Eagle1993

Not able to read this entire thread, but thought this was an interesting comment. I do think there are difference in beliefs and values between various groups. We shouldn't dismiss those. That said, when in person (which is much easier to have these discussions) a very conservative friend told me that in many ways, our end goals are similar it's just the path to get there is different which I agree and therefore agree with the intent above. As I drove up my gay/trans scout to camp, they were concerned a bit about acceptance. They live in a community and go to a school and church that is very accepting and were concerned that scouts, scouters or staff wouldn't at summer camp. I told him to be themself and let me know if they run into any issues. So far, every interaction has been positive. Outside of some sideways looks during shotgun merit badge (when they knew more parts of the gun than anyone in the class) it has been great. (While the fact they are gay never comes up, their pronouns and appearance is clearly different.). I see this as a win. First, my scout can see that the portrayal of more conservative groups is not accurate. I'm sure many don't agree but are kind in their interactions. Others, who may not know a trans youth, can see that they are not the characters portrayed by the media. Sometimes they are just a kid, in a scout uniform, working on shotgun merit badge.

My ASM who was a SM of a Troop for many years had several of his former scouts mail him their Eagle Scout medals when BSA fought against including gay scouts. He said it was hard on him but he understood and respected their stance. I'm here at summer camp with a Life rank gay/transgender scout and am happy I don't have to kick them out due to someone else's beliefs. BSA has many faults, but allowing LGBTQ and girls as members are not one of them.

Which is what should be used as BSA's comparison vs travel baseball. I'll also mention that my GSUSA troop never charged for outings (including hotel rooms, camp sites, etc.). Also, not one call about FOS.

My camp appears to have less attendees than previous years. Bad news as one of the bigger camps in the state closed, so attedance should be up. 1,749 total scouts & adults are registered over 6 weeks of camp, averaging 292 per week with 130 Troops (average 13.5 scouts/adults per Troop) Pareto of Troop size (including adults) below. Just 22% of Troops are at least 20 scouts & adults

https://www.cnn.com/style/stephen-lucka-photography-scouts/index.html

I expect they do have a plan, but it sounds like they didn't make it public in NAM. We have seen some snippets during the bankruptcy hearing, and those snippets were from late 2021. Anyone with any competence would have a detailed plan ready to save BSA. I was hoping they would release it during NAM but based on what has come out, nothing was really released. If those were the top 15 items at NAM, I'm happy I didn't attend.

Supposedly they received over $6M for the camp sale so have ~$3M to spend on this camp. The camp has very few cabins, toilets, a small dining hall and is very underdeveloped. Definitely hope they listen to local scouters. When I talked with the council leadership, they emphasized they want to ensure they have good plans before adding anything. We will see...

Indian Mounds Reservation was sold to a NA Tribe.... Probably the best buyer of the land. Dear Scout Leaders: Earlier today, the Trustees of the Milwaukee Boy Scout Fund completed the sale of Indian Mound Scout Reservation (IMR) to the Forest County Potawatomi Community. The camp sale follows Three Harbors Council’s decision to end camp operations at IMR last fall. This difficult decision was reached following a comprehensive review of our two camps while taking into consideration the significant contribution of $3.685 million requested from our council to support the Settlement Trust, a compensation fund for survivors of abuse in Scouting, established through the BSA’s financial restructuring process. Selling the camp was a necessary and important step as we support survivors of abuse and ensure that we are in the best position to serve youth and families in southeastern Wisconsin for many years to come. Following the board’s decision, the Trustees of the Milwaukee Boy Scout Fund, who owned the camp, entertained multiple offers to purchase IMR. The property went under contract at the asking price in the fall, and following a due diligence period, the sale closed on June 1st. The buyers are still determining the future usage of the property. The property is zoned as “Institutional” and therefore the current permitted usage is restricted to camps, parks, schools, hospitals, or similar uses. The proceeds from the camp sale will be invested in the Milwaukee Boy Scout Fund, a separate Trust that serves as the council’s endowment fund, providing annual support for Scouting operations. The sale proceeds will allow the Trust to recoup the $3,075,000 it provided to Three Harbors Council as a special grant to assist in the council’s contribution to the Settlement Fund. At the discretion of the Trustees and pending the completion of a new camp master plan, funds from the sale of IMR may be made available for future investment in Camp Oh-Da-Ko-Ta. While we are pleased to have the sale completed, today is also a time to reflect on Indian Mound Scout Reservation’s legacy. The camp was founded in 1917 on the shores of Silver Lake near Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. IMR served thousands of Scouts throughout its 105-year history. We are truly grateful to the Scouting volunteers, donors, and community leaders who donated their time, talent, and treasure to support the program at IMR. The camp had an incredibly positive, lifelong impact on Scouts, leaders, and families across our council. As we move forward, the Council’s focus will be on strengthening camp facilities and programs offered at Camp Oh-Da-Ko-Ta, located on Dyer Lake near Burlington, Wisconsin. Past Council President, Dr. R. Scott Pierce, is chairing a committee of camp volunteers charged with developing a new master plan for Camp Oh-Da-Ko-Ta. The council has hired Domokur Architects, a national leader in camp planning, to help guide the master plan process, and opportunities for Scout leader input will be shared in the coming months. Please reach out to Camping@ThreeHarborsScouting.org with any questions about the camp sale. Any inquiries from local news media should be directed to Scout Executive Andrew Hardin. Thank you for your continued support of Scouting in Three Harbors Council. In Scouting, Kimberly Kane Council President Andrew Hardin Scout Executive

Apparently they compared membership rates between packs with single gender dens and coed dens and found coed performed better.

One change announced today - K4 through 4th grade Cub Scout Dens can now be coed.

