Eagle94-A1

Well it's going to be an interesting meeting tomorrow. As you know, 2 weeks ago, the NSP was having issues getting a menu, shopping list, and duty roster done in the allotted time. So an ASM jumped in and came up with a menu, shopping list, and duty roster for the camp out for them. No one looked at the stuff until tonite when the APL was suppose to call and tell folks how much to bring. APL calls my son panicking because the shopping list had no prices on it, just a list of items. Since the adult took charge, everyone in the patrol assumed he also put prices on the shopping list. Things learned by two members of the patrol so far. 1. even when everything is "done," double check to make sure it is complete. 2. Never assume. Things I hope adults learn tomorrow 1 NEVER DO SOMETHING FOR THE SCOUTS THAT THEY CAN DO THEMSELVES! The adult will deprive the Scouts of a learning opportunity, and things will get messed up.

Understatement. SM is actually blaming me for "betraying" the troop, since I let my son decide to go elsewhere. I tried to help, I encouraged the Webelos to visit them, I BEGGED THE TROOP TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE PACK WITH DEN CHIEFS AND INVITES TO CAMP OUTS! (caps for emphasis, OK maybe showing a little frustration). The one I really feel sorry for is the pack's CM. CM and SM are best buddies, going way back. CM sees and knows the issues with the troop, and the Webelos son has seen some of the differences between the ways the CO's troop and the troop I'm in does things and acts. CM is letting the Webelos decide which troop to join, and I think if the Webelos goes to us, everything will break loose. As it is right now, 1/2 my middle son's Webelos den is coming to us. My son and one of his buddies have brothers in the troop. So they and 2 of their friends have already announced they are headed our way. Don't know where the other 4 are going yet. And of course the wife will be in the middle of this since she is taking over as WDL June 1. Going to get interesting as she is truly commited to taking care of her Cubs. She's already said she wants them to visit as many troops as possible so that they can find the troop that meets their needs.

We got a reporter in the pack's leadership

And that is why this particular troop has lost more new Scouts(7) than they have gained (2 and one transferred in from out of council) in the past 3 years. I recruited 3 for them, against my better judgment, and they quit in under 3 months. In the past 3 years, they have only been able to keep 1 Scout from the feeder pack; and for the past 2 years NONE (emphasis) of the cubs joined them.

This is the troop I've discussed previously that is slowly falling apart.. This is the SM whom I've helped to train, but is ignoring that training.. This is the SM who ignored his long time UC, former SM, District Training Chair ( who was an ASM in the troop and Advisor for the Crew), myself on multiple occasions (including a 3+ hour conversation around a fire because all his adults left early and he needed a 2nd adult to continue camping) , an experienced ASM who was with the troop 3 months before his son quit ( and son was so discouraged he would not consider looking for a new troop), his first Eagle Scout at the SM conference ( yes, the Eagle told him exactly how he is screwing up the troop and how to fix it), multiple Scouts including 3 who went through NYLT, and several parents. This is the aggravating situation I've discussed in the past, tried to help, told " I don't know what I'm talking about," and "Scouting needs to change with the times," and finally washed my hands of the unit leadership. My only interaction with the troop now is that of a Webelos parent who Cub was invited to camp with them. Although I still talk and give ideas to the youth around the campfire.

I admit, with the exception of the 3 mile trek earlier this month, it's been 19 years since i last did serious backpacking. Yes I did old school stuff 2 weeks ago, but seeing some of the latest greatest meals, and the instant coffee, well I've seen the light. While I know there will be no way I'll be an ultralight camper ( gear is way outta my price range) I am willing to cut back on weight. I saw the light. I'm not carrying my French press backpacking, and then having to carry out the used grounds. I don't want to have to worry about KP water. So I'm looking at some of those backpacking meals. As for the FILBE, it's what I'm recommending for my son to get since he really wants an ALICE,. and from what I've read and seen, it's an ALCIE on steroids, but without the weight. It might be a while before he gets it, but we got some time. He can still use A.L.I.C.E. until middle son joins up in December. and Middle Son has a 40L ALPS pack that will work for the car camping the troop is doing... at the moment Now if the Venturing crew gets off the ground and wife is an associate adviser, I may be in trouble again as she will need her own pack

