Greg Nelson

OK, I'll bite. I think it's a terrible idea. This must be the dream of some paper-shuffler trying to increase numbers. It's enough of a stretch to get Tigers going with the rank-based program. But kindergarten kids? Boys? No way. I don't see how it could much more than glorified play dates. And, far from getting kids interested in Scouting, it'll turn them and their parents off. That's the effect I see in my parts with the Girl Scout Daisies program. Girls sign up all excited, but lose interest since the "good stuff" doesn't happen until Brownies. Many parents can't see the difference, and assume all of Scouting is what they see at the youngest level.

Shoot me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the diamond-shaped Webelos badge was supposed to be discontinued after 2004. That is, those who earned the Tiger badge in its first year, 2001-2002, Wolf in 2002-2003, and Bear in 2003-2004 would have earned Webelos in 2004-2005, the year AFTER the last year of the old Webelos badge. Thus, in theory, the Tiger-Webelos in the same slot problem would never come up. If the boys don't want to switch to tan uniforms, I guess they could take off the old rank badges and replace them with the Webelos badge. Having said that, I know my Scout Shop still sells the old Webelos badge, and yours probably does, too. Then again, they also still sell Tiger t-shirts, leading to mass confusion with the new parents. Now what I'd like to know is this: What do my Webelos that are new to the pack do with their Bobcat badges on the tan uniform???

We had a similar situation in our Pack last year. One of the committee members had a son who had lost interest in Scouting by his Web II year. He didn't even show up to claim his Arrow of Light at B & G. This particular Scouter was also divorced, so there might have been some external issues at work there. In any case, this dad would show up at most of our campouts, pack meetings, etc., even if his son wasn't there. Now, in our case, nobody questioned this guy, as he had been an active Scouter and pillar of the pack for several years. His motivation was probably, "I'm here to support the Pack, even if my son isn't interested". Is this dad helping out at the den meetings, acting as a Scouter, or is he just hanging around? Perhaps he goes there to "take notes" for his son and keep him up to speed at home. Perhaps he's acting out his half of a power struggle with his boy. Why not just ask him, "What's up?"

There is a small wolf track pin that your son would attach to his pocket flap. As he keeps re-earning the award, he would keep collecting additional pins on the flap. http://usscouts.org/advance/cubscout/Outdoor-Activity.html

I'm coming late to the posting party, but there *IS* a week-long Wood Badge course run at Philmont each year. The course takes place in late August, the week after the last Philmont treks finish. Circle 10 Council out of Dallas runs the course. It is primarily for people from the council, but if it doesn't fill, they will open it up to outsiders a month or two before it runs. This year, the year I was there, we had three people from NYC, two from Denver, and one from Oklahoma. In 2006, the SM is a great Scouter named Dick Dawson.

I think you have reason to be concerned about this leader's "generous" giving of credit. Which one of these three Art belt loop requirements does she think the boys have completed? 1. Make a list of common materials used to create visual art compositions. 2. Demonstrate how 6 of the following elements of design are used in a drawing - lines, circles, dots, shapes, colors, patterns, textures, space, balance, or perspective. 3. Identify the 3 primary and 3 secondary colors that can be made by mixing them. Show how this is done using paints or markers. Use the primary and secondary colors to create a painting. I don't see how ANY of those could be satisfied by decorating a birdfeeder. You don't do the boys any favors by giving them awards they have not earned. They will accept them, but not value them.

I've used Badge Magic on both my uniform and my son's uniform. It works ... OK. Some tips: 1) Don't even THINK about using a dryer to set the adhesive. Use a iron - the hotter, the better. 2) It's not completely permanent - if you wash your uniform often enough, (like 50 times or more), the edges of the badges will start to pull away from the uniform. Now, for most kids, they will outgrow their uniforms before this starts to happen. For adults, it's something to deal with. 3) Here's what I ended up doing with Badge Magic. The problem with patches is that it takes months for you to get around to sewing them on. And if you sew like me, the badges end up off-center, in the wrong place, etc. With Badge Magic, you can easily get them on your uniform in the exact right place and in a timely manner. Once on, you can go back and reinforce the adhesive by stitching them on at your leisure. 4) Avoid imitations. They don't work.

To me, it sounds like you should step up to be committee chair (and, by default, probably the whole committee). If you take over as Cubmaster, 100% of the work falls on your shoulders, as it is probably for your current CM. If you instead serve as CC, you can do the division of labor intended - you plan and schedule the events, the Cubmaster runs the meetings. It sounds as if your beef is the disorganization of the pack - this can be best remedied by the CC.

