meyerc13

An interesting question to ponder, when is it not hunting season? In Wisconsin, when you consider the various seasons for different types of animal, it is always hunting season. The one season that stretches throughout the spring and summer in Wisconsin is Coyote, it's a continuous open season on coyote. Just because it isn't Deer season with hundreds of thousands of people out in the woods with guns, there is still a chance you can get shot even with a small number of hunters out there. I think it is in your best interest to wear bright clothes when out in the woods, just in case there is a hunter nearby lining up a shot on an animal that is between you and the hunter.

"Overnight camping by Tiger Cub, Wolf, and Bear Cub Scout dens as dens is not approved, and certificates of liability insurance will not be provided by the Boy Scouts of America." (Source: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss03.aspx) BALOO is absolutely required for Pack Overnighters, as you quoted (repeating with emphasis for my next point: "At least one adult on a pack overnighter must have completed Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO, No. 34162) to properly understand the importance of program intent, Youth Protection policies, health and safety, site selection, age-appropriate activities, and sufficient adult participation." (Source: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss03.aspx) From the Outdoor Program Guidelines, Webelos Den Overnight Camping section: "A Webelos den leader who has completed position-specific training and Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders training should conduct these events." Later in that same section, "To provide leadership for this event, Webelos den leaders should complete the course, Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders, No. 13-33640." Note the difference between must for Pack Overnighters (which are a very specific thing, not just a general term for any overnight camping by Cub Scouts and Webelos), and should for Webelos Den Overnight Camping. Also note that nowhere does it state that BALOO is required for Webelos Den Overnight Camping - it is not required (by the BSA, at least). Do I recommend OWL and BALOO for leaders? Definitely. Is BALOO required for Pack Overnighters? Yes. Is it required for Webelos Den Overnight camping? Not by the BSA, although perhaps by some Councils. Is OWL required by the BSA? No, but perhaps by some councils. If someone asks me, I strongly recommend OWL for Webelos camping, especially if they were never Boy Scouts or haven't been actively practicing Scouting skills for some time. If they are up-to-date on basic Boy Scout skills, than OWL may not be necessary to conduct a good Webelos Den Overnight campout. But BALOO is for Pack campouts, and not Webelos Den camping. While it doesn't hurt to do both, OWL is the more important for Webelos Den camping. Trust me on this, I have studied this topic quite thoroughly, looked through everything I could find on the Scouting.org site, and spend my day reading and writing policies. The words 'should' and 'must' aren't there by happenstance, those have very specific connotations and were used deliberately. For whatever reason the BSA doesn't feel that it can or must (see, I can do it too!) force Webelos Den Leaders to complete OWL and still run a good program. As King Ding dong has stated though, individual Councils may have different policies, so check with your Council for the definitive answer. And ask to see it in writing, because at the national level these are the requirements, and in some cases it is just a Council misinterpreting what National is saying, rather than the Council actually having a policy of their own in place.

