boomerscout

For me earning First was harder than moving on. Morse Code was a struggle. So was getting the 100 yard swim signed off as we never went to council camp -- always DIY. Merit badges were easier in comparison; more quickly done at least. Our adult Scouters always had some Scoutcraft to pass on as most had been in the military (idea: bringing back the draft will thus save Scouting). There was no Eagle project requirement. Current Eagle projects I view as more classroom than some of the merit badges under discussion (fill out workbook, write proposal and hand in for "grade", write complete plan and hand-in, submit fundraising application, draw up final report and hand in Yeah, having my peers elect me as SPL and into the Order was in many ways a lot more meaningful...

Moose: It's not that hard. In October the PLC tells everyone summercamp will cost $250. They tell everyone they need to save $25 per month or $6 per week. Here's the gear list; go to Scout shop and price it out; talk to the others about cheaper sources. Here's the fundraisers we've planned between now and then. Even pricing out the foodlist for the upcoming weekender would be good training. Compare prices at Grocery A with those of Grocery B. For info on loans and credit cards, send them to the nice lady at the bank. For stocks and the stock market have them take Junior Achievement. Whoops, that would be in a classroom

"For this reason, basketball players should learn the rudiments of budgeting, planning, and how to balance a checkbook. " Ha-ha-ha! Your version of basketball seems to be a lot different than what I played in school. We just wanted to stomp the other team. The basis of Scouting is education: PLs teaching the newbies their knots, troop guides shepparding them to first class, and lets not forget the instructors. Otherwise, going "camping" resembles recess -- run around all day, play baseball or touch football, eat out of a can; not much Scoutcraft because no-one taught them in a mini-classroom setting ahead of time. Once you get out into the field you can practice what you've learned by actually lashing that tower because you know ahead of time what supplies you need to bring with you. It may well be that no-one in your troop needs Personal Management. Everyone pays their full annual dues on time, everyone has a full kit of gear because they didn't spend all their Xmas money on an overpriced jacket, High Adventure is never a problem because they've learned how to plan and save for long-term goals. If your Scouting doesn't have enough Outing, that is a whole different area of concern. What are my fondest memories of childhood Scouting? Several trips to the Boundary Waters. How did I prepare? Attending Red Cross canoe school in a school building (canoes in the school pool did look funny.) Another fond memory was learning the various home repair merit badges. Many of these were learned in union halls so the masters and journeymen could make better use of their time; there were no fluff overs with these guys. Why fond? Because while my college classmates were stuck with min wage jobs and unholy bosses, I was making 2-3 times as much doing the simpler handyman jobs while setting my own hours. Sure, we did canned food drives, used clothing drives, litter pickup, color guard -- these all created nice endorphins. But, my best memories were based on what I learned in classrooms.

Having fun in the woods is great stuff. However, one purpose of Scouting is to develop the mindset of approaching adulthood. It may seem a long way off, but some of us are slow learners. For this reason, Personal Management is one of the more important merit badges on offer. Way too many families are living paycheck to paycheck (or worse), yet their homes are chock-a-block with the latest bling. If they had learned the rudiments of budgeting and planning, they may have been better able to weather the economic storms that appear in all our lives. The only change I would make to Per. Mgmnt. is to show how to balance a checkbook and what happens when you're overdrawn. 100 mb in 3 years? That's 3 per month, so doable with good PERT and CPM skills as some mb only take a day even if done correctly. Even more impressive, though, would be 40 - 50 merit badges plus the Hornaday Medal. (Wow! This site seems to work a lot better!)

You might try a cleaner called MiraZyme. It's supposedly full of enzymes and stuff that eat or convert microbes, etc. I've not tried it myself, but a source I accept had mentioned it. WalMart may stock it.

