srisom

I am very familiar with the New River Adventure program at BRMC (my council). It's a blast! The statement about National looking at the New River programs came from someone at BRMC who was involved in talks with National over the past year.

I am very familiar with the New River programs from BRMC (my council). It was a lot of fun. The statement that National was looking at the New River program came from BRMC staff that were invloved in discussions with National over the past 18 months.

Have heard that the new High Adventure Base may be based on the the New River Adventure program in place at the Blue Ridge Mountains Council. Includes Whitewater Rafting and Whitewater Canoeing on the New River, C.O.P.E, Caving, Mountaineering, Climbing.

The info about the court case is true. However, the reason given for not having the Jamboree at A.P. Hill after 2010 was that those in chanrge said that they needed the base for more training and would not be able to handle the Jamboree. I feel that this was a way for the Administration to side step future lawsuits concerning use of the base.

Might give this site a try. http://sash.oasections.com/

As a Scout, my troop slept in tipis. We always faced them East, maybe a little ESE, to honor the Morning Sun. Didn't really matter as there were no floors so we got plenty of fresh air. These days, tents are more to whatever direction there is no wind.

In my Council, the busiest months are April, May and October. OA has 4 weekends a year. District has 3 camporess a year. Add all the Council dates, other District events, etc., it does not leave a lot of dates available. Council has stated that their dates take preference. Doesn't matter if the District had already scheduled something. I worked with a unit for 16 years so there were all those dates on top of the above. Now that I don't work with a unit, I guess you could say I have some free time. Just one question - where is it?

It will be a coin, but not a quarter. $10 of the cost of the coin will go to BSA, so actual cost to individuals could be 3 or 4 times that. The mint wants to make a nice profit also.

Back in the 70s, I agree there were many factors in the decline of membership. Add to those already stated this: Emphasis was on the Inter-City youth. The uniforms were re-designed, the books were re-written (without Green Bar Bill), requirements were lessened, etc. All of this was to get more Inter-City youth involved in Scouting. What this caused was in effect to take "outing" out of "Scouting". Many things were geared for the indoors, since those in the city did not have access to the outdoors. With all of the changes in the past couple of years and many more that are apparently coming soon, how can the BSA highlight Traditions and the Past? Change is not always for the better.

Probably too many. American Cultures American Heritage Citizenship In The Community Citizenship In The Nation Citizenship In The World Indian Lore Reading Space Exploration Theater

I know how the Troop feels. Several years ago, our Troop trailer was broken into and all of the equipment stolen. They efven brought wine and had a party. Even thought the police had an idea who might have done it, nothing was ever done. The trailer was parked at the church, the CO. Since the church sponsored the Troop, they turned it into their insurance. The insurance company denied the claim. We had an attorney on the Troop Committee and he took it to court. In the end, the Judge said that he wanted to rule for us, but could not for one reason: No one from the church, except the COR, was involved with the Troop (and he was not really active with the Troop). Because of this, there was no one at the church who had a key to the trailer. The Judge ruled in favor of the insurance company. We had fundraisers to replace the equipment. We recovered some of it at flea markets in a neighboring state. No one at the church wanted a key so we moved the trailer to the home of one of the active members. Hope others can learn from this.

I guess that makes me creepy according to some. I have been involved with Scouting, as an adult, since 1982. However, my wife and I have no children. I had a great time as a youth in Scouting and when the opportunity came along to give back, I did. Have volunteered in many prositions: OA Chapter Advisor, District Committee, District and Council Camping Committees, etc. Along with this, 16 years as a Scoutmaster. Never thought of it as creepy and as far as I know no one else did either. I have always felt that since I had such a great time as a youth, it was my responsilbility to give that opportunity to other youth. As far as I know, no one else who was in Scouting with me as a youth is still involved as an adult. A few of them were involved when their sons were members, but when the youth left so did the adult. Over the years, whenever anyone asked my wife why we did not have kids, her response has been that we have xx number, depending on how many were in the troop. She would say that if we did have kids then I probably not be able to spend as much time with them doing Scouting. The youth response was - Don't have any kids. Scouting needs all who are interested in spreading and maintaining the program.

