jamist649

I don't think we'll strive for the Summertime Pack Award again. :-( We got it, and I presented it to the Pack yesterday, along with Den ribbons. Everyone was excited and it was the first time our Pack had gotten it since 1999 so it was a big deal as NO ONE in the Pack was involved (and NONE of our Scouts were born!) in 1999. Man that makes me feel old! With that being said, I am so incredibly TIRED of it all. I have worked and worked and bent over backwards to keep the Pack involved thru the summer. Planning events, making phone calls, recruiting Tigers (we have 7 new ones). I've had

Just wanted to post a quick update... I used callingpost.com for the first time the other day. I purchased 200 calls for just under 24 bucks (plenty for our pack of 34) and sent my first automatic call just a couple of days ago. IT...WAS...GREAT!! 30 phone calls in one! EVERYBODY was notifed and the service will even notify you if it was unable to reach someone. The best thing since sliced bread I tell ya.

I'd love to see more replies on this thread. We struggle with communication in our Pack despite all of our efforts. I (CM) launched a Blog shortly after taking the position and update it often, but only a handful of the parents actually read it routinely. We also have recently added a Facebook page but again, we have several parents that don't have anything to do with Facebook. I'm at my wit's end with trying to keep the Pack notified. I've put SOME of the responsibility on the Den Leaders to notify but I think that can be a tall order and one that I hate to assign. Sitting down an

5 Tigers (Brand new, "rising" first graders) 6 Wolves 5 Bears 5 Webelos I 9 WebelosII Pretty much all active, just some more than others. I'm hoping to add to this come fall Roundups. Thanks

Wow, I feel ALOT better now. I also (CM) have started a summertime program in order (among other things) to try to earn the Summertime Pack Award-an award that our Pack hasn't won since 1999. We've had 2 Summer events thus far, a campout (which also served as graduation) at a campground and a swim party where we fulfilled the swimming beltloop requirements and gave them out. We had about half the Pack there, not bad...I guess the beltloop helped. We're planning on going to a local racetrack (local/not Nascar by any means) and running the flag up, leading the pledge, and "gentle

Scoutfish, Probably closer to an hour. We'll be wrapped up by noon and then the boys are free to do whatever with their families. A Scout is reverent. :-)

Since July 4th is falling on a Sunday this year, we're meeting as a Pack at a local Church where several of our Scouts are members. Sort of a "Scout Sunday redux". We're going to post the colors, lead the pledge, and then sit together for service. All that can, I understand it's a busy Holiday.

I agree with Pack212scouter. I think we can get whipped up in a fury and get into "groupthink" mode really easy when it comes to kids. It starts out with peeing in the woods, "well, it could have been (fill in the blank with outrageous MINOR possibility).."Yeah, and even (fill in the blank with something that probably won't happen yet a little bit more outrageous)" You see where I'm going. Something like the "yeah, and MURDER!!!" quote from the movies. Did the other adults/leaders have much to say about it? If it has been mentioned in the previous posts, I must have missed it. Eit

Ok...I may be showing my ignorance, but what is "Weeping Willow"?

I have a unique issue that has just presented itself within the last couple of weeks. I'm going into my second year as CM of a Pack that has grown from the brink of death to a large (at least for this area) dynamic and fun Pack. I have several new leaders that have volunteered over the past few months to run the Dens and to staff our NEW Pack Committee. Now that I have all of the "usual" positions filled I have another adult volunteer coming to me asking (gasp!) to help! Our Pack leadership looks something like this: CM (me), ACM, CC, 5 Committee members (1 from each Den), TDL, WDL,

Sounds like the CM may be getting a little burned out. I, as a leader in the Pack anyway, may approach him/her and suggest a little help. Is there an ACM? If not, maybe one is in order to kick things up a little bit. If there is a ACM in place there are always other positions ("official" or not) that may be able to help out. Camping Chief, Activities chief, Event Coordiantor,etc. Anybody to bring in a little fresh prospective.

Congrats on the CM position! What a great story. Your path reads similar to mine. My son joined as a Tiger back in 2007. The Cubmaster at the time had one son and he was a Webelos II so he was basically just "coasting" and was going to cross over and forget about the Pack. So sad.. After he and his son did crossover, he left the Pack (now down to 11 Scouts) to the Wolf ADL who didn't really have the time/desire to do much with the unit or his new CM role. I held NO leadership position in the Pack (officially) when the call came asking me about the CM position. The current CM was go

Yep that is correct. We are just crossing the dens over to the next rank. They've all earned rank badges and arrow points at this point. The only awards we're giving out are a few beltloops that they have earned and one den has really worked hard and earned the "Leave no Trace" award. Positions are me (CM), my ACM, and the individual DL's. I'd like to have the DL's do the crossover speeches.

