The Blancmange

1984 Renault Alliance. Known affectionately (or not so affectionately) as the "Appliance." I'm still dumbfounded as to how this car was named Motor Trend Car of the Year. A horse. Of course, we used one of da last of da Mastadons to plow the field. Beavah Somebody had to invent the wheel.

I would recommend asking your CC to recruit a committee member to act as advancement chair. One of their duties could be maintaining Troopmaster, including entering all the new records. As far as meeting & greeting new scouts, I think that should be a joint effort between the SM and SPL, and then the SM talking to the parents.

I know I haven't received a SCOUTING magazine in a while. Last year, sometime in March or April, I received several of them together in a plastic bag. I suspect they don't send those out until you are rechartered, and that was the reason for the mass-mailing.

If this is the way the Troop has always been run, you, and the new SM, are going to have an uphill battle to change anything. Probably so, but that doesn't mean it isn't a battle (if that is the best term) worth undertaking. Our troop is brand new. . . . The senior guys were appointed SPL and ASPL for a very strict 6 month term at which point all the scouts have ben told we will have scout elections. As Ted Striker might say, "It's an entirely differnt kind of scouting, altogether." I see nothing wrong with this plan, and no comparison to the OP. This is for a very limited time while the Scouts learn how scouting works, with a plan to move to the accepted method. And I'm guessing it was the SM who had the largest part in developing the plan.

That's a great resource, Beavah. Thanks for posting it. I'm assuming since Troop 8 posted it on their public website, they or their District who produced it don't mind other scout units utilizing it (with attribution, of course).

You already know this is wrong. Show the committee the materials from Troop Committee challenge (sorry I don't have a link, but your could probably search that pretty easily). Show them the section on youth leadership selection from the scoutmaster handbook. Show them the same section from past SM handbooks, if you can get your hand on any. Point out the fact that this has always been a job of the scouts working with the SM. It has never been a committee function. Finally, suggest that they all get trained, or a refresher if they claim to have done it. Suggest that they let the SM do is job. I cannot think of a scenario where the process mentioned above would be a good idea.

Well, this is certainly an improvement. Doesn't fix all of the issues mentioned, but it is much better. My question, however, is what about people who possibly spent a significant amount of money over the last month to get the original "new" form filled out for this upcoming year? Is BSA going to reimburse them to have the revised form completed? Will they accept the interim form?

Welcome. Incidentally, this "New to the Forum" category is really more for introductions. To get more responses, you should post in a more appropriate category; in your case, "Cub Scouts."

I know he's crossing a line. I'm just not sure which Cub Scout by-law line it is. I was up all night on-line looking for Boy/Cub Scout rules and regs on the powers of a Cubmaster, the Pack Committee etc. You won't find "rules" addressing the sorts of things you are looking for. The closest thing you will find are the job descriptions posted earlier in the thread. Pack committees (incidentally, which do not include the CM and DL's, as someone else pointed out) should operate by consensus, as civilized adults. Someone has to be listed on your charter as committe chair and chartered organization representative. This may even be a single person. You should find out who that is and enlist their help first. If no one knows, call your council service center and ask. The COR is the liason between your pack and your chartering organization. If one of the leaders is acting inappropriately, as this CM seems to be doing, based on the information presented, the charter organization needs to know about it. Even if they are typically hands-off, this is serious enough for them to be involved. If you want help from outside your unit, I would find out who your unit commissioner is before going to one of the council or district professionals. Again, you can find out who this is by calling the council service center. Good luck.

Since this falls within the realm of "all other events," I certainly hope he has, in hand, his new medical form including the physician certification that he meets the height/weight limits. Sorry. Couldn't help it.

Welcome to Scouting and to the forums.

It seems to be, our troop does not get any support what so ever from our district or council in anything we do. Does your council operate a camp? Do they have someone who records advancement? Does your District run Camporees and other events? Do they run Scouting for Food? Are you in a district where units run their own EBOR's or does the District do this? Did you invite anyone to come to your event? I was going to ask the same question. I guess it isn't really clear what you are expecting from them that they are not providing. Have you talked to your COR about this and asked him or her to bring that to the Council's attention?