Hmmm, the plot thickens. So you aren't the den leader, but would like to be. Talk to your Cubmaster and Pack Committee Chair. Rarely do we have someone step up who wants to lead a den. I'm sure they will welcome you with open arms. The question is, will the current Den Leader and Assistant want to step down or move to a different position? If they want to stay involved with their sons' den, they may not want to step aside to let you in as a registered Den Leader. As a general rule, I don't recommend a hostile takeover in Cub Scouts. We're all supposed to be having fun, right? Parents and leaders included. Even if you aren't a Den Leader, every parent in the Tiger den is supposed to be helping the Den Leader to lead an Adventure. As your son moves to Wolf, that doesn't need to stop. If you think you can do a good job putting together an Adventure for Rolling Tigers, tell the Den Leader that. Rarely have I seen a case where a Den Leader will turn away help. If it goes well, offer to lead another. If the Pack Committee sees you doing a better job than the current leaders, maybe they can work something out without any hurt feelings. You become Den Leader, keep one or both as either official or unofficial assistants. Maybe the Committee can find some other role for the two current leaders. "Hey Bob, you did a great job with your Tiger Den this year. All of those boys did a great job on advancement. We could really use your skills as our Advancement chair, would you consider shifting into that role? Don't worry about your son's den, we think Appliancedude would make a great Den Leader and would like to give him a chance to lead the den. You could still attend the Wolf Den meetings with your son and even help lead adventures. So, Bob, are you up for the Advancement Chair role?" Hopefully everyone can work something out and be happy. Our Pack did some shuffling this year and it worked out great. We had one quiet dad who was our Tiger Den Leader last year, along with another dad who was very outgoing. The quiet dad had an older son who started Webelos this year. The outgoing dad shifted to a different Pack, but several parents in the now Wolf den wanted to help out. So we shifted the quiet dad to Webelos, where his personality was a great fit for that level of boy. We had a Mom & Dad pair and another Dad step up to run the Wolf den. It worked out great, and everyone was happy. Good luck, hopefully you can work out an official leadership change with no hurt feelings. If not, like I said, volunteer to lead an adventure. Then another one, then another one. Most den leaders will welcome the help.

Hello NKaye, and welcome to the forum! I'm just wrapping up my term as Cubmaster, and also have been working with a Bear den this year. I'm going to answer your questions out of order. How long does it take for Bear? Well, this den is going to be cutting it close. I think the main reason is the material in the Bear rank. Take Bear Necessities - it combines camping, a campfire show, cooking, and weather all into one adventure. Compare that to Webelos, where Camping and Cooking requirements are split between two adventures. Same thing with Fur, Feathers, and Ferns - it combines both plants and animals, which in Webelos are two separate adventures. Paws for Action combines history, emergency prep, exploring police departments, energy use/conservation, and a service project. I'm convinced that those three adventures right there have as much going on as the entire year for some of the other ranks. I'm not sure how this made sense, but things like this have convinced me that the requirements for the various ranks were authored by different teams/individuals, and that there wasn't much communication or coordination between the different groups. My son just finished his Arrow of Light, and I honestly think that in some ways Bear has as much to cover as both Webelos and Arrow of LIght combined (the difference being that a good Webelos