AnnLaurelB

When you're right, you're right! I have been ruminating about this, and the flowchart is: I'm going to talk to my gal-peer from the other Pack; there are TONS of very vibrant Packs in the outlying area, but it is a rural area, and it had been attractive to me to have a Pack in my own back yard (sometimes literally). To join another Pack means commuting, but that's not the end of the world. I'm going to ask her what she thinks, and what she might advise. After mining that conversation, I'll decide whether to TRY to do the recruiting night in two weeks, and see what happens over the summer, and whether people will step up... ...or cut and run and just pick another Pack. If the receiving Pack can't provide a whole Den leader for all of my Bears (in exchange for whatever they want of me), then it'll just be finding a Bear spot for my kid. What I can't decide is whether to give it the Bear year, and stay Cubmaster, or run NOW and not wait until Webelos. It's hard giving oneself permission to give up.

Well, let's see... Tigers - 2. One dad is the DL but RARELY held meetings, because of school, work, etc... Oh, and it turns out the CC never turned in his paperwork in the first place, from last Sept. The other Tiger's family has just done it at home and come to the Pack activities. They run their own business and homeschool their 4 kids, and won't commit to anything more. *Wonderful* people, but they're just swamped. Wolves -- 6 (one of them mine). I, Cubmaster, am also Wolf Den leader. WE ARE AWESOME!! But 1/2 of my parents are ESL and quake when I address them. The English speaking ones blanch and stammer and say, "Oh.. I... no... I'll bake cookies, but I can't be signed UP for anything... no." Bears -- 2. They have been WITHOUT Den leader the entire year, and both families have done it at home, because both boys play sports and sometimes don't even make it to Pack meeting ONCE A MONTH because of sports. *shrug* That's their choice. But ONE of those 2 Bears (soon Web1s) parents is the nutty Ex-Cubmaster, now Committee Chair. He doesn't SHOW UP to stuff because of SPORTS! How is he gonna even... UGH. Web1s -- 1. His grandmother has lead a joint Web1&2 Den all year. But HER kid is a holy terror and is driving families away. I an SUPPOSED to have a discipline hearing with them, but she's now INCAPACITATED with some hip dysplasia or something and can't even SIT UP. Web2s -- 2. Lovely boys. Bridging them next month. I wish them well. So um... yeah, Total Number of Actual REGISTERED Den Leaders: 0. I know it's part of the CM's job to oversee the Dens and make sure everyone's cranking along, but with trying to do MY son's Den AND be CM, AND do what the Committee never would, I couldn't do it all. I have a phone date tomorrow with another gal who's an Asst CM in a nearby Pack. I am going to pick her brain, and decide by May 10th whether I'm going to continue, or just take my little Wolfies (soon to be Bears) to another Pack and let this one fend for itself. (May 10 because there's a recruiting night May 12th, and then the current crazies could decide if they wanted to go forth without a Cubmaster).

