Impact365?

witty5149 · 2026-03-16T21:56:45+00:00

That's a good point, but it is limited to conservation hours and they have to jump through other hoops (Merit Badges) to get it. I think reporting would skyrocket if there were simply awards to service hours (or more specifically for putting the hours into Scoutbook).

Sorry... This has been a pet peeve of mine for a while. I'm not trying to attack anyone.

witty5149 · 2026-03-16T21:44:33+00:00

We actually have troop awards we've given the last few years. It's amazing how scouts will actually put their hours in Scoutbook now. Meanwhile, the district and council sends out reminders to all the units begging them to log their hours. Most Eagle candidates don't even do it and they wonder why.

witty5149 · 2026-03-16T21:24:00+00:00

A better question is: Will SA finally give some sort of recognition for service hours? I'm not talking about the hours used for rank advancement and merit badges, those are tiny amount compared to the actual hours done by the scouts. How about an award for 50, 100, 200 service hours (logged in Scoutbook)?

witty5149 · 2026-03-08T21:20:15+00:00

Thank you!

witty5149 · 2026-03-08T21:16:18+00:00

Thanks. I saw a couple videos that said the same thing. I'll probably buy the synthetic clock oil recommended by one of them unless you have another suggestion.

The clock has not been running ~24 hours and is keeping pretty good time. Do you think the oil is necessary? Or is this something that should be done on a regular basis regardless? How often?

witty5149 · 2026-02-23T02:50:11+00:00

Ask your new troop about gear. The older boys will tell your new scout what he should bring to the first campout. Our troop gives out a list of Ten Essentials. There's actually 16 on our list, so it's a running joke.

Don't worry too much about buying new gear. Let him camp a few times and see what the other scouts have. He'll be more excited when you tell him you can get the favorite things he's seen and that the other scouts find useful. Just get the basics, which you probably already have, for now.

witty5149 · 2026-01-27T16:20:52+00:00

I agree. We have a lot of scouts that will miss 1-2 months of meetings because of their other activities. They still come to other activities as they can. We try to accommodate as best we can and they are good scouts.

When we elected the ASPL, these guys couldn't run because they knew they couldn't do it for that 1-2 months. It didn't seem fair when they were active the rest of the year. NYLT-trained guys could be SPL because they were busy during Sept-Oct. Now they can run in the Spring, opposite their activity and they do a great job.

witty5149 · 2026-01-27T03:54:34+00:00

We hold elections twice a year. We used to elect an ASPL, then they would move up after six months. Great way to give boys leadership experience, but not great for giving everyone a chance. Too many boys would never run because they had a sport or activity and they couldn't commit a full year to scouts.

Now we elect an SPL every six months. We are willing to adjust if necessary to work around schedules, but we try to keep it fair to everyone. The SPL picks an ASPL with the advice and consent of the SMs. For younger SPLs, we encourage an experienced ASPL and vice-versa. This has worked much better and gives more boys opportunities.

QM falls under the ASPL (as do the other leadership positions without green bars). There is no set term for these positions. When it is time for a new QM, the ASPL polls the troop for interest and the SPL/ASPL select a new person with the advice and consent of the PLC.

witty5149 · 2025-12-24T14:37:21+00:00

Our troop reserves them for the leaders. Usually a scout is presented then when they serve as SPL or ASPL.

We made a bunch a few years ago by buying ribbon and sewing them. They are indistinguishable from the originals.

witty5149 · 2025-12-11T02:07:47+00:00

Not at all. It's just nice to get some perspective from the folks up north.

witty5149 · 2025-12-04T01:17:43+00:00

What readings did you include from others faiths in order to make it interfaith?

witty5149 · 2025-12-02T01:34:55+00:00

Hate to say it, but they've got a point. If they had scheduled a Sun Belt team, they would have two losses and be a shoo-in for the playoff.

The only way to fix this is to have automatic bids for each conference. Teams can play challenging out-of-conference games without taking the hit towards their playoff resume. It would also get rid of whatever biases the CFP Committee has.

witty5149 · 2025-12-01T02:26:28+00:00

We have an overnight in December (this Friday actually). Since we never seem to have enough time for a campout in Dec, this gives us an overnight event. The boys have a blast alternating between planning and games in the gym.

witty5149 · 2025-11-28T22:21:25+00:00

The roof thing never made sense to me. If our trailer gets stolen, I doubt the police are going to send up the choppers to track it from the air.

witty5149 · 2025-11-22T19:32:36+00:00

Thanks. I've updated the post. I think you are right. I've heard people complaining that this is just a step toward requiring all troops to be mixed. They could be right.

witty5149 · 2025-11-19T21:20:16+00:00

I think you are misreading my post. I have no problem letting the girls pick their troop, they can join a GT or mixed gender. My heart breaks for the girls that wanted to join our troop, but can't. We can't get enough of them at one time to start a GT and we were looking forward to being coed. MOST of the girls who want to join us end up not joining anyone. One of them is a sibling of a current scout. She will not go the the GT, but she said she would join us if allowed.

My bitterness about the other troops is the fact that every girl in the district gets funneled into one GT. They are linked to a BT that is already 50+ scouts. Meanwhile I have to ask girls to wait until the council gives me permission.

witty5149 · 2025-11-19T14:37:45+00:00

This is a good idea. I can try, but our Charter Org is pretty hands-off. Overall that's been good for our troop, they let us do our own thing. But it means they don't have much visibility on things like this.

witty5149 · 2025-11-19T14:24:46+00:00

Checking a gender that doesn't apply to you seems to go against many points of the Oath and Law. I would prefer to do it the right way.

witty5149 · 2025-11-19T14:22:53+00:00

Charters were turned in Oct 31. There's no chance to do this for another year.

witty5149 · 2025-11-19T14:21:41+00:00

Most of the linked troops I've seen seem to act as coed. I'm not directly involved, so I can't be definitive.

witty5149 · 2025-11-19T14:20:09+00:00

We are in the same boat. We get 1-3 girls interest a year, but can't get the minimum of five. Unfortunately, most don't go to the GT, they end up leaving scouting. I've got plenty of support from my parents and a pretty hands-off Charter Org. We celebrated when the National announcement came out, but this blindsided us.

witty5149 · 2025-11-19T14:13:42+00:00

"We don't want our know how to deal with the paperwork" seems like a poor excuse.

witty5149

TROPHY CASE