I agree with Cubmaster Jerry. One thing to avoid is to come in cold and ask the boys to explain the award while it is being given to them. If they show a complete ingorance of the topic, what will you do then? Deny them the award in front of a crowd? Give them the award, even though it's clear to the audience that the boy didn't earn it? You lose either way. A nice subtle way to accomplish the task is to have the den leader "practice" with the boys, having them talk about the award in a den meeting. If the boy shows strong evidence of not having met the requirements, you can then either work with them to fulfill the requirements, or ask them to "defer" receiving the award until they are "prepared" for the ceremony. Casting it in these terms is a nicer way of handling things than just flat out accusing the boy or his parents of BSing you on the award. I know at my district's summer camp, the list of items completed by the Cubs, according to the staff, was a mile long. What they actually did do, to my satisfaction as a den leader, was a much shorter list. I simply tossed the long list and gave my own short list to the parents. Your den leaders may not know just what the boys did, or might not be aware of what the Leave No Trace requirements really are. A polite request to "verify" the completion of requirements will go down a lot better than simply refusing to honor the award.

This sounds like an excellent time for your pack to form a written policy about awards earned multiple times. Frankly, I don't think many boys have much interest in wearing 2 or 3 Archery belt loops. Our pack gives the first one for free. After that, the parent may purchase the award if desired. We have never had a parent buy a second identical award. Once in a while, the boy will give us his old award momentarily and have it handed back to him in the pack ceremony. Most are happy with just standing in front and being acknowledged. You need the written policy to have something to point to when "Johnny's" parent wants to know where her son's awards are.

Except for the rank badges, you can earn awards 50 times if you want. The question is, are you as a pack going to pay for them more than once? At $4.55 for the Leave No Trace patch, I'd say the answer should be "no". You should call the boys up, acknowledge them for completing the requirements a second time, and let them sit down. If your camp is anything like ours, I'd be skeptical that all the boys really completed the requirements. Individual quizzing by the den leader is in order. But that's another issue.

Well, that depends on which emblem you're trying to have your boys earn. Most denominations have a single award for all Cubs. There are Catholic and Jewish emblems (and maybe some others) designed specifically for younger Cubs. The more common denominations (esp. Catholic) have workbooks available at Scout Shops. For the others, you'd probably have to special order it. All of these involve a non-trivial amount of effort, probably akin to earning two or three Academics pins. In my pack, most boys earn the award through classes offered by their church. I haven't known of a boy just doing it on his own with his parents, although it could be done. As to your original question - by doing an Internet search for "cub scout religious award" + , you'd probably find the needed requirements.

It's a dessert topping AND a floor wax. You can earn the Ultimate belt loop by playing EITHER Ultimate Frisbee OR Frisbee Golf. Why the belt loop isn't called "Disc Sports" or some such is beyond me.

Well, you probably won't like my thoughts, but here goes. [rant] It's all well and good that you have a thriving nearby district. But that's not YOUR district. You can use it as a good example, but quitting your district and moving to the other one just isn't going to happen, unless you move your pack's CO. What is the district, anyway? It's nothing more than the sum of the packs and troops that belong to it. If the district is sickly, it's because the units don't value it enough to build it up. Instead of viewing it as a "THEY don't help us. THEY don't do anything for us, THEY, THEY, THEY...", look at it as a "WE need to do more, WE should provide this, ..." You even admit that your unit doesn't chip in by even attending roundtable, which is a pretty minimal commitment. If the other units operate that way, no wonder the district is so lame. If the district isn't functioning well, take it over and do it right. Don't just point fingers. [/rant] Thanks for listening.

That's great, but the official line is silent on what to do about the individual and den awards if your pack offers MORE than three events. It sounds as if most of you require one attendance per month, and a few just require three total attendances over the summer. Also, some of you are creative about your definitions of "June" and "August". In the past, our pack has required any three events, without paying attention to the months. This time around, I think we'll try to go with the one event per month rule, and see if anything blows up.

I had heard this as well, although I don't know where. I tried to track down some written confirmation of this, and found none. So, as far as I know, for Wolf, you can get arrow points ONLY through electives, not through the undone parts of Achievements 1, 10, and 12. I checked out the tracker you refer to (I use the Roxanne Madsen ones instead), and I think he has it wrong. It's too bad he made a point of explicitly encouraging people to do the extra parts for electives, because they shouldn't count. Now, if someone can point me to some official word on this, it would be helpful.

Yeah, the moms were out of line here. However, consider this: if these moms are anything like me or the other den leaders in my pack, they end up spending lots (like $50-$100 or more) of their own money on den stuff over the course of the year. Also, they are taking away time from their own sons to devote to other kids' sons. So maybe they justify it in their minds this way- I'm giving time and money to the den, and this is a way the den can repay it to my son. I note that you're about to take over as Cubmaster for your pack. So am I. I'm sure we'll both learn that it isn't a simple thing to treat our sons fairly - neither favoring them, nor being harder on them. As a leader, you have to choose your battles carefully. If they are doing a good job as den mothers, I'd let this slide for now. Next spring, you could strongly suggest that the extra money be used for an outing or other activity that would benefit all boys equally.