Again the troop missing camporee the past 3 years, and then showing up not knowing anything is not my troop, but the one that is chartered with the Cub Scout pack I'm with. And it's my understanding that the only reason they showed up this year was because the CM, who has a Webelos, begged the SM to go so the Webelos could camp there and see them in action. That troop is now very adult lead, yes worse than mine is, to the point that ALL leaders are appointed by the SM so that " the same Scouts don't keep getting elected over and over again," and " everyone gets a chance to be a leader." From talking to them, not only are they kept in the dark about district and council activities, the SM doesn't even want them to find out about them. Sitting around the campfire chatting with them, when one asked a question, a loud "GO TO BED!" was heard from the SM's direction. The youth leaders who were there when the old SM was in charge either aged out, transferred, or quit. The current group really have no concept of the patrol method, servant leadership, etc. From the two who transferred to us from them, plus how members of the troop acted at summer camp and otehr events when adults were not around, ti seems more of the 'might makes right" with the youth. And the adults are oblivious to it, even when the youth point it out. As for youth involvement with planning the camporees, unfortunately it's not there. I admti I have mixed emotions on it. On one hand, I beleive that since the camporee is a interpatrol competition you want youth competing. So let the adults run the events and judge so they can have fun. BUT this upcoming camporee has opened my eyes a bit and see the downside of the adults doing all the planning. There are events that we have Scouts who are physically incapable of doing some of the events.

I was taught the "3 Layer System" for water activities; individual ziplocs for specific items ( bag for clothes, bag for cook gear, etc) which is waterproof layer 3, a garbage bag liner that is goosenecked for waterproof layer 2, and a the tough, protective layer of your pack as layer 1,which can be waterproof. We had Scouts flip and gear was floating way that wasn't lashed. Those layers do indeed trap enough air to make them float.

Council is not doing anything special. In fact they are handing the package to me at RT. Haven't told the SPL or PLC yet because A) I just literally found out today and B) by the time the package is handed to me, we will have a new PLC. I did tell the SM and #1ASM because we were all waiting. Some ideas instead of waiting for the COH, is to present it at a church service saying we wanted to do a formal charter presentation. We'd tell the COR/CC what's really up, but leave the pastor out of the loop since he's getting the award.. Then surprise him with the award in front of the congregation. But yes, the new PLC needs to decide.

As the title says, I FFFFEEEELLLLL GOOD! Got the email from my DE that the guy who pulled me out of the water not only got approved for the Medal of Merit, but it was in fact sitting on the DE's desk. I so cannot wait fro the next troop Court of Honor. Now the question is who should do the actual presentation, Victim #1, the Scout who I went in to assist but was assisted by the surfer, or me, Victim #2?

Don't know if it was the Scout's decision, or the adults, but that troop having the parents and SM coach them didn't come back to a district camporee for 3 years. Except one year some of the Scouts came only for the campfire because of the OA Call Out. I know one of the PLs was ticked off when they came to last year's district camporee, because they had no information on any of the events or what to do. SM said he never received any camporee book, yet it was emailed to him, posted on the district FB group of which he is a member, and was posted on the council website.PL was furious that they didn't know about the camporee, the events, supplies needed, etc until they showed up. All that troop did was hang around camp.

Or they may just surprise the heck out of you. First year oldest was competing at camporee, his patrol qualified for a blue ribbon, and only 20 points separated them from the "experienced" patrol But I admit, I there are a few times where I just gotta watch the patrols in action. Last year, and hopefully this year too, I'll get the chance to watch them do tomahawk throwing again. Unfortunately they won't make the last year's mistake and let the Cub Scouts throw. I know there was some complaints in Oldest son's troop when they found out his younger brother nailed 4/5 tomahawks in the target. Would have been 5/5, but NOOOO middle son just had to try and do a Robin Hood, and split the handle on one of the hawks.

