Re: Pack Split
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Sat, 14 Sep 1996 23:14:18 -0700
Mike Gay <mngay@INFOCOM.NET> asked:
>Certainly some of the TMOTSLL [Trusted Members Of The Scouts-L List] have
>had experiences with splitting a Pack with both residing and remaining (not
>with the same Charter Org.) at the same school.
>How did it all shake out?
>How did you avoid hard feelings? (or did you?)
>How did you decide who went where?
>You fill in more questions/answers that you faced.
Don't have direct experience with your situation, but I can share some
observations from a nearby pack. For a number of years, it had been
the largest pack in the council. The DE had tried a number of times to
convince the leadership to split, but without success. Another time,
some folks tried on their own to set up a new pack in the same area, and
they were shot down by the leaders of the existing pack (tight inbreeding
with schools, soccer, and little league all involving the same folks).
Since I have been recruiting from that pack (a different long story), I
had occasion to visit the pack meetings and the Blue & Gold dinners.
Due to the sheer size, it was even more than the usual controlled chaos.
What disappointed me most was that the adults had to have such a tight
control over the program to keep it on schedule that there was little
time left for the Scouts themselves, other than a perfunctory here's your
badge. The skits (by the boys--the adults did their own performances loud
and clear) were hard to hear because of the noise of that many folks in
one place.
In time, the warnings came true. Because it was no longer a quality
experience for the boys or their parents, many families dropped out and
the pack membership dropped to half -- still a reasonable number for a
pack, but the leadership that held it together for so long also evaporated
shortly thereafter, further aggravating the situation.
Things are on the mend, and new leadership is appearing at training and
roundtables. But, I wonder how many boys lost a chance of having a good
Scouting experience because the pack leadership refused to hear the
warnings.
A pack of 45 to 60 boys (half the numbers you mention in your existing
pack) is still a healthy pack, and has room to grow.
The suggestion by Rod Bidinger to choose a different meeting night is
an excellent one. When I was in Cubs, the three local packs met on
different nights. This allowed folks to schedule Cub Scouting around
other activities (music, sports, etc.) that were a part of their lives
as well. Try not to pick the night of your district roundtable, so
that your leaders can go there and pick up new ideas.
Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** troop24@emf.net
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
Scoutmaster, Mt. Diablo Silverado Council Contingent Jamboree Troop #3
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
