jamist649

I'm on the fence on this one. While I (CM) preach to our Den Leaders to do all they can to help the boys stay involved even if Mom/Dad are little help, I also see the possiblity of (more) abuse from parents looking for a babysitting service; not to mention leader burnout.

I can see both sides of the fence on this. As a CM myself, I would give my right arm to have a secretary who does things without having to be told and prodded to do them. On the other hand, communication is key and if she purposefully lied, than that IS an issue. Looking at it from outside of the unit, I can see where this "may" have been her job anyway. The committee's job (from what I know and have been told) is to plan a quality pack program. You've done that by concieving the idea of having the boys in the event. As far as the logistics of getting them there (i.e. permits, tran

Our Pack is beginning to brainstorm on 100th anniversary themed service projects for the upcoming year. What I (CM) want to do on a Pack level is collect 100 teddy bears to give to the local Highway Patrol to give to children involved in vehicle collisions. From what we hear, these bears that the officers give to the chldren are a Godsend and a source of great comfort to the kids involved. My question is: How do we go about collecting them? Do I ask for each Scout to ask family members and friends to donate 3 or 4 through them (We have about 30 Scouts), do I ask the community to don

Great suggestions! Keep 'em coming! I like the "Scout/Parent Bakeoff" name. It sounds less gender specific just in case we have a Scout that can't find a male partner. I really like this idea! I heard about it at this month's Roundtable for the first time and I just presented it (in newsletter form) to the Den Leaders/Committee Members just today. I hope they don't hate it! I'll keep you informed. I thinking of holding it in January, kind of a lead up to the PWD. Thanks

This is something that NO ONE in our Scouting community has ever done before. I think it would be a great way to sort of "nudge" the Dads in our Pack to get more involved. Thinking about hitting the committee with it as maybe a March or April Pack event. Anyone that has participated or seen one, how did it go? Any tips or tricks? How about prizes, judging, etc. Thanks!

My son joined our Pack in Fall of 2007 as a Tiger. At the end of that season, the CM and ACM (husband and wife, son was Webelos II) left the Pack and joined the Boy Scout Troop in a leadership position. These two were powerhouses in local Scouting (and still are). The only role they play in the Pack now is COR, which we NEVER hear from (which is fine). The departure of these two left the Pack in a little bit of "limbo". Our CO is a local church that has chartered our Pack since the mid-1940's. The Wolf ADL (also a member of the CO) took over the following season and did a great job.

As long as they Do Thier Best, you should advance them. IF, HOWEVER on the other hand, they play around, and WILLFULLY do not try, do not. I'd solicit serious help from the parents, especially given the fact that you are at Tiger level where this is supposed to be happening anyway. Good luck and happy Scouting.

The "manners" loop is a good idea. I'd love to see the requirements on that one. I think that is a trait that is severely lacking in today's boys (and girls!). The "video games" loop makes me want to scream. What in the heck?

I am a first year CM of a small Pack that tripled in size (11 to 35) between cross over in June and our first Pack Meeting of the new "season" in September. What I, nor anyone else in the Pack, didn't realize is that with a larger pack comes unique issues. We traditionally always have an overnight "lock in" event at our CO (a church) in January. It allows the Cubs to work on acheivements in the Dens plus lets us plan some fun activites, and just have some good fellowship time. Herein lies the problem: Our CO has a fairly large room set aside for Pack activites. However, with th

Thanks for the insight. It's not often that you can get candid information from new parents. About your observations: -I recognized the importance of private school recruting early on after my appointment as CM. HOWEVER, they don't call them "private" for nothing...I had ZERO allow me to send flyers, talks, etc. How I got around this was Letters to the Editor in local newspapers inviting ALL 1st-5th grade boys to join INCLUDING private/home schooled boys. Out of the 19 I recruited, 4 were private or home schooled. -The first Pack Meeting (In my opinion) is always kind of...well,

How large is this Pack? How old is it? What do the other parents think about it? Have you talked to the other parents in the Den/Pack? This sounds like a hot mess. Before you leave, however, I'd talk to 2nd, 3rd or more year Scout parents and see what they say. If it, in fact, does start this way every season BUT develop into something good it would be a shame to leave. We don't use "themes" in my Pack (CM) either...they just don't seem to "fit" with my folks. BUT we do have an agenda that we follow (albeit loosely sometimes) and we always have planned activities. Horseplay

To me it's difficut enough, with everything else going on in the child's life, for the child/parent to attend all of the meetings at all, much less when you start throwing restriction thier way. I say as long as they have an adult partner who is familiar with the program, don't worry about it. If you start telling the parents that the SAME ONE has to attend every time, you're gonna have 'em dropping like flies. Be flexible, and good luck.

