MomToEli

What a great way to spur participation in service activities! If they worry about what they might miss, maybe they''ll be there next time (filing that little idea for future use)

Old Grey Eagle - if that person in the mall had an outstanding warrant, then yes, my off duty husband would kick in gear, call for backup, send me and ds off to the movies while he was busy. If there is not an outstanding warrant, or this person were not being sought at that moment, or if there were no immediate illegal activity, of course he would NOT arrest them. We also would not invite them to hang out with us for the next hour, hour and a half while we window shopped or ate dinner. And we sure wouldn''t tell them, here - sit by my 8 year old. Thanks for the definition of SE - I

***stupid question alert!*** SE? I know DE is District Executive, but what is SE? I know I should know this ....

This also begs the question ... what if the person had a history of pedophilia? Would that make a difference? And NO, these people do not have a criminal history of that or anything to indicate they MIGHT have. But, where is the line? Where is our responsibility to protect the children in our care from known dangers? And what about when what one person deems dangerous conflicts with the opinions of another?

I want to be perfectly clear - I''m not saying they are DOING the drugs at the meetings. I am saying they are entrenched in the drug culture and have repeated and recent arrests involving drugs. Having lived with a drug addict many years ago, I know most people who participate in this activity regularly carry their paraphernalia with them - be it a pot pipe, a crack pipe, whatever. Might be a joint stuck in a pocket. I also know that they don''t live in a bubble, as do none us - and their lifestyle goes where they go. As for the LE officer enforcing the law, rest assured that things were

Nope, not Manning The latter - kids who have uniforms already even. In our Pack, uniform means shirts, neckerchief, slide, jeans, shoes/socks. I''ve been having kids show up in all kinds of attire. Ones coming in their baseball uniforms don''t bother me so much because at least they are trying to fit both in. But I have a couple of parents who want the kids to be able to wear t-shirts (we have no Pack Class B shirts at this point) and whatever. One mom told me her son doesn''t like to wear pants that don''t have elastic waist, so that''s why he can''t wear jeans. In an effort to get away

"I don''''t think it makes a difference that the DL is a law enforcement officer. Presumably they aren''''t on duty when they''''re at the den meeting, right? " Actually, Lisabob, this isn''t correct. As the wife of a cop, let me assure you that they ARE on duty 24/7. If there is activity that requires them to act (a warrant, for example), they don''t have the option to not enforce it. There are circumstances they have leeway, for sure, but make no mistake - they are always ON. There are situations that vary in severity (for lack of a better word). People, knowing he is LE would expect hi

The issue of the scout being expelled for smoking pot has been very interesting. Here is a bit of a different scenario that I''d appreciate some input on ... How about the Scout (Cub Scout age) whose parents are involved in illegal drugs? Once you are aware of their activities and their ongoing issues with the law, do you allow them to attend meetings at any and all levels? Do you require the parents of the other children who will be exposed to them to be informed? What if your Den Leader is a law enforcement officer? Are there any specific guidelines by the BSA that address this issue?

I''ve read several references in this thread to the effect that the uniform is not required by BSA. Can someone please explain to me, then, what is meant on pg 8-4 of the Cub Scout Leader Book when it says "Cub Scouts and adult leaders should wear their uniforms to all den and pack events." And again on pg 12-11, "The Cub Scout and adult leader uniforms are suitable for Scouting functions and should be worn at all Scouting meetings and activities." And finally, again on pg 12-11 "The uniform helps you achieve the purposes of Cub Scouting, so you will want to make sure that all of the boy

Wow, this is a topic close to my heart right now! I'm the Camping Chair (Pack level) and it has been a mess getting other adults to step up and take a role in any of this. I'm most upset about the other leaders, frankly. LisaBob is so right - ask specific people to do specific tasks. I'd pretty much bet that specific parents outside of my own Den have not been even asked as their leaders were asked to do. Thankfully I have enough parents in my Den who are living vicariously through their little Scouts that we manage to get stuff done. And, hopefully, in the case of the Spring Camp-out, we

Oh, great post, Scoutldr! Sorry about the back, though. I had lower back spasms twice in the last 8 years and it is an ugly thing! My heart goes out to you, and I wish you a painless recovery. The cost of scouts ranks right up there with One Hour A Week! My dh started to figure up what I kick in as Den Leader each month then got so frightened that he gave up that idea - and we charge den dues! At least my parents are with it enough to realize they don't begin to cover the costs, so they chip in craft supplies and extra dues from time to time! John-In-KC, band uniforms are more durabl

Well, we had our committee meeting and they approved everything I want to do - gotta love 'em! I'm going to order enough of the really inexpensive ones that SSScout was talking about so each boy has one in their hand to take home, and I'll have extras. Then I am going to get enough Silva 1-2-3 Starter Compasses so that each Den Leader has one for the activity. Those we will give away as door prizes at the end of camp. For the actual activity, we are going to have everyone first stand up and face north (thanks for the idea SSScout!), then pass out the compasses. Once they all figure o

What great ideas! And thanks for the links! As for what we do at the Pack meetings -- well, I can relate to the guy who has the nice, but all grown up CM. Honestly, we've been on the dry and boring side. Personally, I think that has more to do with lacking attendance than sports, but hey -- I'm the greenie here. Our Dens are currently rotating duties, with sharing being one of those duties. That means one Den shares. I've yet to see a skit. Our Wolf Den is going to change that in May, though. With me being the Camping Chair I get to do the advertising for the campout, so my Den is do

This sounds like a really dumb question (at least as I type it), but ... How do you go about getting your Pack singing when they haven't done so for a long time and the adult leader entusiasm for same is, shall we say, lacking? The first opportunity we (myself and my new Cubmaster hubby) have will be at our Spring Campout, as I'm the Camping Committee person. The CC has told me about 10 times now that he does NOT like to sing ... which explains why we don't. DH wants to having singing at Pack meetings, too, since we hear it is supposed to be a big part of the Cubscout experience.

