Jump to content

Jeffrey H

Members
  • Content Count

    686
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Posts posted by Jeffrey H

  1. I served as a CM for 2.5 very active years. It was fun, but I needed to step away and transition out earlier than I had originally planned. I gave 3 month notice to the Pack. I let the Pack Committee and Pack leadership know of my resignation date and how I could help with a transition of leadership. Fortunately, our Assistant Cubmaster was more than happy to step up and the transition went pretty smoothly. That said, if no one had been willing to step-up and take my place, I was going to have to leave anyway. Those that were considered good candidates for CM were approached individually which is the best approach. We did not do a general "who would like to do it" invitation.

  2. I could not have devoted my time as Cubmaster without the loving support of my wife. She was not registered with the Pack, not on the Pack committee, but she morally supported me. It is critical to have that support if you care about your marriage.

     

    Awards are nice, but make sure that you take her on a very nice date(s). Spend your money and time on her.

     

  3. No. Not really.

     

    I used to have that happen from one Den to another. They would ask where their awards were to hand them out. I would reply...did you update Packmaster and let me know you needed them to be bought. They would reply...Oh...yah.

     

    I did have a Wolf Den, now Webelos II that barely got in all the requirements for the Wolf Badge. I ended up firing that DL. He limped everything in. It was my first year as Cubmaster and he is an Eagle. He sold himself on that and how his family was way into it. Suckered in. I got my lesson that year.

     

    So, they could be updating the advancement area and not handing things out because they forgot to buy let the Awards Chair know to buy.

    Had a similar experience in my Pack. Eagle Scouts that sign-up as leaders are no guarantee of good performance.
  4. But what kinda sticks in my craw is that if its so important to take a stand against "what boy scouts has become"' date=' then why is it so darned important to get eagle? My feeling is that if they really had a problem with scouting, they would have left immediately and to heck with the rank. Why should it still be important? I know, I know....so their kids can pad their resume. Just seems so hypocritical. I dont know, maybe its just me. Thoughts?[/quote']

     

    I agree with you. You can be on either side of the memberhip issue and think it's hypocritical. I know a couple of families like this but I just keep my mouth shut. I have to pick my battles and this is not the one.

     

    • Upvote 1
  5. Agree with others. The uniform requirement "while traveling so you can be insured by the BSA" is a myth that appears to have no end in sight. The uniform is not required to a member of the BSA or participate in BSA activities, therefore members out-of-uniform will receive BSA insurance coverage. We wear the uniform to proudly identify ourselves as members of the BSA, but that's about it. Whatever your Pack decides to do regarding the uniform is up to your Pack. Have a great outing!

     

     

     

  6. Our council provides scholarships for camps, registrations fees, and uniforms based on financial need. Scholarhsip forms are filled out confidentially by families and submitted to the council office.

     

    Direct financial assistance from our Pack is done on a confidential case-by-case basis. These are rare occurrences since families can pay for most of the cost of the Pack through participation in our annual fundraiser.

  7. I prefer open water with a course. It's easier to "fudge" the rules in a swimming pool so it should a last resort for a mile swim. If using a pool, judging should be diligent (i.e., no touching the bottom, no touching the sides). I agree that making the turns at every end of the pool is tiring because momentun is lost and has to be re-gained which makes it an equalizing factor.

     

    As a last resort, swimming pools are sometimes needed in some areas because of low lake levels that occur during extended periods of summer drought. Extended periods of drought sometimes bring harmful bacteria that forms in the lakes and warnings are issued to avoid swimming.

     

     

    .

  8. So, officially, cubscouts is limited by the age and or grade of the student? If a student skips a grade, or is held back, he also skips or is held back in scouts?

     

     

    The age of the cub scout has first priority when determing what den he should placed in. If he is held back a grade in school, he should not be held back in scouts. He moves on with his peers as he becomes a year older. A good guideline is this: When they become 9 years old before school starts by September 1st, they should be starting in a Webelos Den.
  9. Trail Life will work out just fine and be great for some folks. It will grow but will likely remain small compared to the BSA. The BSA, on the other hand, has it's own issues and bloated professional bureauracy that takes the joy out of doing volunteer work. I will not miss FOS campaigns and always wondering why the money is being wasted.

  10. This happened to us a few years ago and were concerned that we would have a gap. The next year, quite a few 2nd grade boys joined up and filled the gap and one of the dads volunteered to be the den leader. Long story short, the gap closed. As long as you emphasize good recruiting each year, you should be fine.

