Posted on 01/23/2006 3:56:02 PM PST by Coleus
Monmouth Boy Scouts to Charge Annual Fee
(MARLBORO, N.J.) The Monmouth Council of Boy Scouts will start charging a $52 annual membership fee, beginning March 15.
Previously, parents paid a one-time registration fee.
The group says it needs the money to help erase more than $1 million in debt that was caused by expenses and professional fees.
The group also is asking parents to match the fee with a voluntary donation.
Families with more than one Boy Scout will get a 25 percent discount on each additional child.
Membership in the Scouts has been on the decline in recent years.
Monmouth BSA
A very sad thing to hear. So, now boys can experience the great outdoors by riding in their Mom's mini-van down to the soccer field. There they can run back and forth for awhile and have absolutely no idea what they are doing.
Meanwhile, the boys that are members of Scouting will be learning things like lifesaving, swimming, hiking, camping, survival, and so much more.
Remember, send donations to Scouting and not United Way.
This is a consequence of the existence of the ACLU.
Scouts need help!!! My FOS contribution was $250.
If you can get your hands on a current copy of Boy's Life there is a great story about a doctor using his BSA taught skills to save numerous lives. It is a truly amazing story. The MD is an Eagle scout.
Bring it on, ACLU. You will lose.
I'll find this council and send them a donation.
Thanks for all you do for Scouting! You're a hero, Sand. Never forget it.
Winter camp is great, and only $55.
My youngest son and oldest daughter (in a Venture crew) sold popcorn like crazy this year, however, and because of how well they did ($740 in sales) one of our Scouts has his dues, winter camp, and summer camp paid for this coming year.
Scouting can be affordable if you work at it. And it is so worth it!!
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And the Cub Scouts have had female "den mothers" forever.
The one sponsored by my conservative Baptist church did back in the mid-60's, so that's nothing new. Female Scoutmaster, that's a different thing altogether. The guys in Scouting age need strong male role models.
There was a second, more troublesome issue with that troop. The parents were constantly in "raising money" mode and the troop was off to very expensive outings every month. Nice people with a champagne budget and tastes in activities. It was an order of magnitude beyond anything I ever experienced in my own PTA sponsored troop.
I really dislike those kinds. Have you ever seen that post, the myths about Eagle, or something like that? I'll go find it and post it here for you. It's great, imo.
Statistics are dangerous. Used properly statistics can build, motivate and serve as guidelines; however, if not used carefully, they will destroy confidence, make tasks seem impossible or improbable, and even serve as a crutch for justifying failure.
Generally speaking, young men know no bounds. Restrictions and decreased motivation are most often an environmental phenomenon created by leaders. While only three percent of scouts may achieve their Eagle rank, this is nothing more than a statistic. It should only be used as praise for a young man who has soared.
The statistic is not meant as a limiting factor - do not use it as one. Do not let the young men reason that the troop has already awarded its 3% quota of Eagles so they may now cease work. Every scoutmaster, scouting coordinator, committee chairman, committee member, and chartered organization leader should have as their goal a troop of 100% Eagle Scouts. To say that it cannot or should not be done is the first great myth.
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE MYTH
Most people who subscribe to the myth that only a few boys should be Eagles base their belief on the qualifications and expectations that are attached to a young man who wears the Eagle badge. To wear the Eagle badge, a young man must be mature, highly motivated, goal oriented, have developed leadership skills and woodsman skills, exhibit a high degree of citizenship, demonstrate a loyalty to his God, and exhibit a positive self image. That's a formidable task, yes, a task not achieved by many young men. However, with the right leadership it is a task within the reach of every young man, and it is upon this premise that I base my analysis of effective programs. The first leadership truth is that every young man within the reach of an effective scoutmaster can and should be an Eagle Scout.
Having been involved in scouting leadership for years, the response to that statement is anticipated. Immediately after declaring my first leadership truth I am usually criticized about my opinion of scouting and blasted with a number of applied limitations. An applied limitation is a limitation that only exists because someone in authority has applied the limitation to a person. For example, if a young man is constantly told he is not mature enough he will attach that limitation and point to it as the reason why he does not succeed. Over and over again I have seen young scouts enter the scouting program at eleven years of age with the motivation of a freight train traveling at full speed, only to have some leader figuratively grab hold of the boy's coat tails and tell him to slow down. "slow down or you will burn out." "Twelve-year-old boys are not mature enough to be Star Scouts." "You cannot work on that merit badge, you aren't old enough." Or, in the case of older scouts, "you don't have the ability to catch up with the scouts your age; just come on the camps with us." These, and all other applied limitations form the misconceptions that stand in the way or "limit" a troop from being a 100% Eagle Troop. The simple truth is that 100% of the troop can be Eagle Scouts, and leaders should not be embarrassed at a high level of advancement. Eagle Scouts are in fact the ultimate goal (but not the final or only goal) of the system, because the Eagle award embodies the skills and moral characteristics inherent in the program.
The text above was reprinted from a book titled: "On Tender Feet and Eagles' Wings" by Kevin R. Murray
In our new troop he went from Scout to First Class in about nine months and is about to go Star. He dove in hard after being told that and also has about 20 merit badges now.
We were upset when it happened and hated changing troops, but now we think it may have been terrific motivation for him.
I said this because it's in there too - Or, in the case of older scouts, "you don't have the ability to catch up with the scouts your age; just come on the camps with us."
What we think we learned from that lesson is that a good SM, and we have a really great one now, is the bottom line.
The article about bad advice is clearly something experienced by many scouts. My #2 son definitely has the tenacity. He has financed his degree in business by selling real estate. As a 22 year old licensed real estate broker, he is well positioned to pursue his interest in law school. He plans to do that in the Fall of 2007 after his commitment to the USMC is complete.
We're trying. Constant rain is keeping us from completing Pers. Fitness and Cycling.
He's got First Aid, E Prep, all three Citizenships, Env Sc., Family Life, and is working on Communications.
We're hoping by fall he'll have everything but Pers. Management.
When you run into a resource limit, divert the energy to a merit badge that holds a particularly keen interest. Snap them up as rapidly as time permits.
Good strategy! Thanks.
It's awful about your son. A loss to the troop and to Scouting!
I have seen young Scouts like the article describes and hope they are being carefully nurtured.
Last spring I had a 15 yo Scout in my Animal Science group at a weekend MB event. He took it because he was already Eagle at 13(I think?) and had now some 70 plus merit badges, but not yet Animal Science.
I had a keen interest in electricity in kindergarden. The bell and buzzer circuits that were common in "science fair" stuff in 6th grade were the subject on my "show and tell" in kindergarden. Both electricity and electronics are great "rainy day" things to do inside. You can get the basic parts at Radio Shack.
You obviously have a computer in the house. The computer merit badge is a good indoor activity too. The weather merit badge is a quick one too.
Look over the requirements here. Quicker and cheaper than chasing down a printed copy.
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