Fehler

Did they "Do their best" to complete their badges, given the limited amount of time they had to work on them? Then award the ranks, and include them.

Or he may just be confusing the knot with the position patch, thinking he wears it at the start rather then after meeting the qualifications.

I have a Den Chief for my Bear Den (now Webelos) who says he wants to stay on as Den Chief and eventually become the Troop Guide for this group.

I don't know if it will work, but we are going to try "seed art neckerchief slides" this weekend at camp.

Get a 3" tree branch, make slices about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut 1/2" pvc pipe into 1" segments.

Have the Webelos look at the rings for their Forester badge, if desired.

Then, get a mix of seeds/beans/dyed and dried white rice, and glue it in a pattern. Let dry, glue or hot-glue the PVC on the back (or do this ahead of time). Apply an optional lacquer to keep the beans from absorbing moisture and sprouting.

Will this disqualify President Obama for receiving the Silver Buffalo?

How is the situation on Dens? Are they kept down to 6-8 boys, or do you have mega-dens of 20+ each? What kind of meeting rooms do you use for den/pack meetings? Can you really do advancements (and make them meaningful) for a group this size, or do they just get handed them at the door without ceremony?

Mega Packs have no room to grow, and no incentive to keep boys interested/involved (if half your Den doesn't show up to the den meeting, your Den Leader may be relieved at the reduced work, but you just lost half your Den!)

Split, claim different meeting nights (the Packs in my neck of the woods are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday), but foster cross-Pack ties like joint camps (well, camp the same weekend at the same campground), joint service projects or outdoor activity days/belt loop rallys about 3 times a year. It will be painful, and everyone will want to follow the "good leader", and you will have problems finding leaders for every level. But to not do it would be unfair to all the boys who need a "real" scouting experience.

The Belt Loop Rally is a great multi-pack event, since the leaders of each Pack can focus on one-two Loops, and boys from other Packs can mix-and-match which ones they want to try, skipping ones they've already earned. Get a park with three soccer fields and you have Soccer, Flag Football, and Ultimate all taking place at once.

We did the Pack Picnic on May 10th, and crossed everyone up (and distributed books and neckers and slides). Did this a couple weeks earlier than last year because we are having our first Pack Camp this weekend, and I wanted to start on the new stuff rather then old. Multiple schools/calenders here, and heavy spring sports participation (from my Den Leaders).

I set up a "marshmallow shooting gallery" with a couple of those popcorn-sale crossbow prizes and a water heater box (decorated with the "Join Scouting" and other stickers/designs from my Wolf Den). The box has a hole cut out, with a target taped in the middle, so marshmallows fall into the box, not bouncing off (it was originally a puppet show stage box). Works great if you are up against a wall, indoors. Not so good if you have another booth behind you.

I also like the stomp rockets for outside. I did that this weekend, but my spot was not ideal: The only good place to launch the rockets was away from where my table was assigned, so it pulled the focus away from my flyers.

Wow, he's drifting into "Man-on-Dog" territory.

My bible doesn't say homosexuality is a sin. The BSA makes it very clear that it does not promote a specific faith. Disagree with my faith you can, but you cannot force my chartered organization to deny a leadership position on the basis of a tenant to which it doesn't adhere.

Here's the original article: http://www.startribune.com/local/west/149640525.html

The story behind all this is a local judge (supported by the Republican Sheriff) who refused to preside in a courtroom that didn't have screening in place, in response to a recent shooting at a courthouse in northern Minnesota. The County Board (Democrat-controlled) claimed that screening the suburban courtrooms wouldn't be cost effective (the downtown Minneapolis courtroom was screened). The Board relented, and in my opinion just put up this display to showcase how stupid the entire issue was/is.

Actually, they are a bit different. A Webelos Den needs contacts with Boy Scout Troops in the area. This kind of cross-connection is right up the alley for the Cubmaster, as a Webelos Den Leader may not have the experience working with leaders/parents outside their den. A good, social Cubmaster can build those bridges.

