mdlscouting

If it's a matter of 2 weeks, I think you can be flexible.

If Scout A is done with all his Wolf Cub stuff and wants to work on Bear Stuff immediately, go ahead and let him start on June 1st.

If Scout B wants to finish up the last thing for an extra arrow point, let him wait until June 14th.

But by the 14th, I'd say that's all folks.

However, they can't be both ranks at once, so no working ahead and finishing up at the same time.

June:

End of Year Pack Meeting

2 Weeks Day Camp

Webelos Resident Camp

July

Independence Day Parade (Multiple Packs all on one flatbed trailer)

Sneak In Weekend (1 Night at Boy Scout Camp for Parent+Son)

Summer Shootout Race at the Speedway

August

Trip to the Aviation Museum

Monster Truck Rally, and Campout in the Infield of the Speedway

Movies at the Park

The Pack Meeting and the trip to the Aviation Museum are the only ones our pack is doing solo. All the others are either council, district or community events we are attending.

Typically Feb or March. Next year, Our calendar has B&G the first week of Feb, and a Separate Crossover Ceremony the First week of March.

"I'm not looking to pick a fight here but the attitude I see in the real world and here is that Cub Scouts does the recruiting, and Boy Scouts are supposed to be the beneficiaries of 5 years worth of preparation..."

Also, the bulk of the popcorn sales, the bulk of the Dues to council, and quite a bit as they replace neckerchief, hat, belt, slide, handbook each year. (Sorry, that's my own personal rant...)

The Aspie Librarian... That sounds SO much like my son will be in a few years. (Webelos now...)

Hmm. It's a very interesting idea. I know that right now, our Pack and Troop are very close knit with one another, but there is a significant amount of duplication of resources. Gotta have 2 Treasurers. 2 Popcorn Kernels, 2 of this, 2 of that...

I'm not sure how well it would work administratively, given the way the BSA has things split. But I'd be all for something that builds that unity between Packs and Troops.

If it can be of any help, here is a document I wrote on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Scouting.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kJAdct2P8U7_-auih_QWzh0R7hbRXIsTgb1CYIy7vD0/edit#heading=h.y1pqnyqpscas

It is designed for Scout Leaders, as well as for parents of boys on the Spectrum, to show them how Scouting can help their sons.

Just completed my 5th ticket item. It was probably one of the best things I've done... But I'd definitely advise against any ticket item that requires gathering input from a large number of Adult Leaders across the District. That 5th Ticket item took more of my time than any of the others!

WB course S5-416-11-1

Bear Patrol (#1 in the Troop, #2 in the Woods!)

Just curious, why would you not allow them to bring their own equipment?

I've always like Jr. Webelos and Sr. Webelos.

But Since we only have one den of each, I prefer to call them by their Selected Den Names at Pack meetings, The Stingrays and the Stick Sergeants. (Long Story.)

I'm normally really big on online stuff, but for our survey, I went old school, pen and paper. I had the last half of our pack meeting as a parents meeting, where I solicited feedback, and twisted some arms for volunteers for next year.

It's a lot easier to get participation when you have them there in front of you as a captive audience.

We had a form where one side was a Feedback survey, and the other side was a Parent Talent Survey, so we kind of knocked out two birds with one stone in that meeting.

But If you like the online form format, look into Google Docs. They have a Form feature that allows as many questions as you like, no 10 question limit.

For us, the Den Leader moves up with their son.

Thanks for all your input. I have always been told that scouts should pick eagle projects that they are excited about and are motivated to jump in and learn while completing. He is well into this project with the wood already delivered to our back yard. It's us his parents that wondered if it should be part of his project to look into liability waivers (another learning experience). In talking to a lawyer, a waiver was recommended. He however, didn't suggest he would help my son do this for his project but quoted $250 an hour.

My son skateboards and wouldn't agree with the older timers view on skateboarding (no offense), I must agree I think boys that put their energy into high adventure spend less time looking for adventure out on the streets. I will admit I have spent my time with kids in the ER from snowboarding and mountain biking (at scout camp) but we don't stop those activities, we try enforce better safety precautions.

