SMT224

Our Troop falls into the traditionalists camp - we're quite happy if they make a rank a year. We go camping every month except December, so there's plenty of opportunity to really learn Campcraft and Scoutcraft skills by doing plenty of cooking, fires, hiking, and camping in all seasons. Why go any faster? They are 1st Class by 13 or 14, and Life by 15 or 16, and mature enough to work on Eagle by 16 or 17. Most of our Scouts make Eagle sometime during their 17th year. We have a high percentage of Eagles, so we must be doing something right! We just came back from summer camp too, and we had 10 new Scouts. The counselor for the 1st year program gave me a sheet indicating that they all had completed most Tenderfoot requirements as well as a bunch of 2nd & 1st Class requirements. But when I sat down with them and ask them about the elements they supposedly have completed, most require a bit of a refresher. Several had never heard of two half-hitches or a taught-line when I ask them to tie them. As I worked them through the knots, a vague sense of familiarity came forth, but not enough to sign off on the requirement without additional work. I will continue to work with them to ensure they know Tenderfoot skills and use them on a regular basis.

What's the point here - to allow the Scout to learn skills that will last him a life time, or to accumulate as many merit badges as possible and advance in rank as quickly as possible? We do not allow double dipping for anything. Each rank advancement element and each merit badge requirement element are considered separate entities and must be completed separately. Overlapping requirements are irrelevant. Each requirement must be completed to achieve rank advancement or earn the merit badge and that's that. We find that this consistent policy works as it is very clear and requires no fuzzy judgement on a case by case basis. It works very well for our Asperbergers and similar Scouts who understand the rules and are happy if we stick to them too.

Great suggestion CalicoPenn!! Thanks! I hadn't heard of that award, but this Scout really deserves it, so I will move forward on it. Interesting that the red white & blue braid is the award. He's been wearing the blue and gold braid the Troop has had for years, even though he's been working with the Webelos. Learn something new everyday!! Thanks for your post!

It really depends on the Scout. We currently have a Scout who has been Den Chief for our feeder Pack for the past two years, and is doing an excellent job. He likes it and want to stay in that position for the foreseeable future, which is just fine. Our current Quartermaster is doing a great job as is our Librarian. They will both keep their positions through multiple ranks. However, our Scribe will not, as he rarely showed up, so did next to nothing. We have a new Chaplains Aid who seems very enthusiastic, so he may work out great. Many of our Scouts become Patrol Leaders and do well exploring leadership. As you assume your new position asm, look at what the Scout is doing in his Position of Responsibility and how well he is doing it. As others have said, no more than one Den Chief per Den, and then monitor how well that one Scout does his job based on Den Leader feedback. Work closely with the SPL on decision making and how Scouts are doing in their PORs.

Individually enabled dihydrogen monoxide dispenser.

Great suggestions!! Thanks! Based on your suggestions, I've compiled a Top Ten list to post at summer camp on the bulletin board. Additional ideas? Top Ten Ways to have Fun at Summer Camp 1. Take care of yourself: Take a shower every day. Drink more water than you think you need, then drink some more. Visit the latrine every day. Eat your fruit and veggies. Brush your teeth before bed every night. Never sleep in the clothes you wore during the day. 2. Take care of each other. Watch out for the guys who aren't following rule #1. Look after the little guys, especially right after dinner when everything starts to wind down and guys are most susceptible to being homesick. Look for kids off by themselves or in their tent and not participating with the group. Draw them out. Ask them to hang out with you and play a game of checkers or cards. Take them to the trading post and buy them a Slushy (let me know and I'll give you the buck.) 3. Make time to try something new. 4. Spend time just hanging with your Troop. Or guys from another Troop! This is what summer camp is all about. Go canoeing with a buddy. Get off your butt and go with a group to free swim. Grab a bunch of guys and head down to the activity field for a pick-up ball game. 5. Participate, even if it doesn't seem cool. You're at Boy Scout camp! You're really worried about looking cool? 6. Sit at a different table at least one meal every day. Sit with guys you normally dont talk to. You'll be surprised. 7. Take some time each day to do absolutely nothing. 8. Take a moment before crawling into your tent at bedtime to look up at the stars they are amazing! 9. If at all possible, bring back little tokens of thanks for your family members...something you made at handicraft, or an inexpensive trinket from the trading post, or a really cool rock you found on the trail...you'll be surprised at how much they'll appreciate the gesture. 10. Steady, dreary rain? Get out of the tent and rally your fellow scouts...ham it up, pretend like the sun is shining, crack some jokes, go play volleyball in the rain and mud and the next thing you know, things are a little brighter. If theres lightning, hunker down in a safe place and pretend with the little guys that youre hiding from an enemy. 11. Have Fun!!

