AnnLaurelB

See, I'm with you. While I'd be happy to make a fuss over his "final" achievement as a Cubber, I would NOT have included him in a (hello?!?) *induction* ceremony to a group to which he elected NOT to join. I feel strongly about not giving out what they didn't earn, too! I just wondered how y'all handled it. I haven't done one of these before. Maybe I'll have the bridge set back a pace, and have a "path" that the younger cubs walk for their progression. Save the bridge for the Webs.

YES! I like it too. (I'm really glad I *finally* thought to google "cubmaster forum"!) Here's a question for all of you who have done these ceremonies before: We're going to have an actual bridge (either one I build, or one the Scoutmaster brings me from his yard). Would you RESERVE that for the Webelos crossing to Boy Scouts? Or does everybody get to walk across it? Just curious what your thoughts are.

OHHHH! Same thing another way! I read it that they know the Scouts... yes, I see now. And I'm the CM for pete's sake. I'm not some random citizen. I've put FrayCheck on my WallyWorld list for next time! :0)

I think anyone who has to get up and do FOS presentations HAS to ask themselves what would move THEMSELVES to scramble for that checkbook. Easier said than done, of course.

Our Scout Exec was supposed to come, but at the last minute he sent someone else in his stead. She was nice and all, but NO ONE had ever seen her before (I think that's part of the problem--the parents are like, "Who are you, again?" It's sort of *detached*. Now, I'm no fundraiser, myself. But if she was gonna tackle this task, she needed to ask herself "WHY would I give this person money?!?", and perform accordingly. I'm just kind of relieved to learn that we weren't the only ones who didn't get a lot of pledges (actually, she didn't tell me what, if any, we got). I was *extra* annoyed that she insisted on making ME *stop what I was doing* and force the paper with my son's name into my hand. I'm like, "Lady, I have 60 people in this hall, looking to ME to M.C. this dog-and-pony. Can you just set it at my place? I can't do this right now." Okay, I didn't say that. I folded it, put it in my uniform pocket, forgot about it, washed it, and never thought of it again. I bet you that's what happened to a lot of those papers! And if she'd been ANY kind of compelling, that wouldn't have happened as much.

You mean *won't* sell them, right? :0)

*heads for the hills*

I get why FOS is important; I really do. But... the two presentations I've suffered-I-mean-sat through were annoying at best. If you WANT something from people, shouldn't you ... I dunno ... be CHARMING or something? Funny? Creative? Bring presents? Show slides? ANYTHING! Anything but calllll ouuuut Scout naaaaames and haaaaaand the aduuuult a paaaaaper. If you want people to cough up, you really need to do a song and dance. Maybe LITERALLY. Anyone else experience the, "WHEN is this STRANGER gonna stop TALKING?" thing?

Have them MAKE ice cream in an old-fashioned crank freezer! That'll give 'em somethin' to do!

Yeah, we were hoping to try to start a Cub Closet, so I'd like to donate his smaller shirt, but the BADMAGIC has make a mess on his pocket (I had to move his Bobcat when he got his Tiger--I hadn't placed it quite right). I suppose if I'm cleaning the shirt off for another Cub anyway, I could just take the tattered ones to trade in, perhaps. Thanks for all the ideas! On my DL and my (1st) CM shirts, I used BM (before I learned!), and the patches are all lifting. UGH! Now I know better; my newer CM shirt I sewed them on.

Wow! Thanks for all your replies! Some great reading there; I've only had a chance to skim it so far. I just want to say that we simply DIDN'T finish our Wolf requirements until now. Actually, we WON'T finish them until about 2 Den meetings from Monday week. Whew! So I pretty much HAVE to do it ALL at our (final) May Pack meeting. But I'm starting to get the picture of what needs to happen. I know everyone promotes, so I think what I will do is have the Wolves all gather together, then "graduate" the two boys to the Bear Den, first, and people can hoot and holler for them. Then I'll proceed with the "You have earned..." portion of the ceremony with the remaining Wolves. It just. Might. Work. :0)

