IM_Kathy

we've done it a couple of different ways because of changes over the years of how we did things...

but the 1 thing that always stayed the same is that every single scout that entered a car recieved a participation ribbon.

when my son was early in cubs they had catagories that you'd enter your car into and there would be a vote for design and there would be 1-3 place medals for each category. later the pack realized that often a webelo scout wouldn't fare too well in this because the scout would do more of the work than a tiger who would watch over his dad... so we switched from catagories to breaking them up by rank and still medals for top 3 of each.

for the racing... we use to do a double elimination tourney - we switched with a new track to 4 lanes and having to race once on each lane... but we always did a trophy for 1-3 in the whole pack for race times.

for our pack we had monthly leader meetings... the DL and all pack position people were to be there. occassionally things would come up and someone would have to miss it - if it was a DL then we asked that they send another adult from their den to be the meeting so they could take notes back to their leader.

the CC &/or CM would write up an agenda for the meeting... the secretary would take notes... after meeting the secretary would email out the minutes from the meeting.

basic agenda would be:

old business - past pack meeting - # attended, how did it go, changes for next year

committee member reports: treasure, advancement, fundraising, what ever you have

den leader reports: each leader give little note of what they've been doing or if they need help with an issue

next pack meeting final notes: update any info for the upcoming months pack meeting

upcoming pack meetings: set dates as soon as possible, let adults know what is going to take place, what is needed from who ever --- some are just little short info needed, other events need more work and therefore can really use a few months to just jot over until finally planned.

when my son was in cubs we had a flag ceremony at every pack meeting. a den would either volunteer to do it or would be assigned it. we had a few that were done for sure by certain levels...

our cross over was seperate from blue and gold... so blue and gold being one of the "big" events our web II did the flags... cross over was another "big" event but since it was web II's big night we had the web I do the flags

the rest were assigned or leaders volunteered. we also had the first meeting for the new tigers run by the web II leader and boys... the leader would teach the boys about how to behave at pack meeting, teach them how to a flag ceremony, and then would lead in a game... the web II would help with it all rather than just participating - they'd show the way to carry the flags, where each flag would go, how to do the salute, etc... and then the tigers would take turns in being a part of a flag ceremony - basically they would have a 1/2 dozen flag ceremonies that night. During this time the tiger DL and the other parents got a chance to talk and get to know each other and get ideas of what they were going to do that year.

packsaddle wrote: "Any adult ought to be able to go without tobacco for the duration of a scouting event. BSA should have a total prohibition of it"

I actually have a medical condition and if I were to quit smoking would really hinder making progress with that... and therefore I have been told by my doctors that until I am able to get my medications to a lower dose and managed well at that dose I'm not to quit smoking.

while I'm sure most of you are saying "what, smoking is going to kill you, what could possibly make a doctor tell you not to quit" It is true. I have PTSD with every symptom except for dual identity disorder. Since I am a smoker my anxiety comes down quicker from a panic attack if I'm able to get away and have a smoke... there is medication that can do the same and I've been on it before, but when I am on that medication while it brings my anxiety down it puts me in a mental haze and therefore makes my intrusive thoughts and disosciation happen much more often. so, until my doctors are able to get my symptoms lowered and can control them with less medication I am not to quit smoking.

would I like to quit... my wallet would sure like that... and lung health wise - yes I would... but right now it's not possible.

so if I were told "quit or else you're out" I would be out... regardless of all the things I do for the unit, regardless of the fact that I never smoke around the boys.

we actually had a campout where we gathered out in the parking lot for our roses and thorns - there was a big pile of butts on the ground, my son looked at me and I said they weren't mine... one boy said of course they aren't she's been with us all weekend so she didn't smoke at all.... I chuckled in my head because over that weekend I had smoked a pack without anyone having any idea.

yes, ideally this would be done by the PL, but this is a NP and they just now got a PL. There have been several boys, from the SPL to Eagle scouts that told the boy that day to tuck it in and since then have asked him where his shirt was. The adult stepped in that first day when he refused to listen to any of the boys and then walked away. None of the adults have talked with him since then, trying to leave it to the boys, but that's not working at all.

we have never done inspections, but even with that what's the punishment of not being in uniform?

