Tampa Turtle

We have used Survey Monkey. It was OK. People will SAY they will do something but still not come. But you can get some good ideas/conflicts. Most of our Pack was not that interested; cub scouts/school/sports burn't them out they wanted a break or dump them off at camps. We did do some Summer Activities, let those who wanted to come, come, and not worry about who showed up.

Ow! That steel hanky hurt. He did call himself a Quaker. Religious Society of Friends does have a nice ring. Perhaps "our Brothers of the Church of Rome" would be appropriate.

And in advance let us refrain in advance from calling anyone "Hillbilly"; only "Mountain William".

Fred, I agree in that I always say all human organizations are inherently flawed...I am sure the Apostles had their issues as well. And I am sure that abuse of all kinds happens in all sorts of organizations; but it was the RESPONSE that troubled me. I saw this close up at the Diocese level; suffice to say doing what was right was a minority opinion. Hey I work in government so I know what CYA is. Since I have left I keep getting tagged by my friends as a bitter ex-Catholic; I am not really. Methodism is pretty close but make me think too much. But there are things I miss. I think the whole Catholic-Girl Scout stuff is just silly.

Fred, I am understand your position but in our old system the Patrols started petering out at the end of 2 years. Then we ended up with remnant patrols or hyphenated patrols, etc. We are entering our third "class" of the forever model. The most turbulence was the breaking up of the old single-age Patrols; I think much of that fallout is behind us. The newbies seem eager to join their new mixed-age Patrols with a buddy or two and the majority of the older boys seem to welcome new "draftees" to the team. I was heartened the other night by seeing the older boys explaining to a newbie "this is how "we" (his patrol) pack out patrol box--better than the others" The biggest resistance seems to be from (a) worried mom's and (b) Scouters who would like to keep "their" boys together. We do try to seed a Troopguide type boy in each Patrol to help with the newbie transition skills.

When I was a catholic boy I remember one priest who did a lot of hell-fire and damnation speeches back in the 60's. He was pretty unpopular and only lasted a couple of years before the parish committee "strongly encouraged" the Bishop to reassign him. Baden P. I think your comments are pretty un-scoutlike. I am getting sick of all the Catholic bashing going on. Some of it sounds pretty asinine. I am sure Merlyn is having a chuckle on the compassion of all the good Christians here. Personally I left the Catholic church because I could not in good conscience belong to the human organization after their responses to the scandals. But I was OK with the theology even if it was difficult to live with sometimes.

We have had some great C/A's so I just wanted to build on that. I have never met a Quaker before, closest I have had was a Mennonite. Nixon was a Quaker wasn't he? ;P

UPDATE Scouts only meeting held last night--no parents. SM and SPL had a talk about the scout law and asked if anybody knew anything. Nobody cracked--though it was pretty clear there was plenty of people in the area at the time. So everyone (except the targeted Patrol and boys who were absent previous week)had a sanding party. Box fixed. Overheard some discussion by boys at how some selfish action by a few caused a lot to suffer and it is best to be hand off other peoples stuff. I think there was a general consensus that is one boy who probably did it and had some animosity toward the patrol. Boys seemed satisfied.

I looked at the Capitol Area Council...great stuff!

Shilling exchange rate aside. I know "the newbie draft" is almost here; maybe a boy said he wanted to join that Patrol and was told "no way". Perhaps just a thoughtless thing that boys do. Perhaps. I am trying to keep an open mind.

You are taking sides and that is a mistake. "Working on a restraining order" and having a court awarded restraining order are two different things. And also if that restraining order is toward the wife OR the wife and kids. Then I presume the wife will need to share that restraining order with the C.O and CC. At that point IMHO any legal responsibility begins. A lot of divorced couples are verbally abusive. It can get pretty ugly. I know some of the Scouters here are lawyers though and probably know better.

I can dig it. Since we have such a diverse Troop I need to prepare so I am not a bonehead. If our CO Church wants and can find a good ordained Chaplain I will be more than happy. Just trying to fill a need. Whenever I quiz a boy about living the scout oath and law Reverent, Thrifty, and Clean seem to need the most help with the boys.

