5yearscouter

If National creates a policy where everyone follows the same rules for keeping these forms SAFE from outside prying eyes, that would be ideal. following perhaps the strictest of state laws. I really hope the requirement isn't that you hold the forms indefinitely in some file cabinet where the forms will eventually outnumber the amount of safe storage space. Shredding after a certain amount of time seems like it would be appropriate.

Oh we had the pleasure of his attendance at a troop boy's Eagle CofH on Sunday. that was fun watching him talk to all kinds of people and wondering how many times he was talking badly about the troop, but knowing/hoping that was just being paranoid.

I don't like SSN numbers on the forms because we can't guarantee at all times that the form is secured. We turn a copy in at day camp, and it's never returned (unless we go by and raise a fuss when we check out and then they'll begrudgingly give it back). During camp it sits out in headquarters where a lot of volunteers could have access to it. they are scouters, so they must be trustworthy. [roll eyes] We turn in a copy for an OA overnighter, and it wanders off never to be seen again. We turn in a copy at summer camp, and it's usually returned and that's probably about the safest place it ever is, except when the scoutmaster has it locked up in the scoutmaster's office--except then in an emergency hopefully someone can get into the scoutmaster's office. Sent off an electronic copy of it to National Jamboree--hopefully that's been deleted, but who knows, if that info is hijacked it has a lot of info to compromise someone's identity, doesn't it?

DC, his wife(ex) and his son are no longer members effective with recharter. Of course, they will be at the CofH on Monday night to get the boy's awards he earned at the end of 2010. and the DC will most likely be there for the wood badge beading right before the CofH. I will see the DE Friday (he was in meetings today and tomorrow). I am pushing for DC to be removed from office for slander, bullying and threats. I'm not sure how anyone can condone his behavior in this situation. Scoutmaster elect says he's not tucking tail and running away, and his lawyer has been contacted. Now to figure out what to do for a new scoutmaster. I recommended the troop committee (or COR) appoint an interim scoutmaster for the next few months from one of the assistant scoutmasters. but the outgoing scoutmaster was pushing hard for them to go thru their selection process and find someone by the end of March. (using the procedure in the bylaws that are too long and unweildy, but that's another topic for another date)

oh and I don't think we've ever had our charter in hand before blue and gold in february.

I turned in my re-charter paperwork before thanksgiving. and I know my charter has not been processed or it would show in internet advancement. the claim is that mandatory training is taking a while, that they have to go thru and enter all the new leader's youth protection info and process the new applications, and remove everyone who isn't trained. I don't know if that's true or not, I guess it would slow things down for those who showed as not having training, and units attached cards for proof, that would slow things down significantly to have to enter all of that info before issuing the charters.

I could see a few well placed donation cards to see if any out of town relatives, teachers or big wigs in the community that come out to eagle court of honors would donate. but they'd need to be very inconspicuous and in good taste, a little brochure and no in person soliciting of any kind.

Scoutmaster elect resigned his postion in the troop. Seems Dist Commish is still talking "going to the media" and contacting SM elect's employer (he's a teacher) I believe he is contacting lawyer about this mess but he's not talking to anyone at the moment. I know he's really hurt over the continued attacks. Scouting isn't fun for him anymore, that's for sure. Unfortunately when the discussion of replacement came up Nobody in the Troop raised their hands with interest in being Scoutmaster in his stead. Retiring scoutmaster will stay on for an addition month or so in the hopes that things settle. blah. (This message has been edited by 5yearscouter)

Actually I think brand new leaders would LOVE to have a few completely organized meetings with the gathering activity and all parts filled out, even with a suggestion of discusing the upcoming pack meeting or activity. And then as the year progresses and the scouter gets more and more into the program, start leaving some holes, or more choices of things to do. That is how our pack trainer does it, start with a few fully trained meetings, the first one the trainer leads, the second one the trainer starts it and hands it off to the newbie, and then the newbie takes over with a couple of fully planned meetings to use(including pack activities filled in and reminded of) and then a set of guides and suggestions--you can do xyz in these abc ways next. each rank should have a meeting for teaching and reviewing bobcat at the beginning. most packs get new scouts in August or Sept, plan for spending meeting time on that instead of assuming at other ranks that they already got it at tiger. think of different ways at different agest to teach it and give it as a list to the leaders for a reference. you don't hand off a piece of a paper to a tiger to learn bobcat, most don't read yet. so you turn it into a game or a craft or a repeat after me. but it may be perfectly acceptable to just hand the paper to the webelos scout and remind them to practice it at home.