We have a herd of new Scouts this year, and want to send out one last email before departure... Any additions? 1. Double Check Packing List 2. Label Everything 3. Scout Packs Everything 4. No Electronics 5. Turn In Completed Medical Forms 6. Mail letters late this week and over the week-end 7. Be at church on Sunday morning in Class A Uniform 8. Give Camp Spending $$ to the Banker 9. Give Medicines to the Medic 10. Parents: Check in with Scoutmaster before leaving

Sounds like you're on the right track - as others has said, the best thing you can do is help him to learn to swim. It will serve him for a lifetime. In our Troop, all Scouts have three choices at sumer camp: they have their swimming MB, they are working on their swimming MB, or they are in instructional swimming. Not everyone has to earn the swimming MB, but everyone has to learn to swim.

We're out camping every month except December. In January we do a 3 night winter camping trip, July is summer camp (6 nights), and in August we do a 6 night Troop high adventure camping trip. The rest of months are 2 night weekend camping trips. So we are out under the stars 31 nights a year. We rarely cancel - extreme weather might do it, but in such a case we will do our best to find a another place / time to go. Some of our Scouts would be happy going camping twice as much!

We camp in our Troop tents the other 10 months of the year. Summer camp is fun not just because of all the activities, but because we are in the canvas tents as well. I really like the old tents - the smell on a hot day, opening all the flaps on a cool night, the sound during a rain, and being able to stand up to get dressed. To me it's part of the Scouting tradition, and I think I'd switch camps if they required us to use Troop tents.

Interesting site... no new Scouts from here to join our Troop. But maybe that's just as well, as I find the videos really do not show what we do in our Troop. If someone joined thinking we did high adventure activities all the time, they'd be sorely disappointed. We do a lot of camping - 11 months out of every 12 we spend at least 2 nights in tents under all kinds of climatic, biotic, and terrain conditions. While our Scouts do some biking, they mostly hike, explore, and do a lot of fire building, wood chopping, and cooking. And they do the unglamorous preparations for these activities and the even more unexciting cleaning up after a camping trip. And yet they love it. Not sure how a video could convey what Scouting really is, but it sure isn't all high adventure all the time. And yes, the videos do show the service that we and all Scouts do, which is a good thing, so I do understand that the videos aren't all hyper-activity fluff!

Video: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/155851/2/VIDEO-Boy-Scouts-rescued-by-helicopter

My first question is (irrelevant to your dilemma, and I know you don't want to hear it), how in the world did a "Scout" who has had such blatant disregard for the Scout Law get this far?? Why did the Scoutmaster sign off on his advancement time after time? Why did the Committee sign off on his BOR time after time? Ok - enough of that rant. As to your current issue, Don't Sign!!!! Be transparent, let him know why, and be done with him and his father. Yes, his father with go berserk, and the "Scout" might be upset. But what message do you send to the other Scouts if he gets Eagle? Not a good one, that's for sure!! Far better they see that his behavior and disregard of the Scout Law has had significant consequences. You have a responsibility to the Troop, not this kid and his dad. Where is the Scoutmaster in all this? Will he (she) support you in this? Does he believe this Scout deserves Eagle? Or is the dad such a bully that all have bowed to him?

No cell, no radio... how about ground to air code? Big (12 foot) LL is code for "All is Well" Big I is code for serious injury And then there's the code for "Need Guns & Ammo", but let's hope that one isn't needed! http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/camping/camping_9.htm

Communication is the key here... I wonder if there was any way they could have let someone in the Troop or an authority know that they were ok, just trapped by water. I understand the spotty cell coverage, but what about a radio? I also wonder if they really needed to be pulled out by helicopter? Could they have waited for the water to recede and hike out?

Six LA scouts and scout leaders rescued from AR campground Posted: May 03, 2011 8:44 AM EDT Updated: May 03, 2011 8:44 AM EDT LODI, Ark. (AP) - Six Louisiana Boy Scouts and two adult leaders were rescued by helicopter from an Arkansas wilderness area Tuesday morning. The Scouts were taken to their parents, who were waiting at a camp supply store near the Albert Pike Recreation Area. The group had been expected back in Louisiana on Sunday, but high water kept them from leaving the heavily wooded area in southwestern Arkansas. (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Another great quote... "The soldiers have not confirmed the people they located were the scouts, but they believe they are the only ones who would be able to get a fire started in a drenched area."

