dnorrington

Our Troop is planning to host a Breakfast Fundraiser in the next few month. Ticket sales will begin soon. One question we have, particularly for purchasing food, is how many who buy tickets actually show up (percentage)? I realize that this depends on a lot of factors, but does anyone have any past data to share? Thanks, Darren

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473964,00.html (copy/paste the entire path, as just clicking on the link above doesn't seem to be working correctly) Due to copyright issues, I am only posting the link. It is good to see great Scouting stories on the home page of National news websites!!(This message has been edited by dnorrington)

robvio, Thanks so much for the information!! Regards, Darren

Our Troop is from Indiana, and we are currently researching our summer camp options for 2009. After compiling a list of several camps, Camp McKee (Bluegrass Council, Lexington, KY) seems to be of interest to most Troop members. We are basing this on their website only though, at this point. Has anyone attended camp there before? Would you care to share your experience, either in-council or out-of-council units? We have attended our Council's camp for 25 out of the last 26 years, and the boys and adults would like to try something different for next year. YIS, Darren Norrington

Our Troop Committee meets monthly. When I took over as CC a year ago, I began keeping the minutes, which wasn't being done before. Soon thereafter, we filled the Secretary position and he now keeps the minutes. We email the agenda and the previous meeting minutes to all adult leaders the week before our Committee meeting each month. We do this every month, and it seems to be working very well. The minutes are reviewed at the start of the meeting and voted on. If your committee is making decisions that affect the Troop, it needs to be recorded. How else will these decisions carry on for years to come when certain adults are no longer with the Troop?

Warren, I would suggest breaking these down into individual ticket items, such as: Ticket item #1 - Den Leader resource guides Ticket item #2 - Pack handbook (for new scouts) Ticket item #3 - Diversity item Ticket item #4 - ? Ticket item #5 - ? You will need to complete a ticket worksheet for each of the 5 items, and further expand on each one regarding your vision, SMART goals, etc. Regards, Darren (This message has been edited by dnorrington)

Warren, I hope that your second weekend is as memorable as mine was last fall!! Regarding your ticket, we were told to think of it as five individual Eagle Projects. They are independent of one another, and should focus in the area in which you presently serve in Scouting. A word of caution...don't back yourself into a corner when you write it. This includes things such as relying on other people to do certain things in order to complete the ticket item, or committing to projects that require some form of financial funding. One of my ticket items addresses adult leader training in our Troop, as I am the Committee Chairman. I wanted to set a percentage goal for fully trained leaders, but my Troop Guide discouraged this because you cannot make people take training courses. My personal goal is still 100% trained adult leaders in our Troop, although the ticket doesn't state this. In 5 months, among our 21 adult leaders, we have completed 38 training courses. Twelve adults are now fully trained for their position and most of the others are getting closer to being fully trained. Needless to say, this has been a VERY rewarding and enjoyable ticket item for me! The important thing is that your ticket items need to be YOUR ideas. What can you do to improve the program around you? I had trouble coming up with 5 ticket items initially. I am not sure what position you presently hold, but you should try to include things that will be beneficial to the specific group in which you serve (pack, troop, post, district, etc.). Two of my ticket items benefit the Council, and three primarily benefit my Troop. Let me know if you still have questions! Regards, Darren

The Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures manual states the following on page 20: "The Webelos badge and Arrow of Light requirements include all of the joining requirements for the Scout badge."

I earned all of them just before they were discontinued in 1989, and I personally feel that we lost something important when they were discontinued. I remember the 'new' boys asking me how they could earn them after they had been discontinued.

At the University of Scouting in Indianapolis in January, we were informed that the Crossroads of America Council began enforcing the 'no advancement report...no purchasing rank patches" policy due to the fact that the advancement cards are now available for download on certain internet websites. My Council is also enforcing this policy now as well (not sure when they officially started enforcing it locally). I am sure that the problem with advancement reports not getting filed also contributed to this. Regarding the Scout Badge issue... We recently had 4 Arrow of Light recipients cross over into our Troop. The Pack banquet was held the week before our Troop banquet. We had the Webelos fill out their Boy Scout applications at the Pack banquet, then we submitted them the following Monday. On Friday of that week, after their applications had been processed, we submitted the advancement form fo 4 Scout badges. We did hold the SM Conference prior to completing the advancement report.