program is also transitioning the boys from the Cub Scout way of doing things to the Boy Scout way - more boy led than adult led). It's really a shame, because Bear has some of the best elective adventures, but we've barely been able to fit in two - Robotics and BALOO the Builder (we completed these before some of the required due to our weather in Wisconsin, which prevents completing some outdoors requirements for about half of our Cub Scout year). How much to expect at home - to be honest I don't expect much. The Duty to God adventures are recommended for a boy to complete with his family. Beyond that, practicing a fire drill, observing the weather, displaying a flag at home, there are definitely some requirements in the Bear rank that they are supposed to do at home. I also asked them to visit a historical site on their own, because we were running out of time to fit that into our Den Meetings. Some things, like researching two famous Americans or learning about an extinct animal we did in Den Meetings, breaking the boys into small groups to work together and practice teamwork. Parent involvement - To be honest, if the parents weren't asked to lead a meeting as Tiger Den Adult Partners, weren't involved at the Wolf level... getting them involved as Bears will be difficult if not impossible (part of the reason I'm leading a Bear Den this year when my son has already crossed over into Boy Scouts). One thing you might try is the concept of a Denner. Have a meeting with the parents and boys, and explain that the Denner gets to help you lead the Den, but that the parents will need to help their son lead an adventure in order for him to be the Denner for a month. If that isn't enough incentive, maybe sweeten the pot with some trinket that the Denner is likely to want. I saw some nice Compasses for under $2 at the sporting goods store... what boy doesn't love a compass? It even makes sense - help me lead the den, and you'll be awarded a compass for helping to point the way. Hopefully the boys can pressure their parents into stepping up if they want to wear the Denner cords for a month and get a small present. I'm not sure I'm following your concern over BALOO at the den level. Only Webelos dens are allowed to camp on their own - a Bear den can't camp without the Pack. Webelos camping doesn't require BALOO. While BALOO can be a great course (one of my favorites in four years of Cub Scout leadership), I'm not sure that is really a den problem. To me it seems like something the Pack should be worried about. If you want to pursue it as a Cub Scout Leader, I'd encourage it. If weekends don't work for you, talk to your Roundtable Commissioner - maybe the BALOO syllabus could be split between several Roundtable sessions. With that said, since your Bears will soon be Webelos, there is a different outdoor leader training you should try to attend - Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders (OWL). This isn't required for Webelos leaders, but highly recommended. Hopefully your District schedules it on a weekend you can attend. If not, check other Districts and even other Councils (if you have any nearby). You can take training out of District, just be sure to bring back your course completion card to your District/Council so that you can get credit for it. One final point - don't worry about your son not being able to experience Cub Scouts without mom - Cub Scouts is supposed to be a family experience. My mom and grandma were my Wolf Den Leaders, my dad was my Webelos Den Leader and Cubmaster - I went on to Boy Scouts (my dad became an Assistant Scoutmaster) and became an Eagle. I don't think less of my Scouting experience for my parents being involved, I think it made it that much more special. You son will have a chance to experience Boy Scouts on his own - but Cub Scouts you are supposed to be involved. You are doing it right - it's some of the other parents in your den who may not have figured it out yet.

