Parental involvement is strongly encouraged. The success of Troop 208 has been, and continues to be, dependent upon the full participation of the Scout parents. Every family is invited to participate and we need and encourage parents to register as Adult Scouters. As a parent, you will want your son to get the most out of Scouting. So you'll keep the dates of Troop activities on your calendar as a reminder, encourage him as he progresses in the advancement program, and perhaps help him master the skills of Scouting. But his success in Scouting depends in part on the success of our Troop. You can help keep the Troop strong with your support of talents and available time.

Opportunities to help are many - serving on the Troop Committee; providing transportation for outings; helping organize and participating in Troop camping trips; helping maintain Troop equipment; or serving as a merit badge counselor in a hobby or career field you are familiar. Activities are open to all parents and scouters. Your participation and your offers of help when the Troop has a need will show your son that you support him and want him to have the best experiences possible in Scouting. Please sign up to be an adult leader, merit badge counselor, or a committee member. The long term growth and stability of the troop is related to involvement by parents.

We encourage parents to camp with us, both to lend a helping hand and to acquaint all families with a first glimpse of how the adult leadership runs the troop. Adults eat as a group and we can supply a tent if one is needed.

Additionally, a minimum of 2 adult leaders are required to attend every outing. Also, for every 8 scouts in attendance, there must be one adult. If there are not enough adults scheduled to attend an outing to meet these guidelines, the outing will be canceled.

Recap -- Parents are expected to:

1. Read their Scout's handbook and understand the purpose and methods of Scouting.
2. Actively follow their Scout's progress (or lack thereof) and offer encouragement and a push when needed.
3. Show support to both the individual Scout and the Troop by attending all Troop Courts of Honor. Assist, as requested, in all Troop fundraisers and other such activities. All such assistance lowers the cost of the program we offer to the Scouts and, therefore, lowers each family's cash outlay for their Scout(s).
4. Be aware of the Troop program and annual calendar.
5. See that the scout attends each meeting in uniform with scout book.

For more information on how your can become involved, contact the scoutmaster.

If your son has signed up to attend a camping trip and decides not to attend, please have your son call his patrol leader. The troop has lists of Scouts planning to attend camping trips and we try to wait for the Scout to show up.

The Scoutmaster collects a large number of items left on campouts and at meetings. Items are always brought to the following meting. If you are missing something, call the Scoutmaster.

• Reminder – Make sure you please put your son's last name on items for identification (especially neckerchief, shirts, and pants).
• Web site address: www.bsatroop208.org

The Troop Web Site, is maintained to provide information about the Troop for those interested in our program.

www.bsatroop208.org

As a privacy and youth protection policy, we typically do not publish in the Web pages available to the general public last names of Scouts, addresses, phone numbers, and specific locations of Troop outings.

A Troop login section, protected by an assigned user name and user-selected password, is maintained to provide helpful, detailed, and specific information to the Scouts, their parents, and the Adult Leaders of the Troop. Information about troop outings and special events are regularly posted. This section is intended for the exclusive use of Troop members.

“The BSA publishes the Boy Scout Handbook #33105 (more than 37.8 million copies of which have been printed); They also publish the Fieldbook #33104 “The BSA’s Manual of Advanced Skills for Outdoor Travel, Adventure, and Caring of the Land.” The Patrol Leader Handbook, which offers information relevant to boy leadership; the Scoutmaster Handbook; the Boy Scout Requirements Handbook” that lists the requirements for merit badges, ranks and Eagle Palms that are the official requirements of the BSA and are updated yearly; more than 120 Merit Badge Books dealing with hobbies, vocations, and advanced Scoutcraft; and program features and various kinds of training, administrative, and organizational manuals for adult volunteer leaders and Boy Scouts. In addition, the BSA publishes Boys' Life magazine, the national magazine for all boys (magazine circulation is more than 1.3 million) and Scouting magazine for volunteers, which has a circulation of over 1.1 million.

Merit badges are awards earned by scouts based on fulfilling requirements within a specific field of interest. Each merit badge has a pamphlet published by the Boy Scouts of America associated with it; the pamphlet contains information on completing the requirements for the badge.

NOTE: Certain merit badges are required in order to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

There are over a 120 Merit Badges that scouts can earn, in subject areas that include careers, sports, hobbies, and Scouting skills. Merit Badges can help a Scout discover abilities he didn't know he had, and fields of interest he's barely heard of. These badges can guide a Scout toward a career, enrich his leisure life, hone his fitness, enhance his ability to help others, and stimulate his personal growth.