So if you've been following the saga of the "Ghost Committee", you know that our church wanted to revive their lost Charter. So they basically got 3 old guys to sign on to be the 3 Committee members. They had a Cubmaster who wanted his son in, and they got me to agree to be the Tiger Den leader. Well, that Cubmaster was deposed due to ...issues... and I was named Cubmaster ad litem. I found I liked the job, and decided to keep it. The other guy though, was still *around* because his kid is in the program. It wasn't long before we realized that the 3 old guys were just names on the paper, and didn't REALLY want to help. They appointed the former Cubmaster to the Committee, as the "Events" Chair, basically so he could be made to do the gruntwork. Which, hey, somebody has to do, right? But he makes everyone *crazy*. Now the Chairman/Staff Liaison/Secretary/Treasurer lady who's carried the Committee (since the 3 old guys wouldn't help) is RETIRING, so there's FOUR hats that SOMEBODY'S got to put on, right? Or at least 2 of them. CORep is the obvious choice. He backpedaled and refused to even show up to the last Committee meeting. We had a special meeting tonight with our Dist Scout Exec; CORep didn't show up to that one, either, I suspect so that he couldn't be named Chair. I also had a guy email me at the last moment and say, "I was really only interested as a name on the Charter. You should probably ask someone else." So that leaves me in the room with the Scout Exec, the EX "We-can't-let-him-continue-as-Cubmaster" guy, the old guy who was guilted into taking Treasurer, and the old guy who does Advancements. The Scout Exec explained the situation, and asked both of the old guys if one of them would consider it. They both flatly refused, even though the Exec explained that it was really in name only. Then the old guy Treasurer says, "I don't see why Ex-Cubmaster-Guy can't be Chairman. UM...BECAUSE WE HAD TO ~*REMOVE*~ HIM FROM THE POSITION?!? HOW ABOUT BECAUSE HE WASN'T *~FIT~* TO BE CUBMASTER?!? He shouldn't even BE on the Committee! And now they've named him Chair. About which he irritated me before we even got out of the room. "Oooh. Does that mean I can wear my UNIFORM again, Mistress Cubmaster?" Ugh. *headfloor* *headfloor* *headfloor* *headfloor* *headfloor* *headfloor* *headfloor* The Scout Exec knew it was wrong. But the meeting had ground to a halt, so he said, "Um...I have to check...I think you're listed as Asst CM, so you can't be Chair AND that...and you don't have enough Den Leaders... I'll have to see *IF* we can shuffle you into that position...." He was trying to be diplomatic. He met me around by my car, and said he realized that wasn't the outcome I was hoping for. Um...no, it wasn't. "But SOMEBODY'S name had to be put down on the paperwork." Which I understand, but this is DISASTROUS.

Okay, my recruiting night is the 12th. Our last Pack meeting of the season is May 23rd, with a campout that next weekend, June 3-5. If I form a Bobcat Den, but we're basically taking the summer off (except for fun gathering activities about every 2 weeks), when would I award Bobcat? I'm assuming kick-off Pack meeting in August, right? And THEN would that Bobcat Den disperse into their age ranks when the Dens begin meeting again? Am I understanding how that might work?

OH! And the email this morning was from ANOTHER "ghost" Committee member. He's come to about 1/2 the monthly meetings for the past 2 years, says nothing, and leaves. He's right that we should probably replace him... ... but so far, if I bring up helping on the Committee to the parents, they blanch and stammer, and say, "Oh... uh... n-n-no I can't do that..." But look. I have a fun summer planned. I even have the next YEAR's calendar basically charted out. I will do my darnedest to recruit in May and retain over the summer. I will recruit AGAIN at the end of August. Then at September's Pack meeting I will have a big poster board on an easel with blank Committee positions. I will point out that I'm ALREADY leading a FULL Den AND being a pretty kick-ass Cubmaster, thank you very much, but that the boat needs to be steered by people whose kids are hanging from the rigging. (God bless metaphors!) I will take a big fat magic marker and ask for names of the parents who will take those positions. IF NO ONE ANSWERS, then I will silently hand out BSA Youth Applications and a list of other Packs in the area. "What's this?" "This is for you to transfer Packs. Without THOSE positions being filled, we don't exist. Everyone here will have to call one of these Packs and ask if they have room for you to transfer." I am LITERALLY TAKIN' NAMES!!!

No, the new youth guy DOES want to be involved, but he's not even registered with BSA, yet (*mental note to drop off that app!*) He's agreed to slowly get his feet wet, but we can't just name him CC; he has no clue what he's doing. This is his first job post-seminary, he's getting married in 5 weeks, he just bought a house, etc... That he's willing to throw in with us at all is a good thing; I don't want to scare him off! :0) No, it's the current CO Rep who keeps ducking and running from any actual helpful involvement. And I'm not sure what kind of Exec this Scout guy is. I was just given his number and email, and have peppered him with questions for a year. To his credit, he's pretty patient, although I get more and better INFORMATION and ADVICE from my UC. (Who probably has to go pour a stiff drink before he opens my emails, but hey, that's the job!) Maybe my "Exec" is just the District dude; I've never been sure of his exact title. He is the one who ran our recharter paperwork with the exiting CC. That was recently done in Jan of this year, and evidently takes us through Dec 2012 (?). He's coming to the meeting because he sees it as a restructuring. Which is not far off base, I guess. We some structuring, period!