Our troop is as mentioned by someone in here - we don't require scout pants. We often see boys come in the ball pants, football pants, or swim trunks during the summer. During the summer we allow the boys to wear class B's. But otherwise they were the uniform shirt, and only time you see a boy without his shirt is when he has suddenly out grown it.

Our requirements for uniform (class A and neckerchief) is they are worn to and from trips, worm if in flag ceremony, and for SCM & BOR

so, since he isn't listening to the youth leaders, what would you do?

not sure what to do with this one...

we have a boy the just crossed over into our troop. first time at meeting as a scout he wore his uniform, but didn't have his shirt tucked in... after being told by more than 1 leader that he needed to tuck in his shirt he walked away to another room of the building. after he returned one of our adults sat down and talked with him - I was nearby and heard some of the things he said and I have to say he did a very good job. But since that meeting the boy has been coming to meetings not wearing a uniform (there by not having to tuck in his shirt) This boy was a cub scout at least 1 year because he crossed over with the rest of his den, so I'm not sure why this wasn't taken care of back then. Parent seems to just brush it all off as "no big deal" but we can't allow one boy to do 1 thing and expect the rest to follow the rules. Of course this is "no big deal" until the boy goes for a SMC or BOR where he must be in uniform.

but, I'm just wondering how you would suggest dealing with this

I haven't read all the posts in this thread yet, but just wanted to share my thoughts...

my sons pack did cross over in April, it didn't give him much of a chance to get to know the boys in the troop before heading off to summer camp as part of the troop.

we've since switched troops to a different town there the boys cross over in December/January. It does give the boys a good chance to get to know the rest of the troop before heading out for summer camp. But, you can really tell the difference in maturity and beharior. Either that or the leaders and parents of the last couple of years have not been very strict on behavior and following rules.

IMO I would say Feb/Mar is perfect medium for allowing the boys to still get to know the rest of the troop and also allow the new boys to become just a tab more mature.

1) packs can vary about from one to another so I would ask the CM, DL, or another parent which ones they think are "can't miss" ones

2) find out from DL when rank awards will be given at pack meeting

3) check with your son on ones he wants his dad to for sure be at.

My husband wasn't always able to make all the pack meetings, but he managed to make it to see him get his rank awards although he couldn't make it to cross over ceremony. And when he couldn't make it to the actual pine wood derby, he made sure he was around to assist in construction although it was actually his brother that helped our son with his cars (my husband has been nick-named "hander of tools" for a reason LOL) Also as a cub he won't be able to campout without an adult, so if you don't want to go then better make sure your husband has that date available for sure.

first off - totally off topic from scouts, but speaking from the platform of being a former store worker...... if you keep your son home to keep him from spreading the flu to the rest of the scouts, then why take him to the video store with you? I can understand the pharmacy... although with both as a boy old enough to be in Boy Scouts and going for Star Rank - he should be old enough to sit in the car while you run such errand.

now, back to scouts... I have a question... when your son missed the training did he go to SM and ask him that since he missed the training class what he needed to do to make that up (something he could read or sit down with someone and go over training info)? To me that would be what a responsible scout and one moving up the upper ranks should be responsible in doing. Now I'm assuming he didn't do that, otherwise this wouldn't still be a problem... so I would ask to sit down with the SM and your son and talk about what your son now needs to do in order to be allowed "in his mind" to have a SMC. If that seems reaonable then do it, if it does not and the SM doesn't want to change his stance on that then I would go up the chain of command with council.

not tolerable IMO - though I don't know what the "punishment" should be...

abuse in any form - verbal, physical, sexual (of course sexual they should be kicked out right away)

drinking during any scout function or even showing up after having been drinking and same for all illegal drugs (obviously you can take your prescribed meds as prescribed of course)

smoking around scouts

using foul language (our troop rule for all any way, so if boy's can't then leaders can't either)