This is Cub Scouts, where we "Do our best," so you can count it, but the question is should you count it? The old Tiger Cub program had five 'Go See It' requirements. The new advancement program has five required adventures, a Duty to God required adventure, and an elective. Most adventures have an outing as one component. So it seems to me that the smart folks who put together this new program for us wanted us to get the boys out and exploring at least 6 times per year (the Duty to God adventures are recommended for a boy to work on with his family). If all we do is sit in a classroom, then we're basically just adding hours to the boys' school day, not providing a fun and exciting program that will keep the boys interested in Scouting. If it were up to me, I'd count the police station visit if a boy was sick on the day we visited a fire station, hospital, or ambulance station. However, I'd really try to schedule both outings because outings are fun (and frankly, really easy for you as a leader - all you need to do is schedule it and then have fun with your boy(s)). I might consider doing only the police station outing if instead of a fire station, hospital, etc. I had some other really fun and exciting bonus adventure planned during the month we were working on the Safe and Smart adventure. To summarize my thoughts on outings: Try to stick to the program outlined in the Leader Guide, including all outings, whenever possible. For adventures where there isn't a meeting plan for an outing, there is usually a note suggesting possible outings. Use these suggestions, or come up with your own, but try to have one outing per adventure. If you have to deviate from the Leader Guide, I would argue that a good Cub Scout program incorporates 5-6 den outings per year. As long as you are doing that many and almost all of them are tied to the required adventures, your program is probably fun and will keep the boys engaged. If a boy misses a den outing, but an outing from another adventure could fulfill the requirements, give him credit. Likewise, if he did an outing through school or with his family, count it. However, don't use school and family outings as a substitute for a good Cub Scout program - schedule the outings with Cub Scouts, but count outside adventures in cases where a boy was sick or couldn't attend the adventure at the scheduled time. One last suggestion - since most ranks require a campout, campfire, outdoor cooking, and/or hike... and since these aren't easily done in a one hour den meeting on a weeknight, at the Pack level try to schedule at least two campouts where these requirements can be met. Our Pack scheduled a Fall, Winter, and Spring campout, as well as sending boys to both our Cub Scout Resident summer camp, and our Webelos resident summer camp. We're trying to give the boys as many chances as possible to complete these adventures, and we know that sometimes family schedules can conflict with our Pack schedule, and if we only offer one campout that might mean boys couldn't advance. Also, for our campout we try to incorporate as many outdoor adventure requirements as possible (nature hike, campfire program, Scouts cooking a meal, etc.).

