pixiewife

My greatest memory is not my sons' actual crossover. However, at our very first Blue and gold banquet (when our pack does all of the AOL and crossovers) my son was a very new Wolf Scout. I didn't even know the first thing about Scouts.

Well, the area Boy Scout troop was there to cross over the new scouts, and instead of just coming up to the stage, their Scoutmaster called them out in color guard style. My 8 year old's head snapped around, his eyes shining, and he said " I want to be an Eagle Scout!"

I am very proud to say, that he has just turned 15, and will be doing his project this spring!

~Pixie

PS~ We will be having my 2nd sons crossover in 2 weeks, I am WDL, and am really trying to make it special!

Thank you all so much for the great questions, and the insight that is gained from reading your questions, as well as the reasoning behind them.

As for the rest of the details from my end, I will leave them unanswered, as this is the internet, and I have not vetted each of you! ;-) (That is meant as a joke about internet anonymity)

 

Thanks so much!!

~Pixie

I am part of the troop committee, and we are in the process of selecting a new Scoutmaster.

There are no hard feelings with the out going Scoutmaster, he is moving, and I'm sure will be involved in scouting in his new environment.

There are 4 applicants for this position, all who have been Assistant Scoutmasters in our Troop. Some are Wood Badge trained, some are members of the O/A, some were scouts themselves, some were in the military, some have better personalities than others (as I am sure can be said for all of us!). I have been on campouts with each of them.

The troop committee is holding interviews, and I am looking for specific questions to ask. I have some ideas, but want to know if there are any questions that you all think are imperative during this type of interview process.

Thanks,

~Pixie

Hi everyone,

Sometime last year my son and I read some ideas on here about a "capture the camp" style campout. The best way I can remember to describe it was a campout that was sort of like capture the flag. Two or more patrols go out to camp, and make their patrol camp where they want. Each patrol then spends their time at camp trying to locate, or "capture" the other patrols' camp and/or campers.Does this sound familiar to anyone? I tried to search for the old post , but have not had good luck, as I'm sure my details are sketchy.

My son is currently ASPL, and would like to put this together for an older scout adventure this summer. Although I'm sure the boys can and will come up with their own ideas/rules for their campout, he would like something to start from, and asked me to try to find the information.

Can anyone help who has done a similar camp?

Thanks,

~Pixie

My boys wear them on their red vests, just as they do for pinewood derby or rocket derby medals (sold at scout shop). I utilize Youth Patriotism as a supplement to the program. I have come to look at it as invaluable, although NOT a replacement for the program.

~Pixie

Hi!

As a Cub Scout den leader I have used both programs. I have not used Nation's and Trails since they supposedly underwent their changes. I implemented their program several years ago, and had no problem with them. More recently I have used the Youth Patriotism program, and love it. I like Youth Patriotism because it is such a larger program than Nations and Trails. I started this program with my Cubs as Wolf Scouts. They earned a medal that year, their Bear Year, and will earn the final two in their Webelos years. I have had nothing but good service with youth patriotism, and do fell that their program really adds to my overall Scout program.

Hope This helps,

~Pixie

My family is involved with the foster care system, we currently have one foster child, but sometimes have two. This is in addition to the four biological children we have. Last year, when my son who is a Boy Scout was working on his Family Life Merit Badge, we as a family had to perform a service project. Well, it just so happened that Easter was about 2 months out, so we decided to have an Easter basket item drive. We live in a very small town, but through putting boxes up at various locations, and announcing it at Cub Scout pack meetings, and sending flyers out through the Elementary school, we were able to put together 23 Easter baskets for children in foster care. People donated items as well as money that allowed me to go out and purchase items. We had about the same number of baskets for boys as for girls, and we had baskets for infants, young children, mid range children, as well as teenagers. The foster care workers were so happy! And even though I of course didn't witness it, I know the children who received the baskets were happy as well. It was very worthwhile and satisfying to our entire family!

YIS,

~Pixie

I'm not sure if it will work but I was able to get spray paint (dried) out of carpet and off of leather work boots by using Shaklee Basic H cleaning product. It is not available in stores, only by a Shaklee representative, but you could probably google it and find a rep in your area. Another idea is the magic eraser that you can find at the grocery store, never tried it on spray paint but it got, sharpie off of a hard wood floor among other things.