you have it right if you use 3,4, 5 for bear badge you could use 6 a-g and 7 a-f for elective points giving you 13 points so 1 gold and part of a silver. but if you don't do say 5c it is not elective. I don't have my bear 2010 program in front of me, but the first round of that said that you could use any unused parts of achievements for elective points. that is in direct contradiction to waht the bear book itself says, and the book should be your guide. double check what this year's edition of the book says just to be sure. to make it easier on yourself announce to everyone that you will date the achievements, so that the first 3 for country count for bear, and any extras will be electives. otherwise you have parents at the end of the year wanting to count # 4 for bear, so they can count #6 for elective, regardless of which were completed first. they think that will get them more arrows to put on the uniform but turns into a paperwork nightmare. let the parents know that while their son can earn a boatload of those silver arrows, only the gold and about 4 silvers fit on the shirt nicely where they could be seen. the others if put on the shirt would be down so low they get tucked into the pants and the only one who sees them is the boy's underwear and whoever does laundry and picks the dirty shirt up off the floor.

well I would figure out a way to put a table of contents at the front so you'd know exactly what achievement was being done in what meeting. and a little bit easier way of rearranging things so that you can make things fit the local cub scout pack's calendar of events. there are some logical things that cub scouts do, that it would make sense for each pack to be able to arrange so each den is doing similar things each month so they could share outings, events and pack meeting stuff easier. Not themes like they used to be, but themes of what cub scouts DO. in August or Sept they meet new scouts, so the making friends, cooperation stuff makes sense there, usually packs have a fall campout or hike, so put some outdoors stuff required for rank there, and October if usually safety month (fire safety?) so perhaps do anything safety, first aid at that time. November you have veteran's day nation wide, so it makes sense to do flags and citizenship. December is doing for other and faith requirements. January may be building things for a pinewood derby car and accompanying display stands, as well as other wood working. February is pulling it all together for rank, with some cooking and collections to show off at blue and gold. Then you hit March and April which could be a spring campout so you have Leave no trace, world conservation, geology, plants, birds and animals most ranks have some of that stuff going on May you pull it all togehter with some electives and a big show of acting, puppets, masks, skits, songs, etc that most ranks have. summertime most packs have minimal summertime events anyway--we do swimming and a trip to a museum, science center, etc. if things were grouped by rank by sort of what they are by type, packs could have all their dens work together more and share and helpe each other. I'd definitely ADD a bunch more to Webelos stuff--craftsman has stuff to make 2 projects an then it says oh you need to make 2 projects out of wood, 4 out of other materials and a display stand, but you can do those at home with your parents. yeah, I don't really have webelos parents doing woodworking, leather crafts, clay, metal working etc much with their sons. And all the ranks need better ideas for gathering activities. Each rank has a set of items taht are perfect for gathering, small things that can be done a little at a time, or taken home if not completed, but gives each scout a push to get started on those things with their parents. I would also double check that the materials have den leaders counting bear electives correctly. it was wrong when first released, unused PARTS of achievements used for rank are not electives, unused achievements not used for rank are electives. those are two different sets of abc's in the book.

There should definitely NOT be $100 trips every month. if that cost is passed on to the parents every month, then the troop committee needs to do some serious fundraising--past the point of your son peddling cack to your neighbors. Now if you don't have a nice backpacking backpack, and your son wants to go, that could be a $100-200 trip unless the troop has extras he can borrow. and if you decide to buy ski bib, goggles, new ski type jacket and gloves for you son plus a new sled, that could be a $100-200 trip just to go play in the snow. and if you need to buy the tent, nice sleeping bag for cool weather, tent lantern, sleeping pad, and such for a campout, then that may be a $100-200 trip but hopefully the tent comes from the troop and you have collected a sleeping pad and sleeping bag as a webelo so you don't need to do so. and if your son grows like a week and you have to buy him a new pair of scout pants, uniform shirt, socks and belt before the next court of honor, that might be a $100+ event as well. and then your son gets older and decides one summer he wants to go to national jamboree at a cost of $3000, but he can get a campership to cover 75% of that too..... I won't say scouting is always cheap because it's certainly not free. cost of outings, type of troop equipment provided, type of individual boy equipment expected are discussions to cover in your visits to a troop. Also be sure to ask what it costs to join. many troops tack on some hefty troop dues. ours is $65 a year, plus $1 a week paid weekly. Another troop in the area is $120 a year with no other dues. and ask what fundraisers they have, and how/if scout accounts are set up. some troops you can spend scout account money (% of fundraisers) on summer camp only, some it can be anything bought at the scout shop, summer and monthly camps. some it can be any scouting related expense including camping equipment and hiking boots. oh yeah remind me to go buy new hiking boots for oldest, but I can also check the troop uniform closet for a pair of scouting pants since his don't fit anymore.

