blw2

Wondering if anyone here happens to know ballpark how the membership numbers compare between GSUSA and BSA through the years..... Is BSA significantly bigger? Has it always been? Just back form a visit to Savannah, where among other things we visited both the birthplace of Daisy Gordon Low and the first HQ of the girl Guides/Scouts in USA. One of the points they made on the tour re the basis for the founding of the Girl Guides was that they found that girls were wanting to join BP's scout movement so they started the Girl Guides. then later discussing the beginnings of the Daisy years for the younger girls it was because "the younger girls wanted to join" I couldn't help but to draw parallels with what BSA did with Tigers, and no recently Lions...opening up to younger and younger kids and of course the recent turn with girls wanting to join BSA and rattling around in my brain are thoughts about how that it least on some levels some of these seem more likely to be the adults wanting it for the kids, rather than the kids really wanting it.... Anyway, got me to wondering about how the membership numbers compare between the organizations...and what the current trends look like

lots of stuff at Michael's (Craft store)...not BSA regulation, but lots of cool beads. Maybe something online there.....

the Admiral's book, Thunder Below, was a good read as I recall..... I didn't know he earned Eagle after the war..... well maybe it was mentioned in the book and I just forgot....

kinda how I would think it 'should' be....

because people in Europe, Asia, Antarctica, Africa, and Australia don't care about such things, don'y ya know

i like this one....

when I starting sitting on boards, they seemed to focus on teh canned questions.... I focused on questions about their opinion of the troop and ho it's going....what was working well, etc... I noticed as time went on others started asking those kinds of questions too. I hope they still are now that I'm gone. (I also hope they stopped the silly 'stand at attention before the board of Zod' thing they always did.... they never liked my attempts to change that one.)

i like this one....

on one hand I agree it makes sense.... good from a background check/YPT standpoint, and good that it might maybe reduce helicoptering just a bit....maybe.... & in that regard I might even go so far as my daughter's GS troops do and change that 72 hours to 1 minute.... but on the other hand it's another one of those rules that creates a lot of unintended problems... My son's old troop followed a loose version of this rule...basically any adult that wanted to camp at summer camp had to register as a scouter. They were much more relaxed with more of an open door policy for standard weekend campouts... What happened was an adult heavy roster filled with folks that really didn't do a job or ever participate in any way, made work levels much higher chasing down YPT renewals, recharter decisions, dues, etc... I have a love/hate opinion of the Girl Scouts' rigidity in limited leaders and NO adults other than leaders on trips.

gadz-zooks, I had some typos in there.... I can do better.... My requirement WOULD be that it "uses" the skills..... then BY natural progression.... guys that know will END UP getting practice, guys that don't know will ask, and guys that know HOW will, like a good older brother, help those that don't..... (all without even knowing they are teaching, practicing, or learning)

oh so true....but I've come to learn the sad reality is that generally folks who are getting further away from that Aunt in lineage really don't even care that that is her because they've never even heard of her.....It would really only be her grand kids that might care (for the most part)

I'd re-phrase.... My requirement wouldn't be that it "teaches" skills. I think the key is to remove that word 'teach' from the vocabulary. My requirement be that it "uses" the skills..... then my natural progression.... guys that know will practice, guys that don't know will ask, and guys that know will, like a good older brother, help those that don't.....

well at least they think they did.... You can get a read a lot of times from a scout, but I'm not convinced in BORs that you'll always get complete answers and a full picture..... In theory though, I think it's an interesting idea.... I would argue not really appropriate though to assemble a full board of MC's.....sounds more like regular SM conferences would be more in line as a good idea, IMHO.....

yeah, at first I rolled my eyes a few times...kinda came off as macho tough guy ScoutMaster...but I gave him a chance, and his few commentaries of scouting showed me I think a well intended scouter....

mine was sailing. I didn't earn a lot of MB's in my short time as a scout, but this one I remember.... I took it at Summer camp, camp Boddie on the Pamlico river (I really don't remember if that was the name of it back then or not...)....anyway, at some point, myself along with 3 other scouts, took the boat out for a sail on the Pamlico. So we sailed down river...which also happened to be down wind. we had all of course been through lots of training and practice...and knew the theory behind how to tack.... but we couldn't get back. and to make matters worse, one of the scouts bonked his head very bad with the boom on one of our attempted tacks. Knocked him into the water as I recall...but my memory is a bit fuzzy after all these years. We went into good scout mode.... teamed up and tended to him while me and the other scout maneuvered the boat closer to shore, where we could jump in and wade pulling the boat back to the dock. Honestly, the only memory I have of other badges were how "lame" they all were...very controlled and no fun at all.... I remember doing the shooting badges and being bored our of my mind with such limited opportunity to really fire and practice, having grown up hunting with my dad I already knew ho to shoot.... and there was nothing here that helped me to either improve NOR have fun....

