OwntheNight

In most of da rest of the world, yeh stay in your unit / "group", and yeh move from young cubs to older cubs to Scouts to Ventures to Rovers to Old Farts to Over the Hill Farts to Dead Farts. There's no notion at all about goin' out half way through your scouting career as a youth to go shopping for a new unit. Nothing worse than a dead fart that hangs around! So is this model out of necessity or choice? I'm thinking the options are limited for kids elsewhere. BSA oversaturates the markets to have multiple units sitting on top of each other, fighting for the same boys. JMO So across t

Just attended the 100th Anniversary Pilgrimage and Encampment at Valley Forge in February.The longest continuous Scouting event in the country. They claim in the world as well. I would think there would be something out to the Original BrownSea Island. Maybe, some of our Scouting History experts would know. https://www.colbsa.org/pilgrimage-and-encampment/pilgrimage-encampment.html(This message has been edited by OwnTheNight)

So AKDL, I just want to make sure I'm hearing you right. Please let me know if I'm off base, I'm really trying to get an understanding, I'm not trying to be sarcastic or condescending in any way. This situation is very much what we're looking at with the "friends of" pack down the hall. If this directive goes national, then we would be in a position to ask the FO pack to rejoin ours. Would your pack just recharter with another unit and then not work with that pack in their efforts. Would you be just 5 additional dens added to their roster, but have no inclination to actually merge bo

I'm an ASM of a troop of 118 boys. It can be a daunting task, but Beavah hits it right. You need lots of middle management types to buffer the time demands of the SM and troop leadership. We have an ASM assigned to each leadership position in a mentoring role for the boys. We're there to support the boys in their duties, not oversee them and tell them what to do. SPL and ASPL's plan the Troop meeting every week. We stand in the back and talk to parents or each other. Our SPL has gotten troop meetings to 45 min, he sends out an email to the ASM's asking for announcements. No reply, No

Very surprised to see that. just checked, our district has 12 of 31 Cub Scout units that are "Friends of" or "Parents of". Went through and counted the total for our former district, which was broken into two districts this year, 21 of 60 Cub Scout Units are "Friends/Parents of" I thought they wanted more units out there to saturate the market. Isn't that how DE's make their money? I know there are some successful "Friends" programs, and some that are very fly by night. Personally, I like having a CO I have to report to. It's good to be able to bounce ideas off my COR since he repre

Ahhhh Yes, the conundrum that continues... You will have some that say B/G should just be a Birthday Party for Cub Scouts, and some that push advancement for the pack by B/G, which puts a disadvantage for boys just joining in the fall and undo pressure on DL's who are also starting in the fall to get the boys advancements done in 5-6 months, instead of 9 mos. Our pack falls into that latter category because that's the way it always has been done. As CM, I'm trying to change that mentality, but it's hard to do. My busiest times of the year are now and right at the beginning of school. My D

Everybody starts at the same spot in Boy Scouts, no matter what they did in Cub Scouts. Demonstrate the ability. Even the boys that came from my pack into the troop had to demonstrate all the requirements before I signed them off, even though I knew they could do it. While this boy and his den "slid through" the AoL requirements for joining a troop, Oh well, you can't hold it against him. Just have him work on the requirements for a little bit, maybe have one of the other scouts work with him. It's your call, since your doing the SMC for these boys. Hold them to a higher standa

it can't be a place you've already been to already, and it has to be a high adventure type destination Why so restrictive? and why does it have to be HA? I've been to alot of places that I would love to go back to and spend more time at. Yosemite was amazing, Yellowstone is beautiful, The Grand Canyon is awe inspiring. Florida Keys, Niagra Falls. Mt. Ranier, San Francisco, Rocky mountains, Philmont, The Black Hills of S.Dakota,Hawaii, just to name a few of the places I've been. The only one that was Scout related was Philmont . Everything else with the exception of Hawaii, was just get

E92, Thanks for the History lesson. Great Info, glad to know I thought I hadn't seen anything either way. So the plan will be if they want to sew them on, it's their call. My son will be getting the blank canvas from me.

Thanks Base. Yea I ment shirts at bfast and dinner, not full uni's. I made the mistake of doing BM with Scoutson's tan uni and it was a horrible mess when I took off the Diamond and arrows. So now Bearson gets a brand new uni (glad I bought one during the BOGO sale)and it was the microfiber. Mrs OTN liked how soft it was! I'm going to encourage the parents to get the tans and not push the blues another year. We need to restock the uniform closet and I've got some single piece unit numbers with Veteran bar ready to go in place of the 3 seperate numbers. AK, I think I've only

So with all the uniform discussion being tossed about, I figured I would throw my issue out there for the masses. Bear Son and his den are about to join the Webelos ranks in June and we allow our Webelos to wear the Tan uni and pick a "patrol patch". My question is about what to do with the ranks and arrow points from the blue uni. Do I sew them on the tan, even though I can put the WEB badge on after completing the WEB Badge requirements, which at the minimum is 3 months. or....Do we leave a blank canvas until they earn the WEB Badge. This then begs the next question: Does the

I have 2 Centennial Uni Tops. 1 for the Troop I serve, 1 for the Pack I serve. I also have an ODL top that was my first Scouter Uni when Scoutson started as a Tiger (where did that time go?) I was able to get the first switchbacks (with the boot zippers) for 5.00 at Scoutstore when they discontinued them (wish I had picked up a couple extra at the time). Also just picked up the latest switchbacks during the BOGO sale. As far as the "walking resume", I only have my TCDL knot on my Cub Scout Uni, I think I'm eligible for the Scouter training Knot, if I ever filled the paperwork out, I

Cito, Welcome to the forums! Thank you for giving back to Scouting what Scouting has given you. I've got to say, you are in for a great treat at WB at Philmont. I took the course offered through Circle 10 there as well, and the CD for the course you're taking is a great Scouter and a good friend. He is the former SM and CM of the troop and pack I'm with now.Needless to say, I have to follow in some pretty big shoes! Actually, there are a lot of great scouters on that course. I wish you the best, CM is the greatest job!

