Greg Nelson

Wealth can't be created???? You're joking, right? What did Bill Gates do? Did he go out and mine $30 billion worth of gold? Did Henry Ford rob banks to make his vast fortune? Let's tie this in to two of the most popular starter merit badges - Leatherwork and Basketry. Wind the clock back 100,000 years to two guys - Hunter and Gatherer. Hunter kills animals and makes blankets and pelts. Gatherer takes reeds and weaves baskets and chairs. By trading with each other, both Hunter and Gatherer have access to the goods the other can produce. If Hunter goes and ki

Surprisingly, the series South Park, which in general is just a steaming pile of garbage, has had several Cub Scout-themed episodes with reasonably fair and accurate (but highly exaggerated) renditions of Cub Scout uniforms, events, leaders, and boys.

Well, the original post is over the top, but it's hardly worthy of the immediate dismissal it has earned. Quote: If you don't like fundraising, don't do it. Nobody's forcing you and certainly not the BSA. You don't hang out much in my neck of the woods. There is ENORMOUS pressure from the professional Scouters to sell popcorn and hold FOS presentations. In my experience, the BSA absolutely DOES coerce you to fundraise. We had an FOS presentation a few months back that, to me, bordered on fraud. All sorts of false claims that FOS money went to pay for this and that for the boys

We had someone with a similar attitude a few years back. (Raising a lot of funds, then thinking that translated into having veto power over the pack calendar.) It never got to the type of situation you're in, but it was sure annoying. If I were a DE, and received a bizarre request like this (move my son's money, but keep my son in the same pack), that by itself would lead me to assume the person isn't playing with a full deck, and to more or less disregard anything she had to say. So I doubt the DE is thinking you're a spendthrift. I would stick with the "suck it up" plan unless she

Now that I understand what the product is, I find it a lot less funny. I first was picturing your standard fake dog poop - put it on or near someone's tent, call their attention to it, get the desired reaction, then pick it up - momentary chuckle, no harm, no foul. Instead, this kid stunk up someone's tent for the whole night. In short, he intentionally ruined someone else's camping experience. I think switching tents for the evening would be a good start for punishment.

The boys of my Webelos II den are the Cobras. We use pretty much what you already proposed- "CobraSSSSSSSSSS", ending it with a little "zing" sound and a hand gesture of a cobra striking its prey. Works for us.

I think you're right, Fast Tracks is the way to go. Parents who won't lift a finger for their kids. Been there, done that. You have to lay down the law right away in the first couple of meetings, or they will continue to treat you like a personal babysitter. You might need to be downright cold about it. At the Tiger level, you are NOT supposed to be putting together all the meetings. It's supposed to be a shared leadership situation. Take those Fast Tracks plans and print them off. After the next den meeting, send the kids off to play in the backyard and spread the plans out. T

This is the time they should be using to shop the prospective troops they may join. All troops are slightly different and multiple visits and even a camping trip help the prospect get to know the rest of the troop. I would forgive the poor pack event attendance if they were exploring the next step. Thank you, scotteng!! This is EXACTLY the situation I am in. When the Webelos boys have their own den campout coming up, and are getting invites to troop campouts as well, I can understand the limited interest in coming out to a pack family campout that will have lots of parents and ev

I have a group of 5th grade Webelos. They are already lame ducks. I find it difficult to get them to come to pack events, campouts, etc. They are more than willing to turn out for den outings and campouts, but are looking to ditch their kid brothers as much as possible. As a cubmaster, I wish they'd have more ownership in the pack. As a den leader, I think the separation is a good thing. If they are looking back towards the pack, rather than ahead towards Boy Scout troops, we aren't doing our job. I think "good bye and good luck" (good riddance?) is exactly what we should do with boy

Every time I see questions like this, (one common one is - "What should I bring to a party whose invitation states, "No gifts, please") I always wonder, "Why not respect the person's stated wishes?" I can completely relate to the original subject. I do not need or want any recognition for my financial contributions to my unit. I would be highly irritated if my unit spent money on me instead of on activities for the boys. I detest all manner of Scout doodads. The only suggestion so far that I would have any appreciation for would be a (simply) framed picture of the boys, preferably i

For the non-wood projects, we did: Leather luggage tags - stamp, stain, stitch Wax candles - melt and mold Vinyl records softened and shaped into bowls Duct tape wallets - fast, easy, and fun (Make-up project) Foamboard dice tower Plans for those last 3 are available online. The dice tower is particularly cool, but takes more time - probably an at-home project, rather than a den meeting project. For wood, we had the kids saw a yardstick into pieces and make a picture frame out of it. It's a good non-trivial project, since the kids have to design it themselves in term

(Disclaimer: I am not an Eagle Scout. I hung around for the camping.) I know I'm going to be in the minority here, but here goes. Add badges? I would GET RID of several of the required badges. Right now, the merit badge program is not what it could be. From the kids' viewpoint, there are two types of merit badges: 1) The GOLDEN Eagle-required badges; and 2) The worthless filler badges. In many troops, just about every kid earns the required badges, and then chooses the easiest possible other badges (Basketry, anyone?) The result is very little diversity among th

They haven't started training yet? And they aren't training backups? You should be thankful your nephew is missing this trip.

kahits: It does seem that kids without active parents tend to get jobbed in situations like this. And the "We need someone ...." speech, given to a group where the boys already know who's in "the insider group" and who's not, could be intimidating to a Scout.

