ParkMan

Does anyone simply ask for 3 events and allow for boys to do two one month, but then miss a month? i.e., attend two in June, miss July, but then attend again in August.

ChaiAdventure wrote:

not to start a new argument...but is it really the role of the COR to act as the uniform police for the unit?? having looked at the BSA guidelines for a COR, I could find nothing remotely close to that duty....

I had the same thought reading the thread. A couple of thoughts come to mind.

First - that's fantastic that someones got a COR that's involved enough to care

Second - that seems more like a discussion between a COR & a SM to me. Seems like the SM should decide what he/she wants and then chat w/ the COR next time they're having an adult beverage together.

As a parent of a rising Webelos, I don't really like the CS law, but I do like that it is different at the cub level. That way when I get to Webelos and begin preparing the boys, it gives us something to focus on.

The oath/promise I'd be fine with combining. If you look at the two, you have:

Cub Scout:

I, (say your name), promise to DO MY BEST

To do my DUTY to GOD And my Country

To HELP other people, and

To OBEY the LAW of the Pack

Boy Scout:

On my honor I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my country

and to obey the Scout Law;

To help other people at all times;

To keep myself physically strong,

mentally awake, and morally straight.

If you go through it line by line, they are not all that different until the last line in the Boy Scout version.

Pardon my resurrecting such an old thread...

I wanted to recheck on the overlap the term of service for the Unit Leader Award of Merit w/ the Cubmaster knot (the soon to be replaced knot). Is this still the case?

Also, anyone have any insight with the new (reintroduced) Cubmaster Key?

Thanks!

In his post, Barry mentioned that the cub program should be 3 years.

Perhaps one thing to do is anticipate that most den leaders retire when you get to Webelos. At that point, you have a quiet discussion with the den leader and ask - "Do you really want to continue to do this?" Unless it's yes, you look around for a new den leader that starts fresh as the boys move to Webelos.

Congrats on finishing the ticket!

My only advice is don't feel the need to rush. I delayed my beading by a few months to find an appropriate ceremony. In hindsight, I'm glad I did.

Thanks. I don't think I've actually seen anyone with the award of merit yet - but I could imagine what you mean.

It does sort of have this unusual progression now.

Unit Leader Award of Merit - 18 months

Scouter's Training Award for Cub Scouts - 2 years

Cubmaster Key - 3 years

I'm thinking one could receive these for concurrent service.

Right - so I gather it is still in place for Cubmasters even with the new change.

Just curious - anyone know if there a change to the Unit Leader Award of Merit?

Pardon if I missed it somewhere else.

Thanks!

Ditto.

The best roundtable discussions I've had were the ones that dealt with the planning questions - i.e., how do packs plan a summer program, how do packs plan a pack meeting, how do packs plan a campout. We mostly just discuss with each other what we're doing. It give me ideas as well as a sounding board of other excited scouters.

I don't care how long the announcements last. I'll deal with them.

I think this discussion has really gone two different directions.

1. chain of command - sure the CM/SM reports to the committee (fred8033's links), but that does not mean he reports to the committee chair. The chair is the person that organizes the committee, not the committee - well at least hopefully not the committee. At the CC/CM/SM/COR level, it should really be all about relationships anyways.

2. most important - I was prepared to say you need both a good CM/SM & a good CC. However, the truth is that the right CM/SM & weak CC supported by good unit leaders can run a really good unit. A good CC and weak CM/SM supported by good leaders is much less effective. So, that would get my vote. Of course, in an ideal world you have both.

Should there be an age requirement to Eagle?

If the Eagle age requirement were 16, then you could measure that a boy achieved some percentage attendance over the course of his scouting experience. That would then help eliminate cases like this - a boy could not just disappear for 4 years and still meet the attendance requirement. It also would eliminate the cases where a 14 year old earns Eagle to never be seen again.

However, there is no age requirement - and as such, I agree with others. As long as a boy fulfills the minimal requirements, we can't prevent him from earning it - no matter how uncomfortable it may seem.

I don't see the harm in letting the boys choose what they work on over the summer.

At the cub level, I want the boys excited about scouting. So, whether it's adding any arrow point or two from Wolf over the summer or getting an early start at Bear, I don't see a harm in going either way. I think even a little of both is OK - because at least they are working on something scouting related and presumably having fun!

Just my .02.

