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2 Vote On Idea I suggest that instead of having two main meetings a year which need to be traveled to, Top Hands and the National meeting, that those two meetings be combined to a one location, week-long or 6 day meeting.
The hiking Stick or Stave or staff traditionally has been a part of Scouting. Baden Powell talked of the hiking stick and its many uses when he started the Scouting Movement. The Hiking stick is made of strong wood, not just any old stick, it is solid and steadfast.
The Boy Scouts of America celebrated its 99th anniversary on Sunday, February 8. That is a lot of advancement being earned, service projects being done, and boys learning about being physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. I still believe that Scouting is one of the best organizations that a boy and young man can…
2 Vote On Idea 1) Has any consideration been given to eliminating the requirement that units must still submit paper copies of advancement reports to the Council Service Center? 2) Our council requires troops to provide the counselor's name for each merit badge that is submitted.
New Active Game for Cub Scouts
I love the Die Hard movies. I'm a big fan of Bruce Willis. I recently watched "Live Free or Die Hard. " (Yes, it was like the eleventh time.) In the movie there is a bit of dialogue and being the Hero or "That Guy".
1 Vote On Idea In order to keep a clean merit badge list, back ground check, and youth protection standard. We should charge a nominal fee for Merit badge counsselors. The national Scoutnet does not work in keeping this list current.
Boy Scouts from all over Texas converged on Austin to celebrate 99 years on Saturday. The 60th anniversary of the parade consisted of 3,000 scouts. After the parade, which ends at the State Capital, the Scouts made their Report to the State.
1 Vote On Idea In order to help data management, make unit leader lists easily portable to excel files.. Currently we have to do one group at a time... for instance, all Scoutmasters, All ASM, etc. One at a time. Comments (0) Category/Tags : Volunteers (23) Mark as duplicate
Lord Robert Baden Powell Scouting and Life Trivia Questions 1. When was baden powell born? 2. He was the _______ son and _____ out of ten children. 3. What military unit was Baden Powell comissioned into bypassing the normal officer training establishments?
B-P's Last Message B-P prepared a farewell message to his Scouts, for publication after his death. The message follows... "Dear Scouts - If you have ever seen the play "Peter Pan" you will remember how the pirate chief was always making his dying speech because he was afraid that possibly when the time came for him…
Here is a Short Introduction to Lord Baden Powell put together by the WOSM or the World Organization of the Scouting Movement. Hopefully you will enjoy the video clip. Yours in Scouting Mark W Junior Assistant Scoutmaster Troop 1616
This course which is known as New Leader Essentials is soon to be replaced by a course called "This is Scouting". This course will be accessible through your My Scouting Account under the Online Learning Center Section. It seems like the amount of training that is available to Scouters online is ever expanding which is…
The relaunched ScoutParents website has some helpful summaries of the ScoutParents program effective September 1, 2008. The goal of ScoutParents is to improve scout recruitment and retention by getting more parents involved and committed to the success of their son's scouting journey.
With 50 scouts in the troop and a new batch of 15 joining this month, we're finally forced to face the 'going green' issue. We can no longer purchase red shoulder loops, red troop numerals, or red Trained patches. Fortunately, it's ok to put the loops and patches on the older khaki shirts so scouts…
#173-Listen To What The Man Said Our Report To State parade, a Trail's End popcorn recall, video games, a new recruiting campaign, a cool crossover bridge idea, an Innovation Group update, and deciding on a week to go to Philmont are on on tap for this, another long show.
In the great Northwest where I live, I met a mountain man and he knew how to get many things done with very little resources. He had almost nothing to work with, but accomplished great things. Whether the task was to build a fire underwater or stop a waterfall from falling, it seemed he could…
Last December Scouting News was trying to spread the word about an essay contest being run at ascoutis.org . A Scout Is … has set up an essay contest that hopes to encourage scouts to look at their own lives and those of their fellow scouts.
You know that I love sporting analogies... In baseball the Coach or Manager always has to remember the "White Line". The "White Line" is the base line that the manager is not supposed to cross the white line during the course of the game.
New Active Game for Cub Scouts
The BSA has uniform inspection sheets available for the centennial uniforms now. The main difference is a mention about placement of patches on the sleeve pocket. But, all the inspection sheets have been updated and a couple new ones created. There are now sheets for Cub Scout , Webelos , Boy Scout , and Adult Leader . Scout On
As on outgrowth of an 18-month process aimed at establishing a permanent home for its iconic event, the national Scout jamboree, the Boy Scouts of America announced today that it will enter negotiations with sites in Virginia and West Virginia to explore the vision of a National Scouting Center.
