Greaves

Anniepoo, if you have coverage NOW, then you can have coverage at your next employer. That's what HIPAA did. Insurance companies may no longer set those types of limitations on their customers.

I would run away from a monster den of twenty two, or fall over in a faint. If you have two dads ready to sign up, that makes two dens. A den can function without an official assistant. Break them in half, have one DL dad for each, and use your parental involvement to keep DL Dads supported by single night volunteers functioning as ADL. Sell it to the other leaders as "small class sizes." Small class sizes are what parents WANT for their darlings. More individualized attention, etc etc.

Last night, my first-year webelos constructed reflector ovens for the first time. we made cookies. It was great fun--and a little chaotic. Those boys had a great time.

Perhaps this man would have received more encouragement in getting involved with Scouting if he had suggested he start as an MBC or ASM, letting the adults in district, council, and the troop see that his record is, indeed, a thing of the past. Perhaps starting as SM is overly ambitious for a felon.

Sergeant York, w/ Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan. I just love that movie.

My pack uses internet advancement/scoutnet exclusively. It makes sense there exists a paper form, but I have never seen one.

Before I say anything else--props to you, for stepping up to take responsibility & get things working properly. You knew you were stepping into something of a mess, and you did it anyway. The CC is in charge. The CC has "authority" over everyone--including the secretary. The secretary's job is to write down what the CC says. Has the secretary been to Committee Member Training? (if she has, I don't think it sank in, lol) Ask her/invite her/require her to go to the same training with you, and then you will know that she knows where the authority lies. That's where I'd start--

The Cubmaster, who is married to the treasurer, is taking his two sons and a thousand bucks to the Troop, plus some other kid. Sounds dodgy to me--especially put that way. You probably should talk to the DE. He's been involved and helpful so far. If he is not available to help, you can next turn to the chartered organization head--generally, whoever is boss of the place you meet. Whether it's church, homeowner's association, PTA, or Elks, Someone is in charge, and it's my understanding that the money, in fact, belongs to that organization.

We have around 35 boys registered, and we consider it a good year if we have 2k in the bank at the start of the school year. We have popcorn to sell next month. (We collect $25 from new families now, and then $50 at recharter) Our high point is probably around 4k. The families pay for outings & campouts, the pack pays for advancement & other recognitions.

"The boys father told his old pack did not use internet advancement and therefore his advancement would not be on ScoutNet. " So what did the old pack's advancement chair say when you contacted him/her? What did the people in the old council's office say when you contacted them? (If you don't quite believe the father, why haven't you fact=checked him?) In my experience, most parents don't know that much about advancement. People think the Scout Fairy brings the magic badges--and doesn't keep records of who got what. Poof!

His former council should track the Scout's achievements. Get in touch w someone in the council office. If the father won't tell/doesn't remember the name of the council, it's probably on the kid's shoulder. (I have boys transferred in last year who still have the old CSP on.)

Sea World rocks. I was a Girl Scout in Summit County Ohio, when there was a Sea World Ohio thirty minutes away. It is probably my clearest memory of my time as a Scout, and I would not hesitate to recommend a Sea World Scout trip.

We do not really push the belt loops; for a boy to earn one not covered in a den meeting, his parent needs to track it and tell the den leader. As a Webelos Den Leader, I do A LOT of emailing my den's parents, and include links to belt loop requirements, especially when there's one more thing to do. Weather Belt Loop needs a boy to watch the forecast. We can't do that as a den, but we can do 1 & 2. We have not done a good job tracking belt loops in the past. We just started using Scouttrack this fall, and I'm hoping that this internet based tracking system will help improve

Anderson is a nutbar extraordinaire, and he likes the attention. He's always posting his stupid nutbar things on youtube--like getting tased by border or highway patrol (I forget which agency did it, but he got tased because he refused to comply at a border patrol checkpoint.) He's a crazyman, and the more publicity he gets, the more his coffers swell. (his wife solicts donations for his "legal fund.")