I don't recall seeing this guy pointed out here.... I've been following his AT hike on youtube, a SM from South Carolina. He's scattered in a couple monologues addressed to Patrol Leaders and such about running a good program, as well as other scouting stories and references. his youtube channel is named Scoutmaster OnTheAT2018 He's trucking right along the last time I checked, doing good!

that's right, get those young scouts involved in setting up a tarp for a dining fly on the next campout instead of teaching knots in a meeting... with the older scouts more of a mentor than a teacher.

great points Barry. Adding to this, I've always like the idea of the camporee-esque competitions or games for skills such as knot tying because they give the side benefits of promoting patrol spirit. I've seen several attempts at "practical 1st aid training" but it always seems to fall short....for example making splints or stretchers, but they'e never really followed through to any real completion.... instead ending in lip service and pencil whipping. Your simulated car crash example stimulates a sense of discovery, at least at the kick-off of it.

sorry, meant to paste a link, this is the one I meant.... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24872995-so-far-so-good after I read it i thought it should kinda be required reading for all scouters

My girls are both scouts in the GSUSA. My oldest is now a Junior, having been through both Daisy and Brownie. She recently went on her Camporee it the local GS reservation. By now she can answer my questions about the camp and facilities much better than when she was younger. Of course I can't help but to draw comparisons against my experiences at several BSA reservations. It seems their camp condition is good, and their wall tent set-ups and cots are much better than anything I ever saw, with larger 4 person tents complete with screens, and cots that more resemble beds with mattresses. but regrading activities, it seems they have paddling on the lake and archery. No other shooting, and as best as I could tell they have nothing such as climbing walls, copes courses, and such....and their water front isn't all tricked out like an amusement park with the giant airbag launchers and such Does this seem typical of other GS reservations? Also, do many GS troops go on actual summer camp to reservations outside the area like BSA troops do? So far as far as I know there has been no talk of summer camp at all, even a local one...

wonderful!!! The units I worked with didn't have nearly such a rich ad long history, but I often wondered about the predecessors to my jobs....how they did things, the kinds of outings they went on, what the scouts have become.... When i was Cub master and cleaning out our scout shelf in the church's storage shed, I came across an old bulletin board with a few ragged photos. Looked to be part of some table top display sort of thing...wasn't much there....photo of a pinewood derby race, I think some indication that they did a trip to Kennedy Space center, not much else.... but all things we were still doing. I really wondered things like how many Cub Masters have their been in the pack from it's birth, who were they, and so on....and thought that as I'm struggling through the job trying to figure out how best to make it work, wouldn't it be fun and sit together with all of them over a coffee or beer, and brainstorm..... Then moving onto the troop, I never really saw much out of the Historian POR....such a shame in a way.

I suggest this book. Short and an easy read.....just a fictional (based on experience) possibility to get the thoughts flowing about the possibility of discovery and adventure. and really embrace the patrol method. Do some studying to find out what it really is...I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about this.... Obvious is "more adventure".... but I think the less obvious is "more discovery" but I would caution against just making a cut and dry push for more adventure for the older scouts though. My son's SM was doing this and personally I felt that it really alienated the younger guys big time. He had some personal history that drove him o strongly discourage venturing, so he was pushing "adventure patrol". They were planning to do stuff that was a bit better than the stuff they had done, but the younger guys were certainly capable if they wanted.... for example go backpack camping where they hike in a mile or two....(without the troop trailer, gasp!) .....but it was said, only for the older scouts. I don't remember if it was touted as age or rank based, but it clearly wasn't justifiable. This summer, they are going to sea base. Sadly, my son was just slipping in under the age/school grade requirements for that too (but that was a sea base rule, not the troop's)..... if he'd have stayed in the troop, by the time they go he would have been in the troop for 3 full years & I don't believe for a minute that they'll do anything even remotely outside of his abilities. Anyway, one thing is for sure...if the older scouts are bored, that is no good for the younger guys either.... no first year scout wants some bored to tears older kid reading to them out of the book....

all great points. especially about using a different MBC if reasonably possible, but that's only for your benefit in working with others. If mom is registered as a MBC and your SM signed off on your working on the badge, all is good. I too think it not necessary to record the data for proof, unless that is one of the requirements but for your own private edification, recording the data might be interesting for you. Who knows what you might find in the data! You might set goals for pace, or to beat personal records, , or to find the affects of a headwind vs a tailwind, or design a route in an interesting shape that will plot a secret message when you print the map.... all sorts of side possibilities to make things interesting for YOU. I don't do this as much as I used to but in the days before smartphones and digital maps I used to love to go out and explore, then go back and study a map to see where I'd been. Sometimes it was hiking trails, or on urban walks. I always did this when I moved to a new city. I'd head out on a weekend day when I had lots of time and drive around town. This was back in the days of paper maps. I'd have a map with me so I wouldn't get totally lost, but I had no set destination. I'd just drive around for a look-see. Then when I got home I'd re-trace my route on the map. Sometimes I'd do this for a few different days searching different parts of town. Great way to learn a new area and to enhance you sense of direction.

yes, supporting roles... but somebody has to have the vision for the troop and steer it to that direction. From what I've seen most folks look to the SM, or CM for packs, as that top leader that set the vision. I think this is likely because it's usually the Sm that has the "scouting experience" and the CC is often a person that really doesn't know scouting....at least that's been my experience. When I was CM, I tried to support the DL's to set that vision in their dens.... we never had what I would call an effective CC. but now in hind site, I realize that a good CC with a proper working knowledge and vision is probably the best seat from which to steer the vision