Well you'd expect 1 outing a month, with 1 of those week long summer camp to cost $300 or more (ours is $500 in San Diego this summer, but last summer was $200 so it balances out) the backpacking trip will cost gas (our parents usually donate it), each boy brings their own backpacking food, so it's usually considered a "free" trip. ski trips, we do in January, the boys split the cost of hotel room, 4 in a room and the hotel gives them a really good price since they rent usually 12-15 rooms. if the boy wants to ski or snowboard, the parent usually pays that cost directly to the ski resort, but again, they get a group rate so it's cheaper than if you or I went on our own. if the boy can't afford to ski, they take those boys to a snow play area for sledding. so for a boy going sledding the trip was $20. They stay at a hotel with a free breakfast, the boys all brought a packed lunch for Saturday to eat (or money to eat in the lodge), and they did have to bring $10+ for dinner out at a great burger joint(not McD) when we go climbing, the cost will be the cost of food and a little toward gas. again the adults usually donate their gas mileage. the troop covers the cost of renting the climbing stuff and camp to sleep at, but of course that could be divided up to all the boys. but this would still probably be a very cheap outing. they have one local lock in at the scout lodge which is really cheap, it's in August and they go to the local water park. I pay on average $25 a month for an outing. Each troop will do "scout accounts" and split fundraiser funds differently. In our troop, they have one main fundraiser that the troop gets all the profit from --it's a flag program where area families pay a certain amount of $ a year to have flags posted on major holidays. this brings in a lot of money to the troop. the troop gives 5 boys $20 each to their scout account if they go out and post flags and pick them up on a holiday, 8 times a year. Then popcorn or our local scoutorama fundraiser, the troop gives the boys the whole 35% profit into their scout account. some troops might give you 0% but cover part or all of your summer camp or other fees -- some troops migth split the profit with you. you'll have to ask the troop. also ask what kind of campership programs they have access to for the boys who can't afford camp. our troop will cover up to 75% of camp for boys who really need help and a separate committee evaluates each scout's need privately.

""Our DE, who is supposed to be supporting our program, has instead become a source of great frustration to our leaders naw sub Dist Commish for DE. I'll keep DE he's immature but has some potential although he's not completely innocent in this. Our old DE got a lot of complaints from the units, but he did kick butt on fundraising. I just made sure in dealings with him I knew fundraising was his strength and kept any other requests from him at a minimum. He got promoted to another position in the council.

yeah I'll just use this ""Our DE, who is supposed to be supporting our program, has instead become a source of great frustration to our leaders. He has lied about us, lied to us, misrepresented our words, and tried to have us removed, all for no apparent cause. We find ourselves completely unable to trust him moving forward, and to protect ourselves, we don't expect to be involved in any district or council activity where we might encounter him. Our unit has been in turmoil, our adults have been ready to quit Scouting altogether, our emotional energy is shot, and our focus has been removed from the boys. We really want to thank those at council who took the time to understand the entire issue and tried to put things right. But things can't possibly seem right to us if we continue to encounter our DE, because every interaction brings back a memory of the pain and discord." thanks for reminding me to stay on track and giving me a great way to do so.

I figure the troublemaker went to the troop committee, District Committee, Council, so the next level he threatened to go to is National and then the Media. I wonder if he'll do those, and I forgot to ask what council they will do if he tries that. I honestly feel hatred for this guy, and I have always said that like is too short to hate people, it uses up too much of your own life force. so I will focus on the positive. and thumb my nose at this guy. What really got council to look was comparing the whole print out to the DC's cut and paste, the one where half the sentence from 2pm was stuck with half the sentence from 5pm to make the SM elect's words say something totally different than he really said. I used that as an example in my email I sent to the District and Scout Executive. Interestingly I got a read receipt from them for the email right before their meeting with the SM elect where things turned out right. that means they also read the rest of my email telling them it was inappropriate to try to remove a COR. I really appreciate you guys talking me thru this. I HATE when grown ups can't play nicely with others. Your support and information has helped me to think clearly about what I could and could not do, and what I still need to do come Tuesday. I will tell them that the DC needs to be removed from his District position for making trouble in the units he's supposed to be supporting. But I won't use the scout law as a weapon against him. the scout law is not a weapon, it is a guide to live by. (This message has been edited by 5yearscouter)

We also have a star wars rocket. unfortunately the little star wars ship doesn't fit on the rocket anymore. it hit too hard one time with a parachute malfunction.

We had issues with the county parks having a no Estes rocket policy. I guess someone launched some rockets and made a mess and then someone thought they'd also catch fire to brush--although that is pretty unlikely. to get the experience, go out and buy a sample like I said from Michaels, and read all the directions 3 times then build and launch. launch it several times til you run out of engines. Ask if anyone in your pack has any experience with rockets, you'll probably find someone who knows how to do it. there are some more info at Estes rockets online that may help you feel more prepared. and read the safety rules with the boys and parents before launching.