My goal is to get from point A to point B without a massive coronary at a serene and stately pace. I am the Turtle but I do finish.

Cub Scouting should really be at the Den level so I say keep the Den size reasonable-2o is just to big; 6-8 is ideal.

I always love the watch the Mom's faces when the underwear (or lack of it) advice before camp or an AT hike is presented.

'fried shorts' -what happens when you don't bring another pair of underwear on a 4 day hike.

I understand, from this and the other thread, that YPT requires only adults to "administer" discipline but really think that a consensus of the boys on rules and consequences really works. I am constantly surprised at how thoughtful and reasonable the boys ideas are compared with the adults. Here is what I heard just this week: (On electronics during meetings)During Patrol competitions some boys just play on their phones instead of joining in--the Patrols just get whomever doesn't have one. We should have a box for all the phones kept by the SPL. When the activity time is over they get them back. If it is a real emergency they can go get theirs. This will cut down on guys playing on the phone and talking. I think the adults would have come down on a "electronics ban". (On taking Patrol gear out of another patrol box)If a patrol takes another Patrol's gear (without permission)they have to go without that item for the next two campouts to see what it is like. (On taking another Patrol's food without asking) The offender has to wash ALL the other patrol's dishes for 3 meals.

Non-politician! He was also the Governor of Massachusetts! He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994. There is no way you can do those things without being a politician! But yeah even though I will support Obama it fries my shorts he didn't attend 100th anniversary Jambo.

We had one boy who had ADHD meds and when he was coming on the down cycle he would have anger issues. His dad was very private so we had no idea-I just thought he was bad. Now we know his med management and timing is pretty important so we use a "sliding scale" and work with him. Now he is a bit older and will at least give us a verbal warning i.e. "It has been 12 hours, my meds are wearing off, and I am getting angry!" and we know to put him aside or keep him out of known conflicts. He is learning to manage his condition and we are all adapting. Yes it is a pain but I am sure he doesn't like to live like that. What I learned was that some boys aren't bad but that their behaviors are a symptom of another problem. They work with us we will work with them.

Whatever works for you. I find I must track EVERYTHING and I weigh everyday on a digital scale. And I put it on a spreadsheet and look at trends. Whenever I don't sure enough it starts creeping up. Many years of yo-yo-ing means that my metabolism starts hoarding calories even at 1300 calories a day. It is easy to blow that budget. My motivation was much as Cito, I want to get in shape to do some real backpacking with my sons. Now we have three of four Scouters in our Troop all who have lost 30 pounds or more and so we do have that friendly competition and sharing tips.

I find the smart adults volunteer for the easiest jobs first and then the ball gets rolling...

We had 150 kids--it was really too big but chugged along well. We were constantly bugged by the higher ups to spin off units--I suspect because they wanted more on paper. But no one was willing to do the heavy lifting; I mean in your case you need three times as willing adults. In my experience around 50 cubs would be a good number. It is just easier to find places to have Pack meetings or campgrounds. You get really big and the choices get more limited. You can make a bigger group work but you need really good Pack leadership, support system, and do some training.

Moose, Of course a Catholic church can deny a group the use of it's building. Just like any other religious organization. Of course they may incur the wrath of their parishioners if they do like the strong arming; folks vote with their feet and money. But I do not like the guilt by association or the beating up on GSUSA.

As usual Scouting has interesting group dynamics. Of course the "who did it?" angle. A couple of the usual suspects were absent that night--good for them! A few fingers point to a couple newbies. The Scouters's are frustrated but consider it a misdemeanor requiring a lecture, restitution, and an apology. The non-scouter Dad's seem to think a suspension is in order. The Mom's seem to be very angry and saying it is bullying and the boys should get kicked out of the Troop. Most of the boys do not about it (yet) and will hear about it tonight. I expect some talk of retaliation from the offended patrol. They are a pretty mellow group but really stick together. I am pretty sure by the end of the night the scouting grapevine will have some suspects--right or wrong. It is shame that this is hitting in the middle of a very busy program including SPL elections.

BDP...yes paint wars. Could be interesting. Perhaps the offending party will have to sing for his punishment.