Pack38Scouter

One more little tid bit ... a wolf or bear may not be awarded his gold arrow for electives until he has been awarded his wolf or bear rank. He can work on his elective at any time before he has earned his wolf or bear rank; however, the book suggests that "completing electives for Arrow Points generally should wait until after he has earned his Wolf Badge." Something that a lot of my den leaders tend to forget.

Here's one that I learned from my OWL training. I used it twice at our Pack meeting, once last year and once this year. Even some of the Tigers (and their parents) got the message. It goes something like this: Equipment: (1) emptied film canister, (3) marbles (small size), rice (enough to fill the film canister). Preparation before the "Minute": a) Place the 3 marbles inside the film canister first. b) Fill the film canister with rice until it is full and you can close the cap. Remember to tap the canister ... making sure that all of the rice settled down inside the canister.

Another way to get alot of adult trained ... since you're an ACM ... is to hold a parents orientation and have a District trainer there administered a dosage of YPT to all of the new parents and leaders! When you hit 'em like this, they can't refuse. They can't give you any excuses, because they just got into the Pack and it will become part of Pack's unwritten policy! Just get your Pack trainer to arrange for it! The new YPT is a panel discussion format, but more informative than the previous. Good one for any adult and not just leaders! YIS

Two phrases that I use in as part of my signature in my Pack email: "Behind every Eagle Scout there is a good parent nagging, dragging, and bragging about his/her son!" "Behind every dropout scout [or student] there is no one who cares!" Author: probably me ... and if it happens to be someone else's then it's his/hers, 'cause I don't think that I have read it or heard before. I might have heard a similar version before (something on the line ... "behind every good man is a wife nagging!" If I truly quoted from someone else, then my apologies for not crediting that person,

A Boy's Eyes "I'd like to be a Cub Scout" His eyes were deepest blue. "I'd like to learn, too, play, and build Like Jim and Freddy do." "I know how to use a hammer; I can drive a nail if I try. I'm eight years old, I'm big and strong And hardly ever cry." I gave him the application and Parent Participation sheet. His eyes were filled with sunshine as he left on dancing feet. Next day, my friend was back again - a dejected little lad. "I guess I'll skip the Cub Scouts." His eyes were dark and sad. "My Mom is awfully busy - she ha

Thanks for all the great advices. We are set on purchasing a new track. We had a hand made 6 lanes track that one of our parents built six years ago. The Houston humidity took its toll on the track. Two of the six lanes are somewhat warped ... the cars jumped track every time they hit those bumps. The committee elected to sale it cheap to a new Pack who can't afford the new one. We sold it for $150 for what essentially a 4 lanes track, came complete with timer and laptop for result. The equivalent will cost about $1000 easily. We raised enough during the past two popcorn sales to

... especially given to those "unmotivated" & "I don't have any time to spare" parents ... An Hour of Your Time Daddy how much do you make an hour? With a timid voice and idolizing eyes, the little boy greeted his father as he returned from work. Greatly surprised, but giving his boy a glaring look, the father said: Look, sonny, not even your mother knows that. Don't bother me now I'm tired. But Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour, the boy insisted. The father, finally giving up, replied: Twenty dollars per hour. Okay, Daddy. Could you lo

Last comment from me on this thread ... I would highly recommend ceremonies. Before I stepped into the Cubmaster thingy, our Pack has never done ceremony to recognize the boys. I'm not the reason why. We used to just recognize the boy in front of parents and followed by an ovation. Sometimes a Webelos (for example) earned his Webelos badge was dwarfed by a Bear who earned a long list of belt loops and pins. When I fell into the Cubmaster position, I told the Committee and the Leaders that we have to change the way that we recognize boys for the rank advancement. I equated rank advancemen

We have in the past and what happened is that we couldn't afford to run a proper ceremony for each boy. When we recognized them like that we ended up 1.5 hour Pack meeting and that was not agreeable to the parents. Now, I ask that the Den Leaders pace themselves to match the February time frame. Now and then we do have a scout with an energized parent and blew through the requirements ahead of his den. We do recognize the boy at the Pack meeting, but no formality other than a simple cheer from the audience. We simple consider B&G a formal gathering and we (the parents) elected