HTH,

~Pixie

My Son sounds a lot like your son. My son does, however, have a legitimate knife collection. That said, he begged me for 6 months for a butterfly knife. He found them online, the boys in the troop told him about a knife store in an in-state tourist area that a lot of Scouts visit. He stared at them, he begged for one, he pleaded, he cajoled, he slipped the words "butterfly knife" into ANY conceivable sentence, and even some INconceivable ones!

My answer was a patented "NO". I must be about the same age as Scoutfish, because I remember my brother wanting all of those things and a butterfly knife. My mom said no, so I thought no was the right answer. No reason, just "no".

Flash forward to 2 1/2 weeks ago. Our family went to previously mentioned tourist area on vacation. My son found the legendary knife shop. We allowed him to buy the knife. $16 was not bad, and we figured we could observe him with it, and have something big to keep him in line with! Plus, he was putting his most responsible self forward, since it showed that we trusted him.

The knife itself was interesting. I "played" with it some. It has no value as a tool in any practical sense. However, he was enamored by it. 3 days later both of the handles broke, and it is completely unusable. He thinks he has a friend in the troop that has handles from a broken one, that he can replace his with.

What did all of this lead to? He found out that the knife is cool, in an impractical way. Bigger than that, he found out that cheap stuff, bought in a tourist trap very well may be junk! He found this out just days before leaving for Jambo with a pocketful of spending money, and a list of sites to see!

Everything is a learning opportunity. For you, and for him.

 

All of that being said, if you are nervous about injury, and he really wants to do the 'tricks', do a google search for trainer butterfly knives. You can buy them where the blade is not sharp, and is unable to be sharpened.you may be able to compromise, and it just may be able to get him through until the next best thing comes up!!!!

~Pixie

A couple of months ago there was feature article in Boys Life or Scouting, about a troop who did a part of the old Chisholm Trail on Horseback, there may or may not have been herding cattle involved, I don't remember. I think they were from a council near there, and was able to pretty much put the trip together themselves. That being said, does anyone know of something like this that would be commercially available? I think boys in any troop would love to do a trip like this.

~Pixie

Ok, so not thinking about how much spending money my son might need for prior to Jamboree tours, what should I expect my son to spend during jamboree? I know there are concessions, and I assume souvenir shops? I'm not sure how much to send him with, anybody else think about this, or know from experience?

Thanks,

~Pixie

A few years ago this was featured in Scouting magazine, siting this guy Wesley's rockets, as used for a rocket derby. My unit has since started doing water rocket derby's each summer. Follow the link, he has instructions for several different rockets. http://wwong.homestead.com/rockets.html

HTH,

~Pixie

This sure gives new meaning to getting socks and underwear for Christmas!

I would have never thought of the underwear!!!

Thanks! Great ideas so far!

Well, my son will be going to Jambo this summer, and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on anything

I can get him for Christmas, that he can use there. First off, I know he will be getting specific troop gear, and there is always uniforming requirements, but I was thinking of other stuff. I know he will need good hiking shoes, but I can't exactly get those now! I got him a cool 28oz metal water bottle with a carabiner clip on it, but any other ideas?

Thanks!

~Pixie

Hi Cubby,

My pack has decided to do this scratch card fundraiser this spring. It was largly decided upon for several reasons. First of all, it is easy and the boys don't have to really sell anything. They just ask people to scratch off two dots that have a hidden value underneath. The dots have a maximum value of $3, so the maximum donation amount is $6. This was huge for us, a lot of us feel kind of bad asking people to buy expensive items. In exchange, the donor then gets a sheet of nationally recognized coupons worth $50+/-. The biggest reason we chose this fundraiser: 80% profit!!! I am organizing it since my nieces hockey team did it with great results. Hope that helps!

~Pixie

P.S.~ The web address is www.raisefundsquickly.com

 

When my son was a Webelo, one of the things that we did was makea mosaic kitchen trivett. We used the bottom tray/bowl part of a clay pot. You know, the clay kind. The boys painted the tray part, then arranged their tile peices, I think we glued them down. Then, they grouted over the top. Both the kids and the parents really liked these. We also made leather pocket knife holders. I really don't remember what else, those are the first things that come to mind though.