@@Stosh First aid story reminds me of one of the Scouts I signed off on First Aid MB. All he had left was show me his personal first aid kit. On the camping trip, I ask him about it, he goes to his tent to get the kit out of his backpack, and it's one of these hard plastic,patrol size kits. Now I thought he trying to pull one over on me, was using this kit because I asked him to show me the personal first aid kit on the camp out. I said no a personal one. and he tells me that is his personal one. I told the kit needed to fit in a pocket. His reply was "oh my survival kit's first aid stuff," goes back to his pack, pulls out the survival kit, which had the personal first aid kit stuff, and could fit inside a pocket. I'm good with it. A few months later, a Scout cuts himself. Here comes the one I signed off with the exact same hard plastic patrol size first aid kit from his backpack to do first aid. Now he knows the patrols and troop carries these types of first aid kits, so I ask him why is he still carrying the large kit. "Be Prepared" was his response. I see a future corpsman or medic.

Once the national BSA's branding department got involved, a lot of changes to council websites were made to insure a degree of uniformity to keep "the brand" Council I was in as a youth had an excellent website, easy to navigate, informative, etc. The same webdesigners who did the council website also did the local lodge's website. And yes, he and his sons ( also technogeeks) volunteered their time and server space for these websites. It was a labor of love for them. And the OA website DID win some webdesign awards. But then national stepped in, created templates for councils to use, and mandated their use. Council's were given no choice in the matter. And their websites essentially mirrored national's including hte sarch engines. I do not know if OA lodges have gone that route yet as I am overwhelemed with the troop and pack. And of course, an Arrowman's first duty is to his unit.

You reminded me of two things, one funny and one not so much. I was at one camporee where not only were the parents following their sons' patrol, but was even coaching from the sidelines. Walking in front of the offending parents with my entire den, blocking the Scouts' view of their parents' miming helped. Firebuilding was a bit tougher as the SM used my den as a means of relaying instructions to his Scouts. Yep the SM was talking loud enough where the patrol could hear what he was telling the Cub Scouts. And he was telling the Cubs how to build a fire. Thankfully the judges noted the interference, and the patrol lost points. Now for the funny one. my council's camporee has a Cub Area, with events just for them. But there is a common area for Boy Scouts and Cubs, and the Cubs, especially Webelos, do have some scheduled time to see the Boy Scouts in action. It was a STEM camporee and one of the events was a DaVinci Bridge with no lashing or nails being used: only friction and balance. My Cubs, other leaders, and parents were following a patrol from the district to see them in action at the DaVinci Bridge event. Well, one of the bridge's joints started slipping and the ACM started to yell " It's..." when I slapped my hand over his mouth, and whispered 'SHHH they'll lose points if you talk." One of the judges at first was perturbed at the commotion, but when he saw the 'Blue Loops," me with my hand over the mouth, and realized it was a Cub leader causing the problem, he couldn't contain himself from laughing.

As others have said, it may be possible for this gentleman to still be in Scouting as a "youth." It will require contacting the council and using Scouting resources on the topic. here are some I was able to find: http://www.scouting.org/disabilitiesawareness.aspx Website devoted to disabilities awareness and links to supporting literature http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/SpecialNeeds/RegisterQualifiedMembers.aspx How to register special needs Scouts http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-935_WB.pdf Request for Registration Beyond the Age of Eligibility http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-071.pdf GUIDE to WORKING WITH Scouts with Disabilities http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/SpecialNeedsInformationSheet.pdf Special Needs Fact Sheet http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/SpecialNeeds.aspx Advancement page and link to registering info posted above http://www.scouting.org/Home/GuideToAdvancement/SpecialNeeds/AdvancementFlexibilityAllowed.aspx More advancement info http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-936_WB.pdf Individual Scout Advancement Plan ( assuming BSA's version of an IEP) http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-730.pdf Application for Alternate Eagle MBs if needed AND there are a bunch of other links, including info to help the leaders of Scouts with disabiltiies. I have met Scouts with various disabilities, both mental and physical, who were outstanding Scouts, sometimes better than their healthy compatriots. I had a 30+ year old Life Scout who was both blind and mentally disabled teaching me when I went though the old Brownsea 22 Course, and I was proud to see him get Eagle in my Eagle class.

