Tampa Turtle

I agree. When I was in Israel the religious disputes were much more in the open and then (most folks) would just get along. I had spirited and unsolicited disagreements with both Muslims (You're a Polytheist!) and Jews (Jesus was just a Man!) on the street. Followed afterward by some nice chitchat and coffee or tea (or a Falafel!!!) It seemed healthier in some ways.

That is what the Boy Leadership was hoping. Get off the train and backpack into camp assuming it was not more than half a day. I like that spirit!

The United Methodist skooch right up to the Transubstantiation line so much that is it almost quasi-catholic. And they believe in the 'Wesley Quadrilateral' which includes reason and tradition as long as guidance in addition to Scripture yet they are (conventionally) designated as Catholics. I am amazed at the diversity of Christianity. How many Protestant denominations are there now ? Hundreds and hundreds. On a recent trip to the Holy Land I was amazed, yes amazed at how many ancient Orthodox and "Catholic" branches still exist. And Orthodox Judaism has a whole constellation of traditions...all with FABULOUS different hats. I am not qualified to figure out the divisions in Islam though I took a course once just on Shiite vs Sunni. Everyone muddling along trying to figure things out.... I think in Scouts we need to encourage the boys to explore their family faith traditions and keep wrestling with the issues. The biggest push back I get is from parents with little tradition or past issues who do not like it being brought up at all. What I do not like is when some on our Committee say we should not let the boys discuss God at all because it will be like this years presidential election..a controversy that will lead to fights. I have told the Chaplain's Aides (who tend to be more of the ernest religious lads) that they can be true their faith, be open and honest about it and not be threatened by others who believe differently. I like the Ghandi quote: “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by anyâ€. But I do agree that it can be a slippery slope to "all religions are the same".

I was wondering of anyone knows of any Summer Camps close to Amtrak Train stations on the Eastern Line (The Silver Star from Tampa). The boys want to explore that as an alternative. I have not had good luck running that info down...

I shared this with my SPL.

I love the campfire idea too, having a hard time with Mrs Turtle on that one.

Oh! We had a Bike Night and a local pediatric brain surgeon talk on the importance of wearing helmets followed by some demonstrations from some League of American Bicyclist. We followed that up a few weeks later with a Bike Rodeo. The old Cub Scout How-To Book has a lot of great ideas.

Florida here, Mickey Mouse says hello! I have some Polish Army camping gear. Good stuff...weighs a ton!

We are in same boat. The new SPL ran an everyone welcome planning meeting during the summer to sketch out the 10 campouts and passed out research assignments to some boys and adults. He has his 2 ASPL's and they and the PL's (whose term extended over the summer) will plan the 1st meeting and campout this weekend. The rest of the POR's will be sorted out over the 1st few meetings. It is important that the 1st campout be pretty doable. I know a Troop that does 15 month planning cycles so the 1st 3 campouts are already mapped out and then a troop-wide corrective plan in December.

We did the pretend campfire firemaking exercise with pretzel sticks, candy etc. Always a big hit. Also once did a whole camoing 'expo' with Webelos and Boy Scouts talking about gear basics since so many parents needed hand-holding. Had competitions on setting up tents. And animal relay races (run like a crab, etc). Simple obstacle course (crawling through tubes, hopping over swim noodles) can be fun. Good to mix up inter-den competitions with some things that the smaller guys have an advantage now and then because of size, Hard to go wrong with balloons. They still go crazy for it when they are 16!

In our Troop it would be by Patrol for good or bad.

9-12=6-8. Funny scout math but I agree with that observation. Makes meetings where the 9-12 show up more difficult. I hate it when the patrol plans for the campout and meal plan and boys who have no intention of going make all sorts of demands affecting the ones who do go.

As long as a boy understands the MB rules he should be good to go!

COOL!

(I have lost count)assuming he does not looking at aging out I'd start out fresh with a new POR at the new Troop. He doesn't have too but I think he will just feel better about the whole experience. Yes it will be another 6 months...have you talked with the SM of the receiving Troop?

'All things in balance". Especially for trailer loading.

Personally I have found 5 a good number for me to manage so me+5=6 so I would concur. When I start getting 9 someone is getting neglected and if it gets up to 13-14 it needs to break into 2 groups. I found this to be true for managing landscapers, graduate students, bureaucrats, and Band Parents. It also seems to work for Scouts and does not seem that much affected by technology in my experience.

Stosh and MeyerC...Amen brothers, Amen!!!!

I agree with Stosh! One good thing about getting older is I am OK with disagreeing with other people. And I am getting pickier about where I want to invest my (decreasing) time. Woodbadge or that intensive year Bible Study or work on that foreign language? And I don't need MORE contacts; in fact I wouldn't mind pruning some back. Yeah, I don't really want to start a WB war. I have seen some great folks with beads and it has done some great good to some people who would have not gotten some leadership training any other way. For me the jury is still out whether it makes one a better scouter.

Welcome. Bolivia! Cholitas wrestling! The Death Road! My brother is touring there right now. My best advice is to stay patient and have fun.

I have seen a half dozen really good SPL's in our Troop and the funny thing is they all had different personalities and approaches. Some are very support oriented, others inspiring but hands off, some very hands on, and others very laid back and patient. The others in the Troop re-calibrated to the leadership style. It is, as been said many times, that it is the adults who are concerned with management issues.

In our Troop the Chaplain's Aide applies but the SPL makes the selection.The boys have a good idea if a person is sincere, an inquisitor, or doing as a joke. One of our ministers is a retired Army Chaplain. He has handed out a chaplaincy book on how a (protestant) christian can specifically minister to other faiths. We were supposed to return it but it keeps getting passed from scout to scout. I think the military model is a not a bad one. Of the dozens of units I have met I have only met 1 that had a Chaplain. I volunteered myself at one time. I was told by both our CC and CO that our unit "just doesn't do that".

It should be a bottom up organization. Even my son#2 who is the new SPL gets that. He knows when the adults start leaning on the SPL a lot it is because they want to start managing from the top down via the SPL.

In order Troop adults might encourage an ecumenical tone but if the Chaplain's Aide goes a little one way we leave it up to the PLC. In one case it was brought up at the PLC and a Jewish scout and a Hindu scout got slipped into the rotation and discussed their faiths to the Troop and their prayer. It was the boys solution and a good one. We are sponsored by a Methodist Church so if an occasional 'JC' gets in there well that is part of the package. Years ago after 911 we had are lone Muslim scout speak to the boys about how hard it was sometimes with all the terrorist jokes. Most of the kids relented and his patrol worked around his dietary issues. (He and a Orthodox Jewish kid often planned meals together on backpacking trips) I would be more concerned if the CA was pushing 'his' version hard amongst the boys and telling them theirs was wrong. We had that happen as well.

I think my older scouts as comrades, younger comrades to be sure, but fellow members of the scout movement. If one of my adult scouters wanted a little prep for a big review I would offer to help him as well because that is Friendly and Helpful. No Helicopters involved.