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Epitope
Nov 27, 2006

Grimey Drawer
Being able to pass as a believer is one of the many life skill scouts teaches

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Judgy Fucker
Mar 24, 2006

Jato posted:

Cool thread idea. I was a Cub Scout and enjoyed it quite a bit but my mom pulled me out of it before I moved on to the Boy Scouts because she had a lot of issues with how our den was run. It was very heavily Christian which didn't jive with my non-religious parents at all. I'm curious what that's like these days? I assume it varies a lot depending where you are and who is involved in it. I'm a couple years out from having kids but I think some sort of Outdoor focused program like the scouts is something I'd definitely like my kids to get the opportunity to do and would probably participate in heavily as a parent.

It definitely depends. I’m in Oklahoma, infamously conservative and religious, and found a pretty secular unit that has multiple open atheists in it. We also have at least one Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu family each. Once it’s time to get kids into Scouting, feel free to visit different units in your area to get a feel for the culture and see which, if any, are a good fit for you, as there’s no geographic restrictions on which units you can join.

Judgy Fucker
Mar 24, 2006

Our cubmaster and committee chair are moving on to the local troop since their cub is now a Scout. The incoming cubmaster just asked me to be their assistant cubmaster, and I felt obliged to accept. Being a den leader was already more than I had anticipated, but I also know Scouting at the pack level is a fully volunteer thing, and it doesn't work unless folks step up. Just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!

I did go to a University of Scouting event a couple weeks ago, and that helped reinvigorate my excitement for leadership. Doing Wood badge in April, hopefully that'll keep the fire lit.

shootforit
Oct 11, 2006

Judgy Fucker posted:

Our cubmaster and committee chair are moving on to the local troop since their cub is now a Scout. The incoming cubmaster just asked me to be their assistant cubmaster, and I felt obliged to accept. Being a den leader was already more than I had anticipated, but I also know Scouting at the pack level is a fully volunteer thing, and it doesn't work unless folks step up. Just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!

I did go to a University of Scouting event a couple weeks ago, and that helped reinvigorate my excitement for leadership. Doing Wood badge in April, hopefully that'll keep the fire lit.

Way to step up! I did Wood Badge last April, and I am getting beaded this Friday. It definitely helped me get the fire burning for leadership again after a few years of being Cubmaster. I highly recommend Wood Badge. It was a great experience. If you have any questions about it, let me know. Also, Asst Cubmasters are just that, assistance. If the Cubmaster can't make an event, you are the one to welcome people to meetings, etc. If you already regularly attend committee meetings and help with things outside of your Den, then it should be nothing new. Plus ya know...new patch for your uniform.

My boy is a 5th grader who will move to a Troop next. Our Pack committee right now is amazing, and we not-so-secretly plan to take over a local Troop to keep all of us adult (now friends) together. We work really well together and do not wat to lose that synergy. The Troop adult leadership has been at it for a long time, and they are wanting to move on to just being Merit Badge counselors. I will probably take over as Scoutmaster at some point.

For now I will probably stay Cubmaster for a while for my pack, even though my boy won't be in it. I don't mind leading Pack meetings or being the one getting hit in the face with pies by the top selling popcorn Scouts. My boy will probably become a Den Chief to help a Den, so we can still do the Pack thing together.

shootforit fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Feb 21, 2024

Judgy Fucker
Mar 24, 2006

Just completed my second weekend of Wood Badge, drat what an experience. Have definitely made some new friends, really pumped for my tickets, and am excited for the new Cub Scouting program being released in June.

I must recommend Wood Badge to any American Scouts BSA leaders reading this. It was transformative enough it has me contemplating singing lessons.

shootforit
Oct 11, 2006

Judgy Fucker posted:

Just completed my second weekend of Wood Badge, drat what an experience. Have definitely made some new friends, really pumped for my tickets, and am excited for the new Cub Scouting program being released in June.

I must recommend Wood Badge to any American Scouts BSA leaders reading this. It was transformative enough it has me contemplating singing lessons.

'Back to Gilwell happy land!'

Congrats on the first half of Wood Badge. What are your ticket items?

Mine were:
-run Pinewood Derby for a Pack that does not have a track (ended up running five total this year)
-solicit donations of uniform items for a uniform closet. Scouts can borrow pieces as a financial aid.
-I took on role of Advancement Chair for my Pack (in addition to Cubmaster and Den Leader).
-rebuilt an old chuck box for our Pack to take camping
-recruited two new Den leaders and two new committee members

I had my Beading ceremony in February as planned, and man, the beige neckerchief, leather woggle, wooden beads, and the actual wooden name badge sure do look sharp on my uniform!

