Not In Front Of The Children ?

[Eamonn]

Our Council holds two Council Dinners, one for the North end of the Council and one for the South end. I normally attend the South dinner, held at Nemocolin Woodlands Resort. A really nice place with good food.

The dinner is $175.00 a plate or $500.00 if you want to go to meet the guest speaker and nibble on some fruit and cheese. There is a cash bar and the cost of a beer is out of sight $6.25 !! Of course at these prices no one drinks that much. The dinner is attended by adults who support the council and it is rare to see anyone in uniform. A few years back the then Council President thought it would be nice to have a few Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts present the colors, a year or so later the Scouts were involved giving everyone the thank you gift, normally a mug or a pin of some sort. Due to the high cost of meals the Scouts don't stay for the meal and are taken somewhere for pizza.

I think this is terrible. While it might be nice to see these young smiling faces, they are there as window dressing. This year when the Scout Exec. Found that one little Lad was in a wheel chair he was over the moon.

I don't see what any young Lad gains by attending. Most of the Scouts know a good many of the adults at the dinner and a good many of the adults have a drink in hand. The boys are around before the dinner and many of us do have drinks on the table when the gifts are delivered.

While I enjoy a drink and don't pass judgment on those who don't drink. I really think that this is a bad example for us to be setting.

Eamonn

[dsteele]

I have to admit that the price jumped out at me before the drinks in hand did. It sounds like the council has built a nice dinner that raises some funds.

As to the youth being there, it doesn't bother me much. Their parents know what's going on. Odds are that they have the occassional drink in front of their sons. The boys probably don't think much about it.

 

As to what the boys gain? I think they gain a nice experience in a place they would almost never see until adulthood and that it broadens their horizons. They may come to realize that there is more to Scouting than the dining fly in the rain. Some may say that the boys are being robbed of their young ideas, but I think it's part of growing up.

 

Unc.

[Fat Old Guy]

I think that the problem is that the Guide to Safe Scouting directs us to not have alcohol at Scouting events where youth are present.

 

This is related to something that happened at our district dinner a few years back. It's an adults only dinner or supposed to be. For some reason there were two Cub Scout there in uniform. What to do? The bar remained open as it was a function for adults that wound up with some uninvited youth. By the book? Maybe not but the DE didn't make a fuss.

 

 

[Proud Eagle]

This won't do. You can't serve drinks at an event with kids. It is clearly a violation of the Guide to Safe Scouting.

 

 

Now if at an adults only event some un-invited guests show up, then I would say you don't really haven any choice but to go on. Chances are the contract for the facility included the bar being open, and so closing it would be a breach of contract.

 

 

It would be far better if these youth were recognized in some other way. In our council there is a recognition/awards/Eagle dinner. All the Eagle's for the year are recognized, as are any Silver Beavers, and any James West Fellowships there may be that year are presented. This function is always very nice and it would be a great place to recognise a special youth.

 

However, a fund raising event is no place for youth recognition.

 

Another idea on these fund raisers, especially when they have special speakers, is for the council to not technically host them. Have some of your friends of Scouting host it with all proceeds going to Scouting. That way, if someone brings there kid to hear the great speaker that year, and someone decideds to have a drink, no problem (at least with the G2SS).