The Fieldbook is different from the Handbook. The Handbook has all of the rank requirements as well as info about all aspects of scouting, while the fieldbook has more detailed info about outdoor activities and skills. Both have the basic information that you were talking about, and both are good resources. I don't think the actual Handbook is online.(This message has been edited by The blancmange)

A young troop with few older boys (like ours) might want to plan a white water rafting trip, even though none of them are strong enough swimmers to safely engage in such an event. They can and should be able to plan such a trip. It just isn't going to happen next week. That's where the mentoring part comes in. Help them understand the skills and experience necessary to undertake such a trip. Help them make a plan - maybe this summer they should all have the goal of earning the swimming MB at camp, possibly take canoeing if it is offered. Maybe this fall plan a flat water or easy moving water trip. Next spring, find a kayaking MB counselor to introduce them to those skills. Then, help them re-evaluate whether they are ready for the rafting trip.

This would be a good time to enlist the help of a den chief or other boy scouts. The Boy Scout handbook also has much of the information you have asked about. The specific answers to your question obviously depend on the specifics of the trip they are preparing for. What time of year and what weather will be expected? Will there be a short hike to the campsite or will it be plop camping? Even putting those things aside, there are several basics as far as layering, chosing sleeping bags and packs, etc that are almost universal. Beyond that, I would say, yes, it is up to your educated judgment.

If you look at it strictly from the standpoint of whether you could do something similar either with your family or pack at a lower cost, it will probably never be justified. But I think there are many intangible benefits from a well-staffed council camp event. My younger boy absolutely loves the things you usually only get in that setting: flags in formation before meals, the large group campfire, the enthusiasm and comradierie they get from the high school/college aged staffers. I too am very active in the outdoors. My boys did more canoeing and hiking before age 8 then some scouts probably do their entire time. But they still love the camp-like experience of these cub resident camps.

You might have more luck posing your question on a clown forum: http://www.clown-forum.com/clown-forum/3795-pies.html Don't miss the Monty Python skectch a few posts down.

That's a very useful guide. Thanks for sharing it. We will be appointing a new quartermaster soon and I am going to pass this along.

Last year, our troop was experiencing some issues that I thought could benefit from some independent input. I contacted the DC and requested to be put in contact with our UC, as we had never been advised who ours was. The DC put me in touch with someone who I later learned was technically an assistant DC. Both the ADC and the DC took a sincere interest in helping mediate our issues, and the troop is on its way to putting the issues behind and growing. What I learned was that, basically, our district does not have enough commissioner volunteers to assign unit commissioners. When I requested service, they provided excellent assistance, but it looks like they are only responding when someone either seeks out assistance or the problem becomes so acute that the unit is in jeopardy.

The BSA has no rules about what unit a scout may or may not join. I have no idea whether or not your church would frown on it. Doesn't hurt to ask.

No. The COR can dual register as Committee Chair (CC) or Committee Member (MC), but nothing else. You can find this on page 2 of the adult application under the "Qualification" paragraph. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/28-501F.pdf And welcome to the forum!(This message has been edited by The blancmange)

I guess I overlooked the word "committee" in the original post. If Stosh is indeed talking about his own Troop Committee, and he did not receive any word from them about this meeting, I would be very upset. If that is the case, there are some serious trust issues.

I vote for Beavah for Secretary of State!

Wow, you can please some of the people some of the time. . . Sounds to me like you are doing everything right. Our troop has been struggling to get the PLC to take ownership and do the things your boys are doing. They are used to a past culture of adult leadership and just seem reluctant to utilize their new empowerment, despite much training and encouragement. I'd love to know more about how you got them to this point. I'm curious what the DE and UC's response to the parents was. I certainly hope that it was to support you. I can't imagine even approaching a DE with an issue like this: "Well Mr. DE seems that Mr. Stosh, our volunteer scoutmaster, is giving my son too much responsibility. I would much rather see Stosh do all the work so my son can just go along for the ride. That's how we do it at home."

The Troop Committee nixed any name tags for scouts over Megan's Law concerns about predators seeing a scout in uniform and calling him by his last name. Oh, good lord. Better make sure they aren't exposed to any strangers with puppies, either.