Khaliela

The trick is to find a domain name that's cheap. Ex. from my business Hart and Hind Publishing Company: hartandhind.com cost $1200 (yearly), BUT hartandhindpc.com cost $15 (yearly). There are lots of Wordpress meet-up groups and they're generally happy to have new members. Also, Wordpress is easy to learn and use. It's easy to update and maintain a website yourself, so you just need to pay for the domain name and hosting. Honestly, I'm surprised there isn't a web development merit badge--most teens are tech savvy enough to create a webpage themselves. Maybe this could be a project they turn over to the kids.

If you don't have the ubiquitous "for the price of a single cup of coffee per month" for your unit, why are you asking about marketing? Everything has a cost, be it fliers, radio spots, or FB ads. At $5/month, a webpage is likely the cheapest opportunity you will find. Our local newspaper charges $12 per column inch of black and white text, which few people will see. Our meet-up page cost $180/year. The cheapest radio spot in my area is $22 for 30 seconds. Want to hand out bookmarks at events like the county fair? That's $50 for the vendor permit, $135 for bookmark printing, and probably $250 for the graphics, though you can use the design for years. Heck, at Staples, 100 black and white fliers will still cost $19. There are no magic marketing bullets and certainty not for less than $5/month.

Create a FB page--It's free. The girls won't share this, but their parents will, which means other girl's parents will see it, too. Have the girls make short videos they can post on Tic Tok, Insta, and reels. Don't do the stupid "Please join" video either. Have them show something cool like ziplining, with captions like "look what we did last weekend!" When word gets out that the girls are doing cool things, you'll have recruits. Set up a webpage--It's easy to do and will cost $5/month. In today's world, if you don't have a webpage, you don't exist. My experience with marketing is with writing groups, not scouts, but the same principals apply--most groups don't do any kind of marketing. By just publicly posting our weekly meeting times on Meet-up, we grew for 11 people to 50 people in just one year. By upping the game and creating a webpage (www.palousewritersguild.org), the group now has over 300 members and is able to host writers festival every summer. As you can see it's a pretty simple page, but it lets people know what we're doing and where we meet. It also provides a way for people to contact us with questions. You really don't need much more than that.

Greetings: I enjoy history and have done quite a bit of research on the microhistory of Camp Grizzly in Harvard, Idaho. The link below has information on the camp as well as ways to access two separate articles I wrote for the local historical society. The first chronicles the history from 1859 to 1907 ("History of the Camp Grizzly Area, 1859 to 1907." Latah Legacy, Vol. 45, No. 1) and the second covers the period from 1900 to 1942. ("History of Camp Grizzly Area 1900-1942." Latah Legacy, Vol. 46, No. 1.) Camp Grizzly History | Khaliela Wright I also wrote a fanciful piece about the origins of the ghost stories the boys told at camp for IDAHO Magazine. Grizzly Ghosts | Khaliela Wright The piece about the ghost stories even landed me an interview on a podcast with lovers of the paranormal who, I believe, were former Scouts. https://khalielawright.com/beyond-terrestrial-podcast/

This summer our troop was approached by 6 youth who wanted to start a crew (half lads and half lasses.) The DE said we couldn’t start a crew, that a crew needed a CO in order to become a reality. (Preferably a bicycle shop of a cycling crew, the rifle range for a shooting crew, etc.) Our CO is willing to sponsor a crew and the DE was told as much. The kids just want to be a “High Adventure-Outdoors Crew†and not dedicated to any specific pursuit. The DE has been telling us for two months that she will meet with the Pastor; our CO designated representative, but never gets around to it. School starts soon and the crew has decided to just start meeting anyway, with or without a charter. (I guess they’ll just be an outdoor club for a few months.) Is there anything the committee can do, aside from waiting for the DE who is taking her precious time, to help these kids get the all clear?

Our ASM wears that ensemble quite frequently. I wouldn't call it Bad A$$; unless of course, someone flips the kilt over his head while he's napping, LOL!

Jblake41: Wine at communion is OK, but a beer around the campfire is not??? Why is it that it's OK to wear your uniform to church and drink alcohol, but its not OK to wear your uniform outside of church to drink alcohol? Further, why is it wrong to not wear your uniform and drink alcohol? Would you consider approving their consumption of amber fluids if they put their uniform back on?