I do mean door prize in this case, but where do you find that BSA doesn't allow raffles? Our pack does them every month. My nephews' pack does them also. In our case, the raffle money buys the next month's items. If we are violating the rules, I'd like to know so I can bring that fact to the attention of our committee.

Thanks for all of the great ideas and input! I'm leaning towards SSScouts advice, as I have about 60 scouts ranging from just graduating Tigers to new Webelos 2. I simply want to introduce them to the compass, rather than master the compass at this point. Just want to help them earn their Map & Compass Belt Loops at the campout. I had just about settled on the Walmart jobs - 2 for each Den (leader holds one), and then raffling them off around the campfire later that night. I've always thought I'd rather be able to put something in every kid's hand, though. So, maybe I'll look int

Possibly both. I have a vague idea at this point for an activity - certainly I am open to ideas. I'm thinking of having them pace out a triangle in a large open area. We will be doing a Search & Rescue Hike as well, and I'm considering having at least the Webelos use compasses on that, too. (The hike will be done grouped by Den with each level having a different course - I so wanted to say it is being done by groups of Den!) Particularly, though, I'm asking about compasses. I'd like to put one in each Cub's hand, but not sure that is feasible. The theme for our Campout is "Surviv

I would like to have a mapping and compass activity at our Spring Campout. Can any of you recommend an inexpensive compass, suitable for Cub Scouts? I thought of making them, but the idea of needles in the grass makes me queasy ... though it could be a good opportunity to hone our first aid skills ...

Yes, you are crazy, but who isn't that spends so much time around kids? On to a more serious issue, though - I agree with Ea. It is really easy to get our real priorities out of whack. You need to have the blessings of your dh for it to work. Find out his why. Then do what spouses are supposed to do and talk it out. You both need to be okay with whatever your do. In my not-so-humble opinion.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Eagle Pete! I didn't make that mistake, but probably due to years of mothering experience - and all of the hot dog and bun buying that comes with it. There is a story behind the dogs to bun ratio - I just don't recall it at the moment! My challenge was presented by the grocery store, though. In our box of 50 packages of hot dogs they included some packages of 10 dogs and some packages of 8. And nothing on the receipts told me how many of which ones! They charged me the same price for each kind (either way, they are a pound). The way I had to figure out h

If anyone is curious, it took 286 hot dogs. We had 59 Cubs that raced. Didn't do a head count on all comers. We fed our Cubs for free and all others paid. Our out of pocket cost was just about $105( this is just the food part, of course, not the entire PWD), and that included paper products, coffee, other misc supplies. Left over cooked hot dogs, iced down pop and water, open condiments - all of this type stuff is distributed among leaders and is included in the above cost. Thankfully our grocery supplier takes back unused product, so we were able to order enough yet not get stuck with anythin

First - thank you to all of you who have replied. Clydesdale115, I agree we need a little more solid count. At least a more solid guess. I can pretty well predict what MY den will do, but can't fairly apply that to the whole pack. So, I've emailed the den leaders and asked for their best estimate of their own dens. Our next pack meeting is 4 days before PWD and I can't wait until then to make some decisions ... Since my dh is going to be the next Cubmaster, and we will have had all of this experience (oh, yeah) we will be better prepared for next year! As for th 1-1/2 times the head

Our Pinewood Derby is coming up, and as this is going to be pretty much an all day event, we've decided we need to feed these critters! I need to figure out how many hotdogs I need to order ... We have 71 cubs on the roles. Figuring parents, siblings and such, how many hotdogs would you order? If it factors into your decision, the "combo" lunch will include a hotdog (with bun, of course), a bag of chips, a can of pop or bottle of water, and a rather large cookie. We want additional hotdogs available for those who want more than one. I'm a little afraid the guy-leaders on our committe

I think you teach it with lots and lots of repetition and providing controlled opportunities to practice. We just took our den of Wolfs on a hike. Once they were paired up with their buddy, the rule was that they had to stay with them NO MATTER WHAT. Of course, as soon as we set the rule, a parent tried to get their kid to go with them and not wait for their buddy who was in the bathroom. Sigh. Thankfully, the kid refused to leave his buddy! We only had one child we had to keep reminding. All I had to say was "Where's your buddy?"

This has been an interesting thread to read. I thought I would address this as the mom of a Wolf Cub, rather than as a Den Leader ... Yes, the popcorn is pricey (and we don't use Trails End here - our's is a better value, IMO, but still pricey). So is all the school fundraiser junk I've bought this year to support other children's efforts. But I buy it anyway for several reasons - support the child, support the organization are just a couple of them. I think there is a far greater lesson here, and point, than raising money for an organization. I know I love the growth opportunity thi