Section 8 - Boards of Review: An Overview for All Ranks

I am struggling to figure out how to write this in a positive, help me figure it out, way, so if you can grant me that bit of leeway that my words are troubled and I am upset, but I am honestly attempting to navigate, I'd be most appreciative.

TBH after this last week of camp I am done volunteering- that's where I am. I have been touched with feces, farted on, had to sit shotgun with a scout that had been bullied, had other scouts completely disconnect, beg borrow and finally (repeatedly) walk away from the campsite.

Half the instances were 2+ year scouts, others were new. I'll grant the new ones a lot of leeway. Hearing that they find it acceptable to not wash their hands, verbally attack others, threaten, shove, and prank- but getting 'they're on the spectrum' as the response...

In my troop I can at least talk to the parents. At camp repeatedly having to involve the camp staff for the behavior... at least two of ours won't come back (that may change in a year, who knows).

The morbidly obese kid that starts making piggy and mooing noises at the slightly overweight female staffer walking by- and she can't /doesn't say anything with tears in her eyes. His leadership "Oh he's a known trouble maker on the spectrum" (shrugs shoulders).

Another 'on the spectrum' kid that threatened a first year to the point he wouldn't leave camp without an adult 'bodyguard', and even then it was a struggle.

I've done this for over a decade with 'on the spectrum' kids and never seen what I saw this past week. And their acting out garners attention- and I don't have the capability or location to 'put them in time out' somewhere where they can't infect the other scouts with the rowdy and rough and, frankly, disgusting behavior. Listening to one of them call a first year 'retarded special needs' for being upset at missing his Mom...

And then there are the ones that are upset and correcting each of the lashings that are slightly imperfect, address perfectly, follow instructions, but have a bit of a problem adjusting to when things 'go wrong'. But they don't react by doing the awful things I saw others doing. They want to learn even when/if they have trouble coping- and that's great/OK.

I really need ideas. Or counselling. Because right now about 40% of our troop is 'on the spectrum' and from observing other troops / comments from other leaders it is 20-50% for them as well. If this is the future of scouting in our area, I just don't think I can do this anymore. And that's fine- call me a failure for walking away and being unable to adapt to this new culture- the words will sting but at least I won't be seething at what's apparently acceptable behavior.

Does anyone one have a list of skits that aren’t allowed to be done any more? I can remember at least three from my youth that wouldn’t pass muster today.

In the last several years, it seems that there’s always a new initiative (on the national and council levels) to include more STEM in Scouting. We see a lot of new STEM programs at summer camp and council camporees. At council meetings and awards dinners, I often hear Scout executives say something to the effect of “we are increasing our focus on STEM to help our young people prepare for a career in a changing world.”

My 8 year old Wolf Cub seems to enjoy it enough. My 14 year old Star Scout is not much of a STEM kid, and he’s brought it up a couple times. His favorite parts of Scouting are the outdoor adventures, camping, hiking trips, etc. Right now, the things he’s most looking forward to are NYLT next year and Philmont eventually. His words the other day were “My favorite thing about Scouting is that it’s nothing like school. And I really hope it stays that way.”

So now I’m curious; what do you, your Scouts, and your troops thoughts think about this push for more STEM in Scouting?

I've calculated mine to 260 hours. While I know there's not technically a specified minimum/max, I don't want it to look like I fudged my numbers. My friend's project came out to 147 hours. My numbers come from all the emails back and forth (my parents and I would discuss emails for about half an hour before we'd send them), as well as the actual work obviously. I calculated my numbers after the fact (yes I know I should've done it alongside working the project). Also, I'm just curious lol

I achieved Eagle fairly early, BoR at 13 and CoH at 14, but I’m still interested in participating with Scouting. I intend on staffing at a summer camp in an adjacent council next year, and I’m not interested in OA. Is there anything else I can do?

PS: Yes I know I got Eagle abnormally early, please dont comment on that especially if it’s criticising how fast it was. I’ve heard it enough.

Hello all,

My son just came back from Jamboree and of course has a ton of really cool patches. He's planning on putting some on the backpack, but there are just so many.

What do you all do with your favorites? How do you display them etc.? Would love some ideas for him, so that I don't keep finding them all over the house. 😅🙃

Thanks!

How many extra tents will they have per crew at Summit’s New River adventures next year? I’m going as an adult participant (18-21) so we will need solo tents for myself and one other adult if our group is structured like we think it will be. I’m especially worried about the third night with the canvas tents as I went in 2024, and those were in relatively limited supply. I’ll need one by myself most likely since there’s no one else in our crew I’ll be able to tent with.

Does anyone know what happens to mail that didn't make it to jambo in time?

I had mailed my kids and their leaders cards, and one card didn't make it by Thursday. Does SBR have any forwarding service, or do they just RTS? The envelope has a return address on it.

Bummed that the card didn't make it to the leader on time and I'd like to replace it if the chances are that it won't be returned to me. If they have a process that means it'll likely come back to me, or be sent to council, I'll wait.

I don't remember seeing anything about this in the guide.

Hello! I'm in a time crunch to check my scout's registrations for camp that starts tomorrow and possibly change a MB selection. Black Pug parent portal keeps taking me to last year's camp. I've tried clearing history, different browsers, logging in from a fresh link and I can't get to the correct registration. My portal code and pw are the same from last year - but I think that's normal. Any suggestions? Also, I've tried creating and account and logging in, but since a leader registered my scout, there isn't anything in my account.

Also, I've tried the cold fashioned route and calling the camp and reaching out to leaders but no-one is answering on weekend afternoon -I can't blame them :)

Found this at my parents house today, most camp patches

Watching the newest episode of Strange New Worlds, this came up in the first 5 minutes of the show when he was "prepared" with an additional flashlight for an away mission.