One of the most interesting courses I took in my professional career is Situational Leadership. I learned a lot about myself and a lot about leadership in that course. In a nutshell, there are several types of leadership style - from close to micro-managing to an almost completely hands-off approach. Which style you need to use varies by the person and the situation. For example, a new hire may need very specific directions, and lots of guidance. On the other hand, if you try to give an expert on a topic step by step directions on how he needs to get the work done, he's likely to hate it. I learned that I was avoiding that style, because at some point I had a manager who was using that style with me when I was the expert who didn't need that level of guidance. Yet I had employees who were new to my company who probably were frustrated by my more hands-off approach. Leadership is definitely a complicated topic, and as gumbymaster pointed out there is a wide spectrum of natural leadership styles. The best leaders can use methods that fall outside of their style when the situation warrants it. The worst leaders try to force their subordinates to accommodate their personal style.

An Eagle should be a leader - no question about it. Why do you think we have boys lead a service project? It isn't because we need more service projects - we all should be doing those whether we have Eagle candidates in our units or not. It's a test. Really it's the final exam. If the boy can lead the project, he is ready to be an Eagle. If he can't lead the project, then he shouldn't advance until he can. One thing I really hate is all the focus on what was built for an Eagle project. My feeling is that it doesn't matter what was created or done. When I ask an Eagle about his service project, I want to hear how he led that project, not about what was built or completed. What challenges did he face in getting it done, and how did he use the leadership skills he learned in Scouts to overcome those challenges. That park bench, Gazebo, or bridge that was built as part of an Eagle project will eventually rot away and be thrown out. The legacy of an Eagle Scout is the impact he has on the people around him. Other people should see an Eagle when they look at him, and the people he leads should be better for it. That gets passed down again and again - and that legacy is what will live on beyond the Eagle. I don't know if my Scoutmaster was officially an Eagle Scout, but to me he was the living embodiment of what an Eagle should be. I doubt you could walk around town and still find things that his Eagles built 20-30 years ago, but since he played a large part in making me into the man I am today, and now I'm doing my best to pass that down to my son and his generation - his legacy will live on long after anyone remembers Troop 809 and its Scoutmaster. I don't know who mentored Keith, but I know that I owe him more than I can ever repay, and I just wish I could sit down with him one more time for a game of Cribbage to tell him what a difference he, and his mentors before him, made - and will continue to make if I'm half as successful in making an impression on the boys I mentor.

I think Venividi sums up my feelings on the matter quite well - the only thing I would add is that an Eagle is a Scout - a Leader who is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful and all the rest of the things in the Law, Oath, Motto, and Slogan. I expect all Scouts to be what we promise in the Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan, but by the time they have reached Eagle they need to be a natural leader as well (whereas we expect younger Scouts to demonstrate leadership qualities, by the time they reach Eagle there should be no doubt that they'll take charge if left alone in a room with a bunch of younger kids), and they need to have taken those words they've recited thousands of times and shaped their character to be the living embodiment of those words. Do Eagles sometimes slip up? Yes. There are days I've been less than Friendly or Cheerful, everyone has a bad day. But when an Eagle catches himself slipping up - that needs to bother him deeply. I know it bothers me when I realize I've done exactly the opposite of what I've been promising for so many years. That's what an Eagle is. The camping, knots, service projects, etc. are the means to make young men into leaders who are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, etc. They aren't the goal. The goal is making young men into leaders who can make a Scoutmaster and parent proud.

My daughter became a Brownie this year. I learned two things about the cookie sale. 1.) They sell themselves, pretty much every house will buy at least one box. 2.) The unit gets very little from the sale of each box (like 5-6% compared to our Boy Scout Council giving us 35-40% back on popcorn sales). I completely agree selling popcorn is hard, my son was a top seller in our District and we found that on average he had to knock on 10 doors to get 1 sale. However, that one sale brought $4-$8 back to the unit. Contrast that with the Girl Scouts, my daughter might get 10 sales but only bring back $2.50-$5.00 to the unit. Part of me wishes our Council went back to the World's Finest Chocolates like we did when I was a Cub Scout. Like the cookies, those things sell themselves. The margins aren't bad either, although not quite as good as cookies (50% vs 70% on the popcorn). The unknown figure is how many people would spend only $1 instead of $10 like they do on the popcorn? It becomes a quantity of sales over quality of sales thing. Yeah, kids would get more "Yes" than "No" responses, but each one would bring in less to the Council and Unit. As much as I hate to say it, part of me thinks the BSA got it right with the popcorn... some people won't spend that much, but quite a few will spend $10 just because they want to do something to support the Scouts. If you give those same people a $1 or $5 option, I suspect that would be all they would spend.

