TAHAWK

My friend, the Scoutmaster of the troop where I was an SA for twenty-five years, bought me a T-shirt that said on the front. "Don't ask me. I'm only an adult."

About 50% of all copper telephone circuits are still in service. I live in a cell phone black hole. No service. .5 mile away, yes. Here, no.

A hanger? What, you are prejudiced against wrinkles?! What happened to sticks and rope or string? This could get ugly.

Mat to put your wet feet on before you dry them and put on new socks - so you don't get yik-yak inside the new socks.

If one can't be a glowing example, at least be a dire warning.

Any statistical studies on this? I know some families not making it with both parents working at two jobs each, driving 10-year-old bangers to and from those jobs. Could it be poor resource management? Sure. Look at the average credit card debt per household. People have homes full of expensive products that did not exist when I graduated college, but they are "must have" possessions. New Residential dwellings Median square feet 1973: 1512 Average square feet 1973: 1660 Median square feel 2010: 2169 Average square feet 2010: 2392

Can he sleep without a pillow? Can he sleep with the night sounds of critters and =adults snoring? (if not, soft silicon ear plugs form shooting goods dept) Will his tent have provision to keep skeeters out. Most camp canvas wall tents don't. Nets are readily available via Amazon. 'Cause if he doesn't get his sleep, he will run down pretty quickly. Hat with a brim all around to prevent sunburned ears, neck and nose.

"At my age, I am really not all that interested in investing a lot of time and effort into the dialog" Stosh 11762 posts

And a high percentage of the footballer are maimed. I thought I escaped until my right knee started locking at age 40. Doc looked at X-rays and said: "You played football didn't you, dummy." I was too intimidated to mention catching baseball.

But, then, our opinions are suspect due to prejudice. As are the others.

Sorry, Stosh. Very literary presentation, but no sale on the no hope part. As I said, our strongest troops are the most "traditional," and they have no issues with recruiting or retention. On less than a month's notice, I have recruited fourteen Scouters to come to Summer Camp and train Scoutmasters Tues-Thurs of each week in the hot and sticky. Just need some more. Of course, they agree only because of the camp meals they will get. If last year is any pattern, we will train 120 SMs and ASMs. The weekend courses will train sixty-four more - 184 adults who don't know it's hopeless. Of course this is Cleveland where we have learned that being down does not mean you're out. No more logical that the anecdotes you list, but BSA membership peaked six years after that song came out and collapsed with the Improved Scouting Program, not the warbling of Moma Cass. Reminds me about the debates over who was more prophetic, the Stones with Street Fighting Man or the Beatles with Revolution.

Assuming for purposes of discussion the rapid devolution of Homo Sapiens Teenagus into a loner, BP created a movement to change things for the better as he defined it, not to accept the evils of the world as he saw them. If you don't want to better people and their behavior, you are in the wrong activity. The strongest troops in this area in terms of membership are the few that one can honestly say operate on the Patrol Method. Are they "perfect"? No. They are imperfect as we are all imperfect, but they stand out for knowing where they are trying to go and a self-critical ability to keep working at getting there. They are almost always the source of the elected event SPLs for our district activities because the SPLs form the less-fortunate troops know what's what, even as they cannot get their adults to do the right thing. It was "expert consultants" who convinced BSA's "professionals" to launch the never-to-be-sufficiently-cursed "Improved Scouting Program" on the insight that society was urban-centered rather than rural-centered. When the smoke from the rapid and massive loss of members, youth and adult, cleared, it was observed that Scouting had always appealed more to the urban boy than the country boy and that the Improved Scouting Program had moved Scouting closer to school, a disincentive for youth to participate. As for the assumption, and with all due respect, Pshaw! They still dress in "uniform" and speak their own, kid language.

You need a range of events, including some that are more cerebral than physical. ID native fish from pictures; ditto for birds, poisonous plants; snakes; Kim's Game - any theme remotely Scouty; compass problems; native tree leaf ID; Civics quiz; nature Scavenger Hunt; quiz of Boys' Life content from the last year; height/width estimating; estimate jelly beans in the jar.; what country is this stamp/coin from? We had Webelos dens finish in the top ten. (Yes, they were not supposed to participate in Scout events, but literally no one in Council, young, old, volunteer, or employee thought that made any sense.) Our events were selected by the troop SPLs, who were supposed to come with ideas from their respective PLCs. The events were made known to all the troops at least six months in advance to be available as program drivers.