Stosh, You wouldn't have happened to read any William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt by any chance? I could swear he wrote your idea almost verbatim!

My DE stated he would rather be shot in the head with a shotgun than do the online training again. My district training chair heard that comment, went online to attempt it, and said he's doing a live class instead.

As far as I'm concerened, they are OK. We had a mom picking up son from day camp wearing flip flops. Between the car and the pick up area, about 75-100 feet, she fell and ripped a toenail. Having closed toe shoes would have helped. Grant you I looking into some water shoes for an upcoming backpackign trip with some water crossings. But normally when dealing with water, it's ALTAMA brand jungle boots. They were the USGI manufacturer. Don't recommend ROTHCO jungle boots. About 10 days old Rothco boots had the sole come out when I was doing a portage on a practice trip. Git stuck in the mud, and the mud sucked the sole off.

To my cheerleaders, heck everyone THANK YOU! This is a long, time consuming, and at times, very frustrating process. I need all the encouragement I can at times. Regarding the mixed backgrounds, some new Scouts are capable of functioning without adult intervention because that is how they were trained.. Some won't do a thing without an adult telling them to do something. You can have however many scouts tell them, they will ignore them. Some are capable of doing things, some do not want to even try to do something. They want the adults to do it for them. Or if they are to be taught, they want adults to teach, not other Scouts. Especially not their peers in the den. Rather interesting that once the 12 year old Tenderfoot showed his knowledge, skills, abilitiies, and gear to teach introductory backpacking course, the older Scouts would actually listen to him abotu various things. Heck when the 12 year old Tenderfoot put on a backpacking cooking demo, and told them about the cook off the following week, the older Scouts paid attention to every last detail and it showed in their meal. The NSP that the Tenderfoot was in? Well they would not take any suggestions or ideas from him, to the point where he was so frustrated, he decided to do his own meal and compete. Long story short Tenderfoot was disqualifies as "professionals are not allowed " Older Scouts won as they had the next best meal, and the NSP, well, it took a lot of fortitude to sample their undercooked, disgusting meal. Only reason it was "edible", and the term is very loosely used, is because they used precooked chicken.

On paper I'm a committee member, but in performance I'm an ASM. I'm working on that because I've been doing ASM work, since June 1st, except a brief spell when injured.. I would like to add a fourth reason why NSPs do not work: lack of cohesion, homogeneity, whatever you want to call it. What do I mean by that? The NSP came from 5 different dens in 3 different packs over a 6 month period. Each pack and den did things differently, and began the transition to Boy Scouts differently. Different sets of expectations of Boy Scouts, different sets of readiness for Boy Scouts. One reason why i think oldest's patrol did well as a NSP was because the process to transition started when they were Tigers. I showed them what Boy Scouts was about on a camp out that had Scouts. When they became Webelos, my replacement took over where I left off, and they began acting like a patrol. By the time Cross Over came, they were chomping at the bit to be Boy Scouts. One reason why guys were let down by the neighboring troop and came to the troop my son joined. And the reason why I realized this: The Boy Scout told me this.