I see your points.

Yep - I agree - pack activities are not mandatory. I'm thinking there is a balance somewhere between having a small number of activities that you try to get everyone to attend and having a large number of activities that fewer people attend. I think we've been more of the first one - a fewer number of activities and then working to get high attendance. As I look to the next year, I was thinking it would be good to add a few more activities to give folks a broader choice of activities.

I also agree that planning is a joint activity. We'll have a planning meeting over the summer where we'll work a lot of this out. As CM, I was just doing a bit of advance planning so that we'd have a framework to discuss. I'm also trying to get a good feel for how much advance planning to do vs. how much just comes naturally from discussion in the planning meeting.

Thanks all for the suggestions!

I'm heading into annual planning now - this is all very helpful.

My goal was to perhaps find the sweat spot - enough activities that we've got some excitement and energy going. Yet, not so much that it impacts the den's own activities or wears out families.

I'm working on our pack's plan for the fall. I'm thinking about how many pack activities to plan for so that you have enough pack activities, but also leave time for the dens to do things on their own.

Too many pack activities and you either don't leave time for dens to plan activities - you can also lead to burnout of parents & leaders.

Too few pack activities and you end up with the opposite.

What have people found that works well?

This discussion reminds me of what happens in my office.

With the abundance of wireless internet, people in my profession always bring their laptops to meetings. Then they proceed to leave them open during meetings - checking emails, surfing the web, etc... Focus on the meeting at hand suffers - you get lots of "what did you just say" or "are you talking to me". Every once in a while a strong willed leader takes command of the room and asks everyone to close their laptops. Most people listen.

I find this situation very similar. If boys have ipods, but have not learned when they should/should not use them, then you have the same problems such as lack of attention & stuff not getting done.

So, I'm all for the boys having them along so that they can learn when to, and when not to, use them. These devices are so common that we're probably doing the boys some good by enabling them to learn how to appropriately use them.

Just my .02

Thank you again all! In fact, this took me in a different direction than I'd originally thought and now I'm off looking for paracord for a Webelos den as well as myself.

Thanks!

Thanks!

I'll just go with what feels natural. As I see so few leader's in neckerchief's, I wasn't sure if there was a convention. It sounds like probably not.

Thanks all - I really appreciate the feedback. I'd not thought about a generic scout slide.

I've been through WB and recall making the red woggle. I've been to the fabric store looking for similar cord to use, but did not see anything. Any suggestions on where you can find it? Stosh's reply has me thinking about making one for me and some cool ones for the boys in my dens.

Thanks!

Hi all,

I've been searching all over and can't seem to find an answer to this one.

What would a pack leader (CM, CC, ACM) wear for a slide with a neckerchief? I'm thinking it's the Wolf side, but am not sure why.

I'm aware I could just make my own. Here I'm looking for the "official" one.

Thanks!

A followup question...

If I wear my beads with another neckerchief, is it customary to still pull the neckerchief through the beads as you would with the Gilwell neckerchief?

I also feel it's the breakout part that is the problem. In the past few years, I've heard similar presentations a couple of times now. I agree with some others - make the presentations more specific and more relevant. A great start would be to query unit leaders. I know if asked, I'd have a list of topics I'd share with my CSRT commissioner.

I also like the announcements. As I see it, it's one of the few times you get to have the district folks organizing activities communicating directly with unit leaders. The only change I'd make is for the RT commissioner to create a summary sheet or perhaps follow up email with the highlights.

I too have seen male GS leaders in our area. I think it's usually in conjunction with a female leader though. My guess is that the GS are generally wary to some unknown male showing up saying he wants to start a troop. Perhaps you could find a mother who would agree to co-lead. If that works, you could do the prep work and be the primary leader, but she agrees to be present at all the meetings, etc... It may not be really all that different from our two deep leadership, except that the other person is female.

Just a thought...

I was a congressional intern. Part of my duties was handling flag requests for the Member of Congress. I submitted requests to fly flags, but was not involved in the actual flying of them.

Though some people have hit on it in passing, the important thing to note is that the flags come in a rectangular box. They are then removed from the box and flown. Following that, they are refolded and placed back into the box. If the flags were folded in a triangle, then the original packaging would have to be discarded and new packaging created. That or they'd have to get the flag manufacturers to fold flags in triangles. I don't see either option as terribly practical.