AnnLaurelB

The parents are supposed to assemble the arrow as a way to participate in the Award, because presumably they helped their son achieve it.

As the ceremony goes, yes ~ the CM (or whomever) does explain what each colored stripe means. Each boy's arrow will be different, since not every boy WAS a Tiger, or he might or might not have earned silver AP's while a Wolf.

They're a visual "record", I guess you could say, of the Scout's Cub career.

BasementD;

It may depend on the kid, and when they start in Cubs. My son started as a Tiger, so he's got a remption of Beltloops over 3 years! If our Den plans go right, he's going to earn 3 more BLs before the season is out.

I'll have Web1's next season; we'll work on our Web Badge, and they'll rack up some more Beltloops, undoubtedly. And that's fine, since it's *bling*, and they like them. They'll wear them all season.

Now, when my son/pals go into Web2, I'm not sure we'll bother a lot with BLs. My main objective will be to lead them through their AOL, hopefully to Bridge by B&G. I agree that BLs at that point would be dumb.

HOWEVER, last year I had 2 boys who joined Cubs AS *5th* graders. They didn't have a lot of parent involvement, and while the DL did her best with them, it was all they could do to finish their Web Badge by the end of the school year.

In THEIR case, we awarded every BL we could, so that they'd stay motivated and be recognized at Pack meetings along with the younger Cubbies. It worked for them.

It *DOES* work! :0)

For a few months, when we were in transition from my son's Tiger to Wolf year, we ALL met weekly for Den meetings in the church hall for an opening, then broke into Dens. Webs in that corner, Tigers over there, etc...

It worked fine.

Awesome! Thanks for that!

And I really like the idea of a "career arrow" for a Cub who doesn't happen to do AOL. Good stuff!

Another zombie!

But I'm about to present an AOL on the 30th, but I can't find kits with less than 4 in them. This boy only joined as a 5th grader, so he doesn't have the Tiger, etc ... stripes going on there.

Could I just construct a "kit" myself?

ALSO! The deposed CC got AOL plaques made of wood, that look like the sunburst. I can't find where she got those (and we're not exactly on speaking terms!)

Any ideas?

I think it's a matter of semantics about "re-earned". Sure, sure. They need to actually ~DO~ the Beltloop *requirements* again (because again, what my son did for any BL as a Tiger will be very much different when he's a 4th grader).

But I wouldn't bother to BUY him a SECOND BL that he already had. Just DO the stuff for the BL as instructed, and then *keep going* with the additional stuff that the Pin requires.

No one needs TWO BL's for any activity, if you ask me. RE-EARN, ~yes~. Re-receive? No. IMHO.

By the by...I really like all the examples of what a neckerchief is good for! I'm seriously thinking of how to work than into a Den or Pack presentation kind of thing.

My son started in Tigers, but when he moved to Wolf, we did a lot of stuff jointly with the Bears, and now this year as Bears, we team up with our Wolves, still.

I know the books are different, but Wolves and Bears are a lot closer than any other 2 ranks. (You'll notice on the Charter roster that they lump 2nd and 3rd grade together just as "Cub Scouts".)

Have him attend the Bear Den, if necessary, but ~someone~ needs to work with him in HIS book. And Keep Recruiting whenever possible.

Go online to Vistaprint and get you some freebie business cards printed up, and give them out to every little boy you see (well, you know...not in a stalkerish way).

Take flyers to the school EVERY month, printed with your upcoming activities, and ask that they put them in the boys' backpacks. You can target 2nd graders if there's a limited copy budget, or make enough for ALL the boys.

(Can you tell I'm thinking of our own Pack's recruiting?) :0)

Meanwhile, put the Wolf in the Bear Den, but he's still a Wolf.

The SM said something about this to me when the Camp Cards rolled out. "Oh! Your son can go to Web camp."

Uh...maybe he *can*, but he's not going to. And maybe some boys would be ready to, but my kid is young for his grade, and half his pals are still in Wolves (well, new Bears, now). He's going to Day Camp this year; then next summer, between 4th and 5th, he can go to Web Camp.

Personally? I would have my boys put on their Rank Badge (of course!) but not wear the next Rank's necker until the end of the school year.

But that's just me.

With regard to the Beltloops for Webs, I understand the confusion. My kid already HAS a herd of BL's. However, several of those he earned as a Tiger. If he has to go through the BL requirements ON THE WAY TO earning the Pin for Webs, I'm okay with that.

As someone pointed out upthread, what I might have required for Tigers to earn the "Communication" BL will be vastly different from what I might require of a 4th grade Web for the same BL. It surely won't hurt to go over that stuff again.

It'll be a new Den, new Scout year, new Handbook, new Uniform. So I'd say bling him up now with whatever he's earned, then just spend the small amount of time it will take to bang through the BL requirements on the way to the Pins, as he works on his Web Badge.