I'm not crazy about anyone running this time. I am probably more conservative than anything else. Meeting with someone in a board room four times a year is one thing. Meeting with them in their home when both are adults is another thing entirely. What was said by Ayers was not when Obama was a youth, but in 2002 and since. Adding another Cabinet level department is just bigger government. The Federal Government is already too big. Instead of adding Cabinet Levels, we should be cutting Cabinet Levels. (i.e. Education, which the Constitution states is a right of the State, not the National government). The more we add to the Federal Government, the more it costs the taxpayer. Appointments to the Supreme Court in the next couple of years will affect us for many years. Obama is just too liberal. The last thing for Obama is the spreading go the wealth. That is one of the main tenets of Socialism, Marxism and Communism. As for McCain. A true American hero, but tied to too much of the current bunch in Washington. Having a President and a Congress of the same party is not necessarily a good thing. The Checks and Balances of the Constitution is bypassed when that happens. IMHO, there is no good choice this year, but I will decide and vote. If you don't exercise your right to vote, then you have no right to complain.

They did away with the time requirements for the lower ranks in an effort to help push the Scout to First Class faster. The idea then, as now, was that if you could get a Scout to First Class within a year, you had a better chance, according to the professional studies,of keeping him in Scouting (and thereby keeping the numbers up). The sideline to this was that if you got a Scout to advance quickly, there was a better chance of getting him to Eagle. This was done along the same time that many requirements for Merit Badges were softened. This has caused the percentage of Scouts to make Eagle to move above the 2% that existed for many years. And yes many youth will and have worked hard, but the percentage is closer to 3% now and it only happened after many requirements were softened. Lately there has been some toughening of some of the MB requirements. Will we see the percentage go down? Not likely as additional changes would probably be made to keep the numbers up.

I appreciate all of the responses. I knew that some would see no problem (This is the 21st Century, That's how the world is, etc.) and some would have a problem (Bad moral example, Broken Rules, etc.). I am not on a witch hunt. A do not agree with what transpired, either morally or breaking the rules, but I am not out to get the DE fired. He will do that himself given time. He has no background in Scouting and though he is somewhat eager, he has grated most of the long time volunteers. A few have quit all together, but some have stepped away from District jobs. Will the incident be broached to the SE? Probably, at least by someone. Will it be me? I haven't decided yet, but I have raised issues in the past. Some times someone has to say something. It's when no one says anything that many wrongs are allowed to happen. Thanks for all the input.

The "powers that be" knew but apparently looked the other way. IMHO, ignoring the situation is not approving of it, but more like, if we don't say anything it will go away. Not a good example to set for the youth, either by the council or the DE and others. Is it any of my business, probably not, except that I care about the image that is portrayed, especially by the professionals, to the youth that are served. Ignoring a situation is tantamount to approval, but it does not make it right.

Council recently had Cub Adventure Camp and Webelos Camp. Our DE worked it. Apparently, he and his fiancee shared a cabin. His comment was that it was okay as they were engaged. Powers to be at council apparently knew about it. This is not new as similar things have happened at Summer Camp, especially when both were on staff. Again, those at the top knew as did the campers. Am I right in that BSA rules state such arrangements should not happen? Any suggestions on how to approach this to the DE? To Council? Should anything be said?

When I was a Scout, in the 60's, the shirt and pants were the same color and were made of durable material. Scouts outgrew them more than they wore them out. We wore them to all functions, meetings, camporees, etc. Recently came across a picture os a Canoe Race in 1966 and all Scouts in the canoes were in uniform. The new activity shirts and pants have drawn mixed reviews. Unless you are close, you would not know the shirt was associated with BSA. Intentional? Used to have one uniform for everything, outings and Court of Honors. Now have to have two, an activity uniform and a dress one. Maybe we should revive something from the past.

