Melgamatic

Ha, so 14 months or so have passed, quite peacefully. Shortly after the Committee wrote the lady and asked her to attend a committee meeting to explain her concerns about our finances, she stopped attending all pack and den events. Her husband started attending them alone with the boy, who is now a Webelos. The boy and son have other issues, which would make a fascinating new thread, but we manage along for the most part, and while they can be sometimes annoying they aren't much worse than your average annoying cub scout or parent.

HOWEVER. In the past two months the crazy lady has come back to the pack meetings, and we even have another popcorn debacle!

She came to our December pack meeting, and while we were planning a Webelos camping trip to a cabin in December, she started yelling at me about how I shouldn't be telling her son and husband that they don't have to be at the cabin until noon (when the event started), but that they needed to be out of the house by 9am, so why was I telling them this? If it was anyone else it would have been a funny joke, the mom telling me she wanted to get the kid off to the event earlier, but this lady was yelling at me, in front of a lot of other people! Yow! Well, I let it slide off my back, chuckle with (at?) her, we all move on.

Now, it turns out, they sold around $460 of popcorn this year (BTW, my pack did fantastically this year, selling $15K, more than the last two years combined!), and haven't turned in all the money yet. Or did they?

The money came in several chunks, the last one being a purported check for $202. We don't have it, we didn't deposit it, they somehow can't produce the cleared check, but in any case, we're up to our ears in popcorn mystery with the same family again, if you can believe that!

The mom came to our Pinewood this past weekend, and nearly came to blows with our popcorn colonel, in front of cubs and parents. I missed it, but I did end up telling two men, one a cop, to make sure they were standing close in case they had to pull them apart. Yow, again!

I just wrote everyone involved a remarkably polite and fully restrained email, basically asking them to please check for data on the check, and if they can find it please let us know so we can track it down on our side, and if they can't find it then please cancel the check and write us a new one.

Amazing. I think this little mess cost me my popcorn colonel for next year, and who can blame her? She was willing to take on the job, but not this extra unpleasantness (that's what I get the big bucks for).

I am not going to involve this family in popcorn sales next year. I'm not sure if I'm going to tell them soon (and maybe they'll get insulted and drop out, which wouldn't be terrible), or wait until next Fall.

-Dave

I have my assignment, which sounds good, and I'm ready to send in my remaining payment. The only thing I'm worried about is the 2 weeks of vacation I'm going to take without my family.

Someone please tell me that staffing the jambo is an amazing experience, and that I'll enjoy it even without my family? Will I be really busy the whole 2 weeks, and if not, is there stuff to do that will fill my hours? Is staff housing and food at least acceptable?

I hope this doesn't come off sounding whiny...I'm really not that way.

Thanks, Dave

This is what I did last Summer. Fly to Denver. Rent car. Drive down to Philmont (took around 4 hours, I think). It was an absolutely beautiful drive. Nice highway through absolutely unforgettable mountains and plains.

Having the rental car during the week was important. Need to drive around on Wednesday, fast trips to the Philmont store, etc.

I got amazingly cheap flights into Denver. The car rental was more expensive than the flights.

"Most of the time, I think it's a carry-over from Cub Scoutin' "

What Cubmaster shuts down their pack over the summer!

[ You really have to have thick skin to post a question on these forums. Half the "answers" are usually accusations of poor training... ]

Our Spring campout is also after our B&G and bridging. We invite the families to attend if they would like. A few of the (actually now Boy Scout) WII's attend (with their families), mostly because they enjoyed camping with us, want a last family campout, etc. We do a lot of Cub Scout Family Camping, and the boys have a very good time. Often the whole family has enjoyed camping with us for 5 years and wants one more family campout.

The boys who attend with us must bring a parent (and may bring both parents and siblings) just as if the campout was a few months earlier. They sometimes have come in BS uniforms, but they follow our Cub Scout guidelines.

I have three ACMs right now, looking for another couple.

With multiple ACMs there is less pressure on them to step up to CM, so it's easier to get volunteers. If there is only one ACM, they will feel the pressure.

One handles most of the camping stuff, another handles odd jobs, another assists with a lot of the CC/registration stuff, etc. It's great!

30 or 40 years ago my grandma offered me $50 (a giant amount) to learn to play the Star Spangled Banner, perfectly, using her favorite music, on the piano. It took me several months, but I got it down and earned the $50.

30 or 40 years later, it's the only thing I can play on the piano, much to my dismay.

Too much bribery is not a good thing, and this case seems to be pushing the boundaries of good taste, but on the other hand, I'm not against some clever bribery.

I do bribe my Cub Scouts to sell popcorn with prizes, fill up their sale sheets with marshmallow bows, and I even offered some small Toys R Us gift cards for boys who recruited more than 2 new boys. So, I guess I'm not above it either....

Most ISPs allow you to have a second http folder for password-protected content, and you set those properties in your "control panel." For example, if your normal web site files were in a http/public_html folder, there might be a http/protected_html folder (or something like that, it depends on the ISP) which allowed protected content. A script is not going to work as well.