~Pixie

Hi All!

I haven't been back in a while, so I wanted to update....

 

Doing this skit was a total success! I too thought that it would be great for Boy Scouts, but might be over the head of Cubs. However, they loved it! They laughed at the appropriate times, really loved the ending, it was great!

 

Tips:

I printed out two copies, one for me and one for my son. I highlighted my part on mine, and the other part on my sons. We practiced it about 3-5 times prior to the campfire.

 

For the record: this was done at a family campout. This is the first family camp that our pack has done in as long as we can remember, so there is no precedent, nothing for the kids to go on. Also, I did the skit with my son who is a First Clas Boy Socut, who earned his AOL from this pack, and has been helping with my den for the past year.

This camp was also a combination between the Pack, the Troop, and the Venturing Crew from our town. So, the campfire was a program put on by everyone.

 

My son is taking the Boy Scout version with him to summer camp this week, ha can't wait.

 

 

I think this is a funny skit. I am doing it at a bonfire at camp this weekend with my older son. I have revised this from Scoutmaster for Boy scouts, to Cubmaster for cub scouts. I can't wait!

 

Who is the Cubmaster?

 

The skit begins with a uniformed Scout/Scouter standing on stage when another person enters the stage, preferably wearing a hat with the word PRESS written on an index card and placed in the hat band.

 

Reporter: Are you the representative of Pack 245 in Memphis?

Scout: Yes. Are you the reporter I am supposed to meet?

Reporter: Yes I am. My paper thinks a story on your pack would be interesting, its supposed to be very unique.

Scout: Yes, after all, we are the finest pack in the Blue Water Council!

Reporter: Well, I am glad you are proud of your pack, now tell me about the leaders.

Scout: Lets see now, WHO is the Cubmaster, WHAT is the Assistant Cubmaster and I DONT KNOW, a Den Leader.

Reporter: Well thats just great. I dont think you are the right person for this.

Scout: And Why not?

Reporter: Do you know the leaders names or not?

Scout: Yes I do.

Reporter: OK, then who is the Cubmaster?

Scout: Yes.

Reporter: I mean the guys name.

Scout: WHO.

Reporter: Who is your Cubmaster?

Scout: Right.

Reporter: Wait, Repeat what you just said.

Scout: WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: Youre asking me?

Scout: I am not asking you, I am telling you , WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: But I am asking, Who is the Cubmaster?

Scout: Thats the mans name.

Reporter: Thats whose name?

Scout: Yes.

Reporter: Well, out with it, tell me

Scout: WHO.

Reporter: The Cubmaster.

Scout: WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: I can see I am getting nowhere with this.

Scout: I am answering your questions honestly.

Reporter: Hey, I was involved in scouting once. When a boy is ready to advance a rank, he has a bridging ceremony right?

Scout: Yes.

Reporter: So, Who invites him to cross the bridge?

Scout: Exactly!

Reporter: Wait you are confusing me, what is the Cubmasters name?

Scout: Actually no, WHAT is the Assistant Cubmaster.

Reporter: But I am not asking you who is the Assistant Cubmaster.

Scout: WHO is the cubmaster.

Reporter: Thats what I am trying to find out.

Scout: Well dont change the subject.

Reporter: Me???

Scout: Now take it easy.

Reporter: The Cubmasters name is what?

Scout: WHAT is the name of the Assistant Cubmaster.

Reporter: I am not asking who is the Assistant Cubmaster .

Scout: WHO is the cubmaster.

Reporter: I DONT KNOW!

Scout: Oh, thats a den leader, but we are not talking about him.

Reporter: How did the subject change to the den leader?

Scout: You mentioned his name.

Reporter: I mentioned his name? Who the Den leader?

Scout: No, WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: Stay away from the Cubmaster, OK?

Scout: You started it

Reporter: What is the Cubmasters name?

Scout: WHAT is the Assistant Cubmaster.

Reporter: I am not asking you who is the Assistant Cubmaster .

Scout: WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: I DONT KNOW!