I'm sorry, I meant I got an email from the CORep that HE couldn't make it tonight to MEET with the Scout Exec. The CORep knows we need him to be CC, but he's running like a scared hare.

If you've read this thread, you know our Committee Chair must be replaced, and we've having the devil of the time doing it. With the CURRENT dynamics at play, the logical person to at least temporarily put their name in the slot is the CORep. I mentioned this to him last weekend, and his wife groaned and said, "Why can't YOU do it???" I had to explain that the fox can't watch the henhouse. Our Scout Exec is coming down TONIGHT to a specially called Com meeting, and he sent me an email last night saying he probably wouldn't make it. He KNOWS the SE is going to ask him to be Chair. The ONLY other person ON the Committee who's never actually DONE anything FOR the Pack sent me this email this morning: "my apologies for the delinquent response. when initially asked to serve on the CS committee, i said sure, even though i announced i wouldn't be up for "outings." as an advisor and "indoor" helper, i'm happy to do what i can, but my evening teaching schedule at Macon State continues to make my participation rather benign (i have a final exam to give this evening). "so, maybe a more worthy replacement might be in order. whatever you think." I emailed HIM back, and had to explain that it has nothing to do with what *I* think, that *I* work FOR the Committee. I can't just DECIDE to replace HIM on the Charter. C'mon, people! Do you see what we're up against, here? *sigh*

That's kinda what I was thinking; that it would all just improve of it's own accord. I'm not gonna hold my breath, but there's no reason to borrow trouble, either. The only problem will be if new families (and I hope to have some from my recruiting night coming up) attend our summer get-togethers, they might be turned off. If they intend on coming to those, we'll have to have the come-to-Jesus BEFORE that. But they *may* just quietly fade into the woodwork. We shall see.

That other thread was sooo looong; I spun (spinned?) this one off...if it worked... I called to confirm the meeting with my UC, Committee dad, behavior issue kid, his grandma, and myself. She has been laid up with some unidentifiable hip issue for 3 weeks! She can barely walk. They missed our fishing day on 4/16, and they weren't at Pack meeting this past Monday. Her docs have no idea why she's in so much pain, or what to do for her. So of course we cancelled the meeting. I'll have to see how things pan out over the next few weeks before our final Pack meeting. Ehhnnn.

"...you will be a better man for it." (man?) Ooooh! Does that mean it'll put hair on my chest? My uncles always told me to be careful about certain stuff because it would put hair on my chest... ...wait. I'm not sure I WANT hair on my chest....

Hey, the best CMs and DLs are the ~*SILLY*~ ones !!! :0)

BWAHahahahahahah! Hey. Crayons are non-toxic, too! You could do a science experiment with that! (Hint--my grandma's poodle ate my box of 8 Crayons one time when I was a kid...and guess what happened the next day?!?) And yeees...he was a POOdle. If that helps you get the visual.

HALF-UPDATE: The problem boy's grandma was sick last night, so they did not come to Pack meeting. Guess how the evening went?* * It was a joy. It was how Pack meetings should have been all year. ~sigh~

1) My son and I work on Scout stuff kind of the same way we keep our house. For example, when the laundry hamper is full to overflowing, we designate a "Laundry Night!" and the whole evening is caring for our clothes. Likewise, we HAVE spent long stretches of time filling in gaps in his Wolf book. We have to drive about 100 miles for him to visit his dad; we have had a lot of those "A" chapter discussions while driving. "Talk about Courage...Discuss Responsibility," etc... And as was mentioned, some of the Pin stuff can be done more easily than others. I'm just saying it's *possible* to crank stuff out in larger chunks if you work the way I do, in bursts. 2) This site is teaching me A LOT about how to proceed in the next few years! We're at the end of the Scout year; you may not be able to decide "all of a sudden" to start screening requirements a different way, but you can sure start next year! I also realize that I'm REALLY *not* going to be able to continue to be both DL and CM for my son. I think I can manage the Bears while being CM, but I have GOT to find a Web leader by the end of next season.

