Pack212Scouter

We are also planning our next calendar year now. Our Pack has Den meetings every Monday night. Once a month we cancel Den meetings for a Pack meeting. Our activities include a fall campout (usually Cub-O-Ree in October), A Webelos winter camp (right after New Years), an early spring campout (March) at Scout-O-Rama, and a late spring campout (our own in May). Usually around early October we do a Raingutter Regatta with a camp-in. Pinewood Derby is early Feb. We do an AOL & ceremony in late Feb with crossover in early March. We moved our Blue & Gold to April and use it as an award

OakTree, you have a valid point. And usually BSA will settle any case like this out of court and keep it under wraps. However, they would not be legally bound in any way to assist you (I know, they may not be anyway), and may even remove you from the Scouting program for it (remember we serve at the pleasure of ourselves, the CO, and BSA). Can I cite a case? No. Beyond the fact that about 180 leaders a year are removed for abuse cases BSA keeps a very tight lid on this. Personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Over time, the BSA has established rules and guidlines to address many

The uniform has far more purposes than fundraising or promotion (although these are valid points). It has a purpose in Scouting beyond that for the boys. Teambuilding, unit cohesion, pride, and many others. BSA and many of us say "Uniform is optional" to get them and keep them Scouting. And keep in mind that most are proud of their uniform and it's awards (even if it is more secretly as they get into the teen years). I think a far better thing is to find ways to get boys the uniform if they can't afford it. Is the uniform essential to Scouting, no. Does the uniform contribute to the

Beavah, I understand what your saying, but realize that no matter what a parent says, leadership of an event still winds up liable. (Remember McDonald's and many other corporations and individuals have discovered that liability trumps common sense more often than not in our "improved" society). If it comes out that you knowingly didn't follow G2SS, good luck getting BSA to support you.

Actually FScouter, temporary legal guardianship is possible although few people go through the effort for it. Temporary legal guardianship can be granted for a specific event or a specific period of time. It is a document that grants an idividual with temporary legal guardianship to make health, recreational, or other decisions for a minor. It should be approached carefully by the parent though since it does give the temporary guardian the right to make decisions for the child and can even affect parental rights if not done correctly. What is more typically seen by Scouting organizations i

Almost 1) Cub needs a designated adult who is responsible for them. (Scout leader should only be responsible for their own child or a family friend (not a rule) 2) Cub can only sleep in a tent with their parent or guardian; or with another scout and not adult.. 3) 2+1 rule for going to and from the campsite (if transportation is used as part of the event. If it is an "arrive at the campsite" deal then 2+1 applies once they are there). 4) Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and Webelos may participate in Pack overnighters. Wolves, Bears, and Webelos may participate in resident camps. Webelo

I hate this drop-off as well. I hate the fact that many people feel that sports is more important than Scouting. Unfortunatly it is a fact of life anymore. Also realize that most sports require more of a committment that Scouts (as in you must be there) so Scouting takes the hit. Our Pack started feeling the hit about a month ago and it is the reason that we push very hard to graduate everyone up by our April Awards Banquet. We have found that in 99% of the cases, if they don't earn their rank badge by the end of March they won't complete it.

For most Council and District events, including training, expect to be in uniform unless otherwise stated. If it's an overnight event, bring a set of casual clothes with you.

Yep, under most circumtances 14 is too big for a Den, especially Tigers & Wolves. Get the Cubmaster and Committee Chair involved. If they are unwilling to take care of the situation, you probably need a new ones as that is their job. Recommend new leaders, approach them about it too. You probably know these people better than anyone else in the Pack at this point. If the other Den will meet on another night or time, ask preferences. Do NOT ask people to sign up for den or you will probably get 3 in one and 11 in the other (then they will be upset because this isn't the one they wante

Frank Steel has put together some excellent Excel spreadsheets that cover this. Our pack uses them. They are available at http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/cub-tracker.html

If you have enough Second year Webelos, they should be organized into their own den. These Webelos will generally be working on different things than the first year Webelos. ie. Second year will ususually be working on AOL and transition to Boy Scouts while most first year Webelos will be working on completing their Webelos rank.

