As soon as personal interviews have been disposed of, the Troop Leaders' Council gathers for its short weekly half-meeting to discuss the meeting just finished and check the plans for the coming week (see Chat 13).

With this final leaders' meeting another eventful evening comes to a close.

The Test Of A Good Meeting*

Very well, then, here are all the necessary ingredients for the successful Troop meeting. BUT—and there is a large BUT here—the ingredients alone do not make the success any more than the groceries on

*Adapted from J. Harold Williams the kitchen shelf make a good cake. The amounts used, the methods of mixing, the skill of the mixer play their part. The difference between poor and good Troop meetings seldom lies in the ingredients, but more frequently in leadership, team work, boy participation, and spirit.

How, then, may we determine the quality of the meeting? What are the signs to look for to judge immediately whether the Troop's meetings are good, bad or indifferent?

The answer is provided by questions we may ask ourselves:

How was the attendance? If it was good, a mark should be put down on the credit side; if poor, a debit. You can't alibi attendance. Good Troop meetings attract the boys, poor ones make them stay away.

How was the general conduct and morale? The good meeting shows itself through a semblance of order, discipline, purpose and plan.

How was the Patrol activity? Did the Patrols actually perform as teams or was the only evidence of Patrol activity the fact that a Patrol Leader stepped out and said automatically, "Sir, 'Beavers' all present or accounted for," when as a matter of fact half the "Beavers" were absent and not accounted for?

How were the Scout Uniforms worn and were Badges and Insignia properly displayed?

But more than anything else: How was the leadership? Did the Scoutmaster use his helpers and his boy leaders or did he insist on running the show?

And now, in concluding, let us look into a couple of Troop meetings to see how they should be run—and shouldn't.

A Case—That Should Not Be

We step into the meeting room of a Troop. The meeting is about to start. The Scoutmaster is standing in the center of the floor. And this is what might happen:

"Ahem! (Blowing whistle) FIRST CALL. Hey, Joe! Didn't I give you that rope to bring up from my house? Where is the rope? Has anybody seen the rope? HAS ANYBODY SEEN THE ROPE? (Blowing whistle.) All right, bring it over here. (Aside to a Scout) Wait a minute. I am busy now. Just about to start the meeting. Don't ask me any questions. Where is the program? (Rapidly running through a pile of papers.)

(Blows whistle.) "Fall in! Hurry up! FALL IN! (Blows whistle again.) Right dress. Pull your stomach in. Front!

"Now I will call the roll and collect the dues. As I call the roll each boy will bring his five cents up here. Stand at attention.

"All right. Now we have collected the dues, and mind you I want you all to have your money next week. Why didn't you have your money, Fat? Oh, you spent it. Why didn't you say so in the first place? (Blows whistle.) Fall out! Sit down in a semi-circle in front of me. Now I am going to give you a little talk, boys, on the value of the white corpuscles in the blood. Now there should be fourteen times as many white corpuscles (looks at notes) as red corpuscles . . ."

Let the curtain fall quickly. The experience has been none too pleasant. Yet, let us not fool ourselves. Unfortunately there are many "Scoutmasters" like that. The badge of their office is the whistle. It might appropriately substitute the eagle on their emblems. They have to do everything and the shrill blast of their whistle indicates that they are doing it. Can't you just hear them say: "Have a Scribe collect the money? Oh, no, he will lose it. We have called the roll in this Troop for five years this way and we will continue to call the roll."

Some leaders never realize the significance nor the application of the phrase "Scouting is a game for boys under the leadership of boys." And so they remain forever mediocre leaders.

Another Case—That Should Be

On the other hand, there are Scoutmasters who know what the game of Scouting is and know how to apply it to the activities of their Troops. As we step into the meeting room of such a Troop, we are greeted by the Scoutmaster, and this may be our experience as the Scoutmaster interprets the activities of the meeting to us:

"Glad to see you. Just in time for the meeting. Want to sit down? Yes, we have been running on a monthly basis here. I mean we plan on one certain type of activity for each month. When we plan our yearly program by months it gives us something to hang our hats on when working out individual meeting programs. Last month, for example, was 'hobby month' and we put special emphasis on all kinds of hobbies. This month, being the month of April, when we have so many forest fires in this section of the country, is 'forestry month.' (And national Forestry Week also occurs this month, you know.) So we develop in our Troop a lot of stuff about forestry. It helps a great deal. When you watch the activities, keep in mind that this is 'forestry month.'

"Of course there won't be much going on here for a while because, as you came in, the bugle was blowing first call. This is at 7:15 and there is a half hour when you won't see much of anything. All the Patrols are off in these side rooms by themselves. I figure if we can get a lot of that business out of the way ahead of time it saves work with the whole Troop in advance. Most of these Patrols have had meetings during the week and this is their final check-up. Do you want to come over and see one of these Patrols? Come this way.

During the Troop meeting the Patrols have an opportunity to gather for special business and training.

"Now here are the 'Beavers.' Eddy has them all lined up for inspection. We feel that we don't waste too much time in the Troop in inspection every week. We do have it once in a while but the Patrol Leader usually checks up on it himself.