I forget if it's district or council, but there's a skeet & target shoot, as well as a silent auction.

Our council has a special needs district, and they are available to any Scouter who has a question. You don't have to prove a disability, or even be sure there is one, for them to advise. In your shoes, I'd call them in for help. They can observe the boys, make recommendation to the leaders, facilitate a parent-SM-scout conference, where everyone can work towards resolution, all sorts of helpful things for making things better. Sometimes they recommend other units. Does your council have a special needs person/district/hotline?

My son's Tiger den was like that--and I didn't know it could be any other way! By the time they reached their Wolf year, I knew better, and we had a Marble Jar, earning for an Ice Cream Party. We also wrote ICE CREAM PARTY really big, and when things were out of control, they lost letters. Remaining letters become marbles for the jar. We also used Wolf Ears--two little slips of paper each boy got at the start of the meeting. Mess around, lose an ear (ha!) have an ear left the end of meeting, get a tootsie roll. NOW they're Bears, and we're not using gimmicks. Overall, it's n

Our theme is April's Jurassic Park theme. We were a little disorganized with the planning side of things, and thought it would be later in the year before we could pull it together. Fortunately, things came together quickly, so we can have our party in February after all. We're stickin' with the dino-theme.

"It just seems like in a large group like Scouts your first line of information would be folks in your job in other packs, NOT necessarily the district. They should be able to tell you what really happens and real world answers." I get the impression that the roundtables are intended to work that way--a district-wide collection of Pack CCs, CMs & DLs hashing out how things work. That's not what happens in my district--upcoming events are announced (awesome) then we have a presentation of this month's Baloo Bugle. The networking "what do y'all do differently?" kind of conversat

I'm the CC for my son's Pack. We're planning the PWD for early March. I want to have participation 'awards' for every scout who enters a car. The CM thinks we ought to have awards solely for the top three winners. (I'm not sure if he means for the whole pack, or per rank, but at any rate, he's only thinking trophies.) I want to award every scout something for participating, and have the derby medals for the winners. Are those are approved for uniform wear? Trophies are nice, I guess, but a medal on your uniform? Sweeet!!! Easier for other people to see it, too. So. . .opinion

When my son was a Tiger, I knew NOTHING about Cub Scouting. It was ALL brand new to me--to the point I thought these people were, like, paid professionals. I learned better, but I still remember what it felt like, that first meeting. It was March, I think, of that first year that I finally got sorted out that **I** had to take charge on my son's advancement towards rank. We had spent a month or more on Bobcat, but had kind of stalled out on the Tiger thing. (The boys made it--got Tiger at our LAST Pack meeting--but it was a narrow shave) I would suggest you tell the parents of th

Let your local news media know, too. We live in a Charlotte NC suburb, so that's our MAIN paper, but the small towns have their own papers. (That's one of the challenges I gave our new Activities Chair, to get us in a paper. ANY paper.) Nine new Eagle Scouts is certainly newsworthy.

Anywhere you can go to pick up trash, it's a conservation project. I walked home from school with my son once last year, and we filled a garbage bag by the time we were halfway home. People are disgusting. On council property, there's probably not much trash, though. (At least, I hope.) Ask your council's camp ranger for suggestions. What needs done? Invasive weeds? That's a problem we have around here. And if there's no ideas for your council's camp property, ask your DE. One thing for sure, tho, there's always work to do.

Thank you all for your advice. I passed on ScoutNut's suggestion of signing up as a Juliette Daisy for the rest of this year. I think it was a winner, and the mom agreed.

Our pack will be at the 9am service together & in uniform. Last year, all Scouts sat together. (We even had a couple Venturers) My son and I attend a different church regularly, but Scout Sunday is important. For our first year, my son wore his uniform to our church. I'm a uniformed leader now, though, and it's important to me that I be visible at important events like Scout Sunday. Visiting our CO periodically helps me feel connected to the larger organization, and it helps my son see a bigger picture of faith than he'd get if we stuck to just one kind of church.