Scout: He is a Den Leader.

Reporter: There we go, back to the Den Leader.

Scout: Well, I cant help it.

Reporter: Say, Lets stick with the Den Leader.

Scout: Sure.

Reporter: So, What is the Den Leaders name?

Scout: What is the Assistant Cubmaster.

Reporter: I am not asking you who is the Assistant Cubmaster.

Scout: WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: I DONT KNOW!

Scout: The Den Leader.

Reporter: Does your pack have a Secretary?

Scout: Sure, every good pack has a Secretary.

Reporter: The Secretarys name?

Scout: WHY.

Reporter: Oh, I thought I would just ask.

Scout: Well then, I thought I would just tell you.

Reporter: OK, Who is the Secretary?

Scout: WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: What is the name of the Secretary?

Scout: WHAT is the name of the Assistant Cubmaster.

Reporter: I am not asking you who is the Assistant Cubmaster.

Scout: WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: I DONT KNOW!

BOTH: The Den Leader

Reporter: And the Treasurers name?

Scout: LATER.

Reporter: Oh, just forget the Treasurer. Do you have a Pack Committee Chairman in this pack?

Scout: Of course, we wouldnt be the finest pack in the Blue Water Council without the finest Committee Chairperson.

Reporter: OK, tell me the Pack Committee Chairpersons name.

Scout: TOMORROW.

Reporter: You dont want to tell me now?

Scout: I am telling you the name, TOMORROW.

Reporter: Not today?

Scout: TOMORROW.

Reporter: When tomorrow?

Scout: When?

Reporter: When Tomorrow are you gonna tell me who is the Pack Committee Chairman?

Scout: Now listen, WHO is not the Pack Committee Chairperson, WHO is the .

Reporter: Please dont say WHO is the Cubmaster.

Scout: You are asking the questions.

Reporter: I want to know what is the name of the Pack Committee Chairperson?

Scout: WHAT is the name of the Assistant Cubmaster.

Reporter: I DONT KNOW!

Both: The Den Leader.

Reporter: You know, I have a son that would like to join Cub Scouts.

Scout: You do?

Reporter: Yeah, I think the only way to find out these peoples names is to have him join the pack.

Scout: I am sure he would be a fine addition.

Reporter: Well, I think I will bring him to your next meeting.

Scout: That would be great!

Reporter: And while I am there I want to talk to the Cubmaster.

Scout: I would think so.

Reporter: And I take my son and talk to Who?

Scout: Now thats the first right thing you have said.

Reporter: HUH??? I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!!!

Scout: Well you should talk to WHO.

Reporter: Oh, I talk to WHO?

Scout: After all, WHO is the Cubmaster.

Reporter: I talk to WHO

Scout: Yes.

Reporter: So after I talk to WHO, the Cubmaster, I then talk to the Assistant Cubmaster and his name is WHAT?

Scout: Yes sir.

Reporter: And then I talk to the Den Leader .

Scout: I DONT KNOW.

Reporter: OK, WHO is the Cubmaster, WHAT is the Assistant Cubmaster and I DONT KNOW is a Den Leader.

Scout: By George, I think youve got it. Youre the one who said we were unique I thought you knew about the names.

Reporter: But doesnt that cause a lot of STRESS?

Scout: STRESS, thats the guy keeping track of rank advancement.

Reporter: Lets see, WHO, WHAT, I DONT KNOW, WHY, TOMORROW, STRESS, they are all names? Holy Smoke!

Scout: Thats our Pack Chaplain.

Reporter: Im leaving. This is NUTS.

Scout: NUTS, Thats our Council Scout Executive

 

I just wanted to say that I have incorporated this program with my Scouts, and will continue to do for years. The medals ariived very quickly, and are gorgeous! Thanks for all of your work.

~Pixie

I just wanted to take the time to say something great about the Youth Patriotism Award!