Well, kudos for jumping back in where your needed! You are to be highly commended.

Indeed it does sound like he needs training. BALOO is for Pack camping. There is a seperate course, Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders, that Webelos Den Leaders should take, but note that it only says "SHOULD". Also something to note is that on these campouts Webelos should not participate in activities designed for Boy Scouts acording to the Cub Scout Outdoor Program Guide.

The decision was reversed by the US Court of Appeals on April 4, 2007 in Winkler vs Gates, which ruled that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing as taxpayers to bring the suit in the first place. Therefore, the 2010 Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill and future support by DOD of Jamborees will continue as before. As of Februrary 2008 the ACLU has not requested review by the US Supreme Court. Also The Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 was passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 to prevent Local, State and Federal agencies from reducing their support for the Boy

Oak Tree is correct. (Of course he already know that ) You don't need a BALOO leader on a Boy Scout/Webelo campout since the Troop is planning & running it and not the Pack.

As others have said, knots don't equal ability. What the knots ARE good for is recognition of adult leaders. It's part of appreciation that says "Thanks for your service. We thought enough about it to turn you in for an award." Knots (in general) for adults mean that you have served well in various positions...They don't mean that you will be successful in your next

Man....sometimes I yearn for that small pack LOL... This year we had 119 Scout cars and 25 parent/sibling cars. Also ran a race for a pack that didn't have a track available. We did setup on Thursday and then Friday because of an ice storm on Thu. Friday night we started registration at 6-7pm with racing starting at 7:15. We used one track for the parent sibling race and the other for the other Pack during our registration time. Every scout got to run 4 heats and we had a Pack finals of 4 heats for the top 4 of each rank (doing away with that next year I think) All told racing was do

As I said earlier...it's not really that complicated. If attending as part of their duty("could the amy...air force..etc help with our event?" "Sure we'll be glad to"), as a military representative by the request of the unit/district/council (memorial day, veterans day, etc), or if they are on ready alert (or whatever their 60 minute on call is called now days), military uniform would be appropriate. They should wear their Scouting uniform at all other times.

Our pack provides scholarship funds on an as needed basis. We had a very generous contribution a couple of years ago and the fun has always seemed to stay replenished. That said, we do look at who gets them. Their need, if they participate in fundraisers (help themselves), and if the parents or guardians help the pack in leadership or other ways. Our committee decided to handle it a little differently for confidentiality reasons. The decision and names are kept between the Committee Chair, the Cubmaster, and the Treasurer.

Looks like a great time!

understood Gunny. I just read it the other way

Our pack did this until this year. The reason that we are stopping is because of the pin use. The parents almost never did anything with the pin except toss it in a drawer and these things are not cheap. Actually...that brings me to the actual reason for ending it...for several boys the parents just left their rank pinned on with it. We even have one boy with ALL FOUR rank badges attached with parent pins! We are hopeful that by not providing this easy out it may get a few more badges properly attached.

Good reply ScoutingMom, our Pack does the same thing...awarding a belt loop only once. Part of this is the cost...and part of it is that by Bear/Webelo years you are usually running out of boy (waist) before he can get all the belt loops on. LOL

GW...afraid that I haven't. I'm sure that it happens. Our unit fell through on the paperwork side for the last few years so was simple honest and didn't apply for it. As for shoehorning, I think we were on different pages on that one Gunny, Scouts shouldn't be the ones getting trained for QU numbers. They are talking about leaders. Our goal is always 100%. This can be a challenge, but every unit should be able to get 100% of their leaders trained. These leaders are the ones who then cultivate their dens for new leaders. JM...the goal isn't so much to increase leader numbers,

Shoehorn units in? If we are all running the same program (and we had better be) then there isn't any shoehorning. As for a numbers game...that is life...but guess what. If you don't set goals not only do you seldom improve, but you have no way of measuring said improvement. And how do we measure....numbers! It's not perfect of course, but don't try to make QU into your own whatever. Sorry...feeling out of sorts today. forgive.