Pack38Scouter

Pack330 ... this is what exactly what we are doing. We have two troops within the 3 miles radius of our Pack. They normally expected that our Pack and our Brother Pack feed into them automatically. So they became complacent. They do not do any active recruiting. They do not attempt to "get to know" the Packs. Last year, 11 of our Webelos 2 went to another troop 10 miles away in another District and the remaining 10 went to one of the two troops. This year we started to look at all of the troops within the 10 miles radius (about 8 troops). That woke the local troops up. So to me, it i

http://www.scoutorama.com/library/volunteerism.cfm Success on getting the parents to volunteer can be measured by how much the boys talk about the event afterward and how willingly the parents volunteer again! Good luck ... 'cause it's one of those elusive answers that everyone of us leaders is desparately seeking! Sometimes, wouldn't it be nice just to be one of those "parents"?

Every year for the last four years and will be a tradition, our Pack collect toys (100+ toys) and gifts for the local Woman's Center. We have a large Pack so the boys in each Den brought toys that is age appropriate according to his Den number (Den 1 = 1 year-old, Den 11 = 2 year-old, Den 15 = 6 year-old, etc.). The parents and leaders can bring a gift for a woman. We found out that the Woman's Center is the one of the last places that anyone would think about in terms of gift donations for the Seasons. This year, we also had a small food drive to stock up the local Food Pantry before t

Affiliate yourself with a Cub Scout Pack or two. Do things with them. Go to a campout with them. Help them with Pinewood Derby. Provide Den Chief (assuming that at least one of your four scouts are 1st Class or above). Basically, get your feeds from the Pack! If not actively recruit your local middle school. Get your Disctrict Commissioner to help with locating a Pack or two! Good luck.

http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/cm.html To me a Cubmaster is no more than an MC at the Pack Meeting, a figure head for the Pack. He/she puts on a memorable pack gathering event for the boys each month. He/she deals with the boys while the CC deals with the parents and runs the Pack. The engine that drives the Pack are the leaders and the parents. I have been a Cubmaster for Pack 38 the last two years. Although, I have enjoyed my time serving as CM ... there are numerous times the burnt-out feeling is overwhelming. Only until recently did I have a good ACM. Our CC still needs a lit

"Talking Feather" works great in one of my Dens but then it doesn't in another. When I was a Den Leader for my son's Tiger, Wolf, and Bear year, I had to tell the parents to just drop their boys off ... and stay to help if it was their turn to help (one parent plus my assistant and I deal with 10 boys). I had them draw up the rules and the consequences. We set boundaries as to where they can and can't go. I used the "talking feather" for one year and didn't need after that. I also used behavior marbles. Each boy gets a bag of 20 marbles, one for each of the Den meeting. If he misbehaved

Q. What French Actor is grey and scaley? A. Girard Depardeullo Q. What is grey and scaley and works in a cubicle? A. Amadilbert Q. What is grey and scaley and a harbinger (of more) April showers? A. A daffodillo Q. Why do armadillos make such good policemen? A. Because they are the long armadillo of the law, Q. What's grey and scaly and quick on the draw? A. Marshall Armadillon. Q. Whats grey and scaly, plays guitar and sings protest songs? A. Bob Armadylan Q. What's grey and scaly, British and cannot be denied? A. A jolly good armafellow. Q. Wh

Bill ... out of curiosity ... what Troop are you with in Sugarland? 731?

Bill ... Fellow Tomahawker ... Our Patrol flag has an Aging Armadillo comes complete with cane and reading glasses with the Motto "Don't Tread on Us" (with the words "Tread on" crossed out and replaced with "Run Over")! We also have an Armadillo Patrol badge ... an armadillo lying on his back drinking a "Lone Star!" Only in Texas! YIS

Bill ... Fellow Tomahawker ... Our Patrol flag has an Aging Armadillo comes complete with cane and reading glasses with the Motto "Don't Tread on Us" (with the words "Tread on" crossed out and replaced with "Run Over")! We also have an Armadillo Patrol badge ... an armadillo lying on his back drinking a "Lone Star!" Only in Texas! YIS

Recruiting is a 2-way street. As I have told my Webelos parents, it is very much like choosing a school for your boy. You want to make sure that your boy will like his classmate and the environment that he will be in. On the flip side, the Boy Scout troops have to be actively recruiting the boys ... making them feel special and wanted. These boys can easily be lost to other troops, to sports, or from scouting all together!

I can give a good example ... our Pack has an average of 22 second-year Webelos graduating each year. We have a brother Pack that averages around 20 boys a year as well. We have two troops in the vicinity of our Packs and several other within the 10 miles radius. The two troops borned out of the Packs. With 40 boys graduating from Cub Scout each year for the past 6 years ... one would think that we would have two strong troops of 80+ boys or many strong troops of 40+ boys, but on the contrary, we have one troop that has only 30 boys of which only 20 is active. The other troop has 40 boys

Troop Visit should be a time where the Webelos and his parent can observe and learn more about the troop. It would be ideal to have the troop be prepared to the receive the boys, but the "prepared" events do not reflect the true operation of the troop. I personally like "surprise" visits better ... it gives the true reflection of a troop and not a show for the purpose of recruiting. In our case, in Houston, we have well over 2-6 troops within the 10 miles driving distance ... we have a choice and the troops actually go out and recruit. In your case, it seems that you don't have much

Finally found it ... and here is our Patrol Yell: Boom-a-lacka! Boom-a-lacka! Bow-bow-bow! Mug-a-lacka! Mug-a-lacka! Mow-mow-mow! Boom-a-lacka! Mug-a-lacka! Who are we? Armadillo! Armadillo! Can't you see? Armadillo! Armadillo! Were the best; well crawl over all the rest. Got run over! Got run over! Were big mess, Dead or not, dead or not, were the best! Enjoy ...

