mschwartz

Our Council does online ordering - I was able to get eight Freedom Trail patches online. Much easier than writing a check and sending in an order form (especially since they're not available at the Scout Store).

We have a two-page newsletter (front & back) for our Pack (called "Pack 712 Newsletter", very original) that I put out every month with the possible exception of July and August. Put together with M$ Publisher. It is mailed via US Postal Service to every scout in the Pack (one copy per household), so right now we send out about 80 newsletters. Our post office has a separate drop box for in-town mailings, so they are delivered the day of dropoff (if dropped off before 7:30 AM) or at worst the next day. Not bad. I also post a PDF version on the web page when I remember and have time in time,

In our pack, the den leaders keep track of who's done what in their individual den, but the Advancement Chair keeps the overall records. When I became Advancement Chair, I convinced the pack to go with the PackMaster software (this is not an advertisement, just a statement of fact) which has made life very simple for me, especially when a den leader calls and asks, "Did I remember to tell you that so-and-so got their Baseball belt loop?". When I took on the position, I inherited a folder full of bits of paper that were extremely difficult to decipher. Now, the next person will take on a functi

As Ed said, the only rule is they must earn their Whittling Chip first. The association with Bears is probably because one of the Bear achievements is "Shavings and Chips": SHAVINGS AND CHIPS (Bear Handbook - Page 146) Do all four requirements. Know the safety rules for handling a knife. Show that you know how to take care of and use a pocketknife. Make a carving with a pocketknife. Work with your den leader or other adult when doing this. Earn the Whittlin' Chip card. But AFAIK, the Whittling Chip can be earned at any level.

The post about when to do whittling chip caught my eye... My older son got his whittling chip as a Bear, but he was the only one in his den to do it. And he is now about to lead his Webelos II den through it (with plenty of supervision of course!). I am the den leader for my younger son's Bear den - and I have no intention of even trying to do whittling chip this year, the majority of the boys just aren't ready for it! Bottom line - I think that the question of when to do whittling chip (or if to do it at all) is heavily dependent on the boys with which you are working.

We used to go to Celtics and Red Sox games - Celtics have gotten too pricey and the times were not great (7PM game on a school night), and this past season the Red Sox didn't offer a Scout Day at all! Everyone was very disappointed. We do go to minor league hockey (which is always fun) and plan to go to minor league baseball this coming season (a lot of the Scout families already go to see the minor league baseball - it's extremely family-friendly).

Pack Committee. We function quite well, IMHO! We have... Committee Chair, Cubmaster, Entertainment person, Newsletter/Webmaster (me), Advancement Chair/Hikemaster (my husband, who doesn't always attend meetings since I go), Treasurer, and 3-4 "Members At Large". We take turns being point person for events and work together to keep things moving and make Scouting a great experience for the boys. We meet once a month except for July.

This is the sort of thing that can be put on the infamous "red vest". Some of the 2nd year Webelos in our Pack have vests that are so covered with patches you can barely see the red felt underneath! They wear them at all the Pack meetings and the younger boys love to look at the patches and speculate on when they'll get more patches themselves. Good PR for Pack activities.

I came across this: 75 Years and Still Having Fun 2005 will mark the 75th anniversary of Cub Scouting. It's never too soon to start making plans to celebrate. The official celebration begins at the start of the program year in September 2004 and continues through December 2005. In the coming months, be on the lookout for 75th anniversary information that may include: * Special 75th anniversary awards for individual Tigers, Cubs, Webelos, leaders, packs, and families. * New Cub Scouting Outdoor Program Award. * New History of Cub Scouting book. * 75th anniversary commemo

My older son joined as a Tiger four years ago (he'll be Webelos II this coming year). I spent a year on the fringes (my husband was his Tiger adult partner) and then when the Pack needed a new newsletter editor, I volunteered. Partly because I've done plenty of newsletters before and didn't see it as a huge time committment, and partly because I didn't like the format of the one they had at the time! And it's just gone on from there - been on the committee ever since, took on my younger son's Tiger den two years ago, got my husband involved as Hikemaster and Advancement (we do that jointly, re

Smucker's All-Natural PB (stored in the cupboard) on bread with brown sugar. But it seems that half the people I run into out here (especially those under 15) are total devotees of the Fluffernutter. Being originally from the midwest, I don't see the appeal - but then who ever said that a person's PB beliefs had to make sense???

I just finished up a year as a Wolf Leader. And have been paying close attention to what goes on with the various dens in our Pack. General practice seems to be that the dens meet twice a month, plus attend the Pack meeting. That seems to strike a good balance, and we didn't have any problems getting the Wolf Badges finished up before the end of the Pack year. My experience, FWIW...