0 Vote On Idea Needs to allow District Commissioners, ADSC's and District Executives to enter "visit" info for all units in their Districts. Comments (1) Category/Tags : District and Council Operations (4) Mark as duplicate
It's that time of year again where the volunteers go out and solicit for funding for the world's oldest youth movement. Friends of scouting is upon us and the program cannot survive without the additional funding from families and the corporate world.
National Hall of Leadership A one time opportunity during the 100th birthday of the Boy Scouts of America to recognize a outstanding scout, Leader, or any person who has served in a scouting position that has deeply impacted not only the scouting program but the world through their extraordinary leadership abilities.
1. February 22, 1857 2. sixth; eight 3. 13th Hussars 4. Aids to Scouting 5. Brownsea Island 6. 1908 7. Six individual fortnightly parts 8. more than 35 languages 9. Age 53 10. Peter, heather, Betty 11. Chief Scout of the World 12.
It makes you cheerful that I'm continuing this series of posts. Come on, you can admit it. This seems like such an easy element of the scout law for the scouts to live up to? Then tell me why it is that so many of so many don't always appear to do it?
Can you Name all 121 of the Merit Badges in under ten minutes? The Best I got is 92 Merit Badges, maybe you can do better. If you want a challenge for you and your scouts visit the following sporcle page by clicking here.
Here is a new Happy Birthday patch ($1.19) available from BSA Supply Group. Link Posted in CUB SCOUTS, Patches
So easy even a Soutmaster can do it. Fresh Fruit Plate - strawberries, cantaloupe, green and red grapes Rinse strawberries and grapes. Using scissors, cut the bunches of grapes into serving clusters. Slice the melon in half lengthwise. Remove seeds. With a sharp knife, shove off cantaloupes husk.Cut into wedges, about eight per half.
2 Vote On Idea I was chatting with my barber about how he had over 10 different subscriptions to various magazines from Sports Illustrated to People Magazine. I was curious because I thought it must have cost him a fortune to keep all those subscriptions current, but he said they were free to him.
I just love a Good Turn! I figure the more I can do, the more examples I have to share with the scouts. I got to do a fun good turn last Friday by volunteering to assist with a 4th grade school outing to a local park.
The Sauk Centre Herald is a weekly newspaper published in the city of Sauk Centre, which is the first town to the west of Melrose, the city I call home. The Herald is one of three local newspapers that does a good job of supporting the local Scout troops and packs.
1 Vote On Idea Could District Advancement chairs be given an account to the Internet Advancement system where they could learn about the system themselves, as well as potentially monitor unit-level advancement? The current ScoutNet reports are cumbersome and hard to understand for a volunteer and don't give too much detail.
0 Vote On Idea I've had the same password for my e-mail account since I started working for the BSA about eight years ago. I can't think of any other password that I don't change or update on a regular basis.
0 Vote On Idea Offer youth the option of membership in the Boy Scouts of America till age 21 with a discount for paying in full. A parent could register a first grader for 12 or 14 years, for example.
1 Vote On Idea In addition to the castels/ forts etc in the Cub and Webelos program, why not create a "body movement" (think kinestetics or proprioception) activity area. This would be a location in camp where the child could go to learn the proper body movements to: Throw or catch a ball Do a…
0 Vote On Idea On MyBSA Home Page - Funding Tab - Key Indicators Tab Change report printing set up to allow CNCL KeyFin Operations Report, CNCL KeyFin Debt and Account Report and CNCL KeyFin Cash Management Report to be printed on one sheet.
Hello fellow Scouters, There are so many den games on the Internet, and sometimes it is difficult to know if a game is fun or not. I personally like to hear about fun games that have been played in a den meeting.
2 Vote On Idea Who cares what kids think? Other kids. Let's set up a camera at the Scouting Museum, then ask visiting Scouts to sit in the video box and respond to a question such as: ...what's the biggest problem in the world today?...and what should be done?
The official BSA social networking site has surpassed 8,000 members ! As previously reported , the Scouting Community site has forums, groups, and every member has their own profile and blog. While cruising the site today, I randomly found a couple folks from my own district as well as some of the bloggers that HalfEagle is proud…
...Let's see: Scout Shirt....Check. Scout Pants...Check. Scout Socks...Check Garters and tabs ...Check and check again. Scout Belt......Check. Neckerchief...Check. Woggle ...........Check. Scout hat...... (garrison, red beret, or campaign) Check. Merit Badge sash....Check. Scout Book...Check. Progress pocket book...Check. Scout boots...Che....what!?! There were Scout hiking shoes?