Our boys wear their Class As to Pack meetings, and they all have neckerchiefs. Most of the time we wear Pack t-shirts, and I've always said the neckerchiefs were optional, but the guys all have them!

DARNED TABLET!!

Anyway, I also asked if anyone had any fun ideas to add to the calendar, and they did. I think the Committee was glad enough to have the "work" done for them; they just made changes that seeemed appropriate, and gave approval.

That was before our Pack's "unfortunate period", but for the most part, the calendar of events stood. So I'm in the process now of tweaking the 2012-13 calendar the same way.

Added skating. Dropped District PWD (but it'll be offered). Extra camp-out. More swimming parties. Kept fishing and bowling. Etc...

I'll present it at the Committee meeting this month, and tell them they can do whatever they want with it.

In Aug I'll probably start on the 2013-14 one. :0)

Because we're a small Pack, as CM, around this time last year, I penciled in the next 12 months with a similar seasonal set as we'd done the year before. They loved the fishing at the local PFA, so I made sure to include it.

They didn't care much for District PWD, so I put a "?" next to that. I added in what I thought they'd like (LOVED bowling, and asked me that night if we could go skating. Yes!).

I made a suggestion for the date for our Dec Pack meeting, to not get too close to the hectic days of Christmas, and put "tentative" Committee meeting dates (generally 10 days before Pack meetings).

Note I say "suggested". I took this to the April or May Committee meeting, and asked 1) if my suggestions for activities met w their approval, 2) if they saw any conflicts ("isn't that Homecoming? We can't do it that day."), and 3) if they s(This message has been edited by annlaurelb)

Ditto. There's a public fishing area closeby us, and they do Kids Fish Day at least twice a year. I made pals with the Ranger after the 2nd time we went, and now he emails me when the next event gets added to their calendar.

It's nice because they have poles out their for kids who don't have them, and a Ranger has untangled my son's line or dug a hook out of a catfish's mouth for me many (many) times.

I was asked this the other day; a Bear parent asked me where I saw myself in 2 years, and the gist of it was that she hoped I would move up to the Troop with our sons.

But SP329 said what I was thinking - that I couldn't leave right in the middle of the Cub Scout year when my son bridges. I'd stay on as CM for at least the rest of that season. If someone was chomping at the bit to take over, then those few months could be used to train them.

On the other hand, if no one wanted it, and I was still having fun, I could see staying on, for the sake of that continuity. The SM of our Troop doesn't have any sons still in; his second Eagle son aged out 2 years ago. But he still feels the Troop needs him...although he has hinted that at some point he'll need to retire.

I'm flattered that the Bear parent hopes I become a Troop Scouter, and I'd certainly be willing to help in any way I could, but I don't see myself as SM just because my kid moves up. After all, I *am* a GIRL, and what teenage boy wants somebody's mother on their campouts?

No, I'd be willing to be on the Troop Committee, or be a badge counselor or do their publications/communications, but for pure fun (and the booger jokes), I may hang around with the little guys for a while.

Good to know. I know this is a zombie thread, but I googled and got here. :0)

SWMNBN kept telling us that Webs started all over and "had to" earn all their BLs a second time.

Pfffft.

I'm not going to go into details, but the Council COUNSEL (read: Lawyer) has filed a cease and desist on a certain someone, with the promise of prosecution for defamation of character (of myself and our Pack) if the c&d isn't obeyed.

I told the UC that wasn't necessary as far as *I* was concerned, but he said at this point, "It's a matter of principle."

Someone's going to have their Cert yanked for lying. O.o

Hallelujah, amen. Yes, I believe you might be right about that. The sad thing about NPD is that by it's very nature, it's nearly impossible to get an NPD person to understand that THEY are the ones who need adjustment.

No. No, if you think *I* need adjustment, you are clearly the enemy. It's the whole world that needs adjusting, not me. I think that's a reasonable diagnosis. I hope she finds some peace about this.

Yep! I know that our job is to work ourselves OUT of a job! I've got my eye on grooming a Wolf dad to be my ACM next season, then maybe we'll swap roles my son's Web2 1/2 year, then bring another ACM behind me, etc...

I am in love with the word, "fiefdom". :0)

She IS taking her 2 Webelos, who are the sons of the 2 moms who did her bidding. They'll all be happier together; and it's out of this county, so it's unlikely that most of these kids would go over there.

In her email, she stated that she didn't think the Tiger mom would let her boy stay, but he's in the middle of God & Me at the CO church. She'd have to pull him out of that, and I'm not sure she'll do it. Her son plays in the same basketball league as my son, and we're quite friendly.