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I don't go on summer camp with the boys because of the smoking rule that is for the camp grounds - there you have to go to a specific place in the parking lot to smoke. It's ok for a day visit, but after several days of hiking to and from it can really wear out the legs. When we camp as a troop I'm the only adult who smokes (all though I don't know about the ones the just joined) I keep a pocket ashtray and I always walk away from the boys... normally we have a fire going and so I just go on a little walk to find some kindling and tinder and carry that back so the boys don't know for sure that I was out smoking.

the foul language - oh man, I can have a dirty mouth when I'm around my friends... but I'm been involved with scouts and with coaching for so long that I know how to keep my mouth clean then... although I will admit when I went down at one soccer practice and sprained my ankle I do not recall what I said as I went down.

if obeciety became a rule - I'd be out... I am over weight and with the medications that I have to take it takes over double a normal person's workout just to stay at what I'm at now so I don't see any pounds dropping off. But, I always know what the troops activities are and if it's something that I know I would not be capable of doing because of my weight I just wouldn't go - just like I don't go on summer camp because of the smoking rule. And just like if we are hiking more than 8 miles I can do with my weight, but I have a bum knee that I've already had 1 surgery on, but after about 6 miles I really feel it in my knee so I wouldn't go longer than that.

our pack didn't allow "pit fixes" except if a wheel fell off.

we had check-in on saturday, we had all the parents with extra tools and weights there to help out. Once they brought the car in for "official" weigh in if they passed they were taken to the pits to wait until next day for the racing. There was no trying it out on the track allowed.

the new track we got was a 4 lane and was timed run deal with the computer... everyone got to race 4 times once on each lane and then times were averaged.

I would wait and see what job you get and what flexibilty with hours you have. If you know that you will be able to always get troop night off of work, and can get 1 weekend a month off too - then you'd be able to come back to SM and let him know that you ARE going to available and want to be a JASM.

If you are unable to be in a leadership position you could still be involved with troop activities as much as possible. Our troop has a patrol with all the oldest boys - they will sometimes have just a couple attend a meeting, other times several will be there.

pinewood drama - makes me glad my son is now in boy scouts.

our old track was warped a bit and so one lane was faster than the other... so that became a major pain and spurred pack into getting a new track.

then we had the boys reusing cars... we had a sibling and non-scout catagory so any returned cars were put in that group. That group got to race, but had no prizes for winning races of for design.

and then we had the 1 parent who worked in a field that had a very percise scale and would push the weight to the highest it could get without seting off our weigh in scale.

I don't know why parents can't just let their kids be kids and have fun. But parents don't seem to get it... that's why we have to have a rules list.

this is the one requirement that I would like to see them give options for like they do for the eagle required badges.

my son nearly drowned when he was about 3... took forever to get him to get into a pool after that. About the time he was a wolf he would finally go in to shallow water. The only reason he earned his aquanaut as a webelos was because he did his best. At that time he was doing swim lessons.

one of his friends was unable to do swim lessons due to financial reason. I took him and my son to the local Y a few days a week for a couple of months.

they finally did complete it. I can understand the whole "important skill to learn" "acomplishing task means so much to those boys". But, why doesn't BSA legitimize menal handicaps (as in total fear) like they do physical ones?

I see 2 options... get a metical professional to put in writing why son cannot accomplish such task or else use this as a was to try and motivate the boy to do it.

what I did with the 2 boys was just start by figuring out the easiest way the boys can swim the forward stroke - some can't do the breast stroke, some can't do the crawl... then start with small distances and just keep lengthening it. oh, and always in shallow water... then move to water just barely over their head for them to jump in and come up... each time they go further make it a big deal... when they are getting so close to full distance tell them how good they're doing and then mention had they only gone so much further they would have it. Also stress that this is NOT a timed event... doesn't matter how long it takes them to get from point a to point b - just that they do it without stopping.

wow, I only have 2 kids and there is no way I could put up with this.

