Question on boy scouts in your area and you

Wanted to know how scouts of all types (girl, cub etc) are doing in your area? Around me its a small group, many packs have folded or merged with another. When they start in the fall there is a bunch but fades out quickly. Seems to me its inline with the grange, farm bureau or other outfits these days. There does seem to be a lot of support in the community for there functions. Last, any of you former scouts???

I do not see Scouts affiliated with any other groups here.

We put our daughter in Girl Scouts when she was about 10-12 years. It was very disorganized, up to the troop leader to organize activities. If she was too busy, nothing happened. If she wasn't into outdoor activities, they made paper dolls... But come cookie time, it was top priority to get them sold!

After 2 years she was bored with it, we saw she was getting nothing out of it, took her out.

I'm sure it's not that way everywhere, just our experience.

I did not mean they were I was comparing them to other groups. BUT THEY HAVE PUT CUBS IN WITH WEBLOS ETC. Due to low numbers. Sorry for the mix up.

I love Girl Scout cookies! I just bought 10 boxes! 8-Carmel Delights and 2-Thin Mints.

Probably depends a lot on the skills and talents of the leaders. We have some Scout troops around here, but the bigger thing here is probably 4-H. An overwhelming amount of opportunities for kids to choose from. But yet we see clubs come and go over the years.

There are 3 groups here, cub, webelos and scouts.

I was a Scoutmaster for almost 6 years and with a Troop for at least 10 years. My two boys are Eagle Scouts. It IS a great program.

However, IMHO, Scouting is not the "cool" thing it was many years ago. There are just so many other activities taking boys minds off Scouting. Right or wrong - some parents have been turned off by politically correct decisions - again, passing no judgement, just know that everyone comes down on the side of an issue and sometimes that caused parents to look elsewhere.

For our Troop - we rightly felt - it's all about the boys. You give them the tools, teach them the values of Scouting, let them take leadership and ownership of the Troop, let them camp, fish, hike and just have FUN - and with the exception of a few, most loved the experience and would do it again.

Kind of like a baby. At Christmas, seems like they are more interested in the box - vs the toy that it came-in. If you can get a kid into Scouting, they take to the outdoors and the activities like a duck to water - vs cell phone games.

Bill

Agreed. In our small town there were several scout groups at one time - now they are down to one. Meanwhile 4H is a pretty big deal. When I was growing up I always thought 4H was for kids that lived in town that wanted an idea what country life was about - it was something other people did.

I was Girl Scouts for several years, eventually the leader couldn't handle it anymore and we merged with another troop further away. Seems a lot of stuff like that is dissipating. Kind of unfortunate because most of it is good and educational.

It really is too bad, but it is dying off, the kids just do not have the interest unless pushed by a parent that was a former scout.

My oldest was in Cub Scouts. Got old enough for Boy Scouts and joined, along with several of the guys he was in Cub Scouts with. After 3 or 4 weeks, they were to go camping at the big Boy Scout camp I went to as a young boy. Thing was, the temps dropped drastically, like near 0 for the lows. I didn't let him go, and he didn't want to go to start with. The Scoutmaster called me saying if he wasn't going to participate no matter what, then he couldn't come back. He didn't go back, guy was a real nut job. Ex-Military who treated those kids like his own personal soldiers. I think hes doing time for murder.

Was that in New Mexico?

Seems like the sports have taken over the kids interest, and parents push them to excel.

I am a trustee at our local Elks Lodge, we sponsor Boy Scout troop that seems to be doing fine. They meet every week and have good attendance.

Boy Scouting takes good leadership. Leading young scouts takes good men. Good men are getting hard to find. Married, not divorced men who care about their kids are hard to find. A woman who has a passel of kids who HAS a man is hard to find. So what you end up with is Moms being the Scout Leaders and the boys end up doing arts and crafts and touchy feely activities in the neighborhood rather than learning actual life skills and survival skills outdoors let alone the actual wilderness. The boys quickly grow bored with it and don't want to be involved.

Girl scouts on the other hand struggle from the top down. The cookie thing is fun when they're little but as they get older, they realize what a rip off all their hard work is. After they collect all that money for cookies and send it in to the head office, the pittance they get in return for their troop is not only laughable but borders on the criminal. The organization is so top heavy with paid employees that there's nothing left for the kids. If they don't sell cookies, they don't get to go on trips so the older girls usually say screw it to being blackmailed and join 4H or FFA. With the GSs its all about making money to support the machine with child labor.

When I was a kid I couldn't wait to join the cub scouts. I finally convinced my parents to let me join, but was promptly kicked out the second week. The reason we couldn't afford the weekly dues of a dollar. The first week I got lectured at about how a dollar was nothing. The second week I was given 75 pennies , that was all my dad had. The scout master made fun of me and my family and kicked me out. He also kept the 75 cents. I will never back a group so hateful and exclusionary.

What is Elks charter?

