CNYScouter

I have heard that they are doing away with the polyester and going to canvas zipoffs

To name a few things that can be done with a Venturing Crew only Shooting Sports Venturing Crew can shoot any caliber rifle Boy Scouts are limited to .22 cal only Pistols Venturing Crews can shoot pistils Cave Exploring Venturing Crews can go free caving (with an experienced guide of course) Snowmobiles Venturing Crew can go snowmobiling Hunting Venturing Crews can go Hunting Aircraft Venturing Crews can take Ground School and have Hands-On Flying Experience Climbing Venturing Crews can do Lead Climbing Venturing Crews can do Project COPE (all activities) White-water rafting T here is usually an age limit for rafting trips depending on the class of rapids. Because Venturing Crews are older they can do higher class rapids. Along these same lines because Venturing Crews are made up of older youth, trips like backpacking and canoeing can be done at a more challenging level

When I spoke to our CM about it, he says there are no Tiger leaders, they are all parent partners. That was the Tiger Program a few years ago (I don't remember when it changed - 5 or 6 years ago???) When Tigers started youth and adults wore orange shirts. Each pair of youth/Adult were to run one of the meeting with help of a (Pack level) Tiger Cub Coach It's been awhile but a one time Tiger Dens were not even part of a Pack. Tigers now wear the Blue Cub Scout uniform and are a regular Den in the Pack and have a Den Leader

Offically, except for the COR, a person can only be registered in one position. (The COR can be the CC or a committee member also) Unoffically they can hold as many positions as they want. There are units out there that even though there are people registered in all the positions the Unit Leader does everything

Can the application simply be filled out by the Scout office without any signatures from the unit's membership? As a District Commissioner Ive turned in the Quality Unit Award for a unit without a signature from the unit. Ive talked with one of the unit leaders on the phone (or thru email) and noted on the application that this was how it was filled out. Our Council is OK with this. Ive instructed my UCs that this is OK for them to do also. Sometimes trying to get together in-person just doesnt work out and this is the only way to get it done. However, I would not do this without talking with someone from the unit and I wouldnt put it past some DEs to just fill out the applications to make their performance goals

To claify my question. This ASM is an experienced climber and is looking for what is needed for him to become a qualified rock climbing instructor. ...and after looking at the link Beavah provided under point number 2 The climbing instructor has successfully completed a minimum of 10 hours of instructor training for climbing/rappelling from a nationally or regionally recognized organization, a climbing school, a college-level climbing/rappelling course. What it sounds like what I will need to do is to help him find a climbing instructor course that will meet this criteria.

Check Age-Appropriate Guidelines for Scouting Activities http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/ageguides.pdf It does show that outdoor cooking is for WEBELOS and older

I had an ASM approach me about what is needed for becoming certified to take his Troop Rock Climbing? I looked at Climb on safely and it gives organizations that certify but not a lot of details on which course to use (Like EMS they have a couple of climbing courses) I have also seen a program for BSA Climbing Instructor Training but the only courses I can direct him too are in the far Western US (California, Oregon, Utah) Does anyone know of one of these in the Northeast? Dont direct me to our District or Council Training person as they dont have a clue about this kind of thing

After doing TLT youth can take NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training) From http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/Resources/nylt.aspx National Youth Leadership Training is an exciting, action-packed program designed for councils to provide youth members with leadership skills and experience they can use in their home troops and in other situations demanding leadership of self and others. If your council isnt offering NYLT, look at surrounding councils as one most likely will be offering NYLT. You will have a harder time finding this syllabus. I have been told that this is restricted material because many units were trying to run this on their own and this is a District/Council run course. Beyond NYLT is NAYLE - National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/Resources/NAYLE.aspx I dont know much about this

Try: Boy Scout Troop Leadership Training Book (or TLT - Troop Leader Training) This new book provides Scoutmasters with guidance on training youth leaders within their unit. Replaces the Scoutmaster Junior Leader Training Pamphlet. Item: 34306 Retail Price: $6.99 You can purchase it at a Scout Shop (or they can order it) or you can order it from www.scoutstuff.org You may be able to find a copy online somewhere

My wife got me one of these for Christmas. I do like it but it is not the same as the Red wool jacket. They are both listed as a Jac-Shirt. IMHO- the new green one feels and looks more like a shirt than a jacket. It doesnt seem as heavy (as in material) either The red one looks more like a jacket than a shirt

