AnniePoo

It's missing a lot of the useful age-related info from "Ages and Stages", but more importantly, doesn't include a lot of references to G2SS.

Our Council trainers are going to include a some of this missing info with our Cub Leader specific sessions starting this fall.

And I gotta love computers - when I logged onto the system last week to check out "This is Scouting', it didn't show me as having had any of the other online courses, most of which I have taken (again) fairly recently. Good thing I saved printouts from when I took each of them.

Also, as others have pointed out, you're not the leader of the committee, the Committee Chair is. Basically, the CC is the admistrative arm of the pack.

Attendance at monthly district roundtables by you and/or your committee chair will likely be very valuable at this point. You will receive valuable information about upcoming district & council events, and also meet district personnel and leaders from other packs in your area. These other leaders, many of whom have a few years under their belt, can be wonderful sources of information. Perhaps your district executive can put you in touch with an experienced committee chair and/or cubmaster from another pack that is willing to sit down with your committee and give you organizational suggestions.

Training is incredibly important for all of your pack leaders as soon as possible.

Frequently, parents want to help but don't want to be a den leader or hold a major position (i.e. committee chair, treasurer, secretary, etc.) in the pack. Ask, and they will usually help out in a more minor position. Examples are:

--preparing and distributing a monthly pack newsletter.

--preparing and distributing informational fliers for upcoming pack events & summer camp

--summer camp coordinator

--refreshment coordinator at pack meetings and/or pack events

--person who stores pack equipment. For instance, they could bring the flags to pack meetings, and store items like your pack's Pinewood Derby track, when and if you obtain one.

Just curious, srisom, what's in the trailer?

How far along are you in Wood Badge? The leaders should have worked with you to nail down your ticket items before you finished the 2nd weekend.

Sorry, SR540Beaver. I did jump to a conclusion about your statement.

Wow! According to SR540Beaver, ministers sympathetic to people who are persecuted because they are homosexual must only live on the east & west coasts. Gee, another "fact" related to gay people that I didn't know!!

Interesting discussion, and one that people certainly feel strongly about on one side or the other.

I understand that BSA is a private organization and can choose to ban homosexuals. However, I think that it is wrong and is based on incorrect information and prejudice. Even though I don't agree with the policy, I feel like Scouting overall is a good program, and will continue to volunteer in my son's pack.

"A lot of people just don't like homosexuality and don't like to be around homosexuals". A lot of people don't like women Scout leaders, but that doesn't mean that I should allow their opinion to affect my leadership position.

"If the members of an organization do not like to associate with another group why shouldn't they exclude them? " Which members? When do I get to vote on this, 'cause I'd like to exclude adult volunteers with negative attitudes.

"But, do you want to play the odds with your child?" No, but as others have mentioned, the vast majority of pedophiles are heterosexual in their adult relationships.

"Do you also want to play the odds with your gay friends and the accusations that could be made against them?" No, but as others have mentioned as well, I wouldn't want myself or the other heterosexual adults in my pack to be accused either. My husband is a coach - should he quit because a child could accuse him of something?

I have yet to hear a logical, fact-based argument from anyone about why homosexuals should be excluded from scouts, other than people's specific Christian beliefs and/or fears.

A Fork in the Trail - backpacking recipes

Scouter's Outdoor Cookbook

I sometimes (day hikes, family paddling trips, etc.) use a small clean plastic peanut butter jar. Waterproof, cheap, and amazing what you can cram in there.

Oh, and my successor will get my pack filing cabinet. I keep good records, and am working with other leaders in our pack to do the same.

I'm CC and co-Webelos den leader for a fairly large pack, as well as Cub district trainer. We try to get an assistant CM lined up about 6 months to a year before the CM leaves. Fortunately, we're set for CM's for the next couple of years.

I'm finding that I have my hands full as CC and den leader, although both are easier as time goes on. Unfortunately, it seems that senior den leaders often end up doing double-duty as CC or CM in many packs. Troop leadership in our town is strong, and I probably won't be needed in troop leadership when my son crosses over in a year. Thus, I'm planning to stay on as CC of the pack for at least a couple of years, or until I find a suitable (non-den-leader) replacement. Being an experienced CC, with no den to handle "on the side" I think will enable the pack to continue to flourish, and will make life easier for the den leaders.

To all of you pack CC's out there - please consider doing the same.