My eldest brother has been involved with scouting in the west metro for many years. He has two sons that achieved Eagle Scout. The west metro area seems to be a stronghold for the scout chapters and I think part of it is the affluence of the area and part of it is location. I don't see the level of involvement as you get away from the Twin Cities. With that said I also think that it is dependent on the troops leaders and wouldn't say that is the general rule. The smaller town boys don't seem to be attracted to the scout atmosphere. What I mean by that is my 14 year old and his peers tried the scouting experience, but didn't seem to get the enjoyment from it that I've seen in my brother's troop. Those experiences seem too familiar to small town boys. Although we do have a good, active troop in EV and Litchfield. Albany's troop seems to be thriving and has been involved at Junkshow for years.

The west metro gang has come to Junkshow grounds on three different occasions for camporees. Let's face it, a teen age boy is drawn to smoke, grease, and noise. We typically run equipment for demonstration that the boys can be involved with. And in turn the leaders do farm oriented stations. Bale stacking, sack filling, rock picking, and even a group pull of a one bottom plow. The last outing saw 300+ boys attend.

The past summer my brother (who was an F4 mechanic) organized an aviation weekend at The St. Paul airport and had a HUGE success and outpouring of support. The fact that he once had some of the now officers as scouts didn't hurt. They had representation from three branches of military as well as nostalgia groups and support from civilian and secondary schools. Over 600 kids attended and they gave over 400 of them rides in aircraft.

He says the trend is that the industries and schools are approaching the scouts to generate a groundswell in our technical fields. We need more wrench turners, fabricators, and machinists. These industries and companies are offering support in terms of scholarships and training materials to aid the scouts.

We have several strong scout groups here and in surrounding towns. Grandsons are in troup and PAC in the next county north of us. A good scoutmaster who turns the leadership of the troup over to the boys and let's them become leaders deserves much respect. The PACs and troupes thrive with leadership like that. I watched it happen in the 1980's and continue to see it happen in our local troup and the one my grandsons are associated with. Would want my sons to go thru it again and if I am around to see great grandsons I will encourage them to be a part of the local troup.

I am a Eagle Scout and I just aged out of my troop this past fall. It is a combination of 3 different towns, and merged several years ago. It used to be a pretty good, boy run troop, but after I became a eagle scout our scoutmaster decided to let someone else take over. Now they mostly influence what the troop does and decisions are more based on what he and his son want/find interesting, rather than what the troop and boys who are in the leadership positions want.

There has been a reduction in the number of Scouts. It runs in cycles around here. My son has just completed his Eagle and will be getting his award in a ceremony with 4 other guys. He also will get a Bronze Palm for having 5 merit badges more than the 21 needed to get his Eagle. I was awarded my Eagle when I was 14. Can't ever say I was sorry for being a member. Good lessons learned that I have used many times through life. May sound corny to some but I wouldn't trade the time I spent for anything.

The troop my son is in is quite active and has been growing since he joined. The leadership has been excellent and strives to get 100% of the boys eagled.

I started out in Cub Scouts, advanced to Boy Scouts but there was NO Camping or outdoor skills, so I transfered to the Sea Explorers (my family had boats). Sea Explorers had both Camping AND Boating (both of which I enjoyed). Earned my Eagle but dropped out of Scouting shortly afterwwards when I married my first wife.

My Sisters started with Blue Birds, then Brownies, and finally to Girl Scouts. But Girl Scouts just wanted to teach them how to be Homemakers and they could learn that at home, so they just dropped out.

Go and drive by your local headquarters, the one near me looks like a Tazmahall ! Now I know where all the cookie money went ! The kids local troops don't seem to get to keep much they raise for activity's.

(quoted from post at 00:03:08 02/18/16) When I was a kid I couldn't wait to join the cub scouts. I finally convinced my parents to let me join, but was promptly kicked out the second week. The reason we couldn't afford the weekly dues of a dollar. The first week I got lectured at about how a dollar was nothing. The second week I was given 75 pennies , that was all my dad had. The scout master made fun of me and my family and kicked me out. He also kept the 75 cents. I will never back a group so hateful and exclusionary.

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You met the bad apple. Don't judge the rest based on that.

Scouting used to be great. Then, sometime in the 80's-90's t changed. I entered Scouting as a cub in 1968 or 9 IIRC. Stayed in till '78 and was an adult Scouter in 80-85. When my oldest by turned 11 I got him in the local Troop. This would have been around 97-98. Scouting had changed drastically. It was all geared towards fund raising, urban issues and competition between Troops on fund raising. It was horrible.

Baden-Powell would be appalled.

I have been involved with Scouts as both a boy, a leader and a parent. It is a great program if you have the right leaders and a good active troop. Our troops enrolment has been up and down, but is typically around 30 boys. They are active in both camping and community service projects.

we have very active scout troops here, its a smaller town and there is good community support. this friday the scouts and parents are going to be here at the shop, sanding and painting one of the scout trailers. my painter is staying to help them too.

My girls are now 14 and 17. They were in Brownies for a little while, but today there are so many other activities for them to try and discover. One liked soccer better, the other dance.

I was in Boy Scouts/cub scouts for all of my elementary school (late 1970s). The few other activities we had did not conflict with scouts.

Now your kids have the opportunity to be in activities every single night, sometimes multiple activities on the same night.

The scouting interest seems to have dropped off in my school district.

Rick

Don't know about scouts in my area, but I was second oldest of 13. Nine boys and four girls. All nine boys are Eagle Scouts.