Dear parents and Scouts,

Here is our current statement of policies, thanks to the work of former scoutmaster Ed Luhn a few years back.  Everything here holds for the current Scouting season.  If you have any questions ever, please call me at 521-3232 or email at rlstevenot@aol.com. ;  You can also find names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for Patrol leaders, other Scouts and the Troop Committee on the latest edition of the Troop Roster. The roster is handed out during the late Spring and again in the Fall. It will be posted on the Troop web site, in a password-protected area.

Bob Stevenot
Scoutmaster, Troop 857

_________________________________________________________________ I would suggest to you to encourage your son to seek answers to his own questions through his youth leaders.  If he gets no satisfaction or his interpretations seem a little strange and you just want to confirm, the adult leaders are only a phone call away.

•  Meetings  The troop meets from September through the end of May in the Scout &Youth Ministry Room of Northminster Presbyterian Church every Tuesday evening from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.  Courts of Honor are held three times a year.  Parents and family are strongly encouraged to attend these award presentation ceremonies.  You will be called forward with your son when he receives his awards. Parents are also invited to attend any meeting.

•  Ideals  In today’s world, growing into adulthood means more than just growing up; it means learning to make decisions.  Decisions about drugs, crime, gangs, peer pressure, and more.  Scouting provides strong, values driven programs that strengthen character, develop good citizenship, and enhance both mental and physical fitness in youth; traits that prepare young people to make the best decisions for today and tomorrow. Unlike some sports, scouts doesn’t require absolute commitment to the exclusion of all else. If a scout can attend only part of a meeting or a campout, he should feel free to do so.  We will give each scout the opportunity to lead, to be responsible for and make decisions affecting him and others.

•  Rank Advancement  Boy Scouts is structured as a youth organized program.  Older scouts teaching younger scouts.  Teaching methods are structured in accordance with the Scout Handbook, as it is assumed that that may be the only resource available to the scout for future reference and review.  That doesn’t mean that there is only one way to do things; alternate methods or techniques are used to clarify and simplify, where appropriate.   The program allows for a scout to advance to the rank of First Class during his first year in scouting.  The scouts can and are encouraged to complete requirements for more than one rank at any given time.  Boys are more responsible for their advancement than they were as Cubs.  Their first line of communication and advancement should come through their patrol leader and other youth leaders.  Adult members can sign off on requirements, but we usually defer to the patrol leader or his assistant, if possible.  After the completion of each rank, the scout has a conference with the scoutmaster.  He is also quizzed by other adult members in a Board of Review to determine his skill level, areas of strength and those for improvement.  Merit badges, which are required for the rank of Star and above, are earned on a more individual level.  A scout must make contact with an adult who is qualified in that area of expertise and is registered with the Boy Scouts of America.  Two deep leadership is required in scouting.  For his protection and the protection of the leaders involved, scouts should never be present with adults in a one-on one situation.  Earn your merit badge with a friend or have a parent with you when you interview with a counselor.  Scout summer camp is a great way to earn rank and merit badges.  The program is designed for scouts ranging in age from 11 to 18 years.  It is to be expected that some merit badges will be too difficult for a youth of 11.  We will monitor the choices of your son at summer camp to see that he doesn’t try to do too much, receiving partials and completing nothing.

•  Adult Leadership   The adults leading this troop are committed to a cause.  Many have completed various levels of official BSA training.  We, as adults, posses certain individual skills that are easily passed to another adult willing to learn.  Experience is a great teacher and many of us have “been there before”.  We will strive to see that each scout acquires numerous years of experience rather than a year’s experience numerous times. The troop is always looking for interested adults to participate in the management of the troop as a member of the committee.  Dads are encouraged to attend campouts with their sons.  The leaders of this troop have a collective wealth of information and experiences and are more than willing to pass it along to the parents, as well as the scouts.  There is always an adult patrol on campouts and we’ll see that you survive the weekend.  Come out and see what your son is doing.  When a parent is involved, scouts are more likely to stick with the program and usually advance more rapidly.  To set an example for scouts, the use of tobacco products by adults in the   presence    of scouts while on a campout is strongly discouraged.  Alcohol is prohibited.

•  Campouts  The troop has an outdoor activity every month during the meeting year.  A schedule of events is issued early in September with the committee’s best estimate of when and where we will be.  Any changes in the schedule are made know to the scouts in a timely manner. The troop also does a week long scout camp during the summer months.  Our activities include camping, backpacking, caving, rappelling, canoeing, pioneering and a variety of other interesting things.  The troop prepares meals at the patrol level.  Where possible, we cook over wood fires.  Your son will see the need for and continually practice the outdoor skills that Boy Scouts stresses.  The more he learns, the more enthused and confident he becomes.  As I look back through my own four sons who are all Eagle Scouts, I am amazed at how they and their peers have grown and matured through the years.  I’d like to think Scouting had something to do with that. These are things that we have experienced together and reminisce about to this day.