From the October Training Update @ http://scouting.org/Training/TrainingUpdates/Archives/201010.aspx Training Courses Requiring Recertification Most BSA training courses do not require recertification with the obvious exception for Youth Protection Training (YPT) which is required every two years. The following is a list of courses requiring recertification and the timeframe for each: ■Trainers EDGE Three years ■Paddle Craft Safety Three years ■Swimming and Water Rescue Two years ■Safety Afloat Two years ■Chain Saw Safety Two years ■Note: National Camping School certification is good for five camping seasons.

Until recently my council hasnt really required filling a Unit Money Making Application for fundraising. Now that our council is requiring filing this, as the DC I have been getting questions from units about this form. Some of questions on the applications are: Is the Troop on a budget? How much dues is the scout paying? How much money in the Unit's treasury? Why does a Council need to know this information for the Unit Money Making Application?

Silver loops are for the Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner, correct? Correct, Roundtable Commissioners wear silver loops. Also, there would be no unit numbers worn in conjunction with the commish patch as this is a district level position, correct? Correct, Roundtable Commissioners are a District Level position and do not wear unit numbers Does the RT commish have a voting role on the district committee? The RT Commissioner position is part of the Commissioner Service and is not part of the District Committee, so they do not have a vote.

This started to come to my attention during recruitment this fall with a Pack that told us they were not recruiting this year and going to fold. After checking the roster this Pack stopped recruiting 3 or 4 years ago. The District Commissioner staff offered to help recruit at the large church (3500 families) where they were chartered at. When trying to set up recruiting the church kept sending us back to the unit and the unit wouldnt respond. With the COR not being at all involved with the church (not even a member of the church), the church had no idea the unit was going to fold or even in trouble no one from the unit had told them. Even though this church had had a Scout unit in it for 40+ years they had no idea what the charter agreement was even went as far as saying there was no way they have ever signed this agreement. It did come as a shock when the DD told them what the agreement meant and that someone in the church had signed it and what they were responsible for. After sitting down with the church leaders, the church really would like to keep a Cub Scout Pack there (and maybe other Scout units also) and will allow the District to help to try and restart this unit. As a side note the unit leaders were not happy that the DD visited the unit they want to fold the unit and dont want the CO involved. This has also happened in a second unit where the unit leaders just havent put any effort into recruiting and it doesnt look like they will have enough youth to recharter. In the other units the leadership (husband/wife COR/Unit Leader) is the reason the unit is in trouble. My DD gets complaints about the same few units 2 or 3 times a year. These units seem recruit just enough youth to (barely) recharter every year. As stated by dg98adams the COR/Unit Leader have too much control and it throttles any changes (or perceived threats) to the regime The COR/Unit Leader control the checkbook and control everything that happens in the unit. Our DD just got a complaint (from a parent/Committee Member of both units) about how a Troop and a new Pack are being run. The Troop and Pack have the same CO but two different CORs. The wife is the COR of the Troop, the husband the SM. He is also the COR for the Pack. The husband is also a member of the CO. These two control everything in the units. Allowing this doesnt surprise me with our ex-DE. He 100% setup this new Pack without asking or telling the rest of the District staff. It came as no shock when he was let go as after 4 years he had no clue on how Scouting worked. Im not sure what we are going to do with this one yet. For the most part I think Beavah has offered a good way to handle things.

In our District there are 6 or 7 units where one spouse is the unit leader and the other is the COR. Within the last year either the DE/DD/SE or myself has gotten an email or phone call about every single one of these units over some issue with the unit leader. In almost all of these units the CO is 100% hand-off and leaves selecting the COR up to the unit. At least 2 of these units will not be rechartering due to lack of youth and it looks like a couple more are headed in that direction. Our DE was just dismissed and as District Commissioner I am now working with an experienced DD (who is now handling 2 Disticts). It seems that the last 2 or 3 DEs never visited the COs and had left it entirely up to the units to get the charter agreement signed as part of the yearly recharter. One item high on the DD list is having him and I visiting COs and discussing the charter agreement. When this seen on the charter who should be saying to these units bad idea? What about these units that are currently set up this way? How should these be handled if at all?

