Jahaza

"This is a first I've heard of writing a letter to the lodge secretary." This is a requirement in my current lodge in NYC and it was a requirement in my old lodge in NH in the 90's when I was eligible for brotherhood there.

I noticed that while the new handbook is not yet available, a bunch of new books are available on ScoutShop.org, the new Troop Leader Guidebook, the new SPL book and the new PL book.

I assume you've seen this, which describes what you state, that "Insulin can be carried in a small thermos, which can be resupplied with ice or cold water at most staffed camps."

After reading this thread, I was looking through the old Commissioner Helps for Packs, Troops, and Crews book and noticed number 4, recommending an induction ceremony when someone joins a unit.

This is a timely thread because I tried to print my membership card today from my.scouting.org and the function didn't work. I was using my work computer though that has all kinds of locked down security, so I'll try again from my home machine and see if that works.

And I should have checked first, but Program Features is still available in print in three volumes in English or Spanish from the Scout Shop.

These are still basically a thing, but published on the web. If I remember correctly, at one point (decades ago) they came as newsprint inserts into Scouting magazine and yoo got either the Cub Scout ones or the Boy Scout ones depending on your primary registration. The web site is https://troopleader.org/ and you probably also want to take a look at https://www.programresources.org/. If you look under "Program Features" on Troop Leader, you'll see what you're looking for, a resource for planning a series of weekly activities based on a theme leading up to a "main event," which is generally either a weekend day program or a weekend (overnight) program. For example, if you look at the Cooking Program Feature there's a main page, a section of helpful information (at the bottom of that page is a link to additional resources/references), a page with ideas and plans for the month's meetings, and then finally a page with three different "Main Event" ideas at different levels of complexity. Of course, you're not just supposed to follow these to the letter, but to use them (with the Patrol Leader's Council) to plan meetings and events that fit your program's needs. Edited to add: This page has a video and information discussing how they work.

It was dropped in 1972 and added back in 2014.

In that case, I'm left not really understanding what you mean by "The lack of actual requirement for anything related to outdoors beyond First Class as well." But there have never been such requirements other than merit badges, unless you count the brief period when the participation requirement read "While a Life Scout, work actively as a leader in meetings, outdoor activities, and service projects of your unit" 1958-1965.

Camping merit badge is still required and so is outdoor cooking (both camp and trail) for the Cooking merit badge. While some outdoor requirements have gone away since I became an Eagle in 1999 (like thr option for the more indoor Sustainability instead of the outdoor oriented Environmental Science), Cooking, with its outdoor element, only became required in 2014.

I'd love to hear how it is. I camped at Camp Bell a couple of times (Valley Voyager and a Wilderness Survival overnight) in the 90s when it was not running as a separate camp, but just a location on the map for overnights from Hidden Valley. If I remember correctly, it's a patrol cooking camp?

Camp Carpenter (Manchester, NH, Daniel Webster Council) as a Cub Scout. Hidden Valley Scout Reservation (Gilmanton Ironworks, NH, Daniel Webster Council) as a Boy Scout. My Venture Crew (note, *not* Venturing Crew, and pre-1998, so not Venture patrol) did a week long canoe camping trip on Squam Lake.

Here are instructions on how to explain things to the IRS from the Sam Houston Council that look like they cover (through Plan B) your situation: http://www.samhoustonbsa.org/checking-account-instructions

It sounds like your chartered organization needs to sort out their legal status before you can sort out yours.

You can read more about the Philmont hunting program on the Philmont web site: https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/ptc/fallwinterspring/hunts/