     

    As others have mentioned, occassionaly we will have Tiger recruits that will drop out withing a few weeks because their parents cannot be Tiger Partners and be at every meeting and event.

  11. You really only need to know a few knots for camping and backpacking: Square, double half-hitch, taut-line, overhand, etc. The ones I use the most are the ones I remember. I keep a field manual with me for the ones I use rarely. The same with scouts - If they go camping frequently, they will get it through practice. If they are parlor scouts, they will forget.

     

    Self-reliance in the outdoors is a major mark of a Scout and knowing knots are essential to that end.

     

     

  12. Respectfully ask the the new recruit if his religion will conflict with staying in the Boy Scouts. Then, when the opportunity presents itself, you can have a respectful conversation with his parents. It's possible that his family's JW convictions may be weak and they are thinking about leaving the religious group. I would accept him in the Troop if he is willing to follow the joining requirements. How far he will go with the Troop is up to him and his family.

  13. How your Pack spends it's money is up to the Pack Committee and/or your Charter Org. Our Pack's budget focuses on the cub scouts. The only part of our budget that involves spending on adults is our annual end of year picnic for our pack families and a small amount on leader appreciation gifts. There is nothing wrong spending a little money on appreciation gifts or even a meal or two for your tireless adult volunteers, but be careful. Too much spending on "non-scouts" can have a negative perception among the parents and the possibly your local community.

  14. I always thought there was a rule against donating directly to the unit. The boys had to do "something" to earn it. Unit money can come from dues, fund raising or the charter organization but not outright donations. Donations must go up to the council. I know that we would turn down donations at my previous unit or arrange a service project for them prior to accepting the donation.

    http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/Funding.aspx

    Yep. You can give directly to a Troop but it may not be tax-deductible if that is what you are looking for. Discuss that with a professional tax preparer or CPA.
  15. Technically, parent pins are not supposed to be on the uniform per the Guide. That said, our parent/leaders wear them on and it looks okay. I don't call them out on it because I have more important things to to deal with - thank goodness! I guess you can say I'm "looking the other way" in regards to the uniform guide, but It's a "guide" not a rule book.

     

    I try to lead by example myself and I follow the uniform guide but I back off other leaders when they take a few liberties with their uniform.

    • Upvote 1
  16. Dear KDD:

     

    Re: the BSA policy about not requiring parents to help. I asked our district exec this by email earlier in the spring based on my contact with American Heritage Girls for my daughter, which does have a policy that every parent volunteer in some way. So does our church music group, and my kids' AWANA class. This was his reply:

     

    "BSA does not require, or even ask, that parents commit a certain amount of volunteer time as a condition of their Scout joining the pack. I can easily see why that’s the case. Consider households where, because of family or work situations, parents simply cannot volunteer – that would mean their boys would be excluded from Scouts.

     

    It’s also worth noting that BSA does not even accept all parents who do volunteer – it’s rare, of course, but that’s why the background checks are conducted. All volunteers with the Pack must be registered leaders, and all must take Youth Protection Training."

     

    In other conversations, the general tone has been that our BSA Council is all about signing boys up. They truly don't seem to care if we have enough parents to put on a quality program, or if the small contingent of parents running our pack is totally burned out. The attitude seems to be: "all boys have a right to enjoy Scouting". It doesn't seem to matter if the parents drop and run, complain constantly, bounce checks, whatever.

     

    I actually had one parent this year get mad at me as treasurer because I wouldn't accept a second check from her after she had failed to reimburse the pack for a prior bounced check for popcorn nor had she paid her dues. This was in March, after she always had time to waste my time at Scout events listening to her sob stories. Like I have time for this. I'm there to be with my son, lady, not listen to excuse after excuse from you, and certainly not to hear her anger when I couldn't take another check from her.

     

    Our pack is a mess. The standard procedure all year has been to plan events, beg for volunteers 1-2 weeks before the event, not get any volunteers, and then kick the responsibility to one of the very few of us already volunteering so that we don't disappoint the kids. I volunteered to be treasurer only, but I've been caught up in almost every event we've done. Not because I have time or because I want to, but out of guilt. As a result, I have firmly told the pack leaders that for the upcoming year, I am webmaster only. Absolutely nothing else.

     

    I volunteer on a total of five programs between school and church in which my kids are involved. BSA doesn't seem to get that. Their attitude is that volunteers are there no matter when, no matter what, for whatever the BSA and the boys need. No thanks.

     

    I have never heard our pack leaders come out and even ask the dozens of parents that do absolutely nothing to volunteer their time. And yet, they will keep coming back to the same 5 or 6 people over and over and over again because we're all suckers, apparently. That's lazy leadership.