A guy with a Bear stopped by this AM, turned in an app to be the asst DL... What the heck? If you are a scouter, you know what I said, if not, you may be wondering... It's all in the language...I have seen people leave the program because they don't know what the heck…
Just recently we've been having issues getting hold of badges for the sections in the Group. Our local supplier hasn't paid their bills to the Division, so they haven't been supplied with any more badges. To get round this problem, one of the Assistant Scout Leaders in the District has offered to be the District's…
Bay-Lakes Council, located in Wisconsin, will offer a week-long Wood Badge course this August, running from Monday through Saturday, to enable participation from scouters who faith practices do not permit/enable Sunday activities. It will be at Cub Scout World Camp Rokilio, near Kiel east of Lake Winnebago.
8 Vote On Idea Please have the OFFICIAL PLACEMENT OF INSIGNIA guide updated for the new uniform. Comments (0) Category/Tags : Volunteers (25) official placement of insignia Mark as duplicate
3 Vote On Idea I would like a web based list of Charter organizations. That has current membership numbers. Examples: Lions Club: sponsor Packs/ Troops/ Crews Masons have awarded so many Daniel Carter Beard Awards These are just a few examples, that show a strong national involvement that can be shared at a local level.
Updated versions of the Cub Scout, Webelos Scout, and adult leader uniform inform inspection sheets are now available. These are the first uniform inspection sheets to be issued since the 2008 introduction of the Centennial Uniform . 2008 Cub Scout Uniform Inspection Sheet (34282) 2008 Webelos Scout Uniform Inspection Sheet (34760) 2008 Adult Leader Uniform Inspection…
The April 2009 Cub Scout Monthly Theme is " Jurassic Pack ." Here is the official BSA theme description: " Explore the land before time! Imagine living in a time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. What have paleontologists learned about the great beasts that roamed the Earth millions of years ago?
Well, since my real valentine is working a long weekend, laying a floor in an office building, I have to be more creative this go round. Instead of going out with my husband, I'm choosing my son as my date tonight.
Those that follow @scoutingnews on Twitter know that I was having some difficulties with the back end of the Scouting News website. Starting on February 11th, I was unable to save new posts, which made it impossible to update the site.
Well this is interesting. I came to post this scout law element this morning all prepared with a joke about how I should have posted it before you all bought overpriced roses. However, for the first time, I was surprised with one of the definitions listed so I'm going with that instead.
While we are still waiting for an official insignia guide for the new uniforms, National has released new uniform inspection sheets which clear up the proper placement of most insignia. Adult Scout Leader Uniform Inspection Sheet (pdf) Cub Scout Uniform Inspection Sheet (pdf) Webelos Uniform Inspection Sheet (pdf) Boy Scout/Varsity Scout Uniform Inspection Sheet (pdf)…
This week has had a bit of an international flavour for me. I've have an Email from Scouter Jeremy in Canada, a couple of emails from Lotta who is a Cub Leader in Sweden (and I'm going to send her some badges tomorrow), I had a good chat (hooray for Skype!)
1 Vote On Idea I think we should look at the bear advancement program. Currently, a boy picks 12 out of 24 achievements. You have to get three from this group, and four from that group... The leftovers can be picked at for elective credits, and coupled with the real electives, it can be confusing.
4 Vote On Idea Can we look at the Tiger Cub rank badge? The older Bobcat, Wolf, and Bear badges have a 'normal' looking animal on them. But the Tiger badge looks like a cartoon drawing of the Lion King's Simba.
Building Houses and Building Lives Arrowmen In Action: Building Houses and Building Lives For many Arrowmen, the idea of a good time may be spending three days hiking in the backcountry. Many sixteen year-olds might spend their time with friends or surfing the latest music videos on MTV.
We all have ability. The difference is how we use it." - Stevie Wonder "For every person who doubts you, tell you you will fail, try twice as hard to prove them wrong." ---Unknown "The power of one man or one woman doing the right thing for the right reason, and at the right time, is…
Back in Seventeen ninety-six Is when this Holiday began For the birthday of ol' George At least that was the plan. It was his last full year Of his Presidency Born February twenty-second Or the Eleventh, 'cause you see The old calendar was different Than the one we use today And some celebrated one Some…
The National Order of the Arrow Trading Post Online now includes 2009 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) merchandise. According to the NOAC Newsletter, there is a variety of items including: - A trendy polo shirt with a discreet embroidered turtle, which makes the shirt one that can be worn whether or not you are…
One of the best things that a parent can do for a child is to help him or her be prepared to decide on an adult occupation. After all, all kids must eventually decide " What do I want to do when I grow up?