The lynch mob is out for blood today! Folks, let's keep in mind - these troop leaders are Scouters, just like you and I. Until I have clear evidence to the contrary, I'm going to assume they are doing things as best they can. Clarifying my earlier post: A typical car can seat 4 comfortably and 5 not so comfortably. Pickups can carry more gear, but less people. So my earlier post was assuming the troop was going to need 4 vehicles. Two drivers per car is not G2SS policy, and would be unreasonable. Speaking of unreasonable, the troop should rent a van or take the train, rather t

My son's dentist has a picture of his (I mean, his son's) Philmont trek. As I recall, it shows one dad for each kid. Now THAT'S hogging the roster! I'll play devil's advocate as well here. These folks are traveling from Nebraska. They may well NEED 4 drivers to get the kids and the gear to Philmont. I suppose they could have the dads cool their heels in base camp instead of going on the trek, but that's a bit much to ask. In their shoes, they're just stating facts - hey, we have 12 kids who want to go, but only 10 open spots once the 4 drivers are included. The drivers' kids are in

We don't do anything cool like that with symbols. We hold a ceremony with the pack leadership removing the old neckerchiefs, then presenting the boys with the neckerchiefs of their new rank. For Webelos Is, they don't get a new neckerchief. What we do instead is present them with a coin (available through www.scoutstuff.org or your local Scout shop) with the Scout Oath on one side and the 12 points of the Scout Law on the other. It's intended to help them memorize these to satisfy their Arrow of Light requirements.

This may seem like an odd question, but I bet there are those out there who have dealt with this situation. I have a boy in my Webelos den whose mother has had cancer for the past couple of years. Most of the boys know that she is "sick", and a couple of the boy's closest friends understand that she is not likely to get better. She has now reached the stage where it's quite possible she will pass on in the next couple of months. What would be an appropriate way to handle this in the den? For some of these boys, this will be the first death of someone they have known. I don't want to

A hidden question here is, "Who's responsible for the rank advancement?" In its ideal form, Cub Scouting is about the boys working on the rank requirements AT HOME, and just coming together at the den and pack events for fellowship and fun. Now, you and I both know that every pack has a few parents who cannot be bothered to lift one finger to help their boys. That's how den meetings have come to include rank work. Looking at the Wolf example you provided, the den leader has 2 choices. 1) Go back and repeat required work that some of the boys have already done. 2) Move forward a

As a den leader for a number of years, here's my take - short and sweet. If I'm the den leader, I'm going to run things the way *I* think they should be run.

This dead horse has been dragged out and beaten a few times already. Here's one. http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=83083 I agree, a leader with a cig hanging out of his/her mouth sets a bad example. That's why they are asked to partake out of view of the kids. On my own time, I've been known to enjoy an adult beverage or three. Should I get the boot? At roundtable, I see a lot of Scouters with "Dunlap" disease. Does carrying an extra 200+ pounds set a good example for the youth? And being overweight can't be hidden from the boys. Let's kick them out as well.

Last I checked, smoking isn't illegal, unlike your other examples. For me, I don't smoke - never have, never will. But I'm not willing to give up 25% or more of potential Scouting volunteers by requiring them to not smoke at all.

ustbeeowl: I'm glad you posted that quip. My Webelos boys are working on the Fitness badge right now. I think they'll enjoy that as a joke at the next meeting. I dunno, but I read your post as a funny item addressed to a generic "you", not an insult to a specific person. I think the BSA policy of expecting smokers to "take it around the corner", rather than banning it outright, is a reasonable compromise that allows us to benefit from those folks' contributions. None of us is (are?) perfect.

We had a great time at our district's Cuboree, held at our council's Cub World camp. Over 20 boys from our pack came out for the activities, with about 15 of them camping for one or both nights. The weather was sunny and low-80s, and the boys had a blast. I'm especially proud of the fact that several of the Cubs out there were camping for the very first time. That's what makes it worthwhile.

Should I even bite? Sure, why not. Research? OK, last I checked, parents of Tigers were required to attend all den meetings and outings, as well as all pack events. Doesn't sound like any day care center I'm familiar with. It's kinda funny that you mention the Boys' Club. Now that's a group that really HAS turned into a baby-sitting organization. Almost all of their efforts are channeled into after-school care centers, usually in low-income areas. I'm not knocking what the Boys' Club has morphed into - there's certainly a need for what they do - but kids don't really "join" the Boys