"While canned veggies cook faster, they also taste rather bland & leave a LOT of trash. I like to use fresh, cut up at home & put in zip-lock bags, veggies (grn peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes), with frozen corn and hash browns"

Just a word of caution - don't cut up veggies and keep in zip-lock or other gas-impermeable bags overnight unrefrigerated overnight. This is particularly true of onions & mushrooms. Either cut them up that morning, or store the bags of cug-up veggies in a cooler with ice. (potential botulism risk).

Food Safety Annie

Yep, I'm the fat one, and my comment was a sarcastic rip on the new med form. Couldn't resist. I'm a lowly Cub leader, but have learned a lot from the discussions about "unwritten rules" on this forum.

Oh, and we cook the ham/sweet potato/pineapple stuff on our own family camping trips, and my kids love it. It's a bit more expensive to make in bulk, though, unless you can get the ham for low cost. I love foil pack cooking, and we've tried lots of combinations on our own family camping trips. Corn on the cob works particularly well.

It's do-able if you have more than one grill going. For a large group, assembly line works great with multiple options. Go with canned veggies, frozen hash-brown potatoes (cheap brand), and hamburger balls, among other stuff, to keep it cheap. Have volunteers rip the foil to size before you start. Have one parent handle place the hamburger inside the foil packets to limit kids handling raw ground beef. have parents at the end helping wrap, and some making sure everyone labels the packets darkly with sharpie so the writing is visible after cooking. We've done this on big pack campouts with a lot of success.

Have fun!

I'm fat. Is that bad?

TwoCubDad, I'm not following you. Are you suggesting that we shouldn't take sibs on our outings, or shouldn't take Webelos camping as a den?

Maybe my brain's just not working - it's past my bedtime.

Most of our exceptions ARE for non-traditional family situations, which have included (1) divorced mom who has infant at home and whose ex refuses to take his son camping, (2) single dad who has to work weekends, (2) single mom with multiple younger children, and (4) one family where both parents have to work at least part of every weekend.

Golf weekends? Not the parents in my pack. We're a small town that's been hit very hard by the economic situation. The ones who haven't been able to accompany their kids on campouts have had darn good reasons, and we're fortunate to have great parents in other families who are willing to go the extra mile to bring someone else's child with them. The precedent we're setting is that we're willing to help others out who aren't in a position to take their kids camping but want their kids to have the experience.

Unfortunately, it seems like more and more families in our pack each year are single parent, divorced, imprisoned, raised by grandparents, etc. Yet at least one of the parent/guardians in these situations recognizes the positive impact that scouting can have on their kids. These types of family situations, coupled with significant and widespread financial hardships, makes it even more important for other families in the pack to pitch in and help out if they can. And they do.

It's about getting the kids camping. And we do.

"If you have a Cub Scout camping without a parent, it should be an exception only. For the most part every Cub should have at least one of his own parents present. If there is a pressing reason why a parent can not attend, they should, in writing, give another adult the responsibility for their son for that overnighter. "

I agree with this. For our pack campouts and Webelos campouts, we tell families that we expect a parent/guardian to come with each scout, and that only if they absolutely can't make it can they arrange for their scout to come with another family. So far, parents who haven't come along have had legitimate reasons for not coming.

We allow siblings on Webelos camping trips as long as a parent or guardian is there. You'll get more families to come if they can bring all of the kids, but you need to make sure there is plenty of stuff for the younger kids to do. If you send me an e-mail I can forward some information to you regarding how we coordinate our trips. It's great that you're interested in getting the Webelos out camping. It's really a lot of fun.

In both our pack camping trips and Webelos camping trips, we prefer that a parent or guardian come with each scout. However, sometimes a scout will come with another scout & parents. We make it clear that if a parent can't accompany their scout, it is the parent's responsibility to find another adult (who is NOT a trip leader) to be responsible for their child, although I'll make sure the paperwork is in order. I'll also make sure that everyone involved is familiar with the relevant G2SS guidelines.

Sibs are very welcome to come on our pack & Webelos campouts, as long as the parent/guardian is also there.

I'd highly recommend talking to parents beforehand, or passing out a detailed info Q & A info sheet so everyone is on the same wavelength. This may be particularly important when two packs are camping together. If you PM me, I'll e-mail you the info sheet for our last pack campout.

Researcher in food safety/food microbiology/food security.(This message has been edited by AnniePoo)

Researcher in food safety/food microbiology/food security.

Kids always like flashlights, so they'd love the mini mag-lites. They also don't usually care if something has fancy engraving, so you could probably just buy the flashlights on sale somewhere and have someone neatly paint their names on them.