Units are restricted to one each year, as long as at least one youth has been properly selected for the OA. Many units have more than one adult that is deserving. This can create problems, but the rules say only one adult. As previously stated, many adults have trouble getting time off to do the entire week of camping. As far the camping requirement, I have seen it sort of bend in some Lodges. Adults have been allowed in if they camped at least half a week in each of two years. This did not get them six nights together, but it was determined that three nights one year and three nights the next year worked. Might not be kosher, but that's how have been doing it.

Word is going round that NOAC 2008 will be cancelled or postponed until 2009. Anybody know anything about it? Will ArrowCorps take its' place in 2008?

Also, the budgets for the camporees can no longer be completed by the District Camporee person. They have to be completed by the District Executive and the Field Director. The budget now also inludes a $25 charge for printing to send out info on the camporee - this past time it was sent out electronically only. Another item that has been added is a 10% overage charge - something for the council in case the camporee does not make budget. Our district has three camporees a year and the last time we did not make budget was 15 years ago. In fact, for the three camporees we usually have close to $1,000 left over. Who gets this - right, the council, yet they continue to charge us all the additional fees.

Our council has, over the past year, forced the districts to charge a $1/per day/per participant fee on top of what was being charged for District Camporees. Our cost for a camporee is now $6. This fee is to cover the insurance, we are told. In the past, the council paid for the insurance, now they want the youth and volunteers to pay for it. Apparently, this is a mandate from national. We have tried to stress to our council that if they continue to add these fees, we will lose some youth because many cannot continue to afford Scouting. Our problem is that the insurance premium that the council pays is for insurance that is supposed to cover everyone in the council. However, not everyone is having to pay their part of the fee. Those that participate in a camporee, etc. are paying for the insurance, while the insurance alos covers units and individuals that may not participate in that camporee or other events. We just don't think that's fair. We feel that the fee should be added at registration time so that everyone pays. Just another example of Scouting being run by business people and not Scouting people. Scouting is now Accounting.

Had a youth in the troop that picked fights with anyone. He even would hit adults from behind. We understood that he had a bad homelife and the adults and youth tried to give him a chance. We knew he was looking for attention in the only way he knew. Adults and youth leaders had talks with him and he would improve for a short time, then back to his old ways. The other youth finally said it was him or them. A couple of adult leaders visited his house and talked with him and his mother. Basically he was given a choice: improve or leave. He never came back. We lost track of him and don't know where he is now.

Actually, the rules state that a troop can hold an election if at least 50% of the Active Membership is in attendance. This is one of the items that a SM signs off on. As a Chapter Advisor, I have seen my share of problem elections, from units trying to hold their own to one where the SM certified that there were enough in attendance to hold the election and it turned out that five of the youth were actually Webelos who were visiting and had not registered with the troop. That one took a lot of explaining to the boys and the parents. OA Elections Teams come to troops and explain the election process. They then hold the election and report the results to the SM. One election that was held two years ago was similar to the one in question. The boy's father was CC and raised a ruckus when his son was not selected. I was asked to void the election and hold it again. I refused as there was no problem with the original vote. The father went to the Lodge Adviser, who passed it back to me. Then the DE got involved. He was new and caved in. I still refused. He then took it to the Council SE who ordered a new election. It was done, the CC's son was selected. He took his Ordeal and never came back. As since moved to another troop because he and his father felt he wasn't being advanced fast enough. There will always be a few problem people, but in 14 years, there have been only a few problem elections.

I had been asked if I knew anything about the auctioning of any leftover Jamboree items. I know that Councils and Staff purchased much of the equipment at the end of the Jamboree. Before the event, I had heard that the auction would be done different this time around as items would be auctioned individually not as pallet groups. Anyone know anything about the auction? Will it happen? When? Where? Thanks.