Here is our Marching Cadence that cracked the trainers up! Can't say that I didn't have fun! Hopefully, I can bring back the fun to the Scout Troop that my son will join this March! Mama, Mama cant you see? Oh, what Scouting has done to me! They all told me, Its Piece of Cake! Just one hour thats all it takes! Oh, Mama Mama can't you see? Oh, what Scouting has done to me... They made me cook for real Eating foil meal, what a deal! Mama Mama can't ya see? Oh, what Scouting has done to me.... I used to sleep in cold AC. Now I bunk

I took the overnighter for what was called BSALT. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It did feel strange being the only "blue epaulette" member of the trainees. We formed two patrols. My Patrol called ourselves the "Aging Armadillos." If Wood Badge is anything like BSALT then I will surely attend ... it's gave me back close to 30 years ... since I was a boyscout! I managed to make 15 grown men and one women act like little boys. Here is our Patrol song that I sort-a-pull together for the campout... Buff the Tragic Dillo (Sing to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon") (Chorus)

NJCubScouter ... yep ... for some reasons that term "blood circle" and its explanation seems to stick to the boys head better then the conventional "safety circle!" From time to time ... I can hear one Webelos said to another ... "can you please stay outside of my blood circle!" I guess that it's "cool" to refer to the safety circle as the blood circle. In the Pack, we use which ever that allows the boys to remember the clearance space required to use their pocket knife safely. Some of my Leaders use the safety circle and some use the blood circle ... we have three Bear Dens and six Webelo

I posted this questions on the CubScout forum and got several advices. We had a 6-lanes wooden (handbuilt) track. Over 6-years of Houston humidity, two of the lanes warped to the point that every car jumped track and the "back-weighted" cars went flying to the next lane. We ran our races based on average time from each of the six lanes; as the result, the winner came from the car who can stay on the track! For 97 cars, it took us 2 hours (from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm). To keep the boys from being bored, we interjected (between heats) awards for the different categories. Everyone went home wit

If my memory serves me correctly, only Bears can earn the "whittling chip" (http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/whittlin-chip.html). It's Achievement 19 (http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/bear.html). I do believe that Webelos 1 & 2 can earn the "whittling chip" card if he follows the same requirements as Achievement 19 in the Bear Book. It is not written anywhere in the Webelos handbook. Tigers and Wolves handbooks do not have the option for the boys to earn this Card; however, it doesn't state anywhere that Tigers and Wolves cannot earn it. On the flip-side, some Tigers and Wolve

How do you lifelong scouters get a recharge with the Scouting spirit? Being a Cubmaster and having to deal with the parents/leaders issues and their lack of involvement do have their drawbacks. It's the frustration dealing with volunteers that gets me down from time to time. I know that the question "What in the world am I doing this for if no one else cares?" comes in your mind from time to time. Even the most die-hard scouter has his/her doubts. Three things that get me recharged: 1) My two (eventually three) scouts, 2) the boys in my Den/Pack, and 3) The various training at the Dis

dan You are correct "A Scout" is not part of the Law; however, it is understood. This is the way that I remember my SM taught it to us back many, many moons ago. He would take each word of the Law and treat it individually with the words "A Scout is" in front of it. So it is implied that "A Scout is ... trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly..." Also removing the word "Scout" from the title ... all that we have left is the word "Law." To a young man ... the word law by itself has a negative connotation ... a barrier; on the other hand, by adding "Scout" the Law becomes a personal ach

"Listen and learn from your elders. Even if he is one second older than you ... he is still one second wiser! Teach and learn from your juniors ... for young minds can refresh a hardened mind." - my Mother

Scout .... Without the word Scout, the rest of the law is just a set of words with not much meaning to a boy. By putting the boy (the Scout) with these words ... they become meaningful and become the embodiment of the scouting ideals. A Scout is Trustworthy. A Scout tells the truth. He is honest, and he keeps his promises. People can depend on him. A Scout is Loyal. A Scout is true to his family, friends, Scout leaders, school, and nation. A Scout is Helpful. A Scout cares about other people. He willingly volunteers to help others without expecting

I'm on my way out as a Cubmaster; however, I have the luxury of grooming my successor for the job. You, on the other hand, don't have much time on your transition. I can tell you one thing ... get your current leaders to chip in with the task especially your Committee Chair or your assitant Cubmaster. Let the new Cubmaster ease into the role ... meaning let him get assimilated at his own pace or else you will scare the gentleman away. I found that out the hard way. When I took the Cubmaster position two years ago, I told myself that I will help the new Den leaders get up to speed as fast

If being a lefty qualifies for the stories, then include me in the mailing list. Thanks. Thank goodness that there are so many people in their right mind! :0