I have three of the NorthStars, and while they are bright, I have leaks in the piping on two of them, with little flame spurts coming out of the sides of the tube that goes up from the valve. They don't seem expensive enough to repair, but I'm hesistant to buy any others....

I get around 85-90% of my ~50 cub scouts selling popcorn, almost all hitting at least the $200 of sales I set as a goal. I don't have scout accounts; all the funds raised go into the pack. But I still get great buy-in from the parents.

How?

We keep our annual fee to $50, and all the rest of the money it costs to run the pack (probably $100 a boy, plus other expenses like leader training, parade floats, blue and gold banquet for the whole family for free etc) comes from the popcorn.

I explain this in a detailed sheet to the parents; they seem to get it and we have great buy in. We also push the prizes, ensure that anyone who sells even one $15 box of microwave gets a small prize, and push the big prizes (fill up a sheet, you get the marshmallow bow and arrow as well as throwing a cream pie at my face). We had three boys earn very nice telescopes last year, which was an eye-opener for the rest of the boys.

I just wanted to emphasize that scout accounts are not necessarily required for popcorn pushing.

I think a new pack is also going to have a hard time getting their pack to grow if the fees are too high. Maybe you can slide into that, but starting that high is going to be rough.

$70 per scout popcorn profit is only around $180 of sales. $200 can be done by selling 10 units of $15 microwave popcorn and two $25 popcorn for the troops. Parents buy one, grandparents buy one, one neighbor buys one, you're 20% there.

We get far more than this, honestly without an experienced colonel/kernel, because we just explain to the parents that the reason dues are $50 instead of $125 because of the sales. They understand and help push it along.

$175 a year?? $95 a year?? Wow, I am surprised.

Our dues are $50, which includes registration, Boys Life, Pinewood Derby car and all the awards the kid can earn. We also have professionals come in for 2-3 pack meetings a year (science guys, reptiles, wolves, magician, etc), and we'll include catered meals at "campouts" if we have too many people.

I figure it costs us around $125 each to cover this, but we make the $75 difference up in popcorn without a problem. Averaging just $200 or so per scout gets us there.

I am in a very affluent area (although the pack actually has a number of "scholarship" cubs where we cover all or part of their expenses), but I think I'd have a very much smaller pack if I charged that much.

I know that sports can be much more expensive, and that $175 for a season of baseball or soccer is probably average, but we just don't seem to have that with scouting!

In my WB course we had several 18-20 year old new scout leaders, all reasonably fresh eagles. Two were in my patrol (Beaver!). They both had significantly more scouting experience than I (they probably had 12+ years of scouting experience).

I learned a bunch from their scouting experience, hopefully they learned a lot from a more aged/mature/seasoned/tattered guy, and we both did better. I wouldn't want to attend a WB course with all young people, but having them in the mix helps a lot.

I know that most states have more reasonable firearms laws than New Jersey..... Wrist rockets, and in fact all slingshots, are considered handguns in NJ. Having a slingshot in your hand is the same as holding a Glock in NJ, so you need to be aware of your rights are requirements...

-Melg

All the microwave popcorn is still $15 or $16 per box of 15 packets, which isn't too bad. I see on the Trails End website you can only buy units of two boxes, but on the sales sheet you can buy single boxes. This is by far our biggest seller, and the only thing we buy for "show and sell" sales.

Equivalent supermarket popcorn is about 50% of that price, but we manage to sell a lot of it with little effort...

> Could you please explain to me when it would not be prudent

> to wear Wood Badge beads in uniform.

When using a table saw?

> We are also planning to make handprint napkin holders for Christmas.

> Trace each of the boys hands on wood, cut out and nail/screw together

> with a thin piece of wood between the wrists. It can look like

> praying hands or with the fingers spread out.

I made a set of these in Cub Scouts around 1972, and I believe my parents finally retired them in the last few years. I remember making that and also a Christmas tree ornament that looked like a bird feeder in Cub Scouts, and that ornament is still on the family tree every year.

Hot glue gun and a bunch of glue sticks.

Got back yesterday from a week at the PTC. I had a fanastic time, and I'm ready to go back. Some notes on the issues people have discussed:

1) Food was very good. Much better than I expected. I enjoyed every single entree, and some were downright great. The chili-glazed salmon was especially good (slightly overcooked, but what do you want). There was also a salad bar and cold cereal and milk available at every meal.

2) My family of three had 2 brand new tents. I know they were brand new because they were manufactured in 3/09, and the cloth was in perfect condition. The beds were very comfortable.

3) Restrooms were clean and nice. Had to wait for 1 or 2 people at the showers at 5:45am, but learned that there is no line in the hour between breakfast and class, nor is there a line in the evening. Some days I took two luxurious showers. Water was way too hot, though.

4) Restrooms were approximately 4 seconds from my tent, which was too close because I could hear sounds I didn't necessarily need to hear sometimes. Earplugs assured a sound night sleep after the first night.

5) Kids program was very good. The three PTC staffers who ran my son's program were excited, helpful, kind, etc. They sang, danced, and pushed the kids when necessary. My son enjoyed all the activities.

6) Wife did some of the spouse activities, but was a little under the weather so spent more time in the handicraft building and also reading.

