News & Notes – December 2022

A few items to close out the year:

Do a Good Turn, but do the right thing

It’s the Scouting way to Do a Good Turn Daily, and to help others at all times. At the holiday season, we often turn to those outside our units to give assistance. Scouts collect food items for our food banks and homeless shelters, provide assistance to our chartered organizations with their events, or help the school with their holiday fair. But be careful that you don’t run afoul of the Boy Scouts of America’s rules when it comes to helping others. Continue reading “News & Notes – December 2022”

Scouting reimagined

Our Friends of Scouting theme last year was Imagine… The conversation revolved around imagining not just what Scouting could help your son or daughter realize, but to also imagine what the world would be like without Scouting.

As the Boy Scouts of America proceeds into bankruptcy proceedings as it struggles with the fallout from decades of improperly handling abuse allegations by volunteers, we can actually begin to realize what the world would be like if Scouting – the organization, not the movement – were no longer around. And even though bankruptcy is intended to shield the remaining assets, it’s not inconceivable that Scouting as we know it could diminish to the point where it is no longer sustainable.

The national organization is taking some steps to try to shore up its revenue and its membership. Continue reading “Scouting reimagined”

Q&A: Chartered organizations, adult training

Time to open the mailbag and answer a couple more of your questions.

First, from the chartered organization representative of a Cub Scout pack:

We’re chartered by the Parent-Teacher Association of the elementary school that we serve. Up until now, the PTA has been a affiliated with the school, but they are separating and the PTA is becoming a separate entity. They are filing to become a non-profit organization with the IRS. Do we need to take any action or file any charter paperwork with the council?

Continue reading “Q&A: Chartered organizations, adult training”

Q&A: Why recharter in December; extending youth registration

questionmark_200Time for answers to a couple more of your questions.

Why do we recharter in December?

Fall is the time that we recruit for Cub Scouting. Many troops and crews recruit new members in the fall as well. So with all these applications coming in, and with our packs renewing their members for the coming Scouting year, I have been asked why we don’t just renew our charters in September and get it over with, rather than having to go through the roster audit process a few months later.

As a practical matter, that may seem to make sense. Continue reading “Q&A: Why recharter in December; extending youth registration”

Scouting’s triangles

District-Key-3-PatchA triangle is the simplest two-dimensional figure and is one of the strongest in nature. The world is made of triangles, from honeycombs to bridge trusses. Three is a magic number in many ways beyond the familiar Bob Dorough song popularized in the TV series Schoolhouse Rock, including within the Scouting movement.

This past week, Bryan Wendell, Scouting Magazine’s editor, posted on his blog an item about the Scouting triangle from Scouter Michael Dulle, likening it to the triangle of fire. In the triangle of fire, you need to have fuel, oxygen and ignition. If any one of these is missing, you can’t have a fire. His Scouting triangle consists of youth, program and trained adults. Same thing – if a side goes missing, the movement falls apart.

This is just one of the triangles in Scouting, though. There are many more situations where three is the magic number that keeps us moving Continue reading “Scouting’s triangles”