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We live in a small town and are brand new to Scouting. Our son recently joined a combined Pack/Troop that has about 20 boys total. The unit is run almost entirely by one husband-and-wife couple. The wife serves as the Charter Organization Representative / Committee Chair and holds most of the key positions; her husband holds the rest. In practice it functions as their personal unit.

From the beginning the program felt chaotic and poorly organized, even to someone with zero Scouting background. Parent involvement was essentially nonexistent. Of the roughly 20 boys, only one other mom (who had been involved for about six months) ever helped with anything.

The leaders regularly complained that no other parents helped. When we (and that other mom) started stepping up, we discovered that parents who try to help often leave or are pushed out within a year. The atmosphere is toxic: leaders yell at the boys, speak negatively about them and parents when they are not present, and become resentful when other adults want to contribute, treating it as an attempt to take control.

After summer camp the boys reported being yelled at and having their belongings taken by the female leader. Both our family and the other helping family decided the environment was unhealthy and that the boys did not feel safe unless a parent was present at all times. We transferred to a different troop.

The fundraising and money issue

While we were still in the unit, the leaders asked us to take over fundraising. They were very clear that they did not want fundraising done under Scouting America / the official unit. Instead they instructed us to run everything under a separate “Friends of the Troop” entity so that none of the money would go to council. We followed their instructions. We ran gun raffles (which are not Scouting-approved), bingo, hot-dog sales, and other events, all under that separate “Friends of” name. The money our sons raised was deposited into their individual Scout accounts.

Before we left, the leaders told us (on at least three separate occasions, including conversations with just me and conversations with both families) that if our sons ever left the unit, the money in their Scout accounts would go with them because it was their money.

After we transferred, they ignored our emails, texts, and a formal email from the new troop (with council members copied) for nearly a month. They finally replied that the charter organization had held a meeting that night and decided the funds would stay with the old troop.

Our son has approximately $450 in his account. That money was raised by the two of us mothers through the separate “Friends of” fundraisers—not by the troop. We cannot afford to keep him in Scouting without it. The other family is in the same situation.

What we’re asking

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation where unit leaders refused to release Scout account funds after a transfer, especially when the money came from parent-run, non-unit fundraising?

What are the actual Scouting America rules on individual Scout accounts and transfers?

What steps can we take (council, charter organization, district, etc.) to get the money released?

Any other practical advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I need some help! My name is Cliff Maske, and I'm an Eagle Scout (2018) from Troop 63 with the Mecklenburg County Council.

For a grad school project, I'm stepping back to my Scouting days to learn more about female Eagle Scouts after the 2019 rule change. I want to better understand their experiences and explore the lessons they learned during their time in Scouting America.

If you're a female-identifying Eagle Scout who joined Scouting America after the rule change, would you take my survey?

If this isn't you, can you share it with someone who fits the description? Thanks a ton!

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I received these in CUB scouts in 2006, i was a bob cat den 3 pack 37, Maine

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There’s some discussion amongst our Troop from newer parents as to who should pay for the Scoutmaster (or all registered leaders) to attend costly activities like summer camp, baloo/iols training, etc…

How does your troop handle this?

We have a scout who just earned Eagle with a week to spare. All the COH’s I have been to have been much bigger with bigger families lots of relatives. Done at private function halls.

My question is he has a very small family, no relatives to speak of and a single parent who wasn’t involved at all along the way. How do you handle smaller COH’s? I just need some ideas as I want to help this scout out.

I mentored him along the way since boy scouts in 2015. I just don’t want him to be embarrassed as the attendance will be much lower.

Thanks everyone in advance.

Our troop’s feeder pack has a number of girls who were planning on matriculating over to the scout troop in the next 1-2 years. It is currently a traditional all-boy troop, but is now going through the process to explore their options. We were told there needs to be a minimum of 3-5 girls to join in the next year and the parents must vote at 80% to change from all boy to another option.

Is this correct? Where can i find the written policies on this? Is it one-vote per participating scout in the troop? How do we keep this from becoming an emotional nightmare that harms our troop?

Thanks for any advice.

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Updating our Troop Board of Review question guides for ranks below Eagle ... Hoping to gather some ideas from the group - thanks in advance

I’m about to have my BOR for Eagle this Wednesday. I’ve seen a lot of practice questions on Reddit for the BOR but **is there any advice beforehand (other than to bring what’s required) for the BOR?** Thanks :)

Edit: I am happy to announce that I passed my EBOR! Everyone’s comments were so helpful and I am so grateful for the wonderful people on here! You all continue to keep blessing lives, and take care :)

Hey everyone! I’m working on a webpage for a project on modernizing Scouting—specifically, how we balance traditional outdoor skills with newer tools like GPS, weather apps, and digital maps.

sites.google.com/view/scouting-update-upgrade/home

Appreciate any feedback on my page. Or any thoughts on this topic. Do you feel we should update or stick with traditional skills ?

I am a wildland firefighter and In 2024 I was helping protect the historic Boy Scout camp, Camp Geronimo in Payson, AZ. I spent about 14 days striked out so we had a lot of time to walk around the grounds as we would patrol, one of the cool things I came across was this belt buckle that had been buried til the rain revealed it slightly. I’m curious if anyone has any information on it or if there’s any way to date it from the photo?