Bob White

I think you will see that happen fairly soon KS. national is in the second year of a five year project to update every MB handbook. Bob White

Well KS for starters it means you have accidentally mixed statistics. The BSA has had over 130,000,000 members. That includes ALL scouting programs. The handbook statisic is for the Boy Scout handbook only. I understand you frustration with your one event If however you had the same problem all year, I think you would agree that you would need to evaluate your planning, communications, youth input on activities, moral and a number of internal elements that could cause the problem or BE the problem. it seems several leaders are just quick to blame uninvolved parents and disinterested kids. Well kids don't come to us guaranteed to be interested. making and keeping their interest is our responsibility. I accept that there are a lot of reasons why some scouts miss some events. but when lots of scouts miss alot of events the problem has always been in the unit program from my experience. If you are losing lots of scouts or not advancing at the pace outlined in the handbooks the problem is internal but the blame is placed often on the external. Bob

Ed, If you check the BSA resources regarding advancement, specifically pg 13 of the Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures manual #33088D, you will see that a MB counselor who is registered ONLY as a meritbadge counselor pays no fee. A unit or district volunteer pays the membership fee as I explained in the previous post. MB counselors do not. Bob White(This message has been edited by Bob White)

I would agree with you bmchugh that the course director misinterpreted the policy. A better solution would have been to have a female staff member available to tent with you in your patrol site if that would have made you feel more comfortable. Removing you from the patrol was unneeded. Sorry that happened to you. I hope the information you recieved was worthwhile. Perhaps a letter to your council's training committee clarifying the policy, and telling them had the poor interpretation effected your WB experience, would keep the event from happening to other female scouters? Bob White

Since MB work is not a troop or patrol function but an individual activity the rules for youth protection are different. A merit badge counselor is registered as such with the local council, however they are not scouters. They do not pay a membership fee, they do not recieve a membership card and not have the privileges of a registered leader. One of the primary things they lack is the liability insurance umbrella that protects registerd scouters as long as they follow the policies of the BSA. The purpose of registering MB counselors is to have a record of who they, are where they work and live and contact information. As a registered scouter you can not be alone with a scout, and you must have two deep leadership on all troop events or you risk permanent loss of membership in the BSA and loss of liability protection which could be a very expensive mistake. As a merit badge counselor you are not to meet alone with a single scout as a recommended protection for you. The scout is to have a youth or adult buddy as protection for himself. Bob White

The rules of fundraising can be found on the back of the Unit Money Earning Application form. It requires the unit to offer a service, product or performance that is a fair value to the customer. That would mean that as a fundraiser, units could not ask for a cash donation outright. However this rule does not preclude a unit from recieving donations of cash, products or services to use as an element of the fundraiser. reducing the cost of the fundraiser in order to increase profitability of the event would seem to me to be a good use of local resources and totally within the fundraising rules of the BSA. That being said, I would not go begging for donations. I prefer to go to a retailer, tell them about the event and ask them if there was any way they might be able to help us be more profitable or raise more money. I have had some offer discounts, some donate money or goods, and others who directed me to someone who could be of greater assistance. All are good things. This approach allows the retailer to determine their own comfort level of assisting us and it allows us to increase profits while maintaining our dignity. Bob White

Tim, I think you handled things in a very mature way. You accepted the job, took the training, followed the program and unfortunately ran into a manager who didn't. I'm glad you won't let your training go to waste. I'm sure you will make a big imopact with your scout unit. Keep up the great attitude and happy scouting, Bob White

Had a scout attack the leaders with a machete. Fortunately one adult was able to tackle him from behind and the other leaders subdued him. It wasn't until they got back that the mother told us he was taking drug therapy for anger control and she did not send any for the trip (figured he would be OK). One trip I'm glad I missed. Bob

This was a topic at a commissioners college once. It centered on the premise that units in this program, although spread out all of the country, have the same problems at what time or another. Even though you feel yours is unique, others have been through the same thing at some point. We had each person in the class, there were maybe 2 dozen, write down the most unusal problem thay ever encountered. as we read the situation we had everyone who ever experience the same thing to raise there hands. There wasn't a single situation that 5 or more people had not been through already. I see a lot of the same things happening here. I thought it would be fun to have people just post there situation that they feel is unique to their unit, and to have others reply (not with a remedy or opinion) but just if it happened in your unit as well. If the item is one you would like input on it can be used to start a fresh string. So who has a unique problem that they feel no one else has dealt with?