7) The extracurricular activities were also fun. Indian dancing, country western dance, boot branding, etc, all well-run and good.

8) Weather was warmer than expected, with days in the 90's and evenings only into the very high 50's. I was never cool, never used any of the long sleeve shirts or long pants I dragged across the country.

9) All (almost) adults wore class A uniforms M/T/R/F, and many on Wednesday, and to all meals and extra activities. Many kids wore class A on Monday and then sometimes during the week. Glad I bought a 3rd shirt to wear.

10) PTC and Philmont staff were uniformly and without exception super friendly, helpful, etc. I was very impressed by them.

I will be going back, as soon as possible. Already talking about helping perhaps teach a course next year.

-Melgamatic

[copied entirely from the intranet. i bet they don't mind us sharing. ]

Adding Machine Tape Demonstration for Adult Recruiting

You need an 8-10 foot long piece of adding machine or calculator tape.

Mark off the tape in ten year increments with 0 at the left end and 100 at the right. Use large numbers so parents can see from the audience. Roll the tape back up, so that the 100 is in the center of the roll.

For the presentation you will need two helpers to hold the tape in front of you so you can point at various points on the tape.

Start out saying:

With the current advances in medical technology it's very likely that your son will live about 100 years. (Have your helpers unroll the tape in front of you, so the whole time line is visible.) "Here's a time line of his life."

If you're 35 now, statistically, you'll likely live until you're 75 or so, when your son will be about 50.(Rip the tape off at the 1/2 way point and hand the end to your helper. Let the other half fall to the floor -- very important dramatic effect).

"This represents the years you and your son will have together in his lifetime."

"And he's probably about 8 or 9 now." (Rip of the tape slightly below 10 and let that piece fall to the floor. Hand the end to your helper). So here's the time you have left together.

How old do you suppose your son will be when he goes away to college (or you decide its time for him to be out on his own)? 18 - 20? (Rip off the tape someplace in this vicinity. Let that chunk fall to the floor. Hand the end to your helper).

This is the amount of time you have left with him at home.

When he's about 13 - middle school age - his friends start to become a much bigger, maybe the major, influence in his life." (If you can - assuming you have teenager - make a comment about how you know this from experience.) (Rip off the tape someplace in this vicinity. Let that chunk fall to the floor. Hand the end to your helper).

(Take the very short piece of tape from your helpers and hold in it front of you, and thank your helpers.)

"This is the time you have left to be the major shaping force in your son's life. You can show him how important he is to you by becoming involved in Scouting with him. Scouting is a remarkable opportunity for you and your son to share a great variety of fun, exciting and positive experiences.

Experiences that give you that opportunity to help him grow into an adult that you'll be proud to point to and say: 'That's my son - he's a good person.'"

(Go on to talk about volunteer opportunities in your unit and how parents can participate in them.)

Agreed. If you really have a pack without any den leaders, you don't have anything resembling a pack! You should take your son and head to an actual pack. If you were just having some trouble getting a few more parents involved that's one thing, but with 0 parents involved there is nothing here to save...

Since I started this thread, I should post an update about what happened.

We decided to do the presentation at our Blue and Gold in March (I know...) which is also when we hold our Bridging Over ceremony. We did the presentation during the dinner, so it didn't take up much extra time, and included my wife (a den leader) and son (a wolf), who actually put the beads on me. The ceremony was shortened up a little given the audience's attention span, but I think the cub scouts generally enjoyed the story about Baden-Powell, and that also fit in with some of the things they've been learning about B-P for the 100th anniversary.

I received unanimous support from the pack leadership for doing it at the B&G, and got only positive feedback from the parents, who seem to appreciate the time their leaders are putting into training.

-Melgamatic

As CM for a large pack, I receive an FOS giving report every Monday morning via email. It lists the names of people who have responded to the campaign. It does not list how much they gave (or if they gave at all, for that matter).

There are families listed in higher giving categories, so I know if someone gave more than $250, $500 or $1000 because they are listed in those categories, but I don't know what they gave exactly.

For everyone lower than the first "honor" category, they are listed in a single bucket.

Our Council gives benefits to units which meet certain goals. My pack met our highest "platinum" level this year, which means we had 100% of families respond to the campaign (not give), and more than $40 per family on average. I know for a fact that a few families returned cards that said $0 on that, and I told families this was ok. I had the $40 per family covered through 3 or 4 families which gave a lot, so I was looking for small gifts that people could afford from the rest.

But, I don't know what anyone's exact donation was.

=Melgamatic

If you get BSA to agree to buy their clothing from someone in the US for a guaranteed number of years (with quality guarantees, for example), they will find the necessary equipment and people to make it so. People are hungry to build businesses.

If you get me a contract, I can get the capital to start the business, and you probably could too.

-Melgamatic

Lots like this always make me sad, because it usually means the original owner died.

He received Life in 5/62, so probably received Eagle in '63. If he was 18 years old then, he would have been around 56 now. Usually when the original owner sells his collection he says something like "selling all my old boy scout collection to get some extra money and to get them to someone who will appreciate them."