Eagle94-A1

Actually the DE's do not make the new exempt threshold of I believe $47,000-$48,000/ year. According to this website $36,000 is the DE's average. http://blog.myscoutstuff.org/2014/03/how-much-is-a-district-executive-worth/ According to this website, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Boy-Scouts-of-America-Salaries-E7807.htm , DEs make anywhere from $37,665 (DE) to $45,488 as a Senior DE. When I was a DE, the salary was much lower, and someone estimated that we made about $1.50/hour, and that doesn't include those pros working summer camp.

1) That's my home council! 2) In the very near future, I believe December 1st, the minimum wage for salaried workers will be doubled. That will be an incredible burden on non-profits in general. Looks like this change in title will reflect that they are limited to 40 hours/week.

Just out of curiosity, when are you going to be at CRB? Scouts voted on going there this summer, and it looks as if we may be going the week of July 4th.

I was the only adult when my son's patrol met at my house for their patrol meeting. Also had an incident where one leader had an accident ont he way to the meeting, and another got called out minutes after arriving. Only the SM was attending the meeting.

Upon reflection, I was in an "activity uniform" of Scout t-shirt, belt and shorts. Socks and shoes were off due to sand. i will say this, the BSA's accident insurance we pay for was EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL. It helped tremendously.

When I was a chapter advisor with one lodge, there was a push to change the name from Ordeal to Fellowship. Rationale was that there were rumours galore about hazing and abuse about the OA and Ordeal weekends. And unfortunately some of those rumours may be true. My current lodge won't call them Workdays anytime soon. We have one scheduled non-Ordeal day at one of the camps to work each year, and like this year with Hurricane Matthew, we are having additional workdays to get the camps up and running.

Have to be in uniform for insurance to work. So glad that isn't true 'cause I'd hate to have the uniform on when I attempted the water rescue and became victim #2.

My Bad. One rough week OK3 weeks if you include Matthew.. My brain is fried. I meant Isobutane-propane. Also I know that there are alcohol stoves that are authorized if they are not hand made.One of our ASMs who is an ultralite backpacker was not happy he could not use any of his "cat food can" stoves he made, so he bought a Trangia alcohol stove. Funny thing is, he showed th DIY cans and they reminded me of the ones in tHE CUB SCOUT LEADER HOW TO BOOK. Some councils have banned white gas on their properties. My council has white gas as a prohibited item. Thankfully, the one time I took my white gas stove to a council event, it was on private property. Seriously, I didn't know about the council ban until I was reading the sumemr camp leaders' Guide.

A few years back, someone on the district level decided that the camporee should be an "advancoree." Only 2 troops liked the format, and both are heavily advancement oriented. What's interesting is that the troop that incorporates advancement in their program the most wanted a traditional competition camporee. (an aside, while they do not work on MBs at meetings, they are constantly having honest to goodness MB sessions almost every other weekend for those interested. The CO views Scouting as outreach ministry and have a cadre of adults whodonate a lot of their time and treasusure to the Scouts) And 1 troop boycotted teh event.

In the lodge I grew up in, ceremonies were strictly at night time. There was a light snack offered for dinner, enough for energy. Then eryone but the cook crew was required to attend the Ordeal Ceremony. Once it was over, new members were dismissed for dinner (fest), then Ordeal Members, then the Brotherhood candidates assembled at a location to prepare for their ceremony and everyone else stayed in the ceremony ring. Once the Brotherhood Ceremony was over, new Brotherhood members were dismissed, then everyone else. Current lodge does it differently. lodge leadership got the idea from a NOAC a few years back. They have tweaked the schedule, but essentially the ceremony is at Dusk.

@@Richard I don't think the award is well known. Plus looking at the requirements, a lot of them should already be done. Looks like more paperwork and more bling to me. But I'm an old fogey, going to need to ask the Scouts about this. Going to have the opportuity to today with the troop that ran an ARC shelter during Matthew. All, While part of it is paying it back/paying it forward, for me it is a job that needs doing, and if I am capable, I'm there. But I admit, my family comes first, want to make sure they are OK, then my job. Very interesting past 2 weeks at work since we dealt with Matthew issues. We had to convert one large room into an impromptu evac shelter since some of my coworkers were stranded, and other would have to make a 2+ hour one-way commute with all the road closings! Thankfully we got a good team. Those stranded at the hospital took shifts for those who were stranded at their homes or ARC shelters.

Well we just got asked to help fill sandbags that will be used to fix a dam breeched by Matthew. I won't be wearing a uniform, but definately a Scout T-shirt.

My understanding is that the switch to propane is because it's easier and safer to use. I got a 2 burner propane stove, and I got a Whisperlight International, which burns white gas, among other things. Yes the propane is easier and I've had some issues with it. Also one of my buddies had issues with his white gas stove. It was an interesting fireball. thankfully we had a second, propane backpacking stove. be advised, it's illegal to transport those little canisters if you refill them. And you can't recycle them unless there is a whole in the canister, at least in my neck of the woods. So I got a bunch being collected for when I can arrange to have teh holes placed in them As for finding white gas, in my neck of the woods it's easier to find it than the isopropyl alcohol canisters.

Yes, I lament the lack of uniforms when Scouts do service. But as mentioned service work and work do not mix. Unless it's in a secured area like running a shelter. I remember in 1999 catching the last flight out of Nashville, which was the day before the All Hands Conference ended, going home getting a few items, and going to an evacuation shelter because the OA did that as a community project. Don't know why they stopped, but a local troop picked up the reigns.

@The Latin Scout Yes, I had the same situation, Got Ordeal and never heard anything until a buddy was inducted and I went with him to try and get involved. Anyway had a good weekend, but still didn 't hear back for several years. One thing I've found is teh OA is a lot more work since the focus is youth run.