The past several days have been "stressful" to say the least. I (CM) have had mini-spats with Den Leaders, confusion, paperwork overload, scheduling issues, and a myriad of other "fires" that needed to be put out. All of this in addition to a BAD week at my "real job". I was beginning to lose sight of why I took the position to start with. Then... Today, I was picking up my kids from school. I was walking in the parking lot and heard a child's voice call out to me. I looked up and one of our new Wolves was standing by his Mom's car getting ready to get in. When I looked his way he

I just re-read my post and I think I may have sounded a little harsh, let me explain. I didn't just give her the material and throw her to the wolves...err Tigers. I spoke with her, at legnth, about the position. I told her I would attend EVERY Den Meeting, if needed, and help with planning and delivery of the program. I'm doing my best do develop our Pack's leaders, however I had to find, appoint, register, and train TWO new Den Leaders this year (Tiger and Wolf) so it's been a little daunting for me too! Even with my constant offers of help I still have heard nothing from this leader i

I know this has come up about a thousand times on this board, but I am at the end of my rope as to how to handle this. I just took over as CM of our Pack. I entered our Pack 3 years as a Tiger parent myself and assumed that all parents (even if at varying degrees) felt the same way I did/do: "If it's important to my son, it's important to me". Uhh, no. I signed up 9 new Tigers this year which is a HUGE number considering we are in a small County with WAY too many Packs (long, different story there). Last year we signed up a grand total of 2 Tigers. After the Roundup, I was REAL

This sound very similar to what a couple of Packs in my area would do. We have our Pack, which I (CM) have done my best to make diverse, inclusive, and open to all types of families. We then have two others (smaller neighboring communities) that discreetly send minorities, single parent kids, and lower income folk to other Packs. We welcome all types of families and undertand that, even at Tiger Rank, it still takes the entire group to make the Pack successful. Kudos to your Pack for inviting him to your Pack Meeting. The mental image of that little guy with his feelings hurt because he c

We are inviting local boys and their parents to our Raingutter Regatta that we are having early next month. We also wrote a letter to the editor in the local newspaper letting everyone know that we are doing signups. Your Council may also have yard signs available (ours does) that you can place around town.

Ok, Tigers Growl, Wolves Howl, Bears Roar, what the heck does a Webelos Do?

We'll be having our first Pack meeting next week and I'm (CM) looking for a REALLY good quote to really have an effect on the Scouts and Parents there. Something (can be from someone famous or not) that will speak to the ideals of Scouting. We'll have alot of first year Scouts there and I want something to really hit home with them and their parents. Any ideas???(This message has been edited by jamist649)

Our Pack has never held a Raingutter Regatta but the Leaders and myself (CM) would like to give it a go this year. Due to several other things going on, the only date I can fit it in is 3 weeks (to the day) after our FIRST Pack meeting of the season. Is this too short of a time frame? We have alot of "veteran" Scouts but we'll also have right many newbies. Any thoughts?

I believe I will just have to put my foot down with this boy. I am quite familiar with the rank structure and the fact that no "catch up" is required, barring Bobcat. I just didn't know how big of a deal it was, I do now. Thanks

I (new CM) will be holding our first Pack Meeting later on next month. We (hopefully) will have several new Scouts in attendance. I plan on giving out a few awards from activites that some of the Scouts did over the summer (Day camp, etc), recognizing new Scouts/Den Leaders, and holding a brief "business session" for parents. I'm also planning on having a few games up my sleeve to occupy the boys while Mom, Dad, and I talk about parental involvment etc. I've got dozens of past, sample, and draft agendas and think I have the business part taken care of, we have a long standing traditi

I have a 7 year old who will be 8 in December who DESERATELY wants to be a Bear this year (this will be his first year in Scouts). I think he has a couple of buddies in the Bear Den. As the CM, can I move him up or is he too young? We have signups in early September and don't really "get going" until late September.

Who would know when our Cub Scout Pack was established. I have asked several people in our Pack and no one seems to know. I have been told that it is one of the oldest Packs in the area, and I would like to use that to our advantage (i.e. placing it on letterhead, banners, etc) but I'd like to at least know what year. Maybe an online resource?

Our Pack has 4 scouts that have little sisters (4-6 years old) that are at just about every meeting with Mom and Dad. They play with the scouts, cheer them on and are just nice little girls. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about maybe a small role for them. I was thinking "Pack cheerleaders" or "Pack mascots" or something like that. Don't want to put a whole lot into it, but just something and then a small something to recognize them at the Blue and Gold. Anyone ever heard of something like this? Thanks Jason New Cubmaster