop is in SW Ohio, and I agree with that. There are virtually no public campgrounds where we can get the ideal 300 feet separation without it costing an arm and leg. We make do with what we can afford.

I'm not going to get hung up on what the name of the program is called. I guess I should attend this month's committee meeting. I typically don't as an ASM. I still think the BSA is making a dumb decision by trying to have Girls Troops and Boys Troops. We are the largest troop in my town, and I don't think we'll get more than a patrols worth of girls that are interested, since the GSUSA troops in our area do fairly well. We don't have the spare adult leadership to accommodate separate troops. I'm perfectly ok if some units decide they want all male troops or all female troops. Or some type of co-ed troop. Let local units figure out their membership. I think the current Venturing YPT rules are sufficient. If I had my way, I'd have a co-ed troop with single gender patrols.

You understood my point. Right?

I'd say most folks here are parents as well as leaders. There are a good handful of folks who's kids are finished and too old for the program. There is an even smaller handful of us who are single or haven't started families yet. Your perspective on what you see in your program and from the BSA is a valuable perspective. I like to pick the brains of parents in my unit that are not volunteers. As for your question. We've had home schooled scouts in our unit. Often when they first join they aren't quite as socialized as some of the public or private school kids, but they adjust quickly. In my experience it hasn't influenced anything.

Maybe I haven't kept up to date on the changes to the app, but wasn't the big selling point of the app when it launched was that it didn't save info to your phone?

That's really unfortunate if that's how things are in your area. I know at least in my Troop, we encourage every parent to volunteer just a little bit. That might be driving scouts to a campout or summer camp. Maybe it means helping man a Popcorn show and sell with their son or helping out with Board of Reviews before our big post summer camp August Court of Honor. That certainly doesn't always mean "You must be a registered BSA volunteer." Not everybody has to drink the BSA Kool Flavor aid, but even the most gung ho Scouters need some help from the other parents to make the program a success for everybody's kids, or in my case, other peoples kids.

Yup. It's funny that the Millennial Generation and Generation Z are the most connected in history, but ridiculously hard to get a hold of. (I can say that as a Millennial.) Snapchat is a terrible medium for important information since it doesn't save messages. So you aren't missing anything by not using it. Plus it's really hard to follow YPT on Snapchat.

You can always donate a ticket to the troop you bought using your miles..

A time where schools were geographically tighter, and the BSA was allowed in schools... Fair enough. I'm pretty young by forum standards. When I was a Cub in the early 2000's most of the parents were involved with their kids in Cubs. Not every single meeting, but helping with requirements, chaperoning on outings, that sort of stuff. There isn't wrong with that, and we don't need every parent to be a registered volunteer. But we do need parents that are involved with their kid's scouting and support it, which it seems @Pselb and their family do well. There's a difference between the "Baby Sitters of America" meme and a family that is supportive of their kid and the program but aren't registered volunteers.