Well my camporee was postpone by Matthew, so we'll find out what the scouts like and want in my neck of th4 woods shortly.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjL-Pae3trPAhWGQiYKHabNAQkQFgg8MAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftroop605.net%2F%3Fdl_name%3DProgram_Features_Vol_1.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHqNii86EcyslCZ29SZXtZzb66I3Q is a link for V1

As someone who has 3 kids in Scouting, as much as I would love a discount, I really think it depends. On one level, you have fixed expenses for your Scouts, and to offer a discount will cause problems. Awards, food, campsite fee's etc come immediately to mind. But there are instances where a discount can be done. I know in my council, two Cub Scout activities I attend have a maximum fee for a family. What's the benefit? Kids do the activities and either A) stay in Scouting or B) want to be a Scout when old enough or C) help staff the event.

Can you post a link?

Sorry to hear your CO doesn't approve of the OA, especially for the reason they are using. If they looked into the OA's history they would see how the OA has served as a means of preserving and in some cases rediscovering elements of Native culture. There are a lot of former and current Arrowmen with an AIA background who have become advocates for Native issues.

Unless you are in LDS country and an LDS unit, it should not affect you. While Varsity Scouting is a national program, LDS church are the ones who pushed fro the program's creation in the early to mid 1980s, and all of the Varsity Scouts I've seen are LDS Scouts, although i've been told there are some non-LDS Varsity Scouts out there.

Maybe I should have been clearer when I posted my comments regarding "best of the best." In my troop growing up, the Arrowmen were looked up to as the best the troop had to offer because they were. The non-Arrowmen in the troop really did looked up to them and tried to model their behaviors. Those not elected, like me the first two years I was eligible, strived to imitate them and give back to the troop. Once I got in, I understood why they humbly gave back to the troop. The Arrowman didn't think they were better or acted as if they were better than everyone else. Rather they knew they had an obligation to serve the troop, and did so. The Arrowman were looked up to by the non-Arrowmen. As for Arrowman lamenting the members are no longer the "best of the best," I think we old fogeys remember when the OA was an Society of Honor Campers who humbly and cheerfully did lots of grunt work at the various camps to keep them operational at little to no cost to the council. We had obligations and duties to serve our units, districts, and councils, and took those responsibilities seriously. Our early leaders created a way to try and prevent elitism with having only a unit's members vote for candidate from the troop instead of OA members voting. And elections were done to a stricter standard than today's standard not as a show of elitism, but rather to make sure folks who did get elected into the OA fully knew the expectations and obligations of service would be expected of them. Yes we had sash and dash back in the day. Heck I admit I was one after I got Brotherhood and didn't' get back involved until college. But part of that was frustration at showing up to meetings and events, and being the only person, or one with one other usually from my troop, being there. As for posting in a public forum, I did so because I was hoping this situation was not nationwide. I admit I was depressed about the situation and was hoping to get some cheering up. Yes, I know there are challenges. Yes I have my opinions on why those challenges are occuring. But I was hoping I was wrong. Apparently problems are all over. Maybe we should focus on trying to solve them. I know I would love for elections to go back to the pre1990 rules. But i do not think that will happy in today's "Everyone gets a trophy" mentality our society has today. Regarding cultural appropriation and the OA. that topic has come up over and over again. Check out some of my previous posts on the topic. As you can guess, you may be surprised how much the OA has helped to preserve the culture, as well as provide advocates for Native causes.

We had a similar situation where a Scout transferred into the troop from a folded one. His SCOUTNET records were completely messed up as they showed him with NO rank or MBs. Using his BSHB and blue cards, we reconstructed his records. ALWAYS KEEP COPIES OF RECORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( caps for emphasis, ok maybe a little yelling at the top of my lungs in warning ) There have been several instances that I have been personally involved with where records were messed up by the council, and I had to either reconstruct or help reconstruct them. Worse were the training records for adults. Not fun telling a Philmont Trainer Center Staffer who has been involved with BSA for over 50 years he's "untrained" according to training records.

Regarding OA and "special forces," yep growing up the OA was the "best of the best." When I didn't get elected the first time, I had no problems as those who did get in were definately worhty, and I just turned First Class before the election. Not every Eagle Scout got into the OA as a youth either. My cousin didn't get in as youth, he got in when his son did, 20+ years after earning Eagle. And I know several other Eagles who didn't get elected. And it wasn't so much as "I'm better than you." attitude, but more , "MAN HE"S GOT HIS ACT TOGETHER AND CAN HANDLE ANY OUTDOOR SITUATION!" (caps for emphasis) While I admit, there are Arrowman who really screwed up things. I've seen it first hand. But you do know that when the OA was founded, native Americans were not US citizens, and could be punished for practicing their languages and religion? Some Natives actually encouraged folks to learn their ways, including the OA, as a way of preserving their heritage? Did you know that you have Arrowman in a variety of field: anthropology, archeology, history, etc who got their interest in these areas because of the OA. And they have made impacts in helpign various Native tribes get recognition, reintroduce languange and crafts an other aspects ofg native culture that would be lost today if these Arrowman hadn't helped out?

Yes I know, an uphill battle indeed. Sad thing is that I use to be a staffer at camp way back when, and am very disappointed. The old SM apparently encountered this problem at the camp before, and essentially struck it off the list of camps the Scouts could chose from. Troop didn't go to that camp for 15 years (although the troop folded for 5 years and then was reborn). The camp the Scouts had been choosing does a really good job with instruction, but does not have some of the resources that other camps have. Thus their programming is lacking a bit.