Our Council had a Friends of Scouting video they put together this year, and I kid you not, this is a quote from an Eagle Scout Camp Staff member they interviewed during part of it: They put that in there right alongside all of the good stuff that Scouting does. When I heard that the first time it was quite the facepalm moment. I still cringed every time I was in front of an audience playing that video for them. That's about 10 seconds of an interview that should have been left on the editing floor, albeit it is too true. Somehow, "Join Scouting and learn to do paperwork" isn't a big selling point to me (or most people, I suspect). Whoever thought that should be in the video probably is the same person who likes to read tour plans.

Wow, what a messed up situation. OP, I really hope that after some time to let emotions settle that you reconsider your last two sentences. Scouting can't be all things to all people all of the time, and there are definitely times where I strongly disagree with some policy or action of the BSA, the Council, or even my unit. However, I know that there is a lot of value in our program overall, and the good far outweighs the bad. I volunteer as a Roundtable Commissioner, and not to defend what happened with the Unit Commissioner, but the sad truth is that in many Councils, there is a distinct shortage of Unit Commissioners. I never really understood the problem until I became a member of the Commissioner staff and went through the basic training. In that class, they show the District org chart (see page 13 here). When you figure in the need for District Chair, District Commissioner, their Assistants, Roundtable Commissioners and Assistants, Unit Commissioners (one for every 3 units), Committee Chairs for Training, Camping, Service, Recognition, Membership, Finance, and all of the Committee Members for those subcommittees... in our District, the largest in our Council, essentially the need is for (on average) one District level volunteer per unit. In a smaller District, the need would be greater, because the standing committees need to be filled, but the pool of units to supply volunteers is less. I ask everyone reading this - how many District volunteers does your unit supply? If the answer is less than one, that is the problem. Just like an unhealthy unit who can't get enough leaders to fill all of the required committee and leadership positions, when there aren't enough District volunteers they are likely to take any warm body to fill a seat, rather than select the best prospects. You also end up with volunteers filling more than one District role. I'm not going to excuse what happened, but I wanted to offer up this explanation and challenge everyone reading this to step up and volunteer at the District level (because most of you could make such a difference with your experience and knowledge). Unit Commissioner is an especially difficult role. You're a mediator, an 'expert' on all things Scouting, a Scouting unit 'health officer', and many other things rolled into one job description. Ultimately the UC doesn't have any authority over a unit, all they can do is try to influence a unit. Sadly, not all UCs are expert negotiators and mediators, and it doesn't surprise me that a UC would struggle with a situation like this. The art of Influencing without Authority takes training and practice, and many UCs have yet to master this (they spend far more time trying to fix failing units than they do mediating unit conflicts). To the OP, I apologize for what happened, I know if I was a Scout, I wouldn't want to be in a conversation like that with my Scoutmaster. Being an Eagle Scout has nothing to do with how many nights you've been camping, so from that perspective I understand your position. To some degree I can also understand the position of the Scoutmaster and the CC, they are trying to uphold the integrity of the Eagle rank and legacy. As an Eagle, I can understand their intention, but as an Eagle and Scouter I think their approach is wrong. Being an Eagle isn't even about putting 'Scouting first.' The whole point of Eagle is to take boys and make them into leaders. By the time a boy has finished the Eagle requirements, it really is time for him to 'leave the nest' and apply what he has learned outside of the Scouting program. We want Eagles to be leaders in the world, not just leaders in Scouting. If they also decide to stay active in our units and in Scouting, that's a bonus to us, but not what being an Eagle is all about. I know there has been some debate in this topic, we are only hearing one side of the story, but frankly I've heard enough of this story to know that this unit is at least a bit off course. I think their intentions are good, but if I had been sitting in on this meeting I think I would have steered the conversation to what being an Eagle means. Is your son taking on leadership responsibilities outside of Scouting? In School, Church, his job, etc? I think I would have pushed for a compromise... something like this: "Mr. Unit Leader, I hear you saying that your unit wants to make sure that boys who earn Eagle rank deserve that rank, correct? So you implemented requirements for unit participation. Would you agree that being an Eagle means that you are a leader? So you want to see boys exercising their leadership skills by active participation with your unit, through things such as Troop campouts, correct? Would you agree that an Eagle should be a leader in all things that they do? Great. Mr. Life Scout, you think that you have earned your Eagle by completing the requirements, correct? Do you agree that being an Eagle means that you should be a leader in everything that you do? Have you been really active in the Troop, attending campouts and helping mentor younger Scouts? If you haven't been very active, why not? Are you involved in other activities? Tell me about how your exercise your Leadership in XYZ. Wow, it sounds like you are really applying what you have learned in Scouting. Mr. Unit Leader, how can Mr. Life Scout exercise his leadership in XYZ if he is with your Unit on a campout instead of helping lead XYZ? As an Eagle myself, it seems to me that Mr. Life Scout is doing exactly what you trained him to do, he is being a leader. But you are questioning his leadership by insiting that he stop what he is doing to spend a few more nights camping. Don't you think we should give him credit for his work outside of Scouting? He was active when he first became Life, but now he has taken what he learned through Scouting and started applying it outside of Scouting, even before he has the Eagle badge on his shirt... that seems to me to be exactly what we want to see happen, so how can we work something out to make sure Mr. Life Scout can proudly wear that badge on his shirt, as well as in his heart?"