After the last 2 years of Program Helps, with their completely staged pictures - several scouts in full uniforms (including pants), everyone smiling, different ages playing together - I enjoyed the more realistic pictures on this year's Program Helps. Three shots of Scouts all by themselves, two with neutral expressions instead of goofy smiles, and my favorite - one with a kid whose shirt is untucked, he has a Wolf (but no Bobcat) sewn on the wrong pocket, and his other pocket has an unofficial badge permanently sewn on. Also, he has a string wrapped tightly around his neck. Now THOSE are the type of Scouts I deal with!

Yes, the 12 achievements are *SUPPOSED* to be done primarily at home. In practice, if you leave it up to the parents, some of your boys just won't ever get their Wolf badge. If your pack is anything like ours, expect to incorporate a lot of advancement into your den meetings. Some of the achievements, like the Religion one and the "Making Choices" one, really can't be done in the meeting. You'll just have to find ways to start fires under your parents' feet. Arrow points are separate between Wolf and Bear. They are worn under the badge they are earned with. Adult Partners are no longer part of the game in Wolf. Dropping off the kids? It depends on how you set the expectations. In general, give an inch, and there will be a parent or two to take a mile. If you need to, you can always set the expectation that all parents stay for the meeting. As far as the boys' social growth, though, it's probably better if you let the parents go. If you need help during the meeting, ask one or two of the parents to stay on a rotating basis. Then again, what do I know? I'm just diving into Wolf myself, and giving you the advice of others in my pack.

How would y'all rule on this? For the Summertime Pack Award, packs need to offer one event each in June, July, and August. Scouts must attend all of these events to earn their pin. Now, suppose a pack offers 5 events - 2 in June, 2 in July, 1 in August. Does the Scout need to attend: 1) All 5 events? 2) One event in each month? 3) Any three events? 4) Three specific events designated as the "official" events for the award? 5) Some other option? Thoughts?

I don't think it has EVER been up to the den leader to get their boys to earn their ranks at the same time, or at all. Now, in practice, it's probably a good idea to have your den doing quite a bit of advancement work. But in the end, it's the responsibility of the Scout and his family to get the job done. Back in my Cub Scout days (mid-70s), Wolf, Bear, Webelos were all based on birthdays, not on school year. (This was NOT an LDS pack.) Because of this, ranks were being awarded every month. Crossovers also happened on a continual basis. Anyway, that's how I remember it. But we didn't even have a B & G back in the day.

It's simple. Before the boys cross over the bridge (either real or makeshift) you set fire to their current neckerchiefs, while they are still wearing them. On the other side of the bridge, their new den leader throws them into the river (or dunks their head in a bucket of water) to put out the flames. What? That's not how it goes? Geez, next you'll be telling me we can't hang our Bobcats upside down by their boots until they do a good turn.

Re: What to do in DFW 1. Yeah, you might as well see the grassy knoll. It's the #1 tourist attraction in town. Don't be surprised if your boys know nothing of it. 2. I'd vote for a Texas Stadium tour. You'll already be in the area, since it's not far from the Scout Museum. Tours are $10/person, and leave every hour on the hour. More info at dallascowboys.com. DFW is a big place, and it's hard to get from A to B in a short time, so those two things would probably chew up your available time.

I'd say the museum needs a LOT more hands-on stuff. Scouts like to DO things, not look at things. Adults will appreciate the extensive collection of Norman Rockwell Scout art. Kids will look at them and go, "Huh. Cool pictures. What's next?" The museum has the following activities available: 1. Shooting gallery - Good for 15-30 minutes 2. Pinewood Derby track - Good for 0-15 minutes 3. Interactive rafting video game (occasionally working) - Good for 15 minutes 4. Venture interactive "game - only for older Scouts - Good for 15 minutes. 5. Some knot-tying display - Good for 0-15 minutes. Add it up, and you have about 1 hour of Scout activity, tops. Frankly, my Cubs spent almost as much time messing around in the Scout store as they did in the musuem. I think it would be a great idea if the museum would invite 3-4 local Scout troops to come in on weekends and set up hands-on activities, like a mini-Scout show. They could rotate the troops, so it would be a once-a-year event for the troops. That could also generate return visits, to see what's happening this week.

Yeah, our pack does this (holds back rank advancements until B & G) as well. I think it's a bad idea. What happens is that a lot of the boys don't do anything on ranks until early Feb., then turn in a bunch of achievements, all signed off at once. I think having a boy or two strutting around with his badge would do some good to motivate these stragglers. Even worse, it sends the 100% wrong message to those Cubs busting their butts. It says right in their handbooks that they will get their awards at the next pack meeting. Instead, they have to wait (and wait and wait, in the case of some who work hard all summer and finish up by early fall). Why do they have to wait? For the other kids in the den to finish their work. Where's the incentive to excel? Do all Scouts have to be the same? Also, what do these early achievers do between finishing the rank and the B & G? They can work on arrow points, but they can't get them awarded until March, since they don't have the rank badge. "Here, Johnny. Work on these Electives, and we'll reward you in 6 months." I'm going to float that mother's pin idea at the next committee meeting. We have a lot of kids going into Webelos I this year, and I'd like the hard workers to be able to get a badge on their new uniforms early on.