Acid Test

In our case, I and my son very much welcome a completely fresh start even if it means he will have to make all new friends, so having a group carry over isn't leveraging to us as it may be to other packs/troops.

Thanks for the wonderful remarks - very helpful for us since we have limited knowledge with boy scouts. The Camporee was a lot of fun and we got to spend time a solid troop. My son shadowed a patrol for a day and I got to observe other troops in action. While it was only a snapshot, I was able to rule a couple of troops out very quickly. One, for example, for their repeated unruley behavior even with adults sitting around. Another I have serious concerns with based on unruley behavior and their class b shirts - maybe I'm a little critical, but having "bad to the bone" written on the back and a skull wearing a bandana and with cross bones on the front says a lot about decision making to me. We also learned about another troop we didn't know existed and ruled back in another that had great organization, leadership, and behavior.

It is different in our area - cub scout dens usually go into different troops and not necessarily the one nearest or most associated with the pack. Why? The troop in our area has had major issues, so every January and February, there is a scamble to find a troop. I took on the search early and as part of our search, there are troops that use the green patrols and others that mix them.

Cub Master should hand over his den leadership responsibilities to the father of the new scout. See if there is somebody else in this den of now 10 scouts who wants to move to the den of 8. If not, 8 and 10 is still a good balance and a reasonable number.

Please disregard the post just above this one. I was in the wrong thread. Sorry.

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Great advice and we are well into looking at several troops. In fact this last weekend, we camped with a troop at a Camp-o-ree and saw several troops in Sam Houston in action. One of the items on my comparison matrix is the council since the camp facilities for many council events are held there. I had heard a rumor that the Bay Area facilities were not being maintained adequately and this is a concern for me. Thanks for your reply!

I have a Webelo I who will be crossing over in less than a year. As we look for a boy scout troop with him, we are seeing two approaches to patrols with new scouts: 1) The new scouts form a green patrol and stay together as almost as "Webelo III's" 2) Mix the new scouts with existing patrols within the troop Any recommendations on the pros and cons of these approaches? The green patrol seems to be much more popular in my area.

Hi all!! I have a Webelo I who will cross over within a year to become a boy scout - can you believe it - less than a year away! So, we began the search for a troop in our area. The good news is there are 13 troops within 10 miles of our house. The bad news is there are 13 troops within 10 miles of our house. Since we live on the border of two councils, we can choose between the Bay Area Council which covers where we live and south and the Sam Houston Council (our current pack is in Sam Houston) which borders us north and west. What should I look for when selecting between councils? Does anyone have any experiences with either council, but preferably Bay Area, they could share. But please, let's try to keep this as positive as possible. If you really have negatives, could you forward them to my email address at cdouglas408@yahoo.com instead of posting them here. Thanks in advance!!

I am putting together a training matrix for our pack's adult leaders and had some questions. Could somebody advise? thanks Are assistant den leaders required to take the leader specific training? Does a den leader need to take the leader specific training each year as they move from Tigers to Wolves to Bears to Webelos? How often do leaders need to be retrained? I have a couple of answers already: Youth Protection Training (on-Line) Every 2 Years New Leader Essentials Once Cub Scout Leader Fast Start (on-line) Den Leader Specific Training (Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos) Charter Organization Representative Training Cubmaster Training Pack Committee Training Safe Swim Defense (on-line) Stay Afloat (on-line) WeatherHazards (on-line) Basic Adult Leaders Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelo Leaders

The ignore feature is your friend. Join the other 15 (or more by now) who have found the way.

fscouter provided you a complete explanation of his/her actions. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome then contact Terry or call for his/her resignation as a moderator. But I agree with a previous post - either act or move on. There is power in numbers.

Eamonn, Could you post Terry's e-mail or a way to get ahold of him. As an observer, it sounds like posters here have a re-occurring issue with a single moderator. If Terry appointed this moderator, he should be made aware of the issue before we lose some valuable contributors. FOUND IT - click on the picture of Bill at the top center of the page. It will take you to a message Terry wrote. There you will find a link on the left side to send him a private message Here is the link: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=172740(This message has been edited by Acid Test)

My former pack had kids out selling popcorn before the recuitment night at the local school. The timing is a bit tight and some new Tigers found themselves joining the pack after other kids had sold popcorn down "their" roads. They were encouraged to do the best they could. My question is whether or not this is the case elsewhere.

You may end up with stricter or unfair moderation well beyond. I think some of the issues on the thread in question I caused by confronting one the forum duds. This escalated and things boiled a bit. If this caused a moderator to become sensitive to other posts, I apologize.