Hi Samantha! First off, thanks for volunteering. It sounds like your Pack should be in good hands. Chisos is absolutely right, to expand on it, here's an article I wrote last year on this topic:

I work in information security for a Fortune 25 company. To be fair, information technology changes much more rapidly than fire building technique or proper knife/axe safety. So I can almost understand needing to 'recharge' the Cyberchip. That is, if they actually changed the material regularly, which I'm not sure they do.

Then I think we should ban anything involving the ground. Because I think the problem isn't so much with the slide as the surface underneath the slide. Also, when did it stop being common sense that if you dive headfirst into the GROUND, that you could end up with head or neck injuries? Thank goodness we have the government to warn us of the dangers.

I first heard of this last summer at Webelos Resident Camp. The Camp Ranger is a Cast Iron collector, and teaches a Cast Iron Cooking class to the adults while the boys are working on their adventure pins. He mentioned that he makes his own 'pucks' out of a mixture of beeswax and Crisco. He said if you don't want to make them yourselves, you can buy the 'Crisbee puck' but warned that they are pricey (but do work quite well). I haven't tried using this yet, but have a couple of pieces that I need to strip and reseason and might give this a try.

I read this before other replies, and wanted to say much he same thing as Stosh but held back wondering if I was being too cynical. I think it is great what the Scout did, but I'd hope that every Scout would do that. I try to use situations like this as teaching opportunities for my son and daughter. While out selling popcorn one day, my son and I found a wallet on the ground. There was nothing in it, no money or ID. Yet, when we were done selling we drove down to the police station and turned it in. I doubt anyone ever went there looking for it, but still it felt like the right thing to do. The best part of being able to do a good turn like this is the feeling it gives you. I remember going to a CD store when I was in college, and the clerk gave me too much change which I didn't notice until I had left and gone to another store. Knowing how much money I had started with, and how much I now had, I realized what had happened. I went back to the CD store and returned the money and the clerk was incredulous that I had come back and also thankful because he would have gotten in trouble for the mistake. He asked me why and the first answer that came to mind was "I'm an Eagle Scout." He nodded as if that made perfect sense. Just a couple of years ago I was getting out of my car at Wal Mart and noticed a pocket knife on the ground. It was a Victorinox Huntsman, and knowing that is a $35 knife I took it in to the service desk. They asked for my name so that I could claim it later if nobody else did, but I said, "Nah, that wouldn't be right, it isn't mine." To this day I wonder if anyone claimed that, and if not what happened to it. Part of me worries that it would tempt an employee to steal it, thereby doing something that wasn't right, and that bothers me a bit. I'm sure this young man is a great young man... if you read the article the $10K was for his college fund... which I think mitigates the situation a bit since it is really more of a reward to his family than to the young man himself. Yet part of me wonders what I would do in a similar situation? Maybe ask that the money go to the Friends of Scouting instead? It's tough, and I'm sure that given the situation (on stage, in front of an audience, mega-stars talking to me) I may have been so overwhelmed with the whole thing that I couldn't quickly think of a response like that. Oh well, I doubt anyone outside of Scouting would question this situation at all, we are probably the only ones who know the Boyce story and expect a Scout not to accept a tip for doing a good turn. I suspect most of the public just catches on to "A Scout is trustworthy" and this story reaffirms that for them.

The thing that amazes me, and this applies at the Council level as well as National, is that non-profits such as the BSA seem to be oblivious to their volunteers' day jobs. I am sure there are top notch web designers, database admins, programmers, graphic designers, etc. who volunteer large portions of their lives to the BSA. Yet how often do organizations such as the BSA allow their volunteers to share their professional skills? If you are a carpenter, electrician, or plumber the BSA is happy to have you come and fix up their camps... but outside of those trades I don't think I've ever seen a request for other professions to share their skills and expertise. I have an artist and graphic designer in my Pack who cringes at some of the material that our Council puts out, but getting the Council to let him help them is nearly impossible. I'm on our District Camping Committee and we were able to sneak through a camp flyer that we comissioned at the District Camping Committee level, and we had him do the work on that. Everyone who sees it can't believe how great it looks, and I'm thinking to myself, that's what happens when you have an expert do the work. Too bad they rarely let him help although he's offered his skills and expertise. How many other experts are wearing a Scout shirt but have never been asked what they do or if they'd like to help?

When I was old enough to get a paying job, instead of working at summer camp I decided to work in the office for the factory where my dad worked (he was a die caster out on the shop floor). Fast forward to late July, and the company had to save money so laid off the summer help. I found myself with 1/3 of my summer and no job. Boy Scout camp was almost wrapped up, but after the Boy Scouts left they ran three weeks of Cub Scout Day Camp. I did that for two summers and loved it. Absolutely one of the best jobs I've ever had. Spending three weeks at a place I loved, with an interesting group of guys (no women on staff at that camp back then), having fun with a new batch of excited kids every day... it is a great experience. My only regret was that I hadn't spent the whole summer there.

I've heard of some Districts and Councils doing it this way, but I don't agree that IOLS covers everything that a good BALOO program covers. BALOO in our Council focuses heavily on planning a Cub Scout campout (including outdoor games, nature hikes, etc.), differences in gear (Boy Scout camping gear suggestions are different than Cub Scout camping because the level of intensity is different), planning a campfire program, and other useful things such as alternate methods of cooking (reflector ovens, foil packet meals, etc.). It's a lot more about how to make the campout Fun, than it is about how to camp like a Scout. While there is some overlap between the two, from what I've seen BALOO offers at least a half a day of material that wouldn't be covered in the other course.

As mentioned above, it isn't necessarily a rule, but it is strong enough guidance that they put it down on paper. However, as seen in this thread, I suspect many Scout leaders may not be aware of it. If this is a concern to you, the best thing you can do is bring a copy of this to the unit leader and ask him/her if that is how the Troop handles tenting arrangements. As others have stated, boys tend to bunk with their friends, generally of a similar age, so it usually works itself out. In those cases where assignments need to be made, by bringing this to the leader's attention, I suspect the unit will take this into consideration although again, in most cases I think assignments are done by age for tenting purposes.

