AnaMaria

change from 10 1/2 to 10? I have a mom who is still being told by local troops that her son has to be 10 1/2 to join with arrow of light. I forwarded her the BSA link showing age 10, but wondered when that changed?

What's the typical size for the big orange coolers? The pack owns a couple, but I don't have access to them to check for sure, but need to buy drink mix for an event tomorrow.

Thanks for your help.

My boys, 8 & 10, thought it was hilarious.

Our pack spends up to $20/scout. Last year's crossovers chose to get Scout handbooks. This year's group is going with arrows.

We sing. All you need is someone to lead & handouts or a screen to project the words. All the goofy Cub Scout songs we do are to familiar tunes. A little guitar might be nice, but we've always done without any accompaniment. We do just scouts or just parents on some verses. Lots of fun. Get an enthusiastic leader and add this fun to your meetings.

AofL and crossover are two separate events. No, a boy does not have to crossover as soon as he's awarded AofL. He needs to be either a Cub Scout or a Boy Scout, though. If he does crossover, you could still have him as a guest at your Cub events, but if he's that interested perhaps he should remain in Cubs for a while.

We're bucking tradition in our pack this year. We've traditionally awarded AofL and had boys crossover at our Blue and Gold in April. Our guys will be crossing in February this year. We're still working out when AofL will be awarded. Some will have the requirements finished this week. (I'm parent and den leader for one as well as Committee Chair, so I'm trying to balance my personal wants with what is reasonable and works best for the boys involved and the pack.)

I'm firmly in the unique den number camp. Only 1 den 1 in the pack, no Tiger Den 1, Wolf Den 1, etc.

We had a new family join the Pack this year. Dad had volunteered to coordinate one of our events. Over the weekend, learned that they will be leaving scouting. Dad is still willing to coordinate the event. I'm not entirely ok with that, but don't have a specific reason. Are my instincts on or off on this one? (My role is CC.)

"Light of Christ" is the program for Catholic Tiger and Wolf youth. The booklet is available at scoutstuff.org.

The booklets should be available at your scout shop as well as on scoutstuff.org.

Protestant is God and Me for 1-3 graders and God and Family for 4 & 5.

Comes in student book, adult partner book & leader book.

Designed to be used in a group, requires signature or religious leader for award. May be done at home if the religious leader agrees.

Catholic is Light of Christ for 1 & 2 and Parvuli Dei for 3-5.

These are designed to be done at home with family. Does require some signatures. (Not Catholic, so I haven't done this one.)

The awards themselves are not given by BSA. Earning the award does qualify the scout to wear the religious emblem square knot. If a scout earns both, there are devices for the square knot to indicate that.

There are other awards for other religions, these are the only two I have any personal knowledge of.

I think an Advancement Chair is important. We have a Pack of 50 - probably 35-40 pretty active - and prodding den leaders for the information and getting things organized seems to be a major job. I think it's something the Cub Master doesn't need on his plate. It also gives someone else the opportunity to get involved and serve. Just because you could handle it yourself, doesn't mean you should.

We've just started using ScoutManage. We haven't been with it long enough to have a real opinion yet. I was sold due to the reports available. Using it's not quite as intuitive as I'd like, but it might grow on me.

I also used the Trax spreadsheets at the den level and loved that.

This is my 7th year of Cub Scout involvement and we've honestly never needed any historical advancement data, though. I guess the need could arise and in theory I like having it available. In actual practice I don't know that it will really matter.

It's a temporary patch.

I've always had the parent sign the religious requirements for the Cub Scout ranks. If a parent asked, as yours did, I think the advice already given is right on.

I looked at the form. Absent this discussion, it would not have entered my head that they meant anything other than the driver's driver's license number. Even after this discussion there's no doubt in my mind that that is what is meant.

And here are the rubber ones.

http://www.armybarracks.com/shopdetails.asp?CatId=74&SubCatId=317&ProductId=1465

Here ya go -

http://www.armybarracks.com/enlargephoto.asp?ProductId=1466

I think I need a pack.

Yes, Webelos pins are (were?) to go on the hat or the Webelos colors. The hats used to have a mesh panel on the inside of the front that flipped down so you could put the pin back on and then back up to protect them.

The colors are $4.50. If there are Scouts whose families truly can't afford that, I'd be looking for a way for the boys to earn the money themselves (not just telling them to find something on their own, but organizing something they could participate in).

We've done pool parties at a pool with their own lifeguards on duty. According to our District Executive, it was not necessary to apply SSD requirements on top of that. Your DE might think otherwise, but I'd ask. I'm comfortable with the safety provided by the facility, but would be reluctant to have a swim event without a parent present. (Nothing to do with guidelines, just my personal comfort level.)

The Tigers have to have their adult partner at every event they attend. It could be a substitute for their regular partner, but I'm not sure why there's a problem with their regular partners attending.

You'd want to adjust to 50 states rather than 48, and add in "under God" with some suitable language.

I personally don't think the boys would be interested. If they have no meaning to you, an adult who might at least understand their historical significance, what meaning would they hold for a Cub Scout? I'd probably check online and see if there's a market for selling them or offer them on a patch-collecting site.

See my post immediately above. I had Staples do the spine removal for very little money. I'm not certain how you'd do it neatly on your own. The book just barely fits in the binder I got - I'd have to measure as I can't remember the size - and you have to turn the pages very carefully. If the coil-bound is available, it's worth the extra $ in my opinion.

They were not Bounce. It may have discouraged them some, but not enough. I'm guessing it also has to be Bounce scented. (We get unscented because the perfumey smell annoys us.) We'll see.

We include a category called "best boy made" to try and be sure a boy who works hard on his own has a chance at an award. The boy doesn't decide what category his car is entered in, it's left to the judges to determine.