The Order of the Arrow is the BSA's national brotherhood of honor campers and has four purposes: Recognize Scout campers Develop camping traditions and spirit Promote Scout camping Promote leadership in cheerful service to others Each troop holds elections for the OA with all scouts present voting to approve or deny the membership of each…
If you enjoy the natural beauty of Philmont, you may be interested in this job opportunity that was posted on the Philmont Staff Association Website . Live and work year round under the Tooth of Time. Seeking a resident innkeeper for the Casa del Gavilan Historic Inn (The Nairn Place) in Cimarron, New Mexico.
The more rules you have in the classroom, the more time you’ll spend enforcing them. Cookie Ohlson, teacher, Prospect Park Middle School, Pennsylvania Scouters can be tempted to make troop rules, the kind of rules that end with Scouts looking for and exploiting flaws in the rule making like so many lawyers.
The secret to a successful troop ... Program, Program, Program... Well that is at least a big part of the equation when looking at a successful troop. Here is what I mean. I call it the "Field of Dreams" philosophy. IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME!
Well the news is spreading but it looks like the Jamboree will be staying in the Virginia/West Virginia Region if they go through with the negotiations that they are planning on doing. I really do not care where the jamboree is, yes it would have been nice to have it in a more central location.
The Eagle Rank represents proficiency in all Scouting skills, and is attained by only about 2 percent of all young men in Scouting. It represents a great deal of teamwork as a member and leader of a troop. You demonstrated, by living the Scout Oath and Law, in an effort to perpetuate the Scouting Spirit.
Fairly regularly when I mention to other Cub Scout leaders that our pack has a one-hour (or pretty close) Blue and Gold Banquet with food , I get the reaction "How is that possible?" It is not easy. It takes a lot of planning.
4 Vote On Idea I get questions from units asking us about the tenure a youth or adult has been in Scouting to order years of service pins. A unit should do this and if not have packmaster do it for them so they know the information.
There was a great article included in the last NOAC Update Newsletter , it was the first of what sounds like will be many Arrowmen In Action stories. Arrowmen In Action: Building Houses and Building Lives For many Arrowmen, the idea of a good time may be spending three days hiking in the backcountry.
#174-Heaven Sent A lot of Scouting news, an update on my Blue & Gold, arrow points for Tigers, marketing the 100th anniversary, FastTracks, and a cool op-ed piece. Links: New BSA Coins- http://www.beyondawards.com/bsa_coins_and_plaques.htm New BSA Stamps- ">http://www.zazzle.com/boyscouts? 2009 National Museum Pinewood Derby Race- http://www.scoutingnews.org/2009/02/08/2009-national-museum-pinewood-derby-race/ BSA to Pursue Negotiations to Establish National Scouting Center- http://www.scoutingnews.org/2009/02/11/bsa-to-pursue-negotiations-to-establish-national-scouting-center/ Happy Birthday…
Walter left a note for me on the Visitors page about his view of the OA camping requirement. The Scoutmaster ultimately decides what counts as camping or not. Walter also mentioned that he counts all days of a long-term camp towards OA - so a 10-day Jamoree would count as 10 OA camping days.
A holy man was having a conversation with God one day and said, "God , I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like." God led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.
Tonight we had our annual Troop fair where Webelos come out to visit Troops to find out what Boy Scouts is all about. We had several of our Scouts and leaders attend tonight. All our Scouts did an excellent job talking to allot of Webelos along with their parents and leaders while teaching a few…
Akela was teaching his Cub Scouts about survival in the desert. "What are the three most important things you should bring with you in case you get lost in the desert?" he asked. Several hands went up, and many important things were suggested such as food, matches, etc.
A number of Cub Scout leaders have been confused since the introduction of the Centennial Uniform in late 2008. Here are some answers to common questions about the new uniform. The sources I am using are the 2008 Uniform Guide (from BSA Supply Group), the 2008 uniform inspection sheets , and the May 2008 New Centennial…
-2 Vote On Idea It should now reflect Explorers physically showing, then total membership, then LFL below the line, as we are now being judged. What is taking so long? Comments (0) Category/Tags : Applications & Registration (29) Mark as duplicate
I received an email from a "Concerned Eagle Scout" Today. Mr. "Concerned Eagle Scout" has concerns about justifying FOS dollars. And I can appreciate "Concerned Eagle Scouts"concerns. His biggest issue seems to be the cost of Scouting. Well.. let me share his email with you.
