baggss

Its all profit driven anyway....

Tell the scoutmaster to go topple a rock.

Try looking at the appy trails tents, no floor, 10 min one man setup Lightweight, Inexpensive had mine for a year.

Just ask this simple question: would you have done it if you knew you wouldn't get credit? or it wasn't required? (its a rhetorical question, watch the scouts face, and this is why I'm not asked to sit on Boards, its the only question I ask)

Actually, it seems the intent of scouting nowdays is to generate income for the districts, scouting is a business now and the bean counters run it anyway. The just pay lip service to "youth led" ideals, yada yada. At least parents that are involved with their scouts, even the helicopter ones, are involved with their kids.

Actually, venturing is the Old boy scouting, it seems that atleast around here troops are weblos threes, way too many helecopter adults keeping an eye on their kid so as not lose sight of their race to eagle. as to "family outdoor adventur"...So scoutmasters should not have sons in the troop, nor ASMs, Nor any committe members, nor should they be allowed on campouts?. So family members should not be recruited as leadership?

excuse the typing... very tiny keyboard...

You need mom, most female advisors are moms, just as most male sdvisors are dads. Sometimes thats the only way the crew can get up and running is with whole familys my crew started with 1 young lady and both parents ( with a son in a troop) dad is registered with troop 2 sisters and mom ( brother in troop) mom is registerd with troop 2 brothers and dad ( oldest is bsa dropout, other is still active) all adults of the membership are registered with the crew as either associate advisor, committe chair, or committee member. You need family units to start. And as to no dating, Not my idea, my crew picked that one out from a dozen sets of bylaws from the net as a must-have.

If I recall, belt loops once were the award that the activity pin is now. It was rare to see more than 5 'loops on a belt back then.

Our VOA is the first one in nine years, hope they can help

I've been a lurker off and on these forums since 07, I got lots of great information from here. I tried registering back in 2012 when my son joined a troop, and i needed to ask my own questions, but there were problems with the server i guess. During the past year I've been working on forming a venture crew at my church, nov 2013 saw us receive our charter with the bare minimum, and I've been directed to these forums in my search for answers, but always while on the pc. A few days ago I again found myself here while using my portable internet connection device (iphone) , and it was formatted for the phone! and! it let me register! So I finally can come out of the shadows and into yhe light and i'll have a lot of questions to ask and yes, some opinions too. Oh, and Venturing Crew 24 Rocks!

Not knowing your parents, on the surface It sounds to me that you getting your eagle is more important to them than to you (hey everbody!! lookit MY kid, he made eagle!) That said, perhaps not having a license will help you be better prepared to succeed with limited resources.

The hard truth is, You can only do what the committee allows you to do, sadly, if you are seen as a threat to the status quo, they'll shut you out.

michigan crossroads council water and woods FSC

Heres an example of 3 of 4 shoestring outings combined into one high adventure 1 snowshoe day trip (cheap) 2 overnight backpack trip (cheap) 3 Overnight winter camp (cheap) 4 cross country sking (cheap) combined into a 2 night 3 day hike/snowshoe outing, in a state/national forrest, or even on a rail/trail

shoestring, ideally less than $30 per single event, per day, like $25 5 hour standup paddleboard rental. The overpriced bsa events to me are just pre-planned group vacations. planning should be part of the experience.

Venturing on shoestring. I've been trying to find "sample adventures" that dont bust the wallet, but will give the crew a sense of what a full-blown outing would be like. That way they can decide if they want to pursue it further before shelling out money for something they may not really like: The best example i can come up with is getting the sampler platter at a restaurant, you can try smaller portions rather than taking a chance on the full-blown entree. I'm looking for ideas to fill that platter with.

if Two members start dating, one must leave the crew, make this a rule. that way they know before joining up

An option our crew has adopted is using a Khaki photographers vest (the humvee safari vest) as our uniform with some of the venturing patches, with a yet to be determined crew T-shirt We are a new crew so its still a work in progess. http://facebook.com/VentureCrew24

the oa advisor says he sent emails to committee chair snd SM, both of whom said they never recieved them, but somehow THEIR sons found out in time. Somebody either dropped the ball and is now lying about it, or they are incapable of doing their job I don't know which is worse.

I'm sorry, Kilts?..

In My opinion, OA is basically a good old boy network run by adults trying to recapture some unrealized aspect from their youth, numbers is all that matters, which details they deligate to underlings who have little knowledge as to what is going on. my son was elected last year, never contacted by oa, somehow the other 4 boys were. He finally recieved a letter less than one week before the last callout, what a joke. At the top levels of oa, they're quick to get back to you, at lodge level, its hit or miss.