Noe sure when it was added, I noticed it about a year ago when we were planning our Pack's first Pack Overnighters. One of the moms didn't want to come, but wanted to know if her son could come. In short, by my reading of the rules the answer was "Yes, but he can't sleep in a tent with any other adult who isn't a relative or guardian, but could sleep in a tent with another boy, as long as the boy isn't more than two years older, and he'd have to be under the responsibility of an assigned adult while on the Pack Overnighter, which per the aforementioned rules would not necessarily include sleeping in that adult's tent." I felt like I was back in college taking my Legal Studies courses again trying to come up with the answer to that one.

It sounds like you are the best recruiter for a Tiger Den Leader that a Pack could hope to find. You had fun as a Den Leader, and have been using the Leader Guides, so you can pass along hints and tips to the new Leader(s) you recruit. Looking at your plan, I can't find much to add. We recruit in both the spring and the fall, but if you are going to recruit in the Spring I'd say it is important to have at least one activity per month scheduled to keep new recruits interested and engaged. It doesn't have to be much, maybe marching in a parade, a picnic, a trip to the ball park or the racetrack... these have all been activities that we've done over the summer. One other thing you didn't mention... if you are going to recruit, it is a good idea to have an outline of what your Pack will be doing in the fall. Now (March-April) is a great time to do your annual program planning for next year. Since your Pack has been so proactive in recruiting you as an ACM, I'm hoping they are also strong in annual program planning and budgeting, but since you didn't mention it I thought that I would. A last thought, you might want to take a look at the courses offered at the Philmont Training Center. It may be too late for you to plan a trip to Philmont for this summer, but the cost for the course, plus a week long vacation for the rest of the family is very reasonable (compared to the IT training courses that I take for work, at least). While you sit in a classroom, the rest of the family can do horseback riding, hiking, etc.

I am a computer guy, and I also find it very confusing. This morning, from two different browsers the navigation menu for "I am a... Youth, Parent, Volunteer, Alumni, Visitor" isn't working for me. Who knows if it is my computer or the site. I don't even want to take the time to figure it out, because I can just use Google to find what I need faster.

Am I the only one who finds the Scouting.org site to be worse and worse every time I visit? I just got a BeAScout contact from a parent who is confused because her son will be in the 1st grade in the fall, but will only be six years old at the time. Not understanding why this should be a problem, I checked the FAQ on Scouting.org and found this: Now I can see why she was confused, because when I read that, it seems to me like they are saying that Scouting is for 7 to 10 year olds. I'm sure that the official policy (which I couldn't find on the site) is something like "Boys who are seven years old, or at least six years old and have started first grade"... but in my opinion an FAQ should be there to provide clarity, not confusion, and this one had me confused and I've been a Cubmaster now for three years.

Perdidochas asks a good question, but I will add that even if you have outdoor experience, was it as a Boy Scout or outside of Scouting? I was a Boy Scout, and did a lot of family camping growing up. A few years back, my family started camping again and we've camped with some friends who were never Scouts. I've witnessed some things that made me cringe. For example... starting a fire. As a Scout, you get your tinder, kindling, etc. and start small. As a non-Scout, apparently the method is take the biggest log you can find, and get out the blowtorch. Another example, saw a Webelos leader's kid at a Webelos encampment walking around with a hatchet and thunking it into logs (while his other hand was holding the log steady about six inches from where he was chopping). There were so many things wrong with that picture that it was clear to me that the leader had never looked at the Guide to Safe Scouting or taken the course you will be taking. While that may be fine by your rules when you are camping with your family (although in this case I would say that what I saw would never be safe or acceptable inside or outside of Scouting), it isn't acceptable under the BSA's program and rules. So, unless you were a Boy Scout growing up, the best advice I have is forget everything you've learned and go in prepared to learn the Scouting way of doing things.