Great Job SP!!! How are you handling the translation barrier with inviting from the Hispanic schools? I ask, because one of the schools that feeds our pack is becoming more Hispanic because of the neighborhood make up. We've had a hard time recruiting there because of the language barrier. I know if I could get some of those boys to sign up I would be getting the whole family to sign up as well. Not literally, but the whole family does come out to den meetings and supports the boy in his endeavors. Now get that District Tiger program up and running, and you'll be out of a job!

Our pack uses both the Uniform and an Activity shirt and we run in to the same issues you are having. The boys would rather put on a t shirt than button up a uniform and wear a neckerchief. I stress to the boys the importance of the uniform and how people perceive the image of a boy in his uniform. If we are performing an official function of the Boy Scouts of America, then we wear the uniform, and yes, Den meetings are an official function of the Cub Scout program. If we are doing something where the uniform could get damaged or isn't practical, we will let them know to wear the activit

Night hikes are great! Kids have a good time with them. Obviously, flashlights or headlamps for everybody. If you have time, prewalk the trail and add some markers (rope, stones,tree limbs) to keep everybody on the right trail. I incoorperated a somewhat scary story, when I took my pack on a night hike at our last campout. Our trail circled around a lake and I was able to use some of the natural environment to tell the story about 2 friends who grew up around this lake many years before it became a state park. During a storm, the boys got seperated and left clues of where

I can't shake my head, because the whooshing from the prop wash is making me have to hold on to something.

I don't know if I would necessarily add stuff to the store, but I would take away some stuff. Get rid of the arts/crafts stuff. I'm not talking about Pinewood Derby, Raingutter Regatta, or Space Derby, and now, Blastcar. Those are trademarked BSA items, they should be in the Scout store only. I can go to the hobby and craft store and get 1000 pony beads for 7 or 8 dollars, and they'll last me for years. Same goes for colored plastic cord or leatherwork. I can get a better value at my local hobby arts and crafts vs. the Scout store. I fully understand the reason some of the "non

1) Facilitate and lead the God and Me class for 1-3 graders 2) Coordinate and Lead the Pack in the pledge of Allegiance and presentation of Colors at a City Council meeting 3) Scouting for Food Coordinator for the Troop 4) Become First Aid,CPR,AED certified for the Pack and Troop 5) Serve as Cubmaster for District Cub Scout Day Camp 3 years later, I'm still serving as Cubmaster for Day Camp. Apparently, It's true, once you get roped into Key Staff, they don't let you go I used to be a Beaver! If it weren't for Beavers, the rest of the critters would just wander around

Awesome Job Fish!! Those are Great. We only do Career Arrows for all the boys who are leaving the pack. We let the DL's choose the arrows and how they want to decorate them. The parents usually spend the last "official" Den Meeting making the arrows for the boys. The last few years have been different designs. One Year, all the parents used the colored thread to signify the achievements. Last year, they used tape or painted them. This year, they had the arrows with the hanging feathers and added beads for the achievements. I do like the added personal touch you gave it.

One good round of Full contact Boy Scout Dodgeball will pretty much clear any room! When I finish up a Pack Meeting, I'll do my CM minute, we'll do the closing flag ceremony, and then I tell EVERYBODY in the room, nobody leaves until they grab at least 1 chair and put it away. I also like to remind them that our CO has been gracious enough to let us use THEIR gym, and we are guests of the church and must act as so. The boys still will want to play with the stuff in the gym and I still have to remind them to put it away. During the Pack Meeting, build up to the crescendo of the Meetin

At the end of the day, I ended up with the course straw Resistol (that was our Class A hat), a course baseball cap (Class B Hat), 5 Dry Fit activity Shirts (Bought 3 of them), a Fleece Jacket I bought, and a wood nameplate for the right pocket. It had our name, course number, and a silhouette of our critter behind it, It was also signed by the CD. When I got my beads, I was also given an engraved pen with our course number and motto on it. Don't think we could have fit a CSP in there anywhere!, But we did get some patches with our course logo on it. and a Nalgene. Come to think of it, I brou

I celebrated Pi day, by having Key Lime on my birthday!

You sure my 13 yo isn't secretly living at your house? Instead of the trombone, I'm graced with the beauty of the Tuba! Sounds like he's just trying to find his place. It's been a tough yr from what it sounds like. At least he hasn't thrown out every excuse why he can't go, or just been down right hateful about it. He's still receptive about Scouting and other things. He'll get an "AHA" moment and the pieces will fall into place for him. Keep supporting him like you have, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Here, Here on making the perfect pot of coffee! Or at least cobbler or some unique dinner recipe. Go on a few campouts, sit back and just observe the boys, watch the adults, learn the routines and help out where you can. For the most part, you'll be just a driver for the boys. After that, logistical support as needed. There is always something to do, but that old saying about "Never do for a boy, what he can do for himself" ring very true in this situation. Get out of CM mode when you go to the troop, It's OK!!! The boys will figure out what to do. A good friend in the tro