Pack432Centerville

Thanks for all the information. As an update: I ate my crow, that is now resolved. As for the camp trip, all in the pack were welcome ... problem is we only have 5 Webelos, 0 Bears, and our 15 Wolves. We have not recruited Tigers yet. None of the Webelos were interested and so it kind of became a den event. All 15 of our Wolves attended and only 1 of the Webelos (who didnt even spend the night). No matter what we plan at this time, there is a very good chance that only our den will show, at least until we have a new Tiger den. one of our leaders that was there is BALOO trained, and I plan to go to the training on Oct 25th ... so that was not an issue either. Sorry that I didnt give a lot of details about the camping in my first post! Needless to say, its out goal to increase the size of our pack and get more involvement as well.

Our camping trip was for the families. The boys all had their parents there.

No they have not earned the fishing belt loop, they would have at the fishing trip.

Technically we are 2 dens, but we do everything together.

Let me give you a little background first. We have a now Wolf Den; they were a Tiger den until the 1st of July, of 15 boys. We have 5 leaders, of which I am one. Last year if there was anything that we all didnt agree on, we went with the majority and it worked out for the most part.

Here is my dilemma. I planned an overnight camping outing for our den that we had last weekend. After a little research, I found that Arrow Points (electives) should not be counted until the boy has earned his Wolf Rank. I expressed this to the other 4 leaders, and they felt that it doesnt matter; we should still count all the electives we did at this camp (26 electives). I disagree, I feel that only the requirements for the Wolf Rank should count, and we can do these electives again (most are very easy) once the boys have earned the Wolf Badge. We took our usual vote, and of course I was out-voted 4 to 1. They want to count all electives done at the camp trip and then nothing else until the boys receive their Wolf Rank. Last I checked; a scout is trustworthy, something that seems to be getting lost here.

To make things worse we had a fishing trip planned on Aug 23rd. They have now canceled the fishing trip because they boys could not count it as electives. I tried to explain to them that scouting is not about how fast you can earn ranks and arrow points, but I am afraid it is falling on deaf ears. As a matter of fact, while writing this I received an email from one of the other den leaders saying we all get it, you dont need to quote the BSA website. But we would rather they earn awards, thats what matters. Going to our SM would be pointless, as he doesnt even want to be SM and does absolutely nothing.

Am I in the wrong here? Do I need to loosen up? Or am I right? And if so, what should I do? I play a major part of this pack. I run the website, my wife is planning the B&G, I am a den leader, I am the one who has planned the camping events; and as a matter of fact last year they didnt camp at all. I am at a loss as to what to do. At this point I am considering taking my two scouts to a different pack, but I dont want to abandon the other boys in our den. Any advice?

At what point can boys start working towards their next rank?

Our den leaders cannot come to an agreement on this, I was wondering of anyone had an official answer. Can a boy begin working on their Wolf rank right after they receive their Tiger rank? Is there a date in-which they can begin working on their Wolf rank?

The purpose of the site is to get information to the parents. Seeing as though this is cub scouts, its not intended for the scouts themselves. The Pack wanted to have updates on the main page (which is a majority of the main page). I tried to use the main page as a place where you could get the most important info ... i.e: Changes, Upcomming events, Announcements, ect. More detailed information can be found on the other pages. Perhaps I need to rethink it.

Organizations discourage going door to door because parents don't want to take the time to go with their kids. YOu can't blame the organization for this, blame falls 100% on the parents. I can still remember selling Christmas Wreaths with my buddy Chris and our dads. We would help our dads load up the trailer and they would HELP us sell the wreaths. Here I am nearly 20 years later and I remember it like it was yesterday. Parents need to realize that this not just about making money, its about creating life long memories with your kids. I think in these busy times, that is the part that parents don't think about ... thats the part parents need to be reminded about.

Does anyone else have a pack website? If so I would like to see some to see how I can improve ours. If anyone would like to see ours, the web address is: http://pack432.110mb.com/index.html

"and most importantly we expect HIM to be the one to bring the other boys back on task when they loose focus. In practice, we 'remind' him that the kids seem to be getting off track, and have him make the first "ok, guys, lets get this done/ concentrate/ stop doing x,y,z", then we do a more specific redirection if needed."

I like that, I will incorporate that for sure. They are only Wolves, and they will need help ... but starting something like this early will make it clockwork by the time they are Webelos.

PACK15NISSAN, no offense taken ... I misunderstood your original post

Does your den use the denner system? If so what responsibilities do you give the denner? We started using it half way through last year as a Tiger den. The Denner helps pass out awards and the Assistant Denner was responsible for the Den Flag ... They also are the flag bearers for our Den meetings. We rotate the Denner and Assistant Denner monthly, the Assistant Denner becomes the Denner and the next boy in line becomes the Assistant Denner. We are looking to expand it a little more as Wolves and looking for some ideas. How do you use the denner system?

Gold Winger is right ... even if you can sell it, you would need a way that users could convert their current data into your spreadsheet. I would assume that most Packs who would use an Advancement Computer Program already do so.

Personally, I wouldnt pay for it ... and probably wouldnt use it if it were free either. I use Trax, but have customized it a lot ... I have probably made similar changes to yours.

Thanks for the great idea ... we have a den fishing day coming up in August!

And I might add, though we have a few Scouts where there are money issues in the family, we're by and large middle to upper middle class, so don't have a huge need for providing camp scholarships, say.

I think the opinions shared here cover this question quite well. The only thing I would add is this: I think you misunderstood what Beavah meant when he talked about FOS. By donating to FOS, you help scouts in need go camping! Not necessarily in your Pack/Troop, but all over the country. That is one of the main reasons I donate to FOS. I can afford to send my kids camping, but that doesnt mean everyone can. I think if there are funds youre not going to use, this is a very worthy cause!

Hello!

My scouting expirence goes back a little more than 20 years. I was in Cub Scouts from '87-'91. I earned all 4 ranks (we didnt have Tigers then) and the Arrow of Light. I was in Boy Scouts from '91-'97, earning the rank of Eagle in 1995. I now have 2 sons of my own involved in scouting, and I am one of their den leaders. They both just finished their first year as Tigers, and their den officially becomes a Wolf den this weekend at an overnight camping trip.

We are Pack 432 out of Centerville Minnesota. Last year there were only 2 oppertunities for our boys to go camping, that is something I am aiming to change. We recently had a our meeting to plan for next year, and we have 5 oppertunities for camping (3 overnight). I have a feeling it is going to be a very fun year!

I hope to share my ideas in this forum and hear yours as well.