Re: Difficult Crossovers to several troops
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Mon, 22 Mar 1999 17:18:37 -0800
Paul Thompson <pack287@yahoo.com> wrote to me privately (and allowed
me to quote him here):
>Alan,
>Your post got me to wondering.
>The Scouts from my pack tend to bridge over to one of two local
>troops. We only crossed over three Scouts this year, and all to the
>same troop. In years past, however, we've had both troops on hand at
>our Blue and Gold.
>Now, what I'm wondering: Typically, who from my pack should be
>contacting the troup(s)? Should the Webelos den leaders do it? They
>have the knowledge of the boys who are crossing over. Should the
>cubmaster, who is the "front-man" of our unit? Perhaps, as CC, I
>should be the one? Do troops typically assign someone to the task?
Excellent questions, Paul!
The Webelos Den Leaders should be the front line in communications with
the troops. After all, they should have been working with the troop
leaders over the last six months in arranging joint outings and meeting
visits. On the other hand, finding out who those den leaders are becomes
something of a treasure hunt as well. Usually it takes several calls to
the Cubmaster (if we can find out who the Cubmaster is!). Typically we
try to get in touch with them in September (or even the previous spring),
but sometimes we don't get a dialogue going until December or January,
which is very late in the process.
Because I am fortunate to have a number of excellent Assistant Scoutmasters,
we usually have one who is assigned (has volunteered) to be our point
person in communicating with the Webelos dens. (BTW, we were especially
fortunate this year in that everyone in the den we just recruited had an
email address -- we were able this year to get info to directly to every
family.)
It really doesn't matter who is involved in the communication channel,
so long as it exists and is working. For example, if there is a parent
with boys in both pack and troop, that person might be the logical person
to carry messages back and forth. Or perhaps the troop contact might be
someone who just came from the pack and still knows the pack leadership.
>I'm putting together a procedures manual for the next CC, whoever that
>will be (I've got 2 more years). This is something I need to include
>under "Webelos Scouts".
An excellent idea! I hope that other packs will consider following your
example.
The key thing to put in there is that the Webelos Den Leaders need to
know about the troops in the area and need to be in touch with them
early. My thinking is that the spring of the first year of Webelos is
the best time to be making those connections. That is early enough that
the troop and the den can be making joint plans for the fall outings.
I would prefer not taking Webelos snow camping in order to get to know
our troop (after they join, that's fine!).
>Thanks for your consideration,
>Paul S. Thompson, CC
>Pack 287, Romeo, Michigan
YiS,
Alan R. Houser ** troop24@emf.net
** Scoutmaster, Troop 24, Berkeley, California **
** Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner, Herms District **
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