See if they'll buy into the concepts of conservation and sustainability. Many times, we've found we can camp for free in a usually inaccessible (as in not open to the general public) part of the nearest state park or forest. In return, we provide a half-day of conservation type work at the park under the supervision of park staff -- so it's also learning and training. If we do a good job with the volunteer work project, camp staff will frequently show up later in the day to lead a nature hike or give instruction in star gazing, etc. These hidden spots frequently have better fishing, swimming holes, etc than the general heavily used campsites.

JBlake: How much do you make panhandling?

and the "free" car wash where you depend on donations

Sometimes you'll get paid in money, and sometimes you'll get paid in "stuff" that you'll need to flog at the CO's semi-annual yard-sale. In a truly depressed area, the target customers will be: the small business owners (window washing, bathroom cleaning, pick up the trash and sweep, stock shelves, babysit their kids, do chores at their homes), afterschool care & activities for schoolchildren until the parents get home from work, selling crafts online, selling food & drink at festivals and sports venues, monthly paper drive...

You Do.. Trails End has a Place to set up Personal Sales online for Free which you can advertise the Link Year Around. Your Unit Members can announce your sales our Personal Facebook accounts. I Announced our Sales On Facebook on the Local TV Stations pages for Free. I announced It On Area Radio Stations pages for Free...They even announced it for Free on Air all Day Long. I announced it on the City's Facebook Page for Free. I made a Flyer in JPG form and I Shared it on Facebook..And People Shared it on their pages..I shared it in Area Facebook Trading Posts... We had No problem trying to Sale in a "Bad" location late in the Sales Period..One Unit Complained because they say People heard our free ads on Radio and bought from us and told them already bought besides Sometimes you have to be your Own Promoter. You could sell Trails End a week or two before Council promotes "their" popcorn, and just send Council their "share"

True, the kids won't be involved. But, your troop needs to get off the ground with the camping program you've designed in your mind's eye. Perhaps your CO could use an extra $40k per year. If you spearhead this, you could see that the kitchen gets its commercial grade sinks, send the entire kitchen staff to servsafe, buy the tents the troop needs, fund some Cubs activities, etc

If the parents won't help, maybe you can find some Girl Scouts. There will be two sales periods -- before the game, and after the game. Where the hot spots may be: "Alright, admittedly tailgating is much easier when you have a car but at Ohio State it doesn’t matter! Between the Ohio Stadium and St. John arena you will find all kinds of vendors available to feed you, entertain you and generally get you excited about Buckeye football. Want a free poster, yep, it’s there. Want a free burger from Wendy’s, on this day, you could have that too. How about a cardboard Buckeye’s football helmet, seems every 30 year old man had to have one of those! Local food vendors offer their specialties and everyone is having fun. If you really want to get in the O-H-I-O spirit, head in to St. John’s Arena. We did not attend the Skull Session going on inside but the music from the band let us know that we will be buying tickets to this event in the future! It is the type of tradition that defines Big Ten football, and apparently Ohio State football, and should not be missed! If you want a true party atmosphere, head to Lane Avenue. There is an over 21 year old “tailgate†offered at Village Club. Food, drink and Scarlett and Grey….who needs anything else? If you are not 21 years old or are significantly older than 21 years old and not interested in the type of scene offered at Village Club, many other food and drink offerings are available on Lane Avenue. My favorite by far was the Ray Ray’s Hog Pit barbecue truck. Expensive but exceedingly delicious barbecue. Another vendor offered Brats that would have been the envy of any Wisconsin Badger fan! Fine Midwestern cuisine! This is where you will find lots of Ohio State novelty vendors. My favorite novelty is the Buckeye necklace with plastic red and grey beads. It is a classic and seems to be worn by most of the people we saw." The stadium has a new food concessionaire. They allow non-profit groups to work a concession stand for a cut. Contact Levy Restaurants to get your troops name on the list -- maybe your COs name may work better.

