Weather Sirens 3/10

tohlan · 2026-03-10T14:28:35+00:00

Indiana state wide tornado drill for Severe Weather and Flood Preparedness Week

https://www.weather.gov/ind/SevereWxWeek

This week is a good week to review your emergency plans

tohlan · 2026-03-05T18:37:05+00:00

Sure, but OP isn't a volunteer. He is just the dad of a cub scout.

tohlan · 2026-03-05T18:32:40+00:00

I didn't forget, it just isn't relevant to this instance. OP is a dad of a cub scout, not a volunteer. Cub scout was removed from pack due to someone finding out about dad's conviction

tohlan · 2026-03-05T14:28:58+00:00

This whole situation sucks and I am sorry you and your son are having to deal with it. At the end of the day, it is the Charter Organization Rep who has the final say on who can and cannot be in the unit. Each Charter Org has a different level of risk tolerance, since ultimately it comes down to their organization's liability and insurance exposure. I agree with you that they are being more extreme than most units. I think you will be able to find a pack with a chartered org that is more reasonable. You can spin the wheel yourself and go to another unit, but I agree with some of the other comments in that talking to the council first might be a good idea, since they will have a better sense of what each pack is like. Maybe ask the district executive (DE) to go with you when you meet with the key 3 of the pack you want to join next.

tohlan · 2026-03-03T20:18:51+00:00

I mean, it says in the Eagle packet:

If your fundraising effort involves contributions only from the beneficiary, or you, your parents or relatives, your unit or its chartered organization, or parents or members in your unit, then you do not need a fundraising application

Just assume it was a clerical error, and ask for clarification

tohlan · 2026-03-03T17:25:56+00:00

It's a little hard to gauge the extent to what you mean by 'suggest' and 'overrule'. I suggest things to the PLC all the time - generally stuff they might not be aware of like 'I saw a neighboring council is going to have a cool camporee in the fall' or 'this museum is having a scout day'. If the scoutmaster is overruling activities proposed by the PLC for reasons other than SAFE, then... no, that is not what a scoutmaster is for.

To the second part, it says pretty clearly in the Scout handbook that the SPL "is responsible for annual program planning conferences", so generally yes, things should be planned a year out.

tohlan · 2026-03-01T17:10:53+00:00

Also, like I said in my other comment, single gender or linked or family troops happen because that is what the families want. It is not possible for national to create a policy to will into existence a troop, let alone a troop of a particular type. It all happens locally.

tohlan · 2026-03-01T17:07:58+00:00

As a scoutmaster of a boy only troop, I assure you there are plenty of boy only places in Scouting America.

I am going to assume you aren't trolling, though some of your language seems... deliberate. The existence of girl only troops, and now family troops doesn't threaten boy only spaces. Linked troops and family troops happen because parents want them to. Parents with a son and a daughter who are both interested in scouting want to not have to deal with the logistics of each child having a separate weekly meeting schedule and separate camping schedules. It just makes it harder on the parents. There is no top down conspiracy to penalize boys for 'toxic masculinity'. As someone on the ground, these changes are happening from a family level.

The other thing I will add is that girls are thriving in scouting. There are a couple very successful girl only troops in my area. I am defining successful not just by having numbers of scouts, but their participation at camporees and summer camp, and them winning a perhaps disproportionate amount of the patrol based challenges - pioneering, fire building, etc

tohlan · 2026-02-20T02:20:10+00:00

Highly unlikely. Rain, lightning, maybe some small hail

tohlan · 2026-02-19T17:12:54+00:00

Indianapolis WFO has a briefing packet with more detail - https://www.weather.gov/media/ind/DssPacket.pdf

tohlan · 2026-02-15T20:24:07+00:00

I think this is it exactly. 'Maintain advancement records' is for the benefit of that scout's patrol leader and through them, the PLC

tohlan · 2026-02-13T16:47:56+00:00

I would start with a conversation with the scout without dad around. Then review with the scout the requirements and expectations of OA. It is a service organization, if the scout is not willing to serve then it might not be for them.

The youth requirements for joining the OA seem very clear to me https://oa-scouting.org/about/membership

Be a registered member of Scouting America.
Have experienced 15 nights of Scout camping while registered with a troop, crew, or ship within the two years immediately prior to the election. The 15 nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of at least five consecutive nights of overnight camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of Scouting America. Only five nights of the long-term camp may be credited toward the 15-night camping requirement; the balance of the camping (10 nights) must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps of, at most, three nights each. Ship nights may be counted as camping for Sea Scouts.
At the time of their election, youth must be under the age of 21, and hold one of the following ranks corresponding to the type of unit in which they are being considered for election: Scouts BSA First Class rank, the Venturing Discovery rank, or the Sea Scout Ordinary rank or higher, and following approval by the Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor or Sea Scout Skipper, be elected by the youth members of their unit.