It's been a while since I posted here. Several reasons, none of which are of great interest anymore. In any case, I hope to do better and keep it up a bit better than before. I just took over maintenance of the website, and am slowly updating things.
Hello fellow Scouters, On September 23, 2004 we held our first den meeting as Tigers. This was the second den I've led in our pack, as I went through the program with my older son. Last night, we had our last den meeting.
In January we introduced readers to a new documentary film that was in production, titled 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem . In a followup interview with the co-directors , Joshua (from BoyandGirlScouts.com ) tried to learn more about a possible release date, but it was left at Spring of 2009.
While the kids aren't wearing Cub Scout Uniforms, Subaru has a commercial that features a Pinewood Derby Race. Isn't nice when honest virtues win…
The February 2009 Cubcast from BSA National is available (free). It has ideas for den meetings and more utilizing the March " When I Grow Up " theme. The program also has a number of tips on leading kids in singing songs. Link [ Photo: Wikipedia ] Posted in CUB SCOUTS, Showmanship, When I Grow Up
3 Vote On Idea Should the paper membership card be something more substantial? Like plastic with a magnetic stripe or chip embedded? With readers placed at strategic locations seems this could facilitate a lot of things like registration at High Adventure bases, check-in and certification at training events, information at Scout Shops, etc?
Tip of the Week went a bit more techie... well it's on video anyway.. Enjoy. Have a Great Scouting Day!
LoPresti Aviation will host another in their series of "First Saturday" events in the LoPresti hangar on the north ramp of the Vero Beach airport on March 7th starting at 9 am. LoPresti First Saturday is about connecting aviation to modern America.
Hello, have just posted a new section on ClassB.com: our Eco-T program . We spent the past year working on it. Its been very challenging since half way thru many factors changed. We became aware of the CPSIA 2008 rules in early summer an this info changed some of our approach.
While we were working on the Eco-T program , we came across a cool gadget for measuring power consumption. A thought came to mind as the breaker tripped for the 100th time, how much power do the computers actually use? I bought one of these: image of kill a watt with the little orange extension cable…
We will be posting some new T-shirt designs on the trading post for sale in the next few days. Here is a preview of the upcoming designs: We will hopefully be also selling these thru the online scout store, Trailstop.com
We had our weekly Troop meeting tonight, and preparations for the Klondike Derby were well underway. The SPL had the Scouts out in the wind and cold making sure that the Troop equipment was in the trailer and in good condition.
Tuesday was the 2nd of 4 Blue Gold Cub Scout dinners I'll be visiting this month. We're pulling in a few scouts from different packs which really helps the intermingling of scouts into patrols. They feel more like it's a new start rather than just a continuation of Webelos.
Here is a new (2009) Freezing Weather emblem ($1.19) available soon from BSA Supply Group. We regularly give out participation patches in our pack to encourage attendance at special events. Link Posted in CUB SCOUTS, Patches
Recently an email has been circulating about the creation of a new youth program called "America Scouts". It is being forwarded by Volunteers and Professionals alike, and has started to appear on various websites. The copy that was forwarded to me was originally sent from an Associate Director who works at National.
8 Vote On Idea For many of the units in our council, December is charter renewal and indeed many have them to us on time. But because the end of the month is never the end of the month--these charters often are not transmitted until starting the middle of January.
13 Vote On Idea Indeed the BSA Benefits are something we hope that we never need but when we do we are thankful for the programs provided by the BSA. I have reviewed the materials and wonder why our benefits do not include wellness programs such as weight management, physical fitness, nutritional counseling, and other…
18 Vote On Idea From a new employee's perspective, it would be helpful if the National Telephone Directory included the employee's function and department in addtion to the employee's name and telephone extension. As it is currently designed, only the name and extension is included.
Welcome to Friday Funny! Every Friday, Scouting News will share a Scouting related joke with our readers. Hopefully you find it just as funny as we did! This week's joke was seen over on Scouting Maniac Akela was teaching his Cub Scouts about survival in the desert.
JOTT is fast approaching again and this year the event is Saturday, May 9 th , 2009. Jamboree on the Trail is an international scouting event where scouts and scouters take to the trails in their areas to promote scouting in the outdoors.
Most of the people I know and hangout with think the media has become obsessed with a perfect and ripped body image for males in particular. I believe that being fit and healthy is different than just looking good and being ripped.
Here are a few helpful reminders regarding the new format to the Local Tour Permit that is effective immediately: All adults on the outing who are leaders are required to have Youth Protection Training. This training is good for 2 years from date of certification hazardous Weather Training is now required for at least one…