Sctmom is correct. Rank advancement can be at any time after the scout has completed the achievements. For us (a huge Pack), we like to give the boys a grand ceremony ... nothing short of a momentous occasion. So we elected to have all rank advancement at B&G where 120+ boys can participate with his parents in the ceremony. If I were to have a small Pack, I would have many ceremonies .... ceremonies are the traditional Cub Scout way! : )

SCTMOM ... Whatever they said about having a good program counts a whole lot and then some. This is what attracts the boys in my humble opinion; however, it's just like a promise you make to your son, you have to keep. If you were going to say that you are taking them to a sleepover on an aircraft carrier, you will have to make goods on your words. Our neighborhood are somewhat middle class folks. The Elementary that we recruit from has about 960 kids (1st to 5th). Let's say the number of boys is about 550 (~60%) of the kids. To have around 100 boys in our Pack from the Elemen

For our Pack, we only require the regular uniform shirt (full patches and insignia) and the neckerchief. Blue jean pants/short or blue pant or short. No cap is required. They loose too many times and they don't wear them. As long as the Cub Scout or Scout uniform is worn and worn properly, to me, is all that matters. As long as the scout can identify himself with the Pack, Troop, or BSA is really what counts. As long as he is proud to wear it and knows that uniform stands for the ideals that he needs to follow and practice, is the key point. Mr. White and et. al. can challenge each othe

From another thread "Pack/Family Camping" SCTMOM posted: RE: Pack/Family Camping Posted: Tuesday, October 08, 2002: 8:20:17 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------- Pack38Scouter, Thanks. Please tell us what your town does to have 2 very strong packs. You have enough boys for 4 packs! What are you doing? (maybe a separate thread) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Well SCTMOM ... we live in a Masterplan Community (spec. homes) called New Territory in SugarLand, Texas (about 20 miles SW of Houston), a

Our B&G is reserved for Rank Advancement only. We have a Pack that is about 120+ boys strong. Our B&G is about 2 hours long. We have theme for our B&G. Last year our theme is "Our Native American." Each Den decorated their own tables with the theme, including making their Indian Brave headbands. I dorned on the full Chief headdress and we had a small fake campfire (several pieces of woods stacked teepee style over a spotlight with red celophane wrapping paper to emulate fire) on the stage. We dimmed the lights, played Indian flute songs, and voila` a bonefide Indian campfir

Hi Michael ... I would have to say that I envy you for having a Pack of 30. I, on the other hand, have a Pack of 120+ (we picked up 48 last recruiting effort!). For a small Pack of 30, I think it's easier to manage and have fun ... ie. games. Have the parents involved in the meeting (call them up to join in). When the boys see their parents having fun, you bet that they will join in. Do songs ... silly songs ... especially with you playing the guitar. Do skits ... fun skits. I know that BSA is trying to be political correct, but there are politically correct skits out there that all the

Our Pack has over 120 boys easily ... we peaked at 132 last year. We have two Pack campout a year (Fall and Spring). We usually get about 50-60 families to join us for one night, 15-20 for two nights and several come for just the day trip. Each Den camped together and function together. Each rank got together to do one to two activities together (belt loops and achievements). Sometimes we have a Pack hike. We also ask our local troops to help us with the campout. They setup obstacle courses, whittling chip class, knot-tying class, tent setup class, etc. We were very fortunate ... we have

Dear Scouters, Our Pack just recently elected to buy a new track, replacing an old wooden track that has been warped badly. I am looking for any previous experiences with aluminum track (by Best Track) or the plastic track (by Super Track)or should we stick to the traditional wooden track (storing is a problem for us ... expecially in the humid Houston environment). Any advice, review, feedback is greatly appreciated. We have gathered enough money to purchase a track this year! Thank you in advance. Yis