concernedparent

LisaBob, You're so absolutely right on all counts!! ...with all the preaching that we've been subject to in the past few months jaded me.. lol. I don't think that bad feelings can be avoided at this point in time and yes, we've all had enough drama to last us awhile... Will post updates!

Calico, Yes - we have it covered.. the CO that we are looking at had a troop before and they still have the equipment. The UC was there last night and he surprised me by pulling out a folder and citing what the issues were from prior meetings.. (didn't know he actually goes home after the meetings and types out notes!) He was trying to help our case but the CO wasn't listening.. I don't look at it as win or lose... cause to me, no one wins.. I look at it as what's right or wrong. Last night SM told 2 blatant lies and when he said one of them the CC put her hands to her head and said softly, "that's not true.." but yet she continued to support him so.. what can you say?? You know - I find it kind of funny that the CO is a Catholic organization and yet they allow these things to continue. but whatever.. We're moving on..

Beavah, Hmm.. I wasn't planning on doing that but that's a great idea. Thanks!

Eisley, Well, we bailed last night. The CC opted to keep the Scoutmaster and let all the leaders in the pack and the two most active ASM's go... oh.. as well as the crew.. So on we go!

Beavah...lol.. if you only knew... but this will all come to an end somehow tonight..

Our Council decided to run it as a Family Camp as well.. I attended the NCS years ago and I thought that it would be easier as far as the checklist was concerned but it's pretty much the same... so I just did what I did in the past years.. just didn't have to worry about the certification expiration!

Eagle92, Just curious - how did it go? I was the PD and the CD this year for our District's Day Camp and have been doing this for many years so I hear ya! Went through one difficult year where we had to team up with another District and that was the end of that.. lol.. but since then I have been lucky enough to have worked with some great people and have had volunteers who come back year after year to help us out. It's a hard call when people aren't "getting it" and are not cooperative or even moody and hard to work with.. yuck. we're supposed to be having fun too!

Scoutnut, Someone else had notified council about this and SM called in a few people to confront them about it - after which i was called and asked if it was me who sent in the letter... and after doing some digging i found out that SM twisted the truth about some things in order to be able to accuse those who are not happy with him. I called DE to get clarifications because things are going to come to a head tonight and I wanted to make sure that I have my facts straight and not say things that are incorrect.. which is why I posted here as well - to get other opinions - and I did get some great suggestions that I will be sharing..

Oops.. I forgot to add in that at our pack meetings - after we do our announcements and award distributions they break up into dens and do their own activities. Den leaders sometimes schedule additional den meetings/outings as they need or want to.

Twocubdad, Actually, SM got a call from the head of our BSA local council and was told to inform the CC and the COR but he elected to just inform the CC...

We have a fairly small pack so we have 2 things scheduled for each month. The first is a pack meeting where we present awards and inform parents of what's coming up for the next month. The second is an activity for the entire pack - whether it's hiking, camping or any other activity. There are a number of times that we do schedule other things as they come up so it will end up being 3 or 4 things during the month rather than just 2..

Lisabob - Drama? lol.. ...if you only knew the other 15/16 of what's going.. yes, enuf is enuf..

Eisley, LOL.. almost.. CC is/was the prior SM's wife (he passed away). Current SM is very good friends with CC and won't let him go... despite knowing about most of what is going on... Has asked in the past that the current SM be given another chance but has not bothered to ask ASM's how things are going.. Why don't we bail? We may soon.. (Pack, Crew and most of the Troop..)

Woodsrunner, No - they aren't working on it EVERY DAY. I can't speak for the others but I do have my son working on it on Most days.. but like everything else if you continue to do it most days then progress should be made, which is happening. It's slow but it's there. Rest assured that I am not one to want something for nothing.. and my boys are taught that... and I don't put up with bad behavior... with boys AND parents. The pull up is only one thing in a long line up of things that they need to do in order to become an Eagle Scout and to do this either the parent has to be really pushing them or the scout has to have the burning desire to do this. But this burning desire, in my opinion, doesn't always happen period and when it does it comes at varying times for each boy... I know that some of the boys are discouraged because they can't advance anymore. But for me - even if they were to only do an improvement and pass I would have my son strive to still do the 1 nonetheless.

I just want to say this - that I have talked to other local troops about how they handle this and some of them do have the requirement of having them do 1 full pull up.. But to get them there the older boys are teamed up with the younger ones and they do "cheer" each other on and work with each other. I think that if this were to be used then it would be good for all parties involved - the older boys and the younger boys.. Too bad current SM seems to listen but never follows through with things..