     

    Our pack leader had the nerve to ask "someone" in our little pack committee to organize a pack activity promoting Earth Day and recycling, complete with materials, in April on two days notice. I didn't even bother to respond to the email. And then he complained when no one stepped up. Finally, our Bear den leader, who has four kids of her own, dropped everything, put together an activity with materials and led it herself. God Bless her, but I'm just sick of enabling our pack leaders this way.

     

    The CM and CC started the pack so they could do great things with their kids. And they do. All the fun stuff like Pinewood, etc. While the 3-4 other leaders (almost all moms with small kids) do everything else. I'm tired of enabling these two. Maybe by putting a very firm boundary on my time this upcoming year, they will be forced to either insist that the other dozens of do-nothing parents step up, or do more themselves.

     

    As an adult, I hate Scouting. There is no joy in it at all. I have spent practically no time with my son this year. During all events, I am stuck off at a table somewhere accepting payments, writing receipts, and trying to explain activities and signups to everyone. I barely saw my son's car race. The way they handle volunteering totally eliminates any opportunity to enjoy Scouting with my son.

     

    So next year, I will be webmaster, and that's it. Whenever anyone has questions, payments, forms to hand in, whatever, I'm just going to smile and send them over to our CM. :-)

     

    So, KDD, as much as I wish the BSA would support a policy like other groups use of requiring parents to volunteer, the BSA is evidently against it. I hope you work things out with your pack.

     

    GeorgiaMom

    You are correct in your decision to step aside and do less. You are burned-out and frustrated. In every Pack, like many volunteer organizations, there is the 80-20 rule: 20% of the people do 80% of the work. That's the way it is. Be grateful to those that step-up and don't worry about those that don't do anything. Quite frankly, some of the parents are better off not helping out - Trust me on that one. As Cubmaster, I don't want some parents at events because they do nothing but complain. I would rather have a few "happy" volunteers than a bunch of grumpy warm bodies hanging around. I agree 100% with "jblake" that events should be cancelled if volunteers don't step-up. I've done it several times. Cancelling is not the end of the world and it tends to get the message across that the "20%" are indeed volunteers and we can't do it all.
  17. The troop I was in as a Youth in the 70's did nothing but "primitive camping" meaning no running water was available, no bathrooms to walk to, no electricity to hook up to anything. We had to build fires if we wanted to cook even in rainy weather (yes, you can get a fire started from wet wood). We did not cancel campouts due to inclement weather. Yes, we did leave camp one time for shelter due to a very severe thunderstorm but we never canceled an outing. We had better outdoor skills and training because it was forced upon us. We sometimes backpacked into our campsites. Building self-reliance and being prepared was the theme of our Troop. Was it fun? Oh yeah, great fun!

     

    My most recent experience was with a Troop that only camped at Parks with running water, flush toilets, and electricity. The boys cooked on propane stoves always. In reality, they did not effectively learn outdoor skills because the modern conveniences of home were always with them. Very few boys owned backpacks because they were not required/needed. I witnessed Star and Life scouts struggling to get a fire started with good wood.

     

    Is it too prissy today? Read the above again.

  18. Non-sectarian means that the BSA will respect and welcome our Pack conducting a Christian scout's own service that meets the needs of our Pack family members. It also means they will respect and welcome our decision not to offer a multi-faith or inter-faith service. Also, we will be respected and welcome if we choose not do one at all.
    Yep. We welcome all faiths and no-faith. All people are God's creation and must be honored with respect and dignity. Attendance at our Scout's Own services are optional and we only do them maybe twice a year. When we do them, they reflect the values and beliefs of our Church Charter Organization.
  19. As long as don't declare you are an outright "atheist", you can pretty much declare anything you want about what you believe about "duty to God" in the oath and be a BSA member. Even an "agnostic" might not have a problem because he can simply declare what "duty to God" and "Reverence" means to him and that will pass for many units.

     

    At the inception of the BSA in 1910, it was commonly understood what was meant by "God" in the context of the Judeo-Christian belief of a Supreme Being. Many Scouters, like myself, still hold to this ancient belief. The Declaration of Relgious Principle has been with the BSA from the beginning and can be found in the first edition of the Boy Scout Handbook (Handbook for Boys - 1911, Ch. VI-Chivarly, p. 250). Nothing new.

     

     

     

    Which part is not true? The BSA is not Christian because it does not have a Christian confession of faith, nor any confession of faith. The only thing that could considered faith-oriented is the "duty to God" component of the Scout Oath.
×
×
  • Create New...