SMs and ASMs must be very careful about how they work with their own sons. You don’t want to be too pushy or helpful, but you don’t want to ignore them either. The best thing is to support and follow the rules. When we follow policy and rules we take ourselves out of the situation.

If it’s the rule that SPLs and OA candidates are elected by the Scouts, then they are elected by the Scouts. We don’t second guesss, gripe, moan or complain about it. There is a reason why it is the way that it is and because we are Scouters we get on board.

If it’s a rule or policy that we stick our noses into something then it’s time to get involved. Registered SMs and ASMs perform SM Conferences. Not Committee Members or senior Scouts or the Mayor. It’s SMs and ASMs. We have to look at the bigger, overall picture and trust that following the program will produce the desired results.

I took the advice of a good friend, the same friend who brought his OA election staff to my troop meeting. He saw the potential issues, and recommended a course of action, which I used, as I had no previous experience.

The ASM is still sideways a bit…he thinks that both boys should have 100% of the ‘yes’ votes and that’s it. The scout does know, and is pretty impartial to it…meaning that he could take it or leave it, in regards to the election…which in my eyes, translates into maybe not being OA-worthy. This scout does a great job all around, but sometimes service up and beyond, isn’t his forte.

Here, our lodge let’s the Scoutmasters do what they feel is right for their unit…telling them the night of, or holding that information back until Summer Camp, Spring Conference or Fall Conference. In short, I agree with what my friend gave me advice on…this way, the scout can plan a bit more when it comes to doing his ordeal. I gave him his options, he thought about it, and chose the Spring Conference. That way, he can plan his schedule, have his ordeal done in the presence of all of his OA brothers, and not have to miss a partial day of summer camp activities to complete his ordeal.

Thanks for watching over me, Jerry…it’s good to know that my upstart troop is still catching your eye, and that you are watching my progress…we are getting there…

Slow and steady wins the race…

But my question is: Were there no Scouts who could get out the compasses and teach the compass skills? Did the SPL “really” need the SMs help setting up a fire? While they were out on the lake doing compass stuff, were cozily ensconced on the front porch, with a cup of coffee, observing from a distance? Just asking.

No dig noticed

I commented to another ASM that I would rather just 10-12 Crossovers this year of a quality Scout then 25 of herd mentality…a mom of a Scout (and pack leader of a local unit) heard and pissed in my ear. While I wanted to tell her (and the ASM did) was that if she did not like it, she could take her son and find another Troop. What I said was that I would love to take all the Webelos but we got to save some for the other units, big smile. The ASM I was talking with gave her an earful (listening to others talk, etc)…I had to stifle a laugh and walk away.

Don’t worry about a couple of boys who did not come to your troop. Worry about your program.

There are two perspectives when crossing over, the boy’s and the parent’s. For the time being, I am going to say that the boy’s perspective does not matter. He only wants one thing at 11 years old, and that is to have FUN.

Now from a parents perspective you are looking for a troop that your son and hopefully you are going to be involved with for the next five or six years.

The Arrow of Light Award requires that the scout and his parent(s) visit, a Boy Scout troop he might like to join and also have a conference with the Scoutmaster. Unfortunately, I have never seen anything in the WEBELO’s handbook that explains to a parent what he should be looking for in a troop. This is very important, especially if the parent was never involved in an active scout troop.

So what should the parent be looking for and why?
• There should be at least 20 active scouts in the troop. This allows for at least 3 or 4 patrols, which will allow for patrol competitions and boys in all the ranks to help teach new scouts the skills they will need.
• How many assistant Scoutmasters, and Committee members, are at the meeting? Assistant Scoutmasters are needed to support events and patrols. One assistant Scoutmaster for every 8-10 scouts is usually a good ratio
• Are there boys over a wide range of ages? A lot of young boys could indicate a troop that is either recently growing or is having problems retaining older boys. If the troop has a lot of older scouts then it will indicate there’s something going on that makes them want to stay.
• How many scouts have earned Eagle in the past few years. If scouts are not earning Eagle, that should be a warning.
• How are the patrols organized? New scouts should be kept together to start, but then be integrated into existing multi-age patrols. This allows the new scouts to learn from the older scouts.
• What goes on in troop meetings? The agenda for each meeting should be prepared and run by the Senior Patrol Leader. Meetings should have an opening, time for scout skills, fun time, planning for events, a scoutmaster minute, and closing. The key thing is that you should see the troop being run by the scouts, not the scoutmaster or other adults. If you do not see this happening it should cause you concern.
• Ask about the troops Journey to Excellence report for the recent year. Ask about the troops retention, advancement, service projects, budget, trained leadership, outings every month, etc.
• Does the troop have a web page and is it updated frequently so that information is available to the boys and their families?
• Does the troop have an annual plan that was developed by the PLC and approved by the committee?
• What participation and training is expected of parents? You should hear that adults are required to complete Youth Protection Training before interacting with the scouts. Troops also need a few adults to serve as Asst. Scoutmasters or Committee members
• How is fund raising is done?
• How are the funds managed? Does each scout have his own account?
• What equipment does the troop provide and what is the scout expected to provide?
• Are both the leadership and the scouts in uniform?
• Does the troop participate in District and Council events?
If the troop is doing all of these things the will having FUN, and you will have more boys than you know what to do with. I did and the troop went from 12 to 83 boys in just three years.

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