I hope people won't be too quick to take up this gal's offense; she's so sure that everyone's going to walk away without her in charge. We'll keep our Bears and Wolves for sure, since they're lead by myself and the mom who went to bat for me.

The 4 moms, 3 dads, 2 grandmas, and 1 grandpa have all been very supportive all along. They see us interact with their kids every week. It's only the moms whom I didn't get to see but once a month that the CC gal poisoned against everyone who didn't do exactly as she said.

We're going to be fine. We may stay small, but I'm okay with that.

TwoCubDad:

To answer your question, yes. It comes down to one person wanting the attention of the Cubmaster, but with the control of the Chair.

There's a reason the same person isn't supposed to wear both hats. We were all supposed to let this gal do whatever she wanted, because of that "Chair" title, but if any of us pushed back and said, "Um... how about we do such-and-such?", we were quickly squelched.

Because I pushed back, I was labeled "insubordinate". "But ... but ... that's my job."

"Well, then THIS is how it will be done." And by golly, you'd better do exactly as she said, or she'd call you OUT, right there and then. "That is NOT how you were instructed to do that!"

I know it sounds surreal. It was. I read the account I've given myself, and think, "Jeez." But like Dave Barry says, I swear I am not making this up!

Edit: I forgot to mention that what she seems most upset about is that I "went over her head". But ... isn't my going to the CORep with my concerns *exactly* what I'm supposed to do?

And isn't holding a Committee meeting ABOUT me going "behind my back" to the exact same degree?

(This message has been edited by annlaurelb)

Wow. I'm glad I wasn't at that meeting. The resultant email I got from Herself was mighty ugly. How the Pack will fold because of this, etc... I guess that was to be expected. Although I think if it had been me, I would have just maintained radio silence, myself.

I answered as kindly and diplomatically as I could, citing a "difference of perspective..." I got back a really snarky, "You just keep repeating those words". I asked the pastor to be as kind about it as possible, because I know it had to come as a blow.

The good news is that she's already been working getting another Pack started, so she has that to occupy her. She is angry, though, of course. Rejection sucks.

I tried to offer a can-we-agree-to-disagree kind of truce, but she's having none of it. Trying to reason with her is like trying to drink from a firehose~ you just get blasted into the street. I hope she finds folks who like to be managed.

Now...moving on.

Our Commissioner stressed that we needed to have SOMEONE'S name to put down for the CC before we let 3 Committee members go. (Well, 2 members, but the 3rd won't hang around without the other 2).

I have made my suggestions as to who it "should" be, but that's up to the CORep and the pastor. My first choice is the SM, but he's reluctant to try to wear both "hats".

The other choices are the youth pastor at the church, or the children's minister. Heck, I'd take the music director; who cares? Just put SOMEBODY'S name down!

I'm still waiting for word back from the pastor & CORep on what they're going to do (and when!).

Oh, sure. We've always had permission to use it, and the SM knew about it, because I confirmed when the Troop was in there, so the Webs wouldn't bother them. But evidently, the CO is going to cut the Troop's support by some this upcoming fiscal year (and ours -- times are tough for everyone), so he's asked us to pitch in.

To the Trustee Chair, she implied that he had no idea how to run an event, and to the CORep, she implied that he had no idea how to work with children.

The pastor commissioned me as a member of the church to present God & Me starting this past Monday, and invite any Scouting families to attend. EVERY Tiger, Wolf, and Bear Cub was there, for which I am very grateful, and very relieved.

They still support me and the Wolf DL. Two of the moms came to talk to the DL and I afterward (the two kids with the Award snafus), and asked if we thought they'd been unreasonable on Sat. We told them they hadn't been (they hadn't).

Each lady expressed what we've been afraid of all along -- that the CC and the Adv gal's ~attitudes~ were turning people off. We did our best to reassure them that changes were in the works.

We just have to figure out how to regroup!

P.S. There is much gnashing between the SM and this Cub CC gal. We (Cubs) have RARELY (if ever) used the Scout Hut for anything, since I've been CM (or the 3 years before that, for that matter).

The ONLY reason I had a key, and the ONLY reason we ever went in there was to get the co-owned camping equipment out, and to put it back. That's it.

The Troop, however, meets there once a week, and always has. So they've always footed the utility bill, and the CO pays the taxes on the property.

However, the CC was using the Hut once a week, TOO, for a Webs meeting, which is FINE. That's what the Hut is FOR. But it's effectively doubled the utility bill. Obviously. Two nights a week is twice what one night a week costs.

The Troop paid it themselves from Sept through Jan, but now the SM has asked that the Pack pay half. AND THAT'S TOTALLY REASONABLE.

But, Ohhhhhhhhh! The grousing, the grumbling! "The Troop is 'shaking us down' for money!" Um...no. They're asking us to pay our share for OUR USE.

I just don't understand some people.