I admit, the troop has a long way to go still. In fact, one of my friends suggested looking for another troop already. But from where we've been, to last nite, IS a giant step in the right direction IMHO. (FYI, all caps will be emphasis and not shouting.) We are going with the traditional, pre-1989, mixed aged patrol, so TGs are not going to be a POR. Game plan is to put more responsibility AND authority on the PLs. As mentioned, the patrol method IS contrary to our society's expectations. Let's face it, we are treating 26 year old adults as children still, and unfortunatley they are acting like it. My thoughts are to give the youth high expectations, so that they will perform to the best of their abilities. THEY ARE CAPABLE OF DOIGN THE JOB, EVEN IF THEIR PARENTS THINK OTHERWISE! Let's face it, I learned my lesson last year when son was elected SPL as an 11 year old Tenderfoot! SM and an ASM want him to run again for SPL. He wants a break after being a TG, but will run for PL if the guy in his patrol who he wants to be PL wins election as SPL. "Somebody has to take care of them (the new patrol mates)." As for training the PLC, We got a retired SNCO ( not the one who has caused problems) who is working on combining ILST and stuff he learned and taught at the SNCO acadamy. Basically more initiative games and emphasis on servant leadership added into the training, stuff they need. The goal is to STRENGTHEN the PLC members and not weaken them. Give them the authority and responsibity, let them make their mistakes and use a guided apporach to work with the PL and SPL to improve. And by guided, not commands and directions, but asking questions and letitng htem think of solutions. By 'screwing up" I mean not having a meeting plan, i.e. skills instruction, schedule for the camp out, getting information out in a timely manner, etc. The adults are hoping that after having last election where folks voted for their best buddy instead of who is most capable of the job, the Older Scouts will be elected into PORs. Game plan is for the PCs to work with these older scouts, who in turn will work with the rest of the patrol. Me personally, I think that once the Scouts realize the shackles are off, they will do VERY well. Regarding the current troop TOE regarding an NSP ASM and venture ASM. My troop growing up didn't have ASMs assigned to patrols. Scouts did all the work. When I was PL of the NSP, , if I had a problem, I went to the ASPL or SPL (remember, this was pre-1989 and we were guinea pigs with NSPs.) With those troops I've seen use NSPs, the ASM is OVERINVOLVED IMHO, and is treating the NSP more as a Webelos III than a Boy Scout Patrol. One reason I had such a hard time working with the NSP. I know I've crossed the line on occasion with the NSP. One reason why I pushed for both responsibilty AND authority, it can with some of the issues I'm seeing.

A bit of an update. Leader's Meeting There was a leader's meeting last night prior to the Court of Honor. I was only able to attend a few minutes as I had to sit on Boards of Review (don't ask, I've been in a SA position, but still registered as MC). Anyway from the outline the SM created, and basically told the other adults "this is how we are doing it," this is what will be happening effective May 2nd. 1) Each patrol will be assigned an ASM as patrol counselor, and that PC's job is to train, mentor, and advise the PL. Other PCs, as well as ALL of the leaders' jobs will be to keep an eye on each other and make sure we don't turn it into Webelos IIIs. 2) PLC members, and select others, will go through training to understand the importance of their newly given authority to sign off on advancement. 3) The adults will be expecting more out of the PLC; we won't be "saving" them when they screw up. Boards of Review The 3 Scouts I sat on BORs for were all in the NSP. When asked what they would change, all said nothing because we are getting rid of the NSP after camporee. Court of Honor EXTREMELY PROUD OF THE SPL AND THE SCOUTS! (emphasis, and a wee bit of shouting at the top of my lungs ) This was the first time the Scouts had any say in how the Court of Honor was conducted. All I did was hand the SPL several copies of COH scripts, told him to look up some if he wants, and use it this week making sure he shared it with the SM. Ok did the SPL do research, NO. Did he ask which script to use, YES. Replied with, "you're the SPL, you're in charge." Did the SPL ask who the MC was going to be, YES. Did I repeat my reply above, YES. Did he make some mistakes, ABSOLUTELY. Did he learn from them, I SURE HOPE SO. Did he do a great job for taking charge for the first time. YES HE DID.

I had a Scout teach portions of IOLS, because he had the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it.. Great instructor. When be turned 18, the new district training chairman, who worked with the individual on the IOLS course, refused to sign him off until he completed the course. Sometimes it sucks to be the "leader's kid," having to worry about the leaders showing favoritism. And yes, once he completed IOLS, dad did sign him off.

I don't know who used the term Parour Scout first, but an audio recording from the 1920s has BP using the terrm. Going off on a tangent, when has that NOT happened , But wife got me a book called LEFT OF BANG about the USMC hunter-scout program. Not very far into it, but a lot of it so far is observing and being aware of your surroundings to ID threats.o reminds me of BP's yarns in the original BSHB.