pixiewife

Thanks for the replies!

They are doing the cooking for themselves! We are not going to a scout camp for summer camp this year (council or commercial) our Troop is putting on their own camp. They have been wanting to do this, because they were then able to customize the entire experience. The boys have been in deep planning since at least January ( that's when my son came in). They selected the MB's that they will work on, and have produced the rest of the itinerary also. Of course some MB's will be done in a work shop format, but some, like cooking, will be done over the course of the entire week, just by being there.

Thanks for the Harbor Freight Idea, I had completely forgot about them, and we do have a local outlet also, I believe!

~Pixie

I am in charge of finding all of the equipment for the Patrol Boxes for summer camp this year. You guys helped me out so much earlier in the year with winter camping, I thought I would see what you had to offer!

I am looking for any places that you guys like to buy from on the net or otherwise. I am looking for cookware and utensils specifically.

Thanks!

~Pixie

Thank you for all of the answers, especially the "official" ruling!

My oldest is in BS, but I have a Wolf den that I lead, and we have been hand making slides each month to go with the theme of the month. Some of them have been really cool, like a full Indian headress for Indian Nations theme. I just wanted to be sure when those little bugs were going through uniform inspection, they were a-ok. I thought that I checked in to it at the beginning of the year, but couldn't remember for sure, and when another parent asked me about it at COH, it got me to thinking!

Again, I knew you guys would have the answer!

Thanks

~Pixie

I have a quick question. I was recently at a BS COH and was asked about neckerchief slides. Some boys had the class A slide bought from the Scout store, and some had handmade slides. My question is : Are hand made slides considered class A? Are handmade slides considered fine to wear with the uniform if