Scouting Mom makes a very good point! Scouting has changed a lot over the years. I was inactive during my college years, as well as the first few years into my career. I am active again and serving as our Committee Chairman. I discovered fairly quickly that some things have indeed changed, especially local Council procedures. One issue that came up at this week's committee meeting was the procedure for signing up for merit badge classes at summer camp. When I was a youth, we filled out the paperwork requesting the classes we wanted and sent it to the office prior to camp. Apparently during my time away from Scouting, they started having a sign up during the first day at camp. Currently, some classes require internet signup prior to camp, while the remainder are still signed up for at camp. The signup question was asked to me, and I promptly asked one of our young adults who has served on camp staff for the past few years to fill us in on the current procedure. He gave the new SM the current process, where I only knew the process that was used around 1990. I think the real issue here is the individual. Just because you are an Eagle Scout, that doesn't mean that you know everything. Being a leader is more important that being the one that gives the answers! I think another issue is that as youth, many boys do not see what the adults do outside of a meeting or a campout. Attending training, roundtables, etc. are additional responsibilities that we have as leaders, but the youth often don't see this. Some don't see the entire picture. Luckily, my father was a SM for several years, so I remember (very well) the nights and weekends that he was away from home for training or other meetings. Regards, Darren

local1400, I guess the "following college" comment was a little confusing. Five years following college would have been more accurate. Regarding where I have been... Started at Purdue in fall of 1993, Completed 2 Engineering majors and 3 co-op work sessions in Ohio and Kentucky that helped pay for school, along with summer jobs every year from 1991-1999. Graduated from Purdue in December of 1999, Remained in the Lafayette area (near Purdue) from January 2000 - July 2005 in order to get work experience for licensing as a Professional Engineer and Registered Land Surveyor. Got licensed in late 2004 and early 2005, respectively, Moved back to our hometown in July of 2005. I am currently 31 years old and my wife and I are debt free...well from our college expenses anyway! Regards, Darren Norrington Mitchell, Indiana

I truly appreciate everyone's input. Although I am not sure why, the troop apparently has not offered to do this in the past. My initial concern was that if I brought it up to pay for one person, the others might feel overlooked or cheated, but as I should have expected, they are quite supportive of doing this. The individual has paid almost 70% of the cost already, but is struggling to come up with the remainder plus cover his son's summer camp expenses. His son just crossed over into the troop, and the Pack only allowed a limited amount of his popcorn profit to transfer. Not that I completely disagree with them, as this is their choice, but it is challenging to set up fundraisers so close to our departure date for summer camp. Setting a precedence can go both ways. We live in a lower-income area, and I am surprised that this does not come up more often regarding adults. We occasionally help youth attend summer camp, as to deny them the opportunity would defeat our entire purpose. Our Charter Organization may be willing to help out as well, since he will soon be our Scoutmaster. Again, I really appreciate your input! Regards, Darren Norrington Mitchell, Indiana

Sorry, I posted before I was finished. The individual that will become our Scoumaster recently lost his job and had to take a lower paying one with a significant increase in health insurance costs and commute expenses. I see so much potential from this person! I feel that the troop should help cover his Wood Badge fee, mainly due to the fact that he will be our Scoutmaster soon, and partially due to his financial issues. I plan to pay for myself completely and the other two individuals have indicated the same. They understand the situation and seem quite supportive. The troop has the money to pay for everyone, but the three of us feel that we can pay our own way. I am looking for input from others before discussing this at our Committee meeting in a couple of weeks. I would like to know what other Troops do in general and in specific cases like this. Does your troop pay a percentage or cover the entire amount. In Scouting, Darren Norrington Mitchell, Indiana

Greetings, I am new to this forum, but not to Scouting. I began my Scouting career in 1982 (The Year of the Tiger), and continued through the rank of Eagle. After finally returning home following college, I have become an active part of my troop again, currently serving as the Committee Chairman. We have a lot of work to do in the upcoming year, but things are looking good. One question recently came up regarding Wood Badge. Should the troop help cover the cost of attending Wood Badge, which is $215.00. Surprisingly, there are four of us in the troop that plan to attend this fall. Three of us are on the Troop Committee, with the fourth being the individual who will become our Scoutmaster following summer camp. This individual recently