I don't have a Totin Chip in front of me but if I remember correctly the signature line says 'Authorized by', or something similar. Tenderfoot through First Class advancement (and that is where the totin chipfalls) can be tested by anyone who is approved by the Scoutmaster. Hope this helps, Bob White

In my cubmaster days The pack funds gave each Den Leader $25 at teh beginning of the program year in September to by craft supplies. In addition every cub paid den dues to the den leader of $1 each week. Families in the den donated snacks and they rotated the duties around the den, family by family. We had 14 dens and it worked fine in every den. Bob White

A Bob White since 1980 An Honorary Bear since 86 An Honorary Owl since 91 Forever, Bob White

GREAT JOB!

In the past I have served as an Asst. District Commissioner and a District Commissioner. Although I inherited Unit Commissioners that were from within the troop they served I never recruited any myself. evn the ones who were good decent folks and active volunteers, made horrible commissioners. The reason is they had no objectivity. for those UC's serving their own troop evry report from them was the same "everythings fine". I can't telll you how many units I have seen bite the dust a month after their home grown commissioner said "everythings fine". I would never recruit a person to commissioner their own unit. They either can't see the problem or they ask someone else to step in because they are "too close to the problem". either way they are no good to me as a UC. The Commissioner Guide recommends that the UC not come from the unit, but it doesn't say you can't. I am willing to bet I know why your District Commissioner changed his tune. the Key-3 looked at the Quality District requirements and said "Hey, we need more commissioners quick!" So a fast easy way to get commissioner numbers is to have the units recruit their own. Will it improve unit service? No, but it will get the Council Key-3 to Leave the District Key-3 alone. To be honest Commissioner service is broken. It has been broken for decades. Councils know it, National knows it, units know it. The question is how to fix it. I have my own thoughts on that which I have shared with key individuals at National, but the division that controlled commissioner service was gutted recently, and there are a lot of people avoiding embracing the remnants of commissioning because things are such a mess. But thats a whole nother string I could go into. Thanks for asking, Bob White(This message has been edited by Bob White)

A comment was made in a string regarding popcorn funds that said... The 2 programs (CS Packs & BS Troops), even if chartered by the same organization have different leaders, different Committees, different bank accounts. They MIGHT (not necessarily) share a Charter Organization Rep and a Unit Commissioner but that is it! The point I want to clarify is that while they might have different Unit Commissioners, if they share the same charter organization they only get one Charter Organization Representative (COR). Charter reps are voting members of the district and council committees. Each organization gets one vote (one COR) regardless of how many scouting programs they sponsor. If your Charter organization has a Pack and a Troop and you have two CORs it is only because the error has not been caught by the office staff. To verify this information see the Troop Committee Guide or the Cub Leader Handbook under Charter Organization Representative or get the pamphlet Role of the Charter Organization Representative from your local scout office. A public service announcement from your local Bob White(This message has been edited by Bob White)

The District Commissioner serves at the request of the District Chairman and the approval of the Council Commissioner. They would be the ones who would remove him/her as well. Bob White

With the advent of ScoutNet, a boy should only be regidtered in one troop. The reason is, now every member is given a unique and pernanent membership number. In the past a new number was generated each time you registered. This unique number is there to create more accurate record keeping of membership, advancement and recognitions. Although the scout can participate whith a nother unit (forinstance his parents are divorced and he spends time in two different towns) all recordkeeping shold be done through one troop. Just because he is registered doesn't mean you have to wait for paperwork to take him off the roster. If he is as disruptive and does not participate as you say the charter organization rep can remove his membership. Just because he asks for aid does not mean it must be given. Look at the scout as an individual and do what you feel is best. Bob White

I will bow to the expertise of guys like le Voyageur, but I would probably use a 1/4 or 3/8 sisal on the smaller diameter poles and a 5/8 manilla on the 3" diameter poles. Bob White