I am assuming this has come up before with other scouts since a skatepark isn't an original idea. Thank you Beavah for your legal input (and no your comments were not offensive at all). I'll print those out and make sure my son checks into them with his organization. Basement, Twocub and Desert, thanks for bring up the issues that I need him to look into. I think the important thing is we go into this project knowing what the risks are and if possible take responsible measures to cover ourselves.

My son is working on his eagle project which is to provide a local youth organization with a (portable) skateboard park. My question is: Has anyone working on a project obtained a release of liability for after the project is complete. If so, is this part of the project or something that my husband and I should do. I realize there is a release for the people involved in while working on the project but what about two years down the road if someone used the equipment and got hurt?

I'd like to see it at the cub level.

I'm really hesitant at the Boy Scout age range, just because of hormones.

Not saying I'm against it at that age, but I'm yet to be convinced it is a good idea.

Yep, I'm right off of Pitts School Road, on the Harrisburg end of it.

Hi there, I'm a Cub Dad / Wolf DL from just up the road in Right on the Harrisburg/Concord Line. (And When I say just up the road, I think I drive within a few tenths of a mile of your Pack's church every day going to and from work....)

Software QA Engineer for Wells Fargo

For a new scouter, I really like the Fast Tracks Stuff, and can see how it will be a lot more helpful to new leaders than the Older stuff was. With the monthly Themes, There was no real way for a leader to know how to make sure everything gets covered in a year... And while they had some activities, they didn't really have a fully laid out plan for a den meeting.

(I know, for those with a couple of years of experience, that's not a problem... But I don't think that's representative of most volunteers, especially at the Cub level.

What I would like to see is a 5 year set of Themes, kind of the best of the program helps. 5 years would be enough to use, without any cubs repeating the same theme. Those themes could be used in addition to the Actual achievements from Fast Tracks / CS2010.

And Honestly, I'd bet that most Packs don't use the themes. The folks here are really not a representative sample of the volunteers from the Cub Scout packs nationwide... most volunteers aren't going out of their way to find content online (Or at Roundtables either) and i can Definitely see how this would be helpful, especially when trying to convince a new DL to volunteer.

As a sign of respect for scouting in general, I'd say go for it.

As an example, if there was someone from a scouting organization from another country was visiting, I'd be honored to have them arrive in uniform. Likewise for other scouting organizations within this country.

Too many TLAs and ETLAs for me.

(Respectfully, Three letter Acronyms, and Extended Three Letter Acronyms )

Terms Used frequently at work, mocking our own internal acronym culture.

Desertrat: A Hiking and camping log with minimum requirements for all scouters?

ALL?

I'll agree, it's important for us to be out there, but that's going to run off quite a few, especially at the cub level.

Funny, you mention having twins... I have triplets (kinda). Thanks to an adoption and unexpected pregnancy, we have 3 3 year olds, 2 boys one girl.

Of course, I'm not sure if I could handle all three of them in the same tiger den.

But it would be really nice to have them in the same organization.

Some people are better at giving feedback off the cuff verbally, some are better at giving feedback when they have a chance to write it out.

I'd use as many of the methods here as you can for feedback. Add some more also... Have an idea dropbox form on your Troop's website, that the boys could use to anonymously submit ideas.

(At the cub level, I'd get a lot of feedback from parents as well)

The more opportunities the scouts have for giving feedback, the better. Even if it involves paper.

Combine this with the American Heritage Girls announcement a few weeks ago, and some gears in my brain start turning...

I'm not 100% sure that I'm in favor of a co-ed Scouting program, but I'm not 100% against it either.

In one way, I know that boys and girls do have very different needs developmentally, socially, etc. and single-gender scouting cn be a good thing for them in that regard, esp. with male role models, etc. being needed.

On the other hand, other countries have had co-ed scouting for a while, and it seems to work ok for them.

And from an entirely personal level, I've got 3 boys and 1 girl. I really like what the BSA is, and what they represent, and I'm really not all that pleased with GSUSA, and some of their stances or lack thereof on various issues. (I don't want to turn this into a debate on said issues/stances.)

If the BSA could incorporate girls, without damaging what makes their current program as good as it is, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But I think it would be better to either start at the bottom and go up, or to do it all at once. Starting with the oldest group first and working backwards from there doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

And I really don't want to run both a popcorn and a cookie sale each year.