We're planning our graduation ceremony in conjuction with a campout that we're haivng at a local campground. I'd like to give the Den Leaders a little help on what to say as the boys come forward and advance to the next rank. Something along the lines of "You have mastered the rank of Tiger, quick and fearless like the Tiger of the animal kingdom now you move to Wolf where you must be..." and I'm stuck. I need something for Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelos I. I've done a ton of web searches but I havne't found anything that really fits. We're planning on doing a little "tribal" face paint bu

Our unit (and I thought every unit, but I guess I could be wrong)recharters in December or January for the upcoming year. We collect dues in November/December and pay the fees in January. Charters usually run from January 1 to December 31st.

I've heard of some larger Packs doing it. I think the example I was given was a $75 buy-out and you didn't have to touch Popcorn. However, with 17 Scouts, you may have 15 out of 17 paying the fee and then your fundraiser is a bomb. What I would suggest is what we have done. We don't do the "take order" for popcorn anymore. We do show and sells and schedule Scouts to cover the sale. We also have recently incorporated a "hot dog and bake sale" into our fundraising which will operate similarly. This not only eliminates the "he didn't do jack and still got all his awards..." syn

We are planning a "Physical Fitness Day" for our Pack. I know there are several physical fitness activities in the "Wolf" and "Bear" books, but what other ideas could we incorporate to make it a fun and active day? Also, what's the best way to handle this? Check-off sheets? Stickers? Marbles for completed "stations"? I'm at a loss! Thanks!

John-in-KC, you're exactly right. We have added 2 Den Chiefs to our Pack this year...quite and achievement given the fact that our Pack has NEVER had any before. We have one assigned to our Bear Den and one assigned to our Webelos I and II's, however they work with ALL Dens at Pack events. The boys LOVE them! They asssisted with our Pinewood Derby, camped with us, and attend Den meetings. It's been a great addition.

Good Evening, I took over as CM of our Pack last August and (if I say so myself) have put 110% into the position. Due to the efforts of alot of people (not just me), we have nearly tripled our membership...going from just 9 Scouts to 27 with interest growing almost daily. With growth comes growing pains...and we're hurting! Whereas the previous Cubmaster was able to handle nearly all aspects of of Pack operations before...I'm about to lose my mind! As of right now I have the following leadership positions within our Pack the ones with (new) beside them are positions that I

We're having a Pack Campout this weekend! This will be the first time (under current leadership) that our Pack has organized and held a Campout with just our own folks. We've got our Den Chiefs (2) hosting a couple of beltloop activities plus I've planned a couple of other things...but what else have you seen that would work well for a group of about 15-20 boys and parents? I was thinking nature scavenger hunt, flag retirement, and of course cooking, but anything else? Any help would be appreciated...thanks!

Just a quick update. The bears ROLLED IN from all sources. Scouts, Parents, and community. We designated 2 businesses as "Teddy Bear Drop off Sites" and we collected a TON of bears. Our goal was 100 bears for 100 years. We ended up with 234. We had a State Trooper at our Blue and Gold who accepted them and took them to the local Troop Headquarters. This ended up being a great project!

They are really good for new leaders/units. We don't use them at this time in our unit. I (CM) have found that we can usually come up with things that we have used in the past that suit our Scouts better. Plus, I find some of the things in the "helps" to be a little...uh cheesy. JMO

We just did "Night at the Museum" I and II. Funny,clean, and "semi"-educational.

It went great! I was amazed at some of the cakes that came in the door. We had a HUGE American flag cake, a "dirt" cake with camping scene, and a LIFE SIZE guitar cake...just to name a few. It was Pinewood Derby all over again. You could tell Dad was DEEPLY involved in some of the cakes. I was really happy that the idea was embraced and "ran with" as much as it was. We had each Den "judge" another Den (i.e. Tigers judged Wolves, Wolves judged Tigers, etc) we also did a secret ballot for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place "best in show". We awarded simple kitchen utensils as prizes (The gold

After thinking about it for a while, I went ahead and planned it. I was a little wary of a Cake Bake, I was afraid alot of our Scouts and Dads would think it was "frilly" or something. I was quite suprised when I heard from our Den Leaders that our Scouts and Parents were feverously working on thier cakes and excited to see what everybody else comes up with! I was thinking of letting each Den judge the other Den (i.e. Tigers judge Wolves, Bears judge Webelos,etc.) with an "impartial" judge to judge Best in Show. Any tips from those of you all who have done it before? Thanks