TheLuckyCricket

Hello, I am very new to scouting and my son is actually in Venturing, but we have a similar problem with the committee, and based on the research I have done so far, as it pertains to venturing, I have found the following information- 1 The charter org recruits the committee members- minimum of 3 people to have a committee 2 The committee serves during the charter year and meets at least monthly. 3 New committee members can be recruited throughout the year. 4 either the charter org or the committee members appoint the chair, which means the chair can be removed by the committee members or charter org and another appointed.Generally the chair is appointed by the charter org for new crews, and then after by the committee members themselves. 5 the chair only votes in the event of a tie ( this is from scouting.org)- duties of the chair I found these policies in the Venturing Leader manual pages 20-21 and online at www.scouting.org by searching "committee chair" Hope this helped. I know in situations like this it helps to be able to quote policy. I would think the boy scout leader manual has a similar section on the duties of the chair. Good Luck! Karin

Thank you all for the advise, it is really appreciated We are in the Southern Region, West Central Florida Council. I have done the Fast Start training and youth protection online, however I dont know how to get the Youth Officers Seminar set up? Is that done through the Local or District Council? The book does not specify. The kids elected officers about 2 1/2 months ago and have yet to figure out what their duties are since they have no PCI to work off and have had no training seminar? At the moment our charter rep is acting as the committee chair, however it is my understanding that the council is not fond of the chair, so it is difficult to get assistance. My son's membership card says "Venture Crew" not "troop" so I would think we have a seperate charter as a Crew, particularly since I was told Council thinks we run both meetings and events seperate? If we were a patrol within the troop it would not be a problem to run joing meetings I believe? Anyway, as far as a seperate committee, we currenlty have people serving on both committees, it is a joint committee really. Example, the treasurer is the treasurer for both the troop and the Crew. I don't yet have a committee member handbook but if someone does, could you let me know if it is ok to serve on both committees? Troop and Crew? I think it would be more logical to have seperate committees, but I think my son will be in for a fight on this if it is just his opinion and not backed up by a policy somewhere. Thank you again for your help. Karin

Wow! Thank you all for the insights. My son appreciated the clarifications. As far as the campaign hat goes, I believe it is an approved activity hat for Boy Scouts which would also make it an approved hat for Venturing since they can technically be in both groups at the same time, unless they are female Venturers of course. The kids may just opt for no hats with their uniforms and optional hats for activities if they want. Thank you all again for the information, it was much appreciated! Karin

OK I have a Question re: Venturer uniforms. The Venturer Handbook says on page 6 that the "recommended" uniform is the over priced pants, shorts, shirt, socks and hat. However it goes on to say that the uniform, if any, is the choice of the crew. Question is do they mean the entire Crew or the Crew Officers? Additionally, if the Crew decides on lets say the official green shirt and grey shorts from Wal-mart, do they get in trouble at summer camp for not having the "official" uniform shorts as I have been told by our Scoutmaster? That seems a bit illogical since the kids can choose their uniform if any. And on the same note can the kids choose the BSA campaign hat as their uniform hat for a Venture Crew? Since that hat looks way better than the "official" hats? If so, would it be inappropriate to affix the venture pin designed for street wear to the hat where the BSA class pin would normally go? As far as the socks go, I don't know anyone who wants to pay $13.50 for a pair of socks. That is just price gouging in my opinion. In defense of the venturing shirts, they are made well and my son was very proud to get his. He wore it around to show all the relatives, it was really cute to see a 16 year old so excited about a shirt and some patches Thanks for any input! Karin

Hello all, I am new here My 16 year old son recently joined a Venture Crew. Problem is, the crew consists of 5 kids, including my son. Additionally, they have no money saved, no bank account open for them, they are currently sharing the Boy Scout troop's account? They did elect crew officers, but there was never any training for them regarding their positions, so nobody knows what they are to do. They do everything with the boy scout troop, meetings, fundraising, camping etc, but everything is done as a "family " event- no permits, therefore no advertising and no profits. We are in a very poor area of the South and the parents can't afford to even get the kids uniforms, so paying for things like camp is out of the question. I have been researching the way things are "supposed" to be done and this appears to not be correct. My son was elected to an officer position and wants to make a motion that the kids run the crew from now on instead of the Leaders, but will this be a problem? He thinks he is correct and can turn this around by doing recruiting and official fundraising, but I think he is in for a hard time with the Committee, who I am told does not like us because we are Co-Ed. Any thoughts on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Karin