Judgy Fucker
Mar 24, 2006

shootforit posted:

'Back to Gilwell happy land!'

Congrats on the first half of Wood Badge. What are your ticket items?

Mine were:
-run Pinewood Derby for a Pack that does not have a track (ended up running five total this year)
-solicit donations of uniform items for a uniform closet. Scouts can borrow pieces as a financial aid.
-I took on role of Advancement Chair for my Pack (in addition to Cubmaster and Den Leader).
-rebuilt an old chuck box for our Pack to take camping
-recruited two new Den leaders and two new committee members

I had my Beading ceremony in February as planned, and man, the beige neckerchief, leather woggle, wooden beads, and the actual wooden name badge sure do look sharp on my uniform!

Congrats on getting beaded! I know I need to get to work as 18 months will come faster than it sounds.

My items are:
  • Create a chaplain's handbook for my unit
  • Recruit some Cubs to be chaplain's aides
  • Lead an interfaith devotional service at a family camp
  • Attend Leave No Trace training
  • Become a merit badge counselor for the sister Troop at our charter org

Our unit is pretty religiously diverse, and instead of trying to embrace the faiths our unit decided to drop the whole "reverent" thing. As a functional atheist I've though a lot about what it means for an atheist to be reverent, and I believe there's a good opportunity to include secular values like fellowship and conservation that can tie into "reverence" so I'm going to try.

Killingyouguy!
Sep 8, 2014

So I want to go back to guiding but I am not sure I have the bandwidth for unit leadership and I asked GGC about part time volunteering and they basically told me to gently caress off. "occasional volunteers are not part of GGC, may not wear the uniform, and have to be personally invited by an existing guider". I don't know any guiders in my area, I haven't done guiding since moving here!

In my university town, I winged it by registering as a Link member and informally posting to an area Facebook group. But now that I'm 30, if I want membership I'm expected to register for Trefoil Guild, which is majority 50+ and has "old ladies drinking tea" vibes so it'd be really weird to roll up to some guiders like "hey I know I still look like a baby but whaddup I'm a trefoil"

e: lol the "register for trefoil guild" link redirects to "volunteer as a unit guider"

Killingyouguy! fucked around with this message at 15:22 on May 28, 2024

Jorath
Jul 9, 2001
What's GGC?

Killingyouguy!
Sep 8, 2014

Jorath posted:

What's GGC?

Girl Guides of Canada

Judgy Fucker
Mar 24, 2006

Seems really bizarre to tell someone to (euphemistically, I presume) gently caress off for wanting to volunteer, even if it's just a little bit :confused: GGC is virtually all-volunteer I'm assuming? Was this a unit or a higher-level org?

Killingyouguy!
Sep 8, 2014

Judgy Fucker posted:

Seems really bizarre to tell someone to (euphemistically, I presume) gently caress off for wanting to volunteer, even if it's just a little bit :confused: GGC is virtually all-volunteer I'm assuming? Was this a unit or a higher-level org?

This was national 😰 and yes unless you work for national or provincial (which as I understand is a very limited number of people) it's all volunteers!

Not allowing the uniform is particularly insulting to me. Am I not being true to myself, my God, and Canada by not taking on more than I can handle? Do only non busy women get to share in the sisterhood of guiding? I indicated my 13 years of previous membership on the application, did my promise expire??

Killingyouguy! fucked around with this message at 19:56 on May 28, 2024

Judgy Fucker
Mar 24, 2006

Killingyouguy! posted:

This was national 😰 and yes unless you work for national or provincial (which as I understand is a very limited number of people) it's all volunteers!

Not allowing the uniform is particularly insulting to me. Am I not being true to myself, my God, and Canada by not taking on more than I can handle? Do only non busy women get to share in the sisterhood of guiding? I indicated my 13 years of previous membership on the application, did my promise expire??

You're gonna know better than I of course but maybe try talking to a lower-level administrative division, or even just find a local unit and ask them? FWIW in Scouts BSA Scouting America there's all kinds of rules and regulations at the national level that just never get observed at the local. There's a "Declaration of Religious Principle" that states "no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God...only persons willing to subscribe to this Declaration of Religious Principle...shall be entitled to certificates of membership." Yeah well they can come do an audit and kick me out of my leadership roles for being secular, but they won't. I bet there's some GGC group that'd love to have you even if only for a little bit!

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Killingyouguy!
Sep 8, 2014

Okay yeah Ontario Council absolutely lists what I want to do as a type of Guider on their website so, what gives, National

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