OwntheNight

Unfortunately, It's a necessary evil to have to reimburse the leaders. As much as we'd like to be able to get the supplies they need beforehand to prevent the reimbursement process. It's just not feasible. In our pack, we have the reimbursement form on our Scouttrack site. We also have a document that explains how to fill out the form. On that form, it specifically states receipts can't be over 30 days old. Our former treasurer was an accountant by trade and created all the reports and set up the Quicken account to keep track of everything. She spent a few weeks with the new treasurer ex

I'm 1 of 18 ASM's in our troop of 120 boys. The expectation our former SM and current SM has put on us is sign up at the beginning of the year for whichever ASM position you choose and that's your position for the year. The next year, you can sign up for the same position or a new one. He really only wants us in the same position for a max of 2 years. The idea being, learning a new position within the troop and preventing burnout. Another expectation, is that an ASM does need to help plan/coordinate at least one of the campouts that the boys have chosen. (signups, travel plans, adult meals, et

This makes me laugh! When we joined this pack 4 years ago, that is exactly how we ate on Pack campouts. Huge breakfasts, Lavish Dinners. While us parents enjoyed it, the kids could have taken it or left it. Yes, the cooks (multiples!!!) had to start dinner around 3:00, we had one parent who was our Head Chef, and he loved cooking these great meals. But, it got ridiculous, especially when we would sit down with the budget before a campout and see the numbers being thrown out. All of a sudden, your talking 30-40 dollars for a campout for food, per family. I admit, I got suckered into tha

The mom is going to be the best resource. Have a friendly conversation with her about her son and what works, what to expect, etc... You're good at asking alot of questions to get to the root of things As far as the other parents go, sometimes it's none of their business. If the parent of this child wants to make the information public, she will. The best thing you can do is learn what you can, and treat him the same way you treat the other boys, with dignity and respect. If you hear rumblings of gossip, rise above it and be the true example of the leader they see. "He's a great kid, an

As a DL last year for our wolves, I encouraged our den to make a flag. My ADL had some fake wolf fur which he sewed to some canvas. (Canvas on one side, fur on other side) We made numbers and letters from foam and attached them to the flag. We also had every boy do a handprint on foam cutouts and put them on the flag. We always sent the flag home with a different boy every week, and told them to add to the flag something every week. If we got a patch from an activity, we put it on the flag. Kind of a year long story about what they did. We were the only den who had a flag all year. When I

Yea, it is cool when you know you've made an impact on their lives somehow. I still run into some of the boys from my first Pack. They still bring up stuff that happened at Pack meetings, or certain campouts 4 or 5 years ago. We can still laugh about it now, or give each other some good natured ribbing about it. I moved across town this summer, so I don't get to see the boys as much as I used to. Even when I lived on that side of town, I would see them at the grocery store, out at dinner, the mall, or wherever. They would still stop and say hi, even when they were around their non-scoutin

Basement, No It's not their first BOR, but it is their first in front of District members, not the normal committee members they've had to deal with from the Troop. I really think the boys' confidence (or arrogance) will get them through their EBOR. However, there are some boys that don't have that natural confidence for whatever reason. That's why I said it might help them relax a bit. It's not a board of inquisition, but should be a board of celebration with a purpose.

I find myself in this position. I am CM for Pack 1, our CO has a Troop also. I'm an ASM for Troop 2, which has a different CO. When Scoutson was deciding what Troop he wanted to join, it literally came down to Troop 1 and Troop 2. The differences between the 2 were so minimal, that my son had a hard time deciding where to go. He finally decided on Troop 2 after a lot of back and forth. I actually felt more pressure to join Troop 2, because of the friendships I developed with our WDL and the ASM's of the troop. When I go back to being a WDL, after my term as CM expires, I have to

Sorry, but....You need to be Yoda and Jean Luc Picard in this! "do or do not, there is no try" "Make it So" It's funny that she was telling you what your job entailed, when she took over. She should be reminded what her job entails when it comes to the program side of things. ("Make it So!") FOR THE BOYS (not shouting, just emphasis) should be the focus for everybody involved with a Pack, not just a catchy phrase that sounds good. I do like having the Cubmaster prerogative card in my pocket, just hope I never have to pull it out, I don't mind showing it every now and then

I think Calico brings an interesting perspective to this. An EBOR, should be about the boy and his journey through Scouting. The only people in uniform should be the Eagle candidate and his SM to present him to the board. The message being sent to the candidate, whether real or perceived is, "We know more than you about this". Maybe, not having every Scouter in uniform gives the candidate the opportunity to relax just a bit, so the board can see the person this Scout has become. As an employee of a defense contractor, our plant gets tours from military brass frequently. When I talk t

Good Luck, and have a great time. This is your experience, enjoy it and learn from it.

Nope, you don't get off that easy! You opened Pandora's Box, now let's see whats in it So what happened this time?