I believe the final financial statement has been uploaded (see attached).a467cb7b-d708-4574-bf09-af88162f82eb_11230.pdf A lot of activity on this one as it closes out BSA's immediate cash outlays to the trust. Note councils have ongoing payments and I believe BSA may have some as well. BSA leaves bankruptcy with $25.5M unrestricted cash.

Agreed, but They said that limit doesn't apply to them. Other councils are already getting around this limit as well. Sounds like that limit is meaningless.

In this case, it appears the council leadership and United Way are not aligned causing UW to cut funding. If my council lost UW funding, it would be a $78 per scout deficit. Don't tick off the United Way without a plan to replace their funding.

One concern has to be that the >10% increase in Cub Scouts shrunk to 6.5% by April. Either we are losing scouts at a faster pace or recruiting isn't going as well Jan-April in 2023 as it did in 2022. In order to keep up the 10% annual increase in Cub scouts we will have to recruit 228K more Cub Scouts on top of the 410K we currently have ... They recruited 196K last year during the same time period so while a steep target not impossible.

BSA letter to survivors. BSA-Open-Letter_042023.pdf

Camping, hiking, etc. are definitely fun. I just got back from our mountain bike camping trip and the scouts had a blast. Do you know what doesn't look like a blast? Days and days of merit badge classes to complete the required merit badges for Eagle or talking about cooking/camping/etc. vs actually doing it. Uniforms that are designed for ceremonies but not actively working in cold or hot weather. Kicking kids out before/during their senior year of high school as they magically become an adult before their friends. I can go on. There is potential and a lot of scouting is fun, but I think there are also considerable headwinds in BSA.

Locked as this thread hit its end. Various other topics spun off, but to continued discussion re: Bankruptcy can be found below.

Sounds like those changes we discussed to Cub Scouts will come out during the National meeting. Also, how to bring in the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Very disappointed to see no discussion of any discussion of changes to Scouts BSA (required merit badges that look like High School 2.0 and cooking requirements that make you lose all love of cooking). Venturing seems like a hail Mary as well.

UK scouting removed duty to God in 2013, saw growth and has far more members than BSA per capita. I'm sure there were many who were upset in the early 1970s when BSA finally desegregated ... upsetting members doesn't mean you shouldn't do what is morally right. That said, most kids who are atheist don't see that as a barrier to scouting as many units are already incredibly flexible with the religious component. I don't see an issue how BSA handles religion today and my guess is any change would result in a negative outcome. However, if the want to make a change, do it sooner than later. In terms of religion, we have backed off actively doing much. We had a den leader who taught the religious adventure. He talked about Roman and Greek mythology and a scout asked why people stopped believing those stories ... he said it was replaced with other beliefs. Then the same scout asked about what happens when Christianity is replaced by new beliefs... he stumbled and a couple of Cub scouts ended up questioning their own faith. So we leave that up to the parents now.

Venturing/Sea Scouts... Nearly dead. 12,000 when we nearly had 88,000 in 2017. I wonder if Sea Scouts are fairing better than Venturing Crews. Pack Growth rates needs to maintain that 6-7% for many years to come. Hopefully we see a similar recruiting year. Troops ... I'm very concerned. I'm seeing a lower percent of scouts crossing over every year. I think Lions are burning out parents and scouts before the hit the Troop. (Hopefully just my experience). In addition, many Troops, in my area, are down to 1-2 patrols and are in danger of collapse. It is much easier to build a new Pack vs Troop. Overall, less rosy than the year end number (overall, we are growing at just over 1% YOY).

Most bankruptcies allow businesses to lower their debts and exit in better financial health. BSA is exiting this bankruptcy, addressing the debt of the past sexual abuse, but not really addressing anything else. They are in far worse financial shape than they entered. They took out massive loans on HA bases, spent their endowment and have far less cash on hand ... this with about 1/2 the registered members they entered bankruptcy. So, National BSA likely needs to pull in more cash quickly and member fees won't do it. I see two paths. 1) Direct donations ... in the hearing, there was mention of a need to immediately raise $400M in donations within 1 year (at the National level). 2) Council payments ... I expect National sees councils having funds in endowments & property (even after bankruptcy). They easiest way for them to access that is to increase the council annual registration fee. BSA can force council consolidation by greatly increasing that national charter fee (10x, 100x, etc). I expect that would result in massive consolidation of councils without National BSA having to work through the specifics. They had a target of 80 total councils but changed that to a more generic target of council optimization. These are just guesses based on hearing a year ago, so we will have to wait and see what really. happens. I'm sure their plans & strategies have been refined over the years.

Local council contributions hit the docket. I was hoping to get more insights into the property but the file only lists values. 74cf86b7-00e5-4564-b65e-e2ce974d9c86_11124 (1).pdf

Prof. Jacoby insights below: "Impact: trust can be implemented. Even if 3d Circuit were to find flaw in plan upon further insurer or survivor appeal, almost impossible to unravel plan under 3d Circuit precedent." In addition the hearing over the coalition fees occurred yesterday and it sounds like the court is not fully on board but not yet decided. We will have to wait for a ruling.

Today is my birthday... What a present. While the process was terrible I'm not sure there was a better path to compensate victims. I hope the trust is able to ramp up quickly and find a way to provide some sort of closure to those abused. BSA exits in a much weaker state than it entered. For it to survive, strong leadership and bold action is needed. In the end, I'm glad this forum was a spot where both victims and scouters were able to interact. I hope it helped on various levels. Most of all, I hope child abuser find less and less opportunities to harm children and perhaps this case will help.

Prof.Jacoby questioned the "paid in full" due to valuation issues & cost of trust. No one really knows, it is a guess. I think the hope is the non settling insurance companies will pay up ... that is in question as well. In any case, I still think this is likely the best deal available.