Illustrating, I suggest, the the biggest problem is poor program at the unit level due to a lack of enough adequately competent adults. And the official tool to create competency is the crippled training program at the National level (where some think the Patrol method is one aspect of the boy-led troop method) and the even less functional training program in a number of councils, like mine. Seven districts Three have no training chair - overall or for any division of the program Three have done SM/ASM/IOLS in the last five years. One other has done Baloo every year bit never OWL. Three weeks during which SM/ASM/IOLS is offered at Summer Camp - with a total of two equivalent full-time staff for one week's course (three days 9-5), one staffer for one week's course (who has never staffed before and didn't know he was shown on paper as in charge) , and one staffer for one day total of the third week's course(thought he was "helping" an existing training team that does not exist). And no arrangements for food, equipment, staff, or training sites at camp. Prediction is about 50-60 Scouters to be trained with this level of "staff" and preparation. Good training is going on here and there despite it all, but "here and there" is not a formula for reversing a bad trend. So long as training is the red-header stepchild and leadership positions filled on the basis of the checks written, the rot will continue. Edit: and anyone complaining but not helping is not ..... helping/ Anyone with actual power hearing this?

No sponsor No Committee "Scoutmaster is selected by three fathers from the community." A few as two boys "NEIGHBORHOOD PATROL: a small neighborhood group of from 2 to 8 Scouts may be organized as a 'Neighborhood Patrol." A Neighborhood Patrol requires no sponsorship. Three fathers in the community must approve the Scoutmaster. Meetings are held in homes or other suitable places as often as the membership desires to meet." Boy's Life, June, 1938, at p. 27. In several places, BSA literature suggests that a Neighborhood Patrol could be a sort of pre-troop. But if you get a sponsor and Committee, no reason a patrol cannot register as a "troop" and operate as a patrol. We sure have numerous patrol-sized "troops" trying to operate as a troop.

As for your other observations, where's the thumb's up emoticon?

Did copy/paste again and now it works. Sometimes, computers seem to me like the Mysteries of Mithras.

Until at least 1969. Look, you can buy an old Neighborhood Patrol charter: http://www.scoutstuff4sale.com/1969-national-charter-for-a-neighborhood-patrol/

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics." Our Bonsai Club dropped from 200+ to 37. The American Bowling Congress says their official leagues are down 50% over some period. Our local PTA is asking former parents to join. The local Herb Club shut down for lack of members. The Township can't staff its committees, and they get free dinner when they meet. Not youth, but our Council has been hamstrung for decades by shortages of adults at every level.

Baloo taught by one person would be suboptimal with the best one-person staff. And teaching while complaining about teaching? Wow! Whoever is in charge should be told what you experienced.

Not presuming to tell you anything you don't know, but what "would make sense" is often not the observed standard of behavior in human affairs. In that, BSA is all too human.

Yes. He's sure. And he's correct. " Adventure pin A recognition device given to a Webelos Scouts for completing the requirements for an adventure." "A Webelos Scout who has earned the Arrow of Light rank has now completed all the requirements for the Scout badge and may join a Boy Scout troop. " "The highest rank in Cub Scouting is the Arrow of Light rank, which you will begin working on as a Webelos Scout." The "S" is for "Scouts", not the plural. We will be loyal Scouts. "On Akela's trail, we will never fail. And without any doubts, We will be loyal Scouts. We are Cub Scouts after all."

BSA has been found liable, in part, for its own actions, like an organizational decision not report abuse or abusers. When YPT started, the "correct answer" was to report suspected abuse solely to the SE. That changed.

Yes, if we just had more adults around "to run things." We agree on one thing - leadership is the issue. BSA has misplaced leadership training for youth by eliminating anything between the unit and week-long courses. The former is typically, but not universally, incapable of delivering the training and the latter is not attractive to the majority of youth for a variety of reasons. Our one notably successful Venturing crew has a WB Course Director as Crew Advisor. She runs several effective training days a year, reaching out to bring in staff from outside the unit and council, and the leaders of that crew plan and carry out a diverse and exciting program with 25-40 active members over the last six years . We have had other adults in the area run "unofficial" training weekends for Venturing leaders, and we need more of that response to deficiencies in "official" programming.