having been a den leader, boy scout adult, girl scout leader, and girl scout unit manager... scheduling and communication is very key!

when I had a den (and do the same with my GS troop) we meet on a set day of the week at a set time. We do not meet every week, but I have it scheduled out which nights we are meeting and give that info out with month advance notice on info sheets that go home with scout after each meeting. On that info sheet it will say what we were doing that meeting. I normally did not say what we would be doing at future meetings because it sometimes depended on if we got through every thing that meeting and also because my plans on what to do next changes (though the next date is still set)

if I communicate via email it is hardly ever "the day of" and in emails I always include "reply to me that you recieved or I will call" So say we have a meeting scheduled for next week and the school just announced the band concert is that same night and I'm cancelling meeting I will send out email... I keep track of who replies and then couple days before actual day I will call those that didn't reply. It saves on me calling everybody... saving my time. But, if I have to cancel the day of, then I call everyone.

2eagles

the hardest part to get use to with GS over BSA is that there is no set "do a, b, c, d..." like they have in cub scouts or even boy scouts.

to help her along her way: get the junior badge book and junior handbook. The badge book is much like merit badge book, but difference is she doesn't have to do all listed she just needs to complete 6 of the items listed to earn the badge. In the handbook you'll find stories, games, etc to help with some of those badges. Also in the handbook you will find info. about other awards she can earn - the 4 signs, the program aid, and the bronze star.

Girl Scouts form of Eagle is the Gold Star which is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn - this they can earn as Seniors and Senior Ambassadors. The Bronze is highest a junior can earn, and the Silver is highest a Cadette can earn.

A girl scout can be in a troop with girls just in her grade, just in her level, or with mixed levels... also a girl can be a "LONE SCOUT" (BSA term) which girl scouts call "Juliette"

This year the GSUSA also started a new program that this thread is talking about - it's called "Journeys" each level has a seperate book which a girl or a troop does the work required and they earn a seperate "Journey" patch(es) the journey activities can also tie into other badges she is working on.

The have summer camp, but it is NOT done as a troop like BSA does... they have different types of camps that the girls can pick from and attend on their own or with buddies... the camp is run by staffers and councilors, but unless they are going on a special troop camp their leaders will not be there.

I think that about sums it up - hope so because I gotta drive my son to scouts now LOL

only change I was able to push with this in cub scouts was to quit calling it "father/son" and just call it "cake auction" and then in rules say scout with male role model.

for girl scouts I have more say since I'm service unit manager and we call the women event "FROW" Favorite Related Older Woman... and the male event "FROG" Favorite Related Older Guy. So this year it was "FROG" caoling and it's "FROW" valentine tea.

oh and reason for me pushing for these changes is not due to my family, but my son's friend's family... their father past away (well it's been a few years ago now) and was very hard for him to hear things being father/son.

we have 1 girl and 1 boy and the girl is older by a couple years...

when my daughter started GS I was involved with that... when my son started CS my husband was involved with that until my son's year at wolf when my husband moved up job positions and had huge work load and traveled about 1-2 times a month. He finished as den leader that year, though I planned the den meeting activities and passed info over to him. Then when my son reached Bear my husband had to drop from being den leader and I stepped up.

my husband is not a camper... he's not a builder (in fact his nickname is "hander of tools & tightener" LOL)... so scouting just isn't his thing. So, I am GS troop leader and Service Unit Manager, and then with boy scouts I'm committee member and often go camping with them too. My husband steps up when there is a conflict in each kid has something going on - then he shuttles our son to and fro. And then when I'm camping with 1 of them he has his special time with the other child... it works out great for us.

but then, we aren't really a "typical family" in the "traditional sense" I'll never forget the campout out when he called my phone to inform me the garbage disposal wasn't working... I told him I'm camping out in the middle of nowhere I can't do anything about it until I get home. it wasn't repairable so I went and got a new one, and to please all my scouts (boys and girls) other than knocking out the plug for the dishwasher cord I installed it all using my handy tool LOL

oh, and as to should it be the husband/wife/both... I don't think the kids care who it is as long as they feel what they are doing is important to the family.