Our boys like hammocks when allowed. (Usually only 2 or 3 actually bring a hammock, they rest just play in those during the day.) Not all places allow hammocks though. While in the Grand Canyon this year the rangers told us not to use hammocks because they were a danger to the Elk on the Rim, and could damage the trees below. If you are a tent user check with local authorities first, or plan on brining a tent or tarp use just in case.

We used den flags. They work great at Day Camp or Cub O'rees; all you have to do is wave the flag and the boys (their parents) know where to show up.

Granted I've never been accused of doing things the way council wants them, but den numbers seem stupid. When my boys were in Cubs the dens were treated "sorta" like patrols. We let each den choose on of the patrol emblems and used that as an identifier. My oldest was in the Roadrunners Den, my youngest was a Vampire Bat. Over the years I have also been a den leader for Cobra's and Hunters. More fun than saying I'm in den 4.

KDD: When I was with the Catholic Troop arrangements were made for a local parish to send a Priest or his designee out to where we were camping so the boys could take the sacrament of communion. You wouldn't believe how many priest were happy to tell their parishioners that they just wouldn't be around Sunday afternoon because they had to head to the hills to give communion to a bunch of Boy Scouts.

KDD: the problem is the whole 'nonsectarian' thing. I'm from a liberal troop and even we have trouble following this. When someone prays everyone is expected to sit though it; we don't say "Now everyone who doesn't want to hear Jonny pray, please leave the room" before proceeding. Either we should accept all the sects or not have a religious component at all. To earn a Venturing Bronze award you have to learn about religions other than your own; perhaps it's time Boy Scouts did the same. (Granted I can already hear the Christians screaming "persecution!" I've never understood why it's OK for them to require the rest of us to attend their religious services, but's its persecution if we expect them to reciprocate.)

I find that terribly disrespectful. I too was a member of a Catholic Troop that had the very same requirements; my boys and I are no longer members of that unit. We joined a Methodist Troop that respects our religious differences. There isn't anyone on the planet who hasn't heard the "good news," this means that if someone isn't Christian (or Catholic) it's because they choose not be. Our current SM is Catholic; he also left the Catholic Troop because he didn't like the policy of forcing religion on to others (He had this crazy idea that people were given free will for the purpose of allowing them to exercise it and that included freedom to choose a religious preface.) Bottom line: You may end up running off your catholic membership as well as your non-Catholic membership. Qwazse: Having heard the good news, and actually taking the time to process it are different. LOL! I, too, find coerced invitations counter productive. I've attended many a Mass, Church service, and Meeting with the Mormons, when invited. I view them as cultural experiences. However, when told I MUST attend, I just flat out refuse. It's a, "you'll catch more flies with honey" thing I guess . . .

Yes, you can type them in on the internet advancement; and you need one of those nifty paper sheets if you are turning in paper advancement forms, however, the councils don't retain the records. They vanish-- Belt loops do not show up on an advancement report generated by your council. We're on our 4th Eagle BOR this year and none of the boys beltloops show up. Two were from a pack chartered by the VFW; on was from a Catholic Pack; (the preceding 3 were from the same council); the last was from a council in Ohio, he has no beltloops recorded either. It's not a big deal because nothing from Cubs matters anyway, but it is interesting that so many packs are trying to earn them when they won't show up on an advancement report when the kid goes up for Eagle. The Arrow points do show up though.

The troop owns the equipment in the same way that a corporation owns their assets; that's why we are all required to obtain a tax ID number. The State expects us to collect and pay Sales Tax on the stuff we sell, Popcorn, Honey, Christmas Trees, hotdogs at RenFair, etc. And we have to submit earnings statements to the IRS. When an SM, ASM, CC, or other leader leaves they turn in their keys and no longer have access to "Troop Equipment." The CO owns the building, but the equipment belongs to the troop, provided it was purchased by troop funds. If the CO purchased the equipment, then they would own that as well, but if it was purchased by the troop and logged in the annual expense reports, it belongs to the troop.