It is good training for the Scout to maintain his own personal record of any requirements he has completed for any rank or Merit Badge he is working on and to keep his parents updated on his progress toward achieving completion for a rank or a Merit Badge. To do this, scouts should ask their merit badge counselor for a Blue Card.

Merit Badge Pamphlets - Each merit badge subject is outlined and explained in a pamphlet that contains short introductory information written for Boy Scouts by recognized authorities. More than a million pamphlets are sold yearly, and many are used as approved reference texts in libraries and school curricula.

People who are knowledgeable about the various merit badge subjects are selected, approved, and trained by council and district advancement committees to serve as merit badge counselors. For example, a dentist might be asked to serve as a counselor for the Dentistry merit badge. A counselor must not only possess the necessary technical knowledge but also have a solid understanding of the needs, interests, and abilities of Scouts.

The Merit Badge Counselor must complete a Merit Badge Counselor Information form #34405. A counselor must also be a registered adult leader with the BSA. There are no fees to register as a Merit Badge Counselor and each counselor must renew their registration annually.

Procedure - When a Scout has an interest in earning a particular merit badge, he obtains his Scoutmaster's approval and identifies another Scout with similar interests to become his partner. They are then directed to the appropriate merit badge counselor. The counselor reviews the badge requirements with the young men and decides with them what projects should be undertaken and when they should be completed. After the counselor has certified that the Scouts have qualified for the merit badge, it is presented to them at a troop/team meeting and can be applied toward rank advancement.

Badges for Eagle - To qualify for the Eagle Scout Award, Scouting's highest advancement rank, a Scout must—along with meeting five other requirements—earn a total of 21 merit badges, including First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communications, Personal Fitness, Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving, Environmental Science, Personal Management, Camping, Hiking OR Cycling OR Swimming and Family Life.

It is imperative to the success of the Scouting Program to see that every new boy joining a Scouting Unit has the opportunity to advance to the rank of First Class Scout as soon as they are able. A boy who attends as many troop meetings and outings as possible can achieve the rank of First Class within their first year if at all possible, or at least by their second summer. Because of absences or other circumstances beyond their control, not every boy will reach that level due to circumstances beyond the Scout's or the Leader's control within the year's timeframe.

It has been found that if a boy reaches First Class in his first year he will more than likely remain in the Program longer and possibly attain the rank of Eagle. It is also important to note that boys whose parents are active in the Program will advance faster and farther in Scouting.

Troop 208 has designed an advancement timeline/program that supports first year scouts who are on the road to first class.

All Units have to charge a Registration Fee, Insurance Fee and an optional fee for Boys Life Magazine whereby all of those fees are sent to the BSA Headquarters. The breakdown that goes to National is as follows:

• Program Fee $27.00
• Registration Fee $10.00
• Boys Life Magazine $12.00 - (optional subscription)
• Insurance $ 1.00 - (Paid at re-charter time only) If a boy joins in any of the months after the re-charter fees have been paid, he will not be charged for Insurance until the next re-charter.)
• Total $ 23.00

There are other costs that a scout may incur when attending events. Some of the costs associated with the attendance of scouting events are as follows:
When preparing for an outing, each Scout contributes a set amount to the Patrol cook, who will purchase weekend groceries. Weekend camping trip grocery money is normally collected at the Monday meeting before scouts leave for the outing. Please bring exact change if possible and do not pay by check.

Troop 208 normally attends two or three outings per year that have additional expenses. Examples include skiing, whitewater rafting, deep sea fishing. We work very hard to keep expenses down, but trips like these often require up-front payments from the Scouts and the Adult Leaders. Costs for these kinds of outings can range from $40 to $80.

We attend summer camp every year, often during the week of July 4th. The cost for summer camp varies because we attend a different camp each summer. Cost for summer camp is typically $175 to $250. Summer Camp fees are normally paid in installments in the winter months

Troop 208 provides opportunities to participate in high adventure excursions. Examples include backpacking in New Mexico, backpacking in Denver, canoeing in the Canadian Boundary Waters, and SCUBA diving in the Florida Keys. These trips are expensive and require up-front payments in full. Costs for these trips vary from $800 to $1,500, or more.

There are opportunities throughout the year for fund raising so that all scouts can attend events regardless of financial circumstances. Additionally, if financial concerns that hinder a boy from being able to purchase the necessary parts of his uniform, camping gear and/or equipment, or pay any fees involved in Scouting, either the Unit, District or Council can be contacted for assistance.

After you have read and digested all this information, please feel free to contact the Scoutmaster, Committee Chairman or any adult leader with any questions, concerns etc. OR you may save your questions and visit the troop and/or committee meeting to have them answered there.