Many drunks are lonely. They will either tell you to buzz off, or they will try to put a ten into your Scouts donation can

If the dive bars don't sell food (hamburgers, etc) , the barkeep will probably welcome your barbecue vending just to keep the customers on the premises. Unfortunately, this idea will be limited to adult Scouters and their spouses, although the Scouts can help in the kitchen

This may be cheaper: Ohio State University Extension offers ServSafe® trainings across the state that fit every organization's needs, using a variety of training methods. Targeting restaurant managers, school food service, nursing homes and other food service personnel, the ServSafe® training program is the industry standard for food safety education. Family and Consumer Sciences Educators are certified instructors through the National Restaurant Association and offer classes in the following counties. If you are unable to find a class near you, contact Linnette Goard, Field Specialist, Food Safety. By email at goard.1@osu.edu or by phone at 330-725-4911 x 107.

The Food Protection Program of Columbus Public Health offers workshops on food safety. Each class is designed to promote proper food handling procedures to prevent foodborne illness. SERVSAFE: MANAGER’S CERTIFICATION COURSE This course is a detailed study of food safety procedures and prevention of foodborne illnesses. Developed by The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, this HACCP-based course gives participants national, state and local recognition as certified in food safety. Location: Columbus Public Health, 240 Parsons Ave, Columbus, OH 43215 Cost: $150.00 per person - Available to anyone LEVEL 1 / PERSON IN-CHARGE (PIC) The Ohio Uniform Food Safety Code requires that all food facilities have a person in charge (PIC) working at all times. To be a PIC, an employee should understand food safety procedures that relate to the operation. This class will teach food safety principles necessary to be a PIC. Location: Columbus Public Health, 240 Parsons Ave, Columbus, OH 43215 Cost: $25.00 - Columbus Food Licensees and their employees or residents of Columbus (Proof Required) To sell bottled water, a Level One should suffice. To make barbecue, someone prob needs to be Manager Certified. Possible problem is that training is offered weekdays.

He does have the Ohio State University. Do they play football? A quick search tells me the Naval ROTC has a lock on stadium cleanup. However, they may be willing to subcontract.

Catering is not easy work; it just looks easy. Selling barbecue across the counter on weekends, combined with weekend lunch delivery to the local businesses sounds like a winner. It will still be hard at first until everything shaken down. Many daycare were required to have kitchens. That old Kroger may still have its kitchen I would probably skip pizza as there are already pizza shops in the area. To get your initial launch money, I would hit up the clientel of the dive bars and the beauty shops. Several merit badges can come out of this. Not just cooking, but finance, salesmanship, art, business, public speaking The simpler the menu the better.

the CVS near my Mother will rent out a stall in their parking lot. A couple guys try and sell their cheap imports there every time there is a community yard sale. Maybethe troop could go door-to-door collecting cast-offs and then sell them?? Saturday morning is traditionally the best time for this

Your CO's kitchen may just need a 3-compartment sink plus a separate hand-washing sink to be kosher

If you've been getting good write-ups in the local paper, then go into the dive bars with an official looking Scout donation cannister (Council need not know that it slipped your mind)

Kroger prides itself on being part of the community. Even though "your" Kroger is shuttered, they may let you use the commercial kitchen in the deli department

the grocery stores are still empty? Maybe someone could start an indoor weekend flea market

Sounds pretty grim. Off the top of my head there is bagging groceries for tips, weekly window washing service for the businesses. Do you have access to a steam cleaner? Steam clean about five feet of sidewalk in front of each business; do this in the wee hours. Later, ask the store manager if he'd like his remaining filthy sidewalk spruced up for a donation to the troop. You may do better with rent-a-Scout. Scouts work in at least pairs to clean garages, basements, attics, store backroom; wash first floor windows, small painting jobs, weeding, walking people home with their groceries, watching the kids when at the playground, fixing bicycle tires, other chores and errand type jobs. You will need someone who is home all day to take calls and act as dispatcher. Good for a homebound parent.

Please tell us a bit about your part of the inner city. What businesses exist in it?