"This is a group that is going to be able to fend and use the survival skills they learned through scouting," he said. "They're probably going to be hungry, but I'm sure they're going to be able to scrounge up enough food to be OK." I agree with this statement, and believe that Scoutskills and Campcraft will see them through -- and is likely a great adventure with fodder for lots of great stories. I have a much higher confidence level then if they were non-Scouts. Assuming they make it out ok, should they be responsible for the costs incurred by search and rescue? A helicopter is not cheap -- about $500/hour!

Got home this evening after an exhausting day at work, cooked diner, fixed the kitchen faucet, picked the kids up from band, sat 'em down for homework, and then finally fired up the computer... to discover all this great wisdom! I really appreciate all your comments!! I concur with the "take it slow" approach and let him find his sunrise. He did get his Scout badge and seem quite happy about it. We'll see how he does as a Scout and what guides his actions. As others have wisely said, the most consistent thing about kids, especially teenagers, is that they are always changing. If he is steadfast in the belief that there is no God as he continues on the Scouting trail, I will be concerned, but for now, I'm just surprised.

We had 7 Webelos crossover last month. I am having Scoutmaster conferences with each so they can earn their Scout patch. It's the "Boy Scout Joining Requirements", but we make kind of a big deal out of it, and have them tie the square knot, do the Pledge, Scout sign, salute, and handshake, & describe the Scout badge. I then discuss the Scout Oath, Law, motto, & slogan with them. I sign off on their book, and then we immediately do a patch ceremony in front of the Troop with lots of clapping and cheering. During a SMC with one of the new Scouts, as I went through the Scout Law, this kid said absolutely and definitively that there was no God. I was a bit stunned, as this is a kid who goes to church every Sunday with his parents. I asked him how he could be so sure, and he said he just knew it. I challenged him on his assertion, and we discussed it for a while, but I don't think I changed his mind. I suggested he discuss this with his parents as this was a very important and serious issue, and something that he needs to think about very carefully. Then I had a SMC with another new Scout whose parents do not go to church, and do not provide him with any kind of religious activities. This kid was very spiritual and professed a deep and profound belief in God and a significant desire to go to church and become religious. He said he just wished his parents would let him go to church. What a contrast! But the reason for this post is this question... what do we do with a kid (here a 10 year old) who professes not to believe in God? Or in this case to firmly believe there is no God. I'm not inclined to toss him out immediately, but rather to give him a chance to think more about it and discuss with his parents, Adult Leaders (specifically our Chaplin) and the Scouts (especially the Scout Chaplin Aid). But is there a point that you say - "Sorry non-believer, you're out!" What say ye?

Here's an alternative to the butane problem... several of us in the Troop have it -- unlimited fuel that you don't have to carry! http://www.zzstove.com/sierra.html

We'll deal with it for the rest of our 2011 activities, either by charging Scouts a surcharge or drivers will just eat it. But if prices are still high when we do out September 2012 planning activities, we'll have to carefully balance distance vs cost to Scouts & Troop. Transportation will become a significant cost to consider in the equation, and could mean outings closer to home or expanded fund raising efforts. Unfortunately higher fuel prices - along with ripple impacts - may make folks less able to contribute to the Troop via our fund raiser.

Summer job in Tucson AZ digging holes for trees around new apartment complexes - 3' x 3' for $3 each in 110F heat. Dirt was mostly caliche - hard as a rock and required alternating between pounding with a heavy sharp "caliche rod" and scarping out the dirt with a shovel. It was a glorious day when I hit a buried water pipe!

We developed a policy the last time fuel went over $4/gal of adding a logical surcharge to all attending a camping trip (except drivers). The surcharge would be based on distance, # attending, and cost to drivers. Usually this has been $5/person, which is then divided logically by vehicle. I'd get a bit more of pot since I'm driving a Suburban pulling a trailer than my buddy driving a Dodge Caravan. My GPS (Garmin 265WT) can track my costs based on the current fuel price, which helps in the allocation.

Right! This group of Webelos seems very psyched to crossover -- which happens tomorrow!! Seven new Scouts will be crossing over!