•  Permission Slips and Fees  Permission slips are passed out on the Tuesday meeting the week before the campout and are due back the following Tuesday.  We attempt to run a zero based budget on the campout, charging each scout enough to pay for camping facilities, patches, food, and transportation. The dead line for turning in permission slips is the departure of the scoutmaster from the meeting on the Tuesday before the campout. Payment for the campout is to be made in cash.  Money for food is disbursed on that Tuesday evening to the individual scouts who are buying for their respective patrols. Thus the need for cash.  Even if a scout can attend only a portion of the campout, the total fee is still due. With a budget of $6 to $7per person, it becomes more difficult for a scout to try to buy food when he has to also take into consideration who will be eating what meals. The scouts have only 2 evenings in which to complete their shopping, and the Troop hikemaster must arrange for transportation for all gear and scouts; again necessitating the timely return of permission slips and fees.  Even if a scout has turned in a permission slip or verbally committed to go, fees must be paid by that Tuesday evening. Scouts who verbally commit have burned us too many times. Money for them is spent, and then they don’t show up. Attempting to make calls to patrol leaders to buy extra food, getting payment to them, and the arranging for additional transportation are some of the complications that have arisen from trying to accommodate late commitments to attend. Permission slip information also needs to be completely filled out.  A hospital may deny medical care for certain injuries if you have not provided proper health care information.  If you plan to be gone during a portion of the weekend your son is away, please note additional phone numbers where you or a close relative can be reached in case of an emergency.  The top portion of the permission slip should provide you with an emergency phone number where you can get in touch with your son.  Often it is no more than the county sheriff, due to remoteness of our camp.  We try to stick closely to the return time that is listed on the permission slip.  Scouts will have the opportunity to call as we near or arrive at the church.  All kinds of complications arise when someone does not show to pick up their son.  With no prior arrangements, just dropping your son at your house with no one home or having your son go to a driver’s home brings up liability issues we’d rather not deal with. Please be timely in picking up your son.  Make sure he has all his gear with him and don’t leave without making sure he has not been assigned troop gear to take home for cleanup.

•  Drivers Typically, drivers are partially compensated for their assistance if we are planning a trip some distance away.  If you, as a driver, are arriving late or leaving early from camp for your convenience, and the hikemaster must arrange for additional vehicles, then you may not be reimbursed gas money.  Drivers are required to have at least state minimum liability coverage on their vehicle and a seat belt for each passenger, which will be used.  Adults riding as passengers will usually pay the full fee.

•  Behavior   Boys are expected to conduct themselves according to the scout laws and oath.  Misbehavior during a meeting which requires that a scout be sent home means that the scout will forfeit his privilege to attend the next campout.  Misbehavior on campouts may mean that you, as a parent, will be required to drive to camp to pick up your son.

•  Equipment  The troop provides the necessary dining flies, cooking utensils, pots, and stoves that a patrol needs to function.  We do not provide tents as we have found that many scouts have a tendency to abuse equipment, fail to care for it after home, and fail to return gear in a timely manner.  After a campout, each scout will be expected to take home a fair portion of the troop or patrol gear for cleaning.  This gear should be returned by the following Tuesday evening.  Frankly, it doesn’t happen that way.  Having a dirty cook kit set around for a week is not catastrophic; failure to air out a dining fly or tent can mean the ruination of that gear from mildew.  Many times has the troop had “to do without” or purchase new equipment because some scout has failed to return gear for weeks or even months.  Scouts are expected to provide their own personal gear.  As parents, we know these kids can rapidly grow out of boots and other equipment.  You hate to spend large sums for gear that may be used for only a short time.  Do consider though, that we camp year round.  Please don’t send your son on a campout without sufficient clothing to protect him from the elements.  Typically, we will be outside all day, and sleeping on the ground in a tent.  Cold and wet makes for a miserable time and can be one of the principle reasons why a scout doesn’t like to camp.  Look at the weather forecast.  Too many times have we seen scouts who come to a campout where below freezing temperatures are expected, and they have neither gloves nor hat. Being wet is to be avoided at all costs.  Make sure that your son has adequate rain gear and a dry change of clothes.  A good sleeping bag is also important. A bag with a rating of zero degrees may still not be comfortable in the middle of winter. Consider what you would feel like if you had to use the gear that you have provided your son. If your son is inadequately prepared for the elements, you may be called to pick him up at camp.

•  Prohibited Equipment  Leave home the radios and video games.  With a group of 15-20 friends in the out-of doors, surely you can find something to do.  Sheath knives are also prohibited.  Pocketknives, bow saws, and axes are to be used only by scouts who have earned the “Totin' Chip” card, indicating that they have been properly trained in the use of these tools.  An accident in the remote areas we sometimes camp can mean several hours and a long foot transport before proper medical attention can be received.