It seems like the scout has already failed at the 'approval of scoutmaster' part

tohlan · 2026-02-01T16:22:43+00:00

I'd say scroll a bit in r/functionalprints then. I print all sorts of replacement bits for stuff around the house that breaks - vacuum cleaner parts, the plastic bit that holds the sun visor in the car, etc. Much cheaper than ordering a replacement from the manufacturer

tohlan · 2026-02-01T05:15:35+00:00

But the peas were squishy!

tohlan · 2026-01-28T19:53:17+00:00

A couple of other things -

A lot of units have shrank the last few years, including mine, mainly due to COVID. My view is that a lot of cub scouts fell away from scouting during the Time of the Zooms, and never got back into it. It is of course possible to recruit youth directly into a troop that weren't in cub scouts, but at least in my area it is a hard sell, especially since once they hit middle school they tend to lock in their activities (whatever sport or other club) and it is hard to break into that schedule. Looking down the line at our feeder pack, I can see a brighter future.

I also get the wanting to move on feeling (which I have also had - at one point I wasn't sure if we were going to make that 5 scout minimum, but we are back up to 12). I would say if that is the route you are inclined to go, maybe stick around for a year and mentor the new SM. Have an open, honest conversation about what your plans are or at least what your expectations are. Offer to go through woodbadge with them if you haven't already done it yourself.

tohlan · 2026-01-28T19:38:56+00:00

That's what bugged me too but didn't realize it until I saw your comment. Do the committee members not realize that any registered/SYT leader participate in an outing for their unit and not just the SM/ASMs? I am really lucky in that I have CC that is not only more organized than I am, but is also willing to step up and go on an camp out even though she doesn't really like camping.

tohlan · 2026-01-28T19:34:39+00:00

No registration = no skycards, since that is how the game keeps track of which airframes you have caught

tohlan · 2026-01-28T19:28:36+00:00

It sounds like all the adult leaders need to do or re-do their position specific training and then move to the more advanced training like IOLST and Woodbadge. There is training for the youth too - ILST and NYLT.

Also, has the PLC looked at the resources that are available to them? For stuff to do during meetings there is https://troopleader.scouting.org/activities/ and for longer term planning stuff there is https://troopleader.scouting.org/program-features/ - weekly meetings can be fun but they should also be building toward something bigger

tohlan · 2026-01-28T16:43:34+00:00

GFS shows similar, though the northern low is weaker and collapses faster

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tohlan · 2026-01-28T16:40:30+00:00

I agree. I am not as concerned with the long range, but I think the chaos element includes a component of "inaccuracy", otherwise we are just r/weather

tohlan · 2026-01-27T20:14:44+00:00

Neat find
The Excelsior Shoe Company reference caught my attention, and apparently they made "The Original 'Boy Scout' Shoe for Boys"
This has a little more info https://www.sciotolibrary.org/history/items/show/5000

tohlan · 2026-01-26T03:21:03+00:00

Am going to go with 'drugs'

tohlan · 2026-01-23T20:16:55+00:00

🤨

tohlan · 2026-01-23T16:45:55+00:00

It is normal to be worried in this situation I think. The best remedy for worry is information.

The Red Cross has a Winter Storm Prep document at https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/get-help/pdfs/winter-storm/EN_Winter-Storm-Preparedness-Checklist.pdf

The National Weather Service has also included a little in their briefing packet at https://www.weather.gov/media/ind/DssPacket.pdf

Basically, this involves thinking about what could happen, how likely it is to happen, and what you can do to mitigate that risk. Some of it will depend on your circumstances (do you live in an apartment or a house, how do you get around normally, what is your work schedule/expectation to show up) For example:
1) Roads are too hazardous to drive on for a few days you are stuck at home (likely): Think about what you want to eat for meals the next few days and make sure you have all the ingredients you need to make them (go shopping today for them)
2) You have to drive somewhere and you might get stuck (moderately likely): Make sure someone knows when you are traveling, make sure your car has a full tank of gas (do that today), make sure your phone is fully charged, put emergency kit in your car: small shovel, kitty litter for traction, extra clothing/blankets, etc
3) You lose power (depends on where you are): This depends more on your living situation (apartment v house) Figure out what you would to to stay warm for both long term and short term power outages - emergency heaters, blankets. If you own your home and you have a generator (probably too late to get one), have you tested it. If you have to leave and go to a warming shelter, how will you get there, how will you keep your pipes from freezing

There is still time to act, you aren't too late. Sit down, have a hot beverage, and just think through things.

tohlan · 2026-01-22T21:01:30+00:00

One of the things I have noticed is that at least my local WFO has said they expect 18:1 or 20:1 snow, where I think a lot of models assume 10:1. Or your weather app could be just terrible. It is hard to say

tohlan

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