I've done that as part of a chemistry magic show, way back in college. The liquid is a mix of ethanol and water; the ethanol burns relatively "cool" and the trick is to be sure there's enough water in the mix that the handkerchief (or whatever) is wet enough that it doesn't catch on fire before the ethanol has burned off. We were given exact proportions, and wore safety goggles. This is definitely NOT something that you want to play around with at home.

All of a sudden, every time I come to scouter.com, another window pops up with "Brigade Quartermasters" website. My "usual" popup blocker doesn't stop it. Why is this happening all of a sudden? It is quite annoying. Is this just me, or is this happening to others? M

Our Pack has been asked to assist with placing flags on the graves of veterans at the local cemetery on Friday afternoon, and also to march in the town Memorial Day Parade on Memorial Day itself. We plan to do both.

I've been using PackMaster for tracking pretty much all of the above for the past couple of years and find it very easy and very comprehensive. It's simple to define "special" awards (like a Spring Hike Patch for instance), it's easy to award group credit, it has all sorts of handy things that can be generated - den lists (including den leader and phone #s), advancement lists by den, etc. etc. etc. It can even deal with rechartering the Pack!

On the same general topic... what sorts of conservation projects have you all done in the past? It's really too late for my Wolf Den to try and pull something together for this year, but I'm thinking ahead for next year and have no clue on what sort of thing would be appropriate. thanks!

We've been geocaching for a couple of years, ever since my husband got a nifty hand-held GPS for Christmas one year. Whenever we go on vacation we print out some geocaches in that area, and we generally manage to find at least one. (We found one by a decommissioned mica mine up in New Hampshire - the area was fascinating, and the two boys got a great quick lesson in geology and the uses of mica.) It's a great activity. Although you might not want to do it with a huge horde of boys, since part of the goal is to keep the location of the caches "secret" from casual passers-by. But it's

Seven-Layer Bars are always good - my kids help me make them all the time! Melt a stick of butter - mix with 1 cup graham cracker crumbs and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Press into a thin layer in the bottom of a greased 9x13 cake pan. (That was the hard part!) Now sprinkle on 1 cup each chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, mini marshmallows, and flaked coconut. Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over everything, then top with 1 cup of chopped walnuts. Bake at 325 for 20-30 minutes. (A pan of these make great teacher gifts too!)

Born Sept. 22, 1961 (on the cusp between Libra and Virgo, although I've always gone with the latter) in St. Cloud, Minnesota. My mother's aunt was a nursing nun at the hospital, and she worked in the maternity ward, so it was really a family affair. And to make it even better, I was actually born on my due date! How many people can say that?? (My own kids can't!)

Our Pack has a Holiday Party every year. We combine it with collecting Toys for Tots (either a local Marine comes in uniform to pick up the toys, or else one of the town police officers comes, also in uniform. The boys get a big kick out of that). Before the party, we band together in three or four groups and go sing carols at area nursing homes. So it's a pretty busy day! But everyone has a great time.

On the same topic... what is the order of the patches on the shirt pocket? All the pictures I find online seem to still have the "old" layout (no Tiger patch). I did figure out that the new Tiger patch goes at the bottom of the diamond-to-be... but where does Bobcat go? Directly above Tiger (so Wolf would be on the left and Bear on the right), or clockwise to the left of Tiger? My younger Scout just earned his Bobcat (working on Wolf) and I realized that I am not positive where to sew it. [FWIW, my older one has the Tiger strip so this wasn't an issue for him...]

I'll be interested to see the "official" line on this as I'm in a similar position (Wolf den leader, about to start handing out beads, etc.). My first inclination, unofficially, is to just give them the one plastic string. With the Tiger Cub emblem, the plastic strings kept coming undone until there was a bead attached, so it seemed more practical to hold off on them until there was a bead. The only pictures I've ever seen of either Tigers or the PTR Wolf/Bear emblem, of course, have all possible beads already attached, so aren't much help. Marietta

Our Pack had enough copies of the Cub Scout CD last year to give one to each new Tiger. So my younger son had a copy. He loved it. My older son (a Bear at the time) gave it a try but wasn't terribly impressed - and from other reports it seems that the CD, while at least hypothetically aimed at all of the Cubs, was most appreciated by the Tigers and Wolves. Marietta

Our Pack has a monthly newsletter that is timed to arrive about a week or so before the montly Pack Meeting. It contains (among other things) a calendar that has as many things in it as we have scheduled for the whole year. Then at the Pack Meeting, the CM hits the high points of the upcoming activities as described in the newsletter, reminds people to sign up for things like the circus or going to the Red Sox, etc. This takes maybe 5-10 minutes. Next up is awards/advancement. We have about 70 boys in the Pack, so this can take a while, but each boy receiving anything only gets called up