Jackdaws

Has anyone heard of Scout reach? We have a couple units here in my council. One has their meetings in one of the roughest housing developments in our city. Not really sure how successful it is though... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoutreach Its hard for some to see the value of Scouting or how it can form their future for the better. Some people seek out sports for their child to be the next (insert top NBA & NFL players names here) and think that is their ticket to becoming successful. That is something that the BSA can't compete with, we are not flashy. That's a society thing and over the years we have seen some big falls from grace on some of those "role models" in sports. Sadly a lot of people think Scouting is nerdy and something for white kids who can't play sports. If people would see the long run value/benefits that their child can gain from the BSA vs the money and physical long term effects of competitive sports then you can sell them on it. My knees can tell you the price of being a catcher in softball for many years. Hope I don't get flamed for this: Personally I think this new badge is just a tactic to look "woke" and try and "save face". If you are truly living the Scout Oath and Law, you should not be having issues and stop any issues you see arising. The BSA needs to leave itself alone, it used to be a well respected and sought out program for America's youth. The watering down of requirements, pandering to small group of demographics and rising membership fees have not done nothing to strengthen the program at all. BSA likes to try to count their chickens before they have even laid the eggs. Focus on and rebuild what worked for over 75-90 of the first 110 years of the BSA(provided with the new YP in place!)

I thought about doing axe throwing once at a birthday party held at an entertainment center. We decided to race the go carts instead. Right after that I saw a video of where the axe bounced back and about hit a lady in the head. Luckily she ducked in time. Yeah no thanks. I will pass on that activity.

For BALOO I would say you really should hold it in person as most of those who are attending are really green and probably have zero scouting experience. They go to the sign up night and an initial camp out and get sucked into helping. Learning how to plan a campout is vital to ensure success in future camp outs and keeping people engaged. For IOLS, it seemed rare that those where there were new to scouting or leadership in scouting. When I was the district training chair, I actually ran both courses together but in different modules. I know I will get flamed for it, but to me the courses were fairly similar and the only real difference was the needing to camp overnight (at the time BALOO didn't require camping) and a couple more older skills like an ax yard and other things that make running a troop more advanced than a pack. Why not have those people who are coming to BALOO kill 2 birds with one stone and get IOLS also? I felt it would also help towards leadership retention. We only did it once because scheduling of instructors was difficult at the time.

LOL. It was just a card no envelope.

Am I the only one who immediately thought that this info was taken to aid lawsuits? They can now broadcast the net on members and fish for information. I am seeing BSA abuse infomercial on tv and its playing each day a couple times a day. I think I even got a mailer one day about it and I immediately tossed it in the garbage.

Not sure how someone could find fault in WWII? We only entered war after we were attacked and then also went to Europe to help end the Holocaust and stomp out the Nazi's. I guess there is so people who will argue America's use of internment camps and dropping the bombs. But I guess I stand with the "Don't poke the bear and they wont attack you" lot. War is h#ll no matter which way you look at it. I am in Florida had have attended some reenactments a long time ago. I think if we erase history, people are doomed to repeat it. Why can't people look at it like 1/2 the nation was willing to fight for what was wrong and end slavery? The North ultimately "won" the war, so why not celebrate that? If you are cancelling history, then you will only create fiction to fit your narrative. Gosh I try to not get political but this cancel culture is going to doom our country. This is why not everyone should get a trophy. Life has disappointments at times and that is something people need to learn how to cope with.

For the love of all things holy. Get rid of badge magic. I have seen multiple uniforms get tossed from the troop closet due to the badge magic all over the shirt. They had been stuffed in there with the patches removed and over time they stuck to themselves and was impossible to work with. Its not that hard to sew something on. And its not expensive. You can get a sewing kit at the Dollar Tree....

Thus why we cancelled out trip. We were supposed to be week 4 which its looking like their 1st week open. No thanks, I don't want to be the Guinea pig.

This really could be the kiss of death for a lot of people. Scouting is supposed to be that low cost year round family activity. Our camp card sales really took a hit this year due to the virus and our council came out with some virtual Entertainment book thing. Its $20 not too sure how many people will pony up that money. 1/4 of the sales go to the scout as opposed to 1/2 that we get on camp cards. I was unable to fulfill my 2019 FOS commitment due to my husband having open heart surgery. Loss of income and medical bills took away that money. I didn't like that I failed to honor my commitment but I have to take care of my family first. BSA is really going to have to try and tighten the belt hard this year to avoid an increase. Sell a high adventure camp or something. Fat is already being trimmed at the council level. Our council just announced going from 11 districts to about 4. Not 100% if all those former D.E.'s will become support staff somehow yet or what(I was unable to attend the virtual announcement). They also need to figure out a better fall sale product. Popcorn is dead. At least in my area. Too expensive and not that good quality product.

If they do an increase again this year. I will be done with the BSA once my son earns Eagle. I love the program but I am not going to be raked over the coals to pay for previous issues many of which happened before I was even born or allowed to join the BSA.

If anything and council camps don't happen, I think the camps should try to schedule scouts to come in small groups and do work days. Like they do on OA service days. Lots of scouts hurting for service and conservation projects right now. Money is probably the one hold up from massive undertakings happening.

Not familiar of what the YMCA is doing but I think there could be some hiccups with this. Are you saying open a council property to non scout families? Then you have the argument of who exactly is deemed essential. I work for a trucking company and am having to work from home to ensure freight keeps moving. Everyone who has a job is technically essential as their family probably depends on that job income. If its a BSA camp are we still going to follow YPT rules? Will adults be required to attend with camper? That defeats the purpose of it being a day care. Parents already think BSA stands for Babysitters of America(this is a myth we dispel at the 1st meeting).

Yes I spoke to the camping coordinator and filled out the form they had sent out in an email. Stinks we had to cancel. Was pretty excited about a new camp but it is what it is.

Our troop has made the decision to cancel for week 4 at Bert Adams. We have a couple high risk scouts and couple adult's with travel bans. Really hope they give us a full refund.

Atlanta area council sent out a survey earlier. Its where we are supposed to go. Not a good sign.