I know that all lodges can be a little different so just give me some ideas...

my son is elligible this year to be voted in and tapped out for OA. Me being female didn't do boy scouts and don't know anything about OA... my husband didn't do boy scouts either... so we have no info to give him. The boys in our troop don't give lots of details - not sure if it's because they're afraid to say something they shouldn't or not.

having attended summer camp he knows about the ordeal things the boys have to do - camp out alone 1 night, stay quiet for so long, and are limited on food (which I think is one thing he isn't thrilled about)...

but other than that all I know is that they work with a summer camp ground to keep it up and running and do repair on trails etc... and I know they camp as OA 2-3 times a year.

what else is there that might spark his interest in it?

my son loves to camp, loves to do service projects, loves all the scouts has to offer... but he HATES going into things blindly.

thanks in advance

our girls just raised over $50 without doing anything other than torturing me LOL

full story... when we planned our unit events this year one troop decided to put on a Valentine Tea for mother/daughter... since early fall all the leaders have joked with me about I have to wear a dress (I don't even recall the last time I wore one - I'm the one pictured in the dictionary next to "TOMBOY") so as I shared all this with my troop their brains started rolling... and I gave in and said ok. Since about November we've had juice bottles laid out with each of our pictures on it - the one who got most money in their jar HAD to wear a dress to February's event. Just took all the jugs to the bank this morning - we raised $58... and about 1/2 of that was all crammed into my jug LOL

other fundraisers that have worked in our area for BSA and GS... pancake breakfasts, spagheti suppers, chili/soup suppers. My son's troop does pop can drives 3 times a year (1st saturday's after new years, momorial day, and labor day)

sounds like a lot of fun... though I was hoping it was tent camping because I'd have shared that with my troop who are soooooo against tent camping in the winter.

I've gone with my son's BSA troop, and it honestly isn't as bad as anyone would think... key is to realize "hey I'm going to be outside alllll day and night I actually need to dress for it." Of course it's cold when you walk home girls, you refuse to wear a hat because it messes you hair, you refuse to wear a good pair of boots because they just don't as cool as __________.... and the list could go on.

and with girl led troop of high school girls, I don't see us ever tenting in the winter... oh well, I still tell them when I get back from doing it with the boys and tell them how it wasn't that bad and how much fun it is.

we had this issue when we went to summer camp as webelos...

1 boy - dad couldn't go, mom's husband could... boy wasn't allowed to stay with mom's husband because he was not legally responsible for the boy ie - not adopted or legal guardian because birth parents had joint custody.

sadly that boy did not go because he didn't want to share tent with boys - he wanted his step-dad.

I understand the rule, but I would think in the case I just mentioned the mother should be allowed to put into writing permission given and the BSA should allow it.

our cooks for the various patrols do as much work as they can before we head out...

making chili? brown up the meat at home and then pack it

needing lots of chopped veggies? cut them up and put in baggies for the cooler

for the boys in our troop their biggest problem is getting things done all at the same time... they often will be eating their bacon while their eggs are still cooking and the like. They eventudally learn that certain things take a little longer to cook and so you start those first.

another thing that helps is have a cook and an assistant cook... rest of the boys are away from cooking area unless the cook calls them in to help with something.

and finally the other thing that helps is spacing the patrol cook stations away from each other allows for easier movement.

I'm so happy... he did finally find his blue card! So I signed off the things we did last month at the pool and he had it done.

glow sticks!!! if the boy hasn't camped anywhere but campgrounds where there are lights out and about they will be surprised how much darker it is at resident camp... 1 glowstick in the tent for cubs really makes them rest better which means the adults can sleep

otherwise: craft kits, walking sticks were a hit when my son was there for webelos but they also became swords which is why our boys didn't get them until they were older, decks of cards, marbles.

and of course - patches, tshirts, extra batteries, socks, hats, water bottles