Scoutmaster elect shows up at council today for a visit with the council and district execs he took a printed out copy of all of his online/email/facebook/+ discussions in full, rather than cut and paste parts when the execs read thru and compared the full print out to things from the district commish and found that district commish cut and pasted things specifically out of context to make them look worse than they really were. council apologized to the scoutmaster elect and approved his application to lead this troop. whooo hoooo I'll see the district Exec at an appt Tuesday to see about the other issues raised in during this fiasco. Question to the scouters? What would you feel should happen regarding this District Commish's actions? I believe he was making trouble in a unit, which is NOT what a District Commish should be doing.

Something to consider for the first year webelos if they do not come in to the den with some camping experience a daytime camp practice morning. show up at a local park right after breakfast set up camp, set up tents and make sure all of them have all their parts and enough stakes show what you packed do an activity like knots, firestarting(depending on where you are) or play flag football for a belt loop (under sportsman) have the boys cook a small lunch where they get to see about the equipment you have, and how the campstove works with supervision, eat together then pack up camp and go home by noon. then on a nightly den meeting, have them bring back their tents to put up in the dark by lantern light. and then go on your first campout overnight.

Yes, break it into parts do a little bit, have the DC show how he packs for an overnight campout where he's goin to hike in and camp practice how to put up tents we do try to put up tents twice before going camping, once in the daylight and once in the dark by lantern light. or one time inside a large room and one time outside. We always tend to show up to campouts in the dark and the kids need to be able to put up tents by lantern light. if you are hiking a mile the first time be prepared for adults to have to carry the tents, or break the tent and the tent poles so 2 separate kids can carry parts (tent mates) expect that the only backpack the kids will have will be their school backpack and you'll have to tie things to the outside of the backpacks with rope and pack very light.

oh and for the show how to pack it and carry it there are many options and it's going to change based on where you are going and if they have to carry it to the campsite. we usually do a 1 nighter at a council camp the summer they first become webelos. for that camp, they have to carry their gear to camp for almost a mile we have a shake down check ahead of time the boys bring their stuff and are expected to get it all into a backpack to carry to camp. we show them how to put clothes in large ziplock bags in case of rain (and smush all the air out if you need more room in your bag), they all pack up their gear and see if they can carry it around the block without falling over from the weight. you can check out some backpacking info for how to pack weight wise, what % they should carry (probably no more than 25% of their body weight), and where to put the heavy items in their pack. but you have to give this info a little at a time to get it to stick with these young guys, and honestly their moms will try to take over the packing and pack them more stuff than they really need for their first overnighter. that's why we have them unpack it at the meeting and repack it themselves, so the parents can see how hard it is for them. Then we convince the parents that they want their boys to be able to do this for themselves and we can try to weed out the too much stuff. too much is usually the problem with webelos, but way once in a while you'll get a kid who doesnt pack a jacket, or a change of clothes and such casue they don't want to have to carry it.

Webelos book has an overview of what you need for an overnight campout on page 352 in the one I have in front of me. some variation of wear Uniform Hiking Boots or sturdy tennies Webelos Book Water bottle or water backpack small personal First Aid Kit ( or a couple of bandaids) Flashlight with fresh batteries Sunscreen if needed Pocketknife with whittling chip card Trail Mix or other trail snack food (or have them keep with den food--not in tents) Map/Compass (this one you probably won't have depending on where you are going) Bug Spray if needed Rain Gear if suspected Toilet paper not a bad idea Whistle (it's on the outdoor essential list and I hate to see cub scouts with whistles cause it means dead eardrums) Tent (or plan to share with a friend) Sleeping bag (and/or layers of blankets depending on weather) Sleeping pad pillow (opt, or use a pillow case with all their clothes in it for the weekend) Change of clothes/socks for each day plus extra socks Toiletries Soap and towel Jacket, coat, gloves, hat depends on weather Mess kit (unless your den box has eating gear) Utensils Chair Class B Tshirts we make a list for the boys like the above one side the essentials to wear or carry in a small backpack that they may need for a hike or campout and the other side the things they need for an overnight camp to put in a backpack or bigger bag punch a hole in it and suggest they put the laminated card on their small backpack (camelback backpack if they have one) that they use for most of the activities.

Let's see, what did SM elect say? he said the president lacked testicular fortitude in regards to speaking out about the Ground zero mosque he laughed that someone else called the vice pres- Joe Bite me he said a local sheriff was an utmost disgrace and doesn't understand free speech he said something about Marxist Democrats using the Tucson shooting to take away more of our freedoms (gun control discussion) and a godless Democratic party several quotes are totally edited for content with words deleted to make them sound worse than they are. Part of a sentence posted at 2pm is stuck together with part of a sentence posted at 5pm to make it sound like the guy is going to burn a pile of Qurans. there is more, but I'll stop there note I'm paraphrasing, not copying SM's words I want to prove my point, but I also know that others could interpret the information in a totally different way than I have.

well no news went out to dinner for my birthday instead of spending all evening on the phone. I don't wanna have to go to council to deal with this. boo hoo sigh