I think that pummel sticks might fit - of course these need to be done on a log over a mud pit! Archery Sling shots Can I be the Emperor? (This message has been edited by CNYScouter)

I heard about this type of rating system in a class at Commissioners College. The person teaching the course said that some Districts have a large chart at Roundtable showing what each unit status is. (Green, Yellow, Red) I am not 100% convinced that this is the way to go (yet) Like AvidSM, as District Commissioner, I have my own spreadsheet where I keep track of the health of each unit. I came up with each units status using the same items as UCEagle72 I just started sharing this list with the other UCs. I would share this to a unit leader if asked. I use the above color system except with another category black for a unit that is not going to recharter. There is a Pack in my District that wont be rechartering. When the current Pack leadership took over 3 years ago they decided that they would get their sons thru the Cub Scout program and then fold the Pack. This pack hasnt recruited in 3 years (and refused to do sio again this year) wont have any Cubs or leaders left this spring. I like the idea of doing a preliminary Journey to Excellence form to see where each unit is.

Thanks for the great responses so far. The DE for my District was let go on Friday. I just got the "offica"l notice This has come as no surprise as he wasnt close to making his goals for the year. The District Chair and I as District Commissioner were told that we would have some say in his replacement. We have been told that his replacement will be coming from a preapproved list of qualified people (I think from the NE Region). I would hope that anyone on the list has a good idea of what a DE does. The District Chair and I have a meeting tomorrow with the councils DD and ASE. Well see how things work out

If you had the chance to select a DE what would you look for? What questions would you ask them? What background do they need?

For the 73 Nat. Jambo there was Eastern US event and Western US event and a Troop could attend as a unit. My Troop did this and the Troop split into patrols that were made up of Scouts wanting to go to Jambo and patrols for Scouts that did not want to go to Jambo. If I remember there were 2 patrols of each. I dont think it was intentional but by the time Jambo came around the 2 Patrols made up of the Scouts who didnt want to go ended up quitting the Troop. I know that these patrols were invited to attend everything but since the 2 patrols going to Jambo were the super scouts they planned and ran everything. Everyone had the chance to attend summer camp the same year as Jambo but the only Scouts in our Troop that went to summer camp also went to Jambo. I cant say if they felt left out or found other interests as the Scouts in these patrols were pretty sporadic in attending anyways but it pretty much cut the Troop size almost in half.

As of 9:30am today here sin CNY weve had 99.5 hours of continuous steady snowfall and counting.... "Officially" we have had 36" since Dec. 1 with 8-12" predicted today and another 8-12" more tonight. It looks like Im going to cancel the Den meeting for the 2nd week in a row due to the weather. Most of schools in the area are closed today and the roads are nasty. Luckily we are in pretty good shape with our Bear Advancements. I will need to finish (with help of my Cub Scout and Daughters) the signs for our song (12 days of Christmas) for the Pack meeting next week. It should be real interesting (and lots of Fun) with no rehearsals. Even though its a song just about everyone knows I would have liked to gone through it with them at least once.

Last week I got an email if I was interested in being on staff for Woodbadge. Today I got an email asking if I would be interested in being on Powderhorn Staff. These are from 2 different councils and not my current council. I can't accept both (if offered) So which would you do?

I was talking with a Cubmaster last night about his Pack. His Dens all meet at the same time-same place-same room. He is having an issue with what he called cross-chatter. The Cubs (and parents) tend to drift with all distractions of the other dens/people around them. The school where they meet will only give them one night a week and the cafeteria to use. This is a new problem as they used to meet at their CO, a church, that had multiple rooms. They switched as their CO kept allowing other groups to use (rent) the rooms on meetings nights to the point I dont have any experience meeting like this as the Packs I have been with either met on different nights/places or have multiple rooms to meet in. As getting multiple rooms isnt possible the only other thing I can think of is to suggest they stager Den meeting times. Im the District Commissioner and would like to give him suggestions on getting this under control and could use some other ideas.

Am I having a senior moment on the Direct TV add? The picture with the 2 WEBELOS has a disembodied hand right in the center. It looks like a blue sleeve on the hand but the kids shoulder just outside the picture to the left is wearing a tan shirt. Don't ya just love the airbrushed re-touchups? ...or maybe it is just for Halloween?