I have one kid in my Wolf den who just ain't gonna make it. His mom brings him to about half of the meetings, but we do A LOT of the Requirements during Den time. I always point out to Mom what he'll have to make up, and even allot time for him to do it "next time", but then more often than not, they don't come "next time". I stressed to her the last time I saw her that we HAD to get him cranked through the Requirements somehow, but what else can I do? I suppose actually EARNING rank is *optional*, right? A kid can just show up, play, eat s'mores, go bowling, and call it a Scouting year, if that's what he wants. You can't MAKE someone do this stuff. But here's my question: how do I handle the Pack meeting where the other Wolves will bridge, but his name will NOT be called to receive a Wolf badge? Should he stand with the rest of the Den and cross over with them to Bear, but simply not GET a badge, and not have his name called? There simply aren't enough Den meetings left to *possibly* get him through his book. What do I do with this kid? More importantly, what do I do with Mama when she pitches a fit that her kid didn't get the same prize as the others? OH! And I had a little boy JUST join Wolf den a couple weeks ago. He also has no way of actually earning his Wolf badge--he'll just have to start with Bear. Which is fine--but what do I do with these boys during the bridging Pack ceremony?

My son was a Tiger last year, and so earned that and Bobcat. He's about to earn Wolf, but he's growin' out of his shirt. I need to get him a new one, but there's two issues. 1) I used Badge Magic, and that wouldn't matter so much, since he's outgrown the shirt, except... 2) the Tiger and Bobcat badges are little worse for wear after two full years. And washings. And tree climbings. And stick fights. Etc... I'd like to not try to put battered badges on brand new blues. And I do NOT have those itty bitty cards he got with the Badges (oh, please--I need my glasses bolted to my head). What would I have to do to get duplicate Tiger/Bobcat badges for his new, larger shirt? For that matter, what if a Cubster needs TWO Class-A shirts? I have a couple of Scouts who are in double-home families. A week with Dad, a week with Mom, etc... If they wanted to have a full shirt both places, how do you get TWO rank badges?

PLA-DOH *AND* ICE CREAM! You won't hear from them for HOURS! :0)

And I can't tell you how pleased I am that I saved the bricks and the 2x12s that I scavenged to use for the "plank" at my son's Pirate Party last summer. Helloooooo, Bridge. :0)

Awesomesauce! I read a similar one, somewhere, and was planning to adapt it to our situation. This one is wonderfully complete from T-W. You have to understand that I'm reading the ceremony, while picturing the whole thing in my back yard, and thinking, "The audience should be over there...one fire there...the other fire there..." I think it will work beautifully, thanks!

By the by... We're having the ceremony in my back yard, with 2 campfires: one slightly smaller for the Cubs, a larger one for the Boy Scouts, who will be there to receive my Webs. Let. There. Be. FIRE!

Yes, PLEEEEEEEASE! (*falls to the floor in a grateful heap*) :0)

*head-desk* I've been fussitating with a bridging ceremony for my 2 Web2's all this time. I didn't even THINK about "promoting" the other ranks. GAAAHH! Sweet Winged Gabriel. I have a month to plan this (this is my first year at CM). Thanks for bringing this up! There are some great ideas here!

Our next-to-last Pack meeting this year is this coming Monday. I plan to have a couple of stations with construction paper, scissors, glue, stickers, markers, and "do-dads" for the boys to make Thank You cards for ALL of the different people who have helped us this year. Then I'll package them up and send big envelopes full of Cub Scout Love to our friends. :0)

AWWWWWWW! So sweet! :0) You need to write/print that out, and keep a scrapbook or something! My son's Wolf den meets at my house on Mondays; one of my guys has a big brother in Web2, and he has to tag along to those Den meetings on Tuesdays. Last night, he said, "Miss Laurel, are you gonna be at my brother's meeting tomorrow?" When I told him no, I wouldn't be, he *tsked* and said, "Awh, MAAAAAN!" It's nice to be appreciated!