 

I have 15 Wolf Scouts (2 dens) that I have just led through earning the Youth Patriotism Freedom Medal. I thought that it was a very worhtwhile program, and thought that the boys got a lot out of it. At first, I picked the Freedom Medal, because I thought that it was the coolest looking one offered. When I started doing the requirements with the boys, I wondered if they were really going to grasp the topic. The requirements center around freedoms in this country. We learned about the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independance. We learned about specific rights like the Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Religion. We also learned about rights and freedoms in general. Again, I was unsure how much the boys were actually absorbing. Then, as one of the requirements, they had to do a drawing representing a freedom that they had. We had the boys do this on their own, individually, with little direction except the topic. This is when we really found out what they learned! They shocked us with the pictures that they drew! These boys were really insightful! Also, we had them break into groups and put on a puppet show that they wrote. The shows were each about freedom, they wrote 4 completely different puppet show skits that really hammered home the idea of being free in this country! They wrote about being free to have whatever job you want (not having to be what someone tells you to be), they wrote about being able to mave and live wherever you want, and about being able to be a certain religion, or no religion.

We also had a great guest speaker in as part of the electives. We chose to ask our school liason officer (local high school) if he could come in and talk to the boys about freedom, and the difference between freedom and being able to do whatever you want(since that is what most of the boys defined freedom as, initially). He gave a great presentation about how in life you can ALWAYS do WHATEVER you want, until it infringes on someone else! They REALLY got this concept!

All in all it was a great program, and next year as Bears we will be working on one of the other medals, either Heritage or Citizenship. Tentatively, I think I will do Heritage as Bears, Citizenship as First year Webelos, and finish up with Service as Second year Webelos. I think the order for the Webelos plays well into the Webelo program, since Citizenship is one of the Webelo badges you have to earn to earn rank. Then I think the service is a good way to round out your C.S. years, being the leader of the pack, and showing the younger guys what they should be doing.

 

Long story semi short: I would recommend this program to anyone!!!

~Pixie

 

www.youthpatriotism.org

 

P.S. I got all of my medals in like a week, including the Easter holiday in there.

Many Hats~

Thanks for the clarification, that is a totally different story. I agree with artjrk, I would think that the CM could give a short speech about behavior to the kids at large, at the awards banquet tonight, but other than that, it is out of your hands. Yes these boys are both Scouts, so there is an impact there, but the action did not take place during Scouts, so there is no way that you can punish the child. Heck, the SCHOOL, where the action DID take place, didn't seem to do much about it!!! If the injured parents are not happy with the offending childs punishment, they need to take that up with the school, or the offending childs parents!

In short~ this can be a learning experience for all of the scouts on appropriate behavior, but not a punishing experience for the offending Scout, since the action did not happen in Scouts.

~Pixie

When I was first reading your post, I thought that you were going to say " What should we as a pack do?" And I would have said if didn't happen during Scouting, then nothing. However, if the Mom is asking the CM for help, then that tells me that she knows that Scouting/the respect of the CM means something to her son. I understand this, as a usual refrain in my house is " Would you do that in front of/ say that in front of Scoutmaster K?" my Boyscout always embarassingly answers 'no'. I know that invoking the name of Scoutmaster K means something to my Scout, as he has a tremendous amount of respect for him.

All that being said, I would think that just a little talk with the Cub, from the CM about behavior and how Scouting and your reputation carries over in life, might be warrented. It sounds like this Mom feels like it would carry a lot more weight. As far as giving him other punishments from Scout activities due to this behavior, that is up to her, she is the mother and can "ground" him from anything she likes. That is not the packs' responsibility. If that is what she is looking for, then she is trying to punish her kid with out being the bad guy, and I would not play into it.

 

~Pixie

Last year when my Scouts were Tigers we did a new slide for each month. We met 3 weeks/month. My den dues is $7/ month. They had ALOT of fun making them and A LOT of fun wearing them. Even the Cubmaster started to look forward to seeing them each month, just to see what we had come up with. Usually for the rings we used the plastic ring part that is left behind when you open a bottle of water (you know just like on the milk jug, but smaller). We generally attached something to fun foam, and then hot glued the foam portion to the plastic ring. My husband never took a bottle of water anywhere without returning the ring to me, safe and sound!

We made full indian headresses, rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, small wooden 'pinewood derby cars', a slide made from recycling pop can tabs, and little white rabbits emerging from magic hats. My favorite was the indian headress, I think their favorite was the cars.

This can be done, and is very rewarding.