Fehler hmm.. I don't think he can because he has openly come out... and I think that coming out on FB is pretty much open..? or can they still register? At any rate as you can tell there are major problems with the SM so some of the current ASMs (one of them is the Crew Advisor) may jump ship soon and create our own Pack, Troop and Crew.. (oh - and yes - it does affect the pack because I (Cubmaster of the pack) have been accused of COLLUSION since the boys did not go over to the troop, as they decided another troop was a better fit for them..

ScoutNut No.. he hasn't been doing it for 5 years.. he's been practicing for about 3-4 months now... A lot has happened in the past 2 years.. (I first posted in 2010) The old Scoutmaster passed away last year. We were hoping that things would get better with the new one but alas, it's not.. so some of the ASM's may be pulling out and starting a new troop and we will be going with them...

NJCubScouter Yep - the COR does not know his grandson is gay... and the SM was told by Council to inform the CC and the COR.. I just got off the phone with my DE and he said yep - this is definitely a troop "issues" now.. Thanks for that suggestion! If a new troop is started I'll definitely suggest that we include this in the new troops policies... that would get more parents involved as well!

..he was there because he's the SM's son and goes to other events to help his father.. although I've heard that at the last "Makahiki" event he was put in charge of everything in the morning and then in the afternoon he was yelled at by his father for a very long time... (yes, within hearing range...) Sorry - didn't clarify this earlier - this wasn't a camping trip. it was an overnighter at a local university campus where they did security for the Special Olympics event. But some of the boys can't stay up all night so they do go to sleep.

Hello! It's been 2 years since my 1st posting and my son still hasn't been able to do a full pull up. He practices almost every day and he's not overweight but I do have to say that he definitely has to build up his muscles... But he is definitely making progress. (he's pretty scrawny and is slow to mature physically).. Personally I think that there's a lot to be said for your story on the scout who finally decided to swim.. and he did! That's one of the things that we were told - that when they decide they want to do it they will... and I agree with that.. however, on the flip side.. These boys are the ones that would step up to be the Pack's Den Chiefs.. Our pack has not had a Den Chief in over 3 years.. and the ones we did get were only able to attend about 4 events total.. Unfortunately there is no Troop Committee. Rather we have a Joint Unit Committee that consists of leaders from all units that the CO sponsors. We tried to break off into separate committees but the CC would not have it... and the CC will not stand up to the SM. Yes, our council said that it says "show improvement" - and not do 1.. but then they also said that it's up to the interpretation of the SM.. Thanks for all your input!

Well this bring up a whole new situation.. The COR is the SM's father.. SM doesn't want his father to know because he will more than likely not speak to his (SM's) son again...

ahh.. interesting.. our sponsoring unit is associated with the Catholic Church..

I'm not sure what BSA's standing is on this but I am wondering what your opinions are about having a gay individual (who has now aged out of the Troop) attend scouting events including overnighters? We are in a situation where the Scoutmaster's son has announced that he is gay. He aged out a few months ago but continues to go to scouting events including an overnighter that just occurred (at which, from what I understand, he brought his boyfriend)... The boy is a good kid and I personally have no problems with this but I heard that some of the parents that attended the overnighter were a little concerned about this but no one brought it to the attention of the Scoutmaster... (Since this is a touchy subject I don't think anyone wants to really approach him about it..)

Thank you. Scoutmaster has been taken aside multiple times and spoken to. At this point in time there are others who are willing to step into the role.

Yes, there is definitely more going on here. We're a small pack and troop so we are set up a little different. We don't have a parents' committee.. Our unit commissioner is 85 years old and it is difficult for him to get things done sometimes... And yes, I am sure that she was hoping that Scouts would be the magic bullet that would help her, and her son. "You also stated - "She has told me that we are the worst pack she has ever been with and she has NEVER seen a pack run like this before." " -- she has older sons that were in scouts - I believe it was about 15+ years ago.. We tried to talk to her many times... I do not want to hurt her feelings and would like to help her but I am not a counselor... and I'm trying to figure out how to approach this in the least disruptive but most effective manner -- that's why I'm am making sure that I check with council on this, as she said that she was going to lodge a complaint (Which I encouraged her to do). Sorry - I am currently the Cubmaster.