P.S. I've been thinking about this whole issue, since you opened the topic, and I realize that, in my town, if we actually met IN the Scout Hut (Boy Scouts do, we Cubs don't, as the church hall works better for us), it doesn't have handicapped parking at all. Something about the zoning boundaries of where the Hut sits makes it grandfathered or something that it's not ADA enforced. I find that interesting. It's all just street parking; no parking lot (therefore no handi-spaces) at all. There aren't even SIDEWALKS in that whole section of town. Therefore there are NO curb breaks for wheelchairs. Just curb. The whole street. (The Hut itself IS ADA accesible from the street, by the way. Just no special parking spaces.) So...just as a gee-whiz question...if you moved to town, and wanted to join Cub Scouts, and saw the Scout Hut, would you choose to go to a different Pack, because there are NO handicapped spaces, therefore no guarantee of a "close" space to the access sidewalk to the building? Just curious...

That's as may be; I don't think anyone's arguing that the guy SHOULD continue parking there. It IS wrong, no doubt about it. I think in answer to your *original* question as to what you should do about it, you said you've ALREADY mentioned it, correct? Well, your recourse now is to : A) pursue it further with this Pack; or B) find another Pack. Honestly, if you've ALREADY mentioned it to NO AVAIL, and it really, really bothers you (as clearly it does), I'm a little afraid that if you go with Option A, there's gonna be some bad feelings all around. Because it's clearly important to you (not wrongly), and it's clearly NOT important to the guy parking. If you're truly bothered by it, and the fact that he ignored your request, I gently suggest that you start Pack Shopping, shake the dust off your sandals and move on.

My mom passed away when I was 25; she never met my Cub Scout, so I know all about that. She was ALSO confined to a wheelchair for the last 9 years of her life, and I was her primary caregiver the last 4. So I'm familiar with that issue, too. But I try not to be hurt when people talk about their moms in my presence. That's a different issue, of course, than parking in a handicapped space, I realize. It was just an example. It's just my nature to play devil's advocate; I should have been a lawyer! My only point was that everyone has something that gets under their skin more than it might bother someone else. "Mama" jokes don't bother me because I realize they're not joking about MY mama. She was also a LARGE gal; but I try not to get upset when people make fun of "fatties". I wasn't disagreeing with you. Yes, it's VERY rude for people to park in a handicapped space when they shouldn't (Ohhhh how many times did I have to push my mom through parking lots because of this!). I'm just saying that some folks just aren't going to be as upset about it as people with first hand experience.

P.S. I'd like to also remind us that everyone has their own 'sensitivity button'. Some of us church parents are planning a picnic for our retiring Children's Minister (also our Cub CC). We're having a picnic dinner potluck tomorrow; I'm on appetizers, and I'm making Buffalo Turds. There was a conversation on Wednesday whether I was going to make them ATOMIC Buffalo Turds. And within that conversation, someone mentioned 'Slap Yo Mama' spice rub stuff. I had not heard of this, and it amused me. I laughed and repeated (in a hooting, you-gotta-be-kidding-me tone/volume) "SLAP YO MAMA?!? Slap Yo Mama. That's awesome...." etc. Well, one of the dads of the church kids, whose ex-wife passed away last year, took me aside and chided me for being insensitive for laughing about "Slap yo mama," when his motherless son might be in hearing. Really? Over a spice rub? But, it bothered him. So he said something. I think it was over the top, being that it was IN CONTEXT and NOT a comment about anybody's mama, living or otherwise, but that was his choice to call me out. Will it change me? Pfffft. No. I already KNOW his son, and his daughter, and I already AM careful what I say to them. I am NOT going to censor my EVERY word pertaining to maternity just because his kids are around. HOWEVER, at that moment, he felt better. So be it. I also have a friend who has adopted FIVE children (bless her heart and give her a good seat in Heaven!). She will take down ANYONE who dares say anything out loud near her kids in the way of families breaking up. She's a wonderful, amazing, talented, lovely person, and I adore her, but she's got this really sensitive spot about abandonment issues. You really just can't please all the people all the time! :0) You just have to realize that everyone's got their button that they don't want pushed.