Thanks everybody for the great responses. I will be bringing these up with my CC. After rereading my own writing, I realized I came off pretty harsh against this other pack. That is not the case, I have no problems with this other pack. My issue is with the scheduling procedure used by the church. Everything is scheduled through the secretary's office, and we either got double booked or somebody wasn't notified of the scheduling arrangements. I just don't know right now, we are still working through these to find out all the information available. Our COR has said, he's going to get

SP, Monday can and does present challenges as well. In my other post about Sharing space with another unit, this was actually a product of the calender. Next monday is a school holiday, and the following is Halloween. We don't meet on school holiday nights, and we didn't want the boys to miss some ToT time on Halloween. Also, our CO's room schedule is jam packed every night of the week. It's hard for us to schedule committee and leader meetings at times. What we lose in the Monday's, we try and add an extra event or two in the month that are purely voluntary. But we always give the dens the

Our Pack meets on Monday nights. This was like this from way back when, so It's stuck. Monday seems to work for us, with the exception of some soccer and football coaches wanting to practice on Monday Night. But we only have to deal with that thru the middle of November.Tuesdays are usually athletic practice days, Wednesday is church/youth activities. Thursday would probably be a good day except when RT comes up. And Friday, well Friday is just Friday. That usually means date night for me at least. Gotta keep Mrs. OTN happy after being gone the other 4 nights of the week. District RT

A Little History: Our pack is chartered by a church in the area, this church allows a "Friends of Pack xxx" to use the gym, and meeting rooms for den and pack meetings. Last night, I arrived at the church for our Pack meeting, pulled up to the gym side to start unloading the car and noticed cars that didn't belong to members of our pack. I realize that this other pack is setting up for their pack meeting. I am on the phone with my CC, "We do have the gym reserved tonight, right?" She says, "Yep, got the email from the church secretary" So I make the walk into the gym, introduce myself t

Our CO is one of those churches that has classroom style rooms available to our pack. We also meet every Monday Night at the same time to give the boys consistency in something. Knowing that at 7:00 every Monday night in the same room as always does reinforce that consistency. Do our DL's have to use the rooms, Nope. They can plan their own den meeting for wherever they want. I actually encourage them to think of other places to meet, especially when it's warm out and the boys are going stir crazy from being indoors. The only thing I ask is they let me know where they're going to be, and wh

Scoutmaster prerogative. Moose has some great points. While anybody can be a MBC for any Merit Badge. Sometimes the SM can be the gatekeeper to the MBC list and provide direction to the boy to pick out a MBC. " Hey, Johnny Scout, so you want to start your Citizenship in the Nation MB, did you realize our CC, MR. X is a senior partner in his law firm and would be glad to help you out with that?" Do you want the MBC who slept in a national hotel chain, teaching aviation MB, or do you want the pilot who's logged countless hours in the air, teaching it? In our neck of the woods, we have a l

At our District Cuboree last weekend, The staff does show a movie on saturday night after the campfire program. Granted, it is in the Cub World activity center. But it's also something to settle the boys down a little bit before lights out. Totally optional for the boys to attend. In the past, they showed "Follow me Boys!" that got old, so this year they went with "UP". Turn out was higher than before, partly the movie, partly because of burn bans, you couldn't have fires in your camp site. I think it can be good once in a while, but not all the time. Our troop shows movies at Winter Camp

When we get our new group of boys at our recruiting night, the first thing I teach all the new Cubs is the "Signs up" sign. I let them yell as loud as they can and then pull the signs up out. I do this a few times, encouraging the boys to get louder and louder between each sign's up. By the time I'm done, all the boys know it's time to be quiet when the Wolf ears come out. I've never had a problem with the boys at den or pack meetings settling down quickly. Parents, on the other hand, still haven't figured it out. That's OK, when parents are still talking during Sign's Up, I can get those boys

'Fish Thought you could get by with a Tommy TuTone reference without anybody noticing? (Jenny, I got your number.....) I still like to tell my boys about having to actually going to the library and going over to the reference section and the large stack of books called encyclopedia's to get information for the last year. Or, at the book fair every year, the book I looked forward to getting before anybody was The Guinness Book of World Records. Not this whole internet thing, where information is a click away on your phone. I even tell them that TV was never on 24hrs a day. If I was heari

Basement, Got a little carried away with that, No they don't do WB or Powderhorn, but they will promote the heck out of it so you know it's available if you want it.

I almost feel bad for saying my district does everything in it's power to help us. Yes, they provide the basic necessities for a district, training, outdoor activities, popcorn, camp cards, scout store, etc... But it's how they do it. Training- They make available all the training at least twice a year, spring and fall, including Wood Badge. The only training that is not done twice a year is Powderhorn and NYLT. You want Rifle and Shotgun certification, they make it happen. Wilderness First Aid, they support it and get the word out to everybody. Outdoor Activities- Always prom

While I've never staffed WB, (hope to be asked for next summer) I know quite a few people who are in the circle and have either just staffed their first or second course. The typical setup is that first years are encouraged to be a TG. Part of the reasoning, is that a first year will still have the enthusiasm for WB, and there is still a relative freshness for them coming back so quickly after being awarded their beads. Obviously, a lot depends on the CD, and what he/she feels is the strength of the individual. If they're not real out going, TG might not be the best position for them, but if t

Duct tape, can be used for quite a few objects. Wallet, hat, etc... http://duckbrand.com/Duck%20Tape%20Club/ducktivities.aspx