Out of curiosity twocubdad, did the courses you attended use video tape, PowerPoint presentations, posters, handouts and resource books along with the live teacher? I have taught everything but Tiger leader specific so far and you sound like you went to a different set of classes. Bob

Hi Dan, I think you will find that most posters use acronyms only to lessen typing time. I know my keyboard skills are limited and I often fall to acronyms once I have established the full name, Your right we train trainers not to use them when speaking and that is still a good idea. Yes I am suggesting the staff made a common mistake. Nowhere does a BSA resource refer to Class A and Class B. There is a Field Uniform and an activity uniform this is stressed in the new Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training course. It is not done for reasons of wordsmithing. The purpose is to let everyone know that the uniform is set by the BSA not by a unit or individual. For instance a unit cannot say that the Activity uniform is jeans and a troop t-shirt. Theu can certainly wear that but it is not being in uniform, it is out of uniform. The activity uniform can be a troop hat, troop t-shirt, BSA camp shirt or BSA t-shirt or BSA red activity shirt, scout shorts or pants, scout belt scout socks. The Field Uniform is the dress shirt, Scout belt, Scout pants or shorts and scout socks. You cannot set a local uniform code that changes that. The scout uniform is the public image of the BSA and is set and controlled by the BSA national executive committee. There are appropriate times and activities to be out of uniform. There are appropriate times to be in uniform. But the uniforms and the uniform elements are set by National. Class B often becomes a hodge podge of official and unofficial uniform pieces. That sets a bad example for the scouts and diminishes the effect and purpose of the uniform. Even Wood Badgers fall into old habits from time to time. Using terms like Class A and Class B is an example of that. Hope this clarifies things, Bob White

What is the average diameter of the bamboo stock and what sort of projects will you be building, it makes a difference. Bob

How about a Merit Badge Midway for the troops. Each Troop picks a meritbadge and builds a display arond the requirements with hands on activities for the visitors. You could even get sponsorships from local businesses like a local radio station or newspaper for Communication, the local library for Reading, The city council or local politicians for Citizenship in the Community, The local resue squad for First Aid etc. The art students at the Jr and Sr High can paint large replicas of the merit badge patches to mark the sites. Hope you have a great event. Bob White

Ed there is also the chance that he won't go to the leaders either after being accused of being the one who did wrong and seeing the apathy of the leaders to take any positive actions. When that happens someone could seriously hurt. The same leaders who take no action when they are told of problems are the same leaders who say "they should have told us" when something goes wrong again. How does the older boy lurking in the shadows suggest that the younger one was the provocator? I'm sorry Ed but that makes no sense at all. Bob White

Just as the Lone Ranger before us, we hide our indentities behind these masks not as criminals but as defenders of truth and goodness, and to protect those we love from the evil doers we battle. In truth OGE is a reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper. I am a wealth industrialist who has chosen the frightening image of the Bob White, creature of the night, to strike terror in the hearts of those would commit crimes. yaworski the last time I heard someone screaming "you can't handle the truth" it was jack Nicholson as that wacked out officer in Afew Good Men. You chose your role model well. So as Jack said in As Good As It Gets "Go peddle crazy somewhere else, we're all full up here!" Bob white

What am I afraid of hmmmmmmm. The only thing that comes to mind are rollercoasters and my wife's chili. As far as the blanks in my profile, I don't have a web-site, or an ICQ number or instant messaging. As far as my council and district, I have, in accordance with the site rules, selected to share that information on a case by case basis with members as I choose. The reason I do that is I have a right to choose my friends and an obligation to protect the privacy of my family. Why because there are people in this world such as you that I do not trust. Am I frightened of you? No, I just don't trust you. I find you offensive in more ways than than I can express here, without wasting more of my fellow posters time. If however you wish to know more about my scouting background feel free to ask, and if you do so in a polite, scoutlike manner, and if it has some purpose to it, I will happily share it. If you feel I am required to expose more personal information than I have chosen to do just because you say so, then you are in even greater need of professional counseling than I already believe. Bob White