My Pack gives out Service Stars to registered scouters (and thank you notes to the non-registered people that helped a bunch, like our Popcorn Chair). In my annual "leader orientation" packet, where I go over the required training for new/returning leaders, I include the applications for the knots.

The unit that increased their sales the most in our District got to shave the DE's head.

Denners yes, but those dang cords never come back.

For Bears, include the Achievements met by being a Denner.

Don't include things that are expected of all scouts in the den, such as "Keep your word" and "Ask for help".

Everything you mentioned is how the other adult leaders treat you. How do the scouts treat you?

Most of the things you describe are the functions of a well-run committee, so go with it. Do the Scoutmaster conferences. Do the Scoutmaster minute. Insist on youth led/PLC activities and proper Boards of Review by Committee Members, not ASMs. Do the things a Scoutmaster is supposed to do, not the things most Scoutmasters end up doing because of a lack of parental/committee support.

Funny thing, the swimming belt loop doesn't require that the Cub Scout knows how to swim.

How about uniforms pieces? My Pack has some money left from a cancelled event, so we're going to buy everyone's next year neckerchiefs and slides (and Webelos colors).

Poop hunt!

Are the skill-in-subject awards specifically called "Merit Badges", or what terminology is used?

Are the ranks you referred to age-based, or are they earned ranks that all Girls earn?

And what do you call them, "Girls", "Scouts", or some other term?

We have one wolf this year, so he attends den meetings with the bears, but working on his "Wolf Badge". Next year, he will attend meetings with the Wolves (current Tigers) and earn his Bear Badge. I'm not sure if it will work, but its the best we can do (had a poor recruiting and retention year last year.)

AOL is still Cub Scouts. "Do Your Best" applies. Did they do their best to complete the requirements, regardless of the mistakes made by their former leader as to what those requirements were? If so, then award it to them.

We scheduled an Ice Fishing day this year. Here's what happened:

I picked the "Take your kid Ice Fishing" day the DNR listed so parents wouldn't need a license. Otherwise scouts could fish, but parents would need a license to fish, too.

Our Pack Meeting before the event, I had four bits lined up:

First, a local "ice fishing expert" come with all his cool gear, so everyone could get up close to it before the meeting. He was also to help the day of the event, drilling holes, etc.

One of our den leaders talked breifly about ice and cold weather safety (how thick ice needs to be safe) with some ice blocks and poster. A Den Chief demonstrated how to use Ice Claws to pull yourself out of a hole in the lake (not actually clawing the floor).

I went over the three "main points" for fishing laws: Season, License, and Limit. Our Bear Den made an electronic fish-matching game, so scouts could try their hand in ID'ing fish (so you know when you hit your limit).

One of the Tiger leaders led everyone in making "jiggle sticks", ice-fishing poles. Its a dowel, two screws and an eyehook. Links to instructions are here: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/minnaqua/icefishing/index.html

Everything was set, we had a volunteer with a windshelter to set up, people bringing snacks/hot drinks, and some local press. I had equipment for "Ice Soccer" and some sleds for "Bobsled racing" and for the Webelos "Ice Claw Racing" (cause sitting around a hole in the ice may not be for everyone). I sent flyers to the school for recruiting, and had several potential new scouts ready to come.

Then three days before the event (February 18th), the city of Minneapolis closed the lake due to unsafe ice conditions.

Ugh. All that planning and excitement down the tubes.

Three weeks later was the Pinewood Derby, so they boys recovered from the disappointment. But the potential recruits didn't bite on that. I'm waiting to invite them to join for our Spring Camp in May.

Every school month except February, which instead is Blue/Gold. May's Pack Meeting is year-end picnic (same stuff, but with dinner and a larger outside activities). Summer months have an activity (usually a sport, a service project, and Raingutter Regatta) on the regular meeting night, but no pomp/ceremony.

However, next month I was trying to set up a tour for my Bear/Tiger dens (the two dens have 4 sets of brothers, so they meet in the same building in different rooms). But the only day available at the TV studio was our Pack Meeting evening, so we're having an "on-location" Pack Meeting and bringing the other two dens with us.