momof2cubs

Any of you guys' council doing camp cards? I don't know if it is a local thing or not. It's a card full of discounts (that can be used over and over for a full year!) to local establishments. They cost $5 each and the boys get to keep half. I am THRILLED with this fundraiser. I loathe the popcorn and I am no fan on the pine straw because I think they are hard sales. Specially the popcorn. Who wants to buy that when the have the cookies? But these things go like hot cakes! My son just went out and unloaded 20 in less than an hour! Finally a fundraiser that is right!

We don't I think because we just have WAY too many. We average about 20-40 belt loops per meeting. It takes long enough to just name them for recognition..if we were to do something special for handing them out we'd be there all night. I hand them to their den leaders at the beginning of the pack meeting and he in turn gives them to the parents. We also that way avoid (most) lost items.

I found outdoorsman a very easy pin to fulfill if you attend a district event like Webelos Woods or Webelos Encampment. Our district mandates that web dens cannot camp on their own unless the leader has that OWL training that no one wants to get because it takes a whole weekend. So basically district "encourages" packs to attend district webelos camping events in order to get this requirement done. However, going camping for a weekend with your webelos den should fulfill most if not all the requirements for this pin.

My district sure doesn't think so. In the flyer posted about Webelos Woods camping, they state that requirement 4 is not met. Their words: "Although Troops will be present, Troops will not be leading this event which is the intent of this requirement". But they say this about requirement 12: "By attending (Webelos Woods) this requirement is achieved". The thing is you only have to do 2 of the first 4 requirements.

SP: if more COs knew that, no one would charter us. They assume they have no liability..basically because we assured them that BSA carries it!

fred, how do you handle winter camping? I live in the South, but even here it gets easily below 40 degrees at night in Jan and Feb. Most of the families I know (me included) are not prepared or willing to spend the kind of money it takes to get equipment needed for those kinds of temps.

I never heard of a limit, but at a pack level, going camping twice a year is just about all anyone can hope for. I think if you can achieve a fair level of participation twice a year you are doing something right.

This part baffles me to: "commercial business based organizations." What does THAT mean? The Chamber of Commerce? The Association of Registered Accountants? Or Vinnie's Pizza Parlor???? I don't get it...

I don't understand either how this makes sense. 1. Continuity: Charter orgs change leadership ALL THE TIME. Our PTA for instance, which charters our pack, changes Presidents every school year. Churches change pastors/ministers/priests with some regularity as well. And "community" groups like Rotary elect new leadership periodically too. If anything, I would say a Parents Of organization would have a more stable leadership, as a parent will probably put his/her name down as IH for the duration of their son's scout career. Maybe even longer. 2. Liability: we SPECIFICALLY tell our COs that BSA has the liability insurance to cover any and all issues arising from any and all scout activity. How would the CO be responsible? 3. Oversight? I think here national is deluding itself. Most COs have nothing to do with the day to day operations of units. Our PTA barely knows we exist, except at recharter when our CC knocks on the the president's door to get her to sign the papers. I'm guessing most churches are the same way. And I bet the involvement of any "community" organization on the unit's operation is even lower. Most units, also, don't really WANT the CO to meddle on its affairs. They keep their own schedules, their own budgets, their own bank accounts, their own activities all separate from the CO. So what difference does it REALLY make who is chartering a unit?

I'm still unsure of this one...the camps we as a pack go to are the same ones that the boy scouts go to. They are council owned camps. I think when my kid did this pin, they did other requirements.

My oldest has a summer birthday and we held him back before starting Kindergarden. As a result, he was older than his peers. Even though he has tons of friends in his grade level, he wasn't particularly close to his den mates and always gravitated towards the next level up den at pack functions. When that group crossed over, he was REALLY lost at pack functions and had a bigger case of scout senioritis than most 5th graders experience. He crossed over officially at the approved time (middle of March) with his den, but I signed him up with his troop in early February. He was attending both troop and pack/den functions for a couple of months. I think the moral of the story is that this boy could do either path based on BSA rules, so talk to him about it and place him where he feels most comfortable.

So honest question: did you post that link so that we could have an interesting discussion about a dedicated boy or so that we would re-ignite the debate of whether a 13 year old Eagle is really an Eagle? Not that that particular theme hasn't been beaten to death or anything...

Yes. We have a general "Committee Member" position that we use when registering adults with BSA. They can also register as Tiger adult partners. I believe most (if not all) the required training for committee is available online. These types of leaders (we call them non-uniformed leaders) hold a variety of positions in our pack: popcorn kernel, volunteer coordinator, awards chair, etc.

My answer still stands. They were not approved counselors, hence you cannot accept them. You still would have gotten pretty much the same answers if you had provided the details.

I hate questions like that. No offense, but it seems like you have an opinion formed and you want someone (anyone!) to give you a reason. You don't provide details probably because you know that if we had the details, the answer won't be what you want. If a blue card is signed by an approved MB counselor, there is no reason to refuse it. If you suspect forgery, you better be prepared to back it up.

I don't know about the particular parent thread, but I know that in real life, parents are mighty quick to question and complain, but a lot less quick at volunteering their time to make a better program. My standard answer to suggestions and ideas has become: "That's a great idea, you are in charge of it". And when it comes to a complain, I say, "Good point, what are YOU willing to do about it? Would you like a BSA application so we can get started?"

Our district holds Webelos Woods in late April, and the bears attend. They are allowed to earn the Outdoorsman pin too. I assume that since it is a district event, and district allows it, it's not an issue with council.

Twocubdad, that's not a bad idea at all. There are several achievements in wolf and bear that are quite similar..they could easily be done in a mixed den by adjusting the activities just slightly for the wolf. For instance the Wolf Achievement 1 (Feats of Skill) has a lot in common with Bear Achievement 16 (Building Muscles). Wolf Achievement 5 (Tools for Fixing and Building) can easily be done at the same time as Bear Achievement 20 (Sawdust and Nails). I think this could work.

You are not limited to recruiting at one school. Try churches, temples, clubs, community events, and other schools. And again, a lot of parents baulk at having to have someone always with their Tiger, but they are more agreeable to a drop off situation.

We have several boys in our pack the joined in 4th grade, so they don't have any beltloops. We award them only once, regardless. If they earn it again during their webelos years when they are working on activity pins, we recognize them, but we don't award them again. They are not restricted items, parents can buy them themselves if they choose to have more than one.

According to the book: "The Bear Cub Scout program is for boys who have completed second grade (or are age 9)" So if the boy turns 9 over the summer or early Fall, that would be possible..otherwise, I am afraid not, according to the rules. There are lots of parents that wait to sign up their kids in the wolf year because it means they can drop off and the scout doesn't need a full time adult partner. So it is possible that with some effort, you can build a wolf den next year and this boy doesn't have to be alone. You can try to get him to help you with that, bu trying to recruit his friends.

Our pack boys wear them. The adults...not so much. But in my son's troop, everybody wears them, at least to troop meetings. I don't know what happens in camping trips.

I don't know the circumstances, I was just asking. While it seems a shame, I get that rules are rules.

SeattlePioneer said: "I don't doubt that in a parallel universe, liberals are proposing to merge AHG with Cub Scouts and end the "boy only" Cub Scout program." And you had to go there, didn't you. I am a flaming liberal and I vehemently oppose ending the boy only cub/boy scout program(s). People are people and we are all different. There's no need to generalize and stereotype.

That's so sad..but I am afraid it is what it is. Six months is six months. At the risk of being slammed, I wonder about getting a special dispensation. Assuming there are some special circumstances.