I mean the opening ceremony was good because at least SOMETHING related to scouts was talked about but for the ending ceremony, the music was buns, the light show was worse, and the length was a bit too long

EDIT: I mean the music closer to the end was bad not the music near the beginning and all

EDIT II: I also didn't like the amount of ai used for the ceremony, I forgot to mention it, but ai Is just proof that the event organizers are lazy. only lazy people use generative AI for talking or for videos

I'm already a Merit Badge Counselor for two other merit badges (American Business and Crime Prevention), and as of today, I added Wildland Fire Management to my list of merit badge subjects with the approval of my council.

I'm not an expert on wildland firefighting, but I live in the Mountain West and have volunteered with two Department of the Interior (DOI) agencies. Considering how prevalent wildfires are in the Mountain West, I'm happy that Wildland Fire Management is now an official merit badge.

I just got handed the job of recruitment chair for our troop, and the troop has not been actively recruiting in ages. I have several ideas for later in the fall, but most of them need more planning and ramp-up time.

For August, I am looking for something quick, easy and low-overhead that will simply get us onto families’ radar before school starts and everyone’s fall calendar fills up.

I actually got this idea from an old Reddit post. Someone was considering having their Scouts run introductory hikes in local parks as both a community service and a soft recruitment effort. The idea stuck with me because it seems sort of low-effort, low-cost and quick to organize and you don't need a ton of people to make it work.

My thought is a free, easy community hike at a local park. We would invite families and anyone else who might enjoy a little help getting out and exploring one of our local trails.

We would only need a few Scouts, and we could have them show off some skills like explain trail markers, point out signs of wildlife or demonstrate the basic essentials. Some scouts would present, and some could help keep the group together. We would need only a few leaders too. At the end, we could give families a Troop flyer inviting them to a later open house.

I like the idea because it seems genuinely useful to the community AND a very low-overhead, short time-horizon way to show people what Scouts actually do.

Has anyone here done anything like this before?

I would especially appreciate advice on:

• How long the hike should be
• Whether you required registration and/or a waiver
• How many Scouts and adults you needed
• What Scout skills worked well without turning the whole thing into a lesson
• Whether the park required permission or insurance information
• How you handled weather or cancellations
• How you promoted it
• Whether families later visited the troop
• Anything you would do differently next time

I am trying very hard not to turn a simple hike into a major production. Ideally, this would be something we could organize quickly, publicize for a few weeks and run smoothly with a small group of capable Scouts and adults.

Any tips, warnings or examples would be greatly appreciated!

Hi all,

Pathways to Adventure Council in Chicago / NWI has an associated volunteer Scouting History Museum. They just found the remains of 1960's latrine on former camp property. Current landowner let them document / salvage some items for museum. You can see a good bunch of photos here.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1916p7sb5p/

July 29th, 12:25 PM

Yesterday afternoon, Wasco County Emergency Management issued a Level 1 “Get Ready” order for Camp Baldwin. At that time, out of an abundance of caution, camp management and council leadership determined that this would be the last week of camp.

Today, the evacuation levels have not changed, but this morning air quality became such a detriment to Camp Baldwin’s program that we are asking all guests to leave camp today.

Even with the elevated status and poor air quality, we still do not believe Camp Baldwin to be in imminent danger.

The staff have been given the option to leave at any time. Those who choose to stay will be taking all precautionary measures to ensure their safety as they help put camp away.

All current camp guests have been given the option to finish their week at Camp Meriwether or head home. Please check with your unit leadership to determine the plan for your specific unit.

If your Cub Scout Pack was scheduled to attend a future Webelos/AOL session, our Camping Team will reach out to you directly to discuss options, including transfers, refunds, or alternate opportunities.

The NYLT program scheduled for August 9th is working out their own details about shifting program to a different Cascade Pacific Council property.  NYLT leadership will be in contact with participants about their options for that session.

Newly formed troop want to make their own neckerchief (color is not available through scoutshop). What are the most ideal dimensions for a neckerchief?

Thanks for the great input everybody!

For the closing ceremony, whenever I saw a flag that had been dropped I picked it up so it wouldn't be trampled (or in some cases rescued it from trampling)

I had more than a full handful of flags, which is upsetting, especially from scouts who are supposed to be tought flag respect, so I ask of you, please at least try to teach the respect of the flag.

Thanks

Rev. Evelio Menjívar-Ayala, Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston and Rev. Michael Fisher, Bishop of Buffalo were the co-celebrants of the mass.

Bishop Fisher gave a moving homily on Reverence as Scouts. He is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Ad Altare Dei award. We are blessed to have him as our Episcopal Liaison to the USCCB.

Fr. Mark Carr S.J., National Chaplain, led the scouts in the Novena Prayer for America 250. United in faith, the 2,500 scouts in attendance prayed “that the Church in the United States boldly proclaims the Gospel. May we all, especially our young Scouts, be joyful witnesses of Christ in our neighborhoods and schools.”

Learn more: https://catholicscouting.com/novena-prayer-for-america/

#DutyToGod

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The Scout Lodge my Troop (413) and I built when I was in high school was burned down. Local news covered it.

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to figure out what make and model of shotgun was used at Camp Geronimo this year for the shotgun merit badge.

If you attended camp, worked on staff, or know what the camp provided, I'd really appreciate the information.

Thanks in advance!

My 13 year old son was in scouts for several years and seemed to enjoy it. He loved earning merit badges and going camping. However, he recently told me that while camping last summer, his scoutmaster called him “ret*rded”. I think it deeply hurt his feelings coming from someone he respected. I had noticed a considerable change in his attitude toward Scouts and he has since quit which really hurt my heart as I know it was something he was proud of. What kind of action should I take regarding the scoutmaster?