If you have issues with 1st-5th graders EATING Pla-Doh, you have bigger problems than activities. ;0)

AH-HAH! If I can convince the Scoutmaster that HE needs to do a little song-and-dance, I'll delegate that to him and his Scouts. I have enough to do! :0)

Thanks for the good info! As I've mentioned, I'm new to Scouting 2 years ago, and an accidental Cubmaster this past year. I'm not so much worried about the ceremonial part; my question more extends to what squares need to be checked off, procedurally. The Troop only has 4 or 5 guys, and none of them were interested in being Den Chief this past year. One of my Web2's bridging next month has already said he wants to come back and be a DC for us, so maybe the cycle can begin with him. They're pretty... casual and laid back over there. I really like the idea of the Web2's Den meeting being juxtaposed to the Scouts; I'll talk to the Scoutmaster about that idea for next year. I mentioned to him just this morning that I would like him and his guys to interact with my 2 Web2's as much as possible over this next month before the ceremony. (He's not even sure WHAT paperwork needs to happen, so I'm hitting up the SE this week for instructions). One boy absolutely wants to go camp, so I need to get him all squared away for that.

(I'll double post this) From the Cub side: What's the usual protocol for a boy bridging to a Boy Scout Troop? (Our church owns the charters to both Pack and Troop. Both very small)

That will work from here on out, but I kept scratching my head thinking to myself, "Wow. Bridging Webs in Feb. How is that possible?" Well, duh, self. MOST Webelos BEGIN Webelos when they're starting *4th* grade. Our Pack didn't HAVE any Webs at all, until the fall sign-up night at the school. I got two *5th* grade sign ups that night. We've only had these Web2's since September; there was NO WAY they could have bridged in Feb. They're just barely going to finish their requirements over the next 2 weeks! Mind, I did get one 4th grader; he's the discipline problem. If he stays in, I WILL bridge him at B&G, and that's that. Of course, that could mean that if I get MORE 5th graders coming in, I'd have to do the same thing and have their bridging more like this time of year. But I understand, now. See how helpful y'all are? :0)

Oh, now...don't be poppin' them Literal pills. I was just thinking out loud toward making the FOS experience more *palatable* to everyone involved. You know what the scary part is when I talk to myself? ... I answer back. What? Nothing. Ok. Want a sandwich?

Awwww...thanks, Oak!! Call me Acorn. ;0) I have found that (almost) anything can be more easily managed if you can find the humor in it! "Blessed is she who has learned to laugh at herself, for she shall never cease to be entertained." I like it here. Thank you for your kind words.

AHAH!!! I think you've hit on something. "The worst thing is having someone talk over the heads of Cub Scouts to parents..." What an FOS person needs to do is talk to the BOYS as though the parents WEREN'T THERE, and convince the CUBBERS that Mom/Dad/Aunt Louise should try to participate. If the kid believes in it, they might get the parents on board. Just thinking out loud...

I have no problem with taking the opportunity of a gathering of people to solicit financial help for a program of which their kids are reaping the benefit. But in *exchange* for 10 minutes of my platform time, all I ask is that the presentation simply NOT BE TORTURE. Not asking much, really. At least I don't think so. Then again, the Pack meetings *themselves* during my son's Tiger year were SNORESVILLE. (I finally came a bit unglued at the edge during a meeting and asked the CM if he had ever planned a PARTY. Not for kids, no he had not. I said, a Pack meeting should feel like a party. Something to look forward to and wonder, "What fun thing does CM have planned for us this time?!?" He did a little better after that -- I just don't think he knew HOW to make kid fun.) The FOS gal who came to our B&G was nice and all. But I guarantee you no one heard a word she said; people got up for more dessert, etc... I would have been better off taking her 10 minutes back for my program, and doing 3 minutes on it myself. I know you can't command someone to "BE INTERESTING, damn you!" but a *little* effort to NOT bore our socks off would be appreciated. And more effectual.

Sorry, that's not until NEXT week. On the one hand, we have to suffer through another Pack meeting with him. On the other hand, the fact that he WILL be in the next Pack meeting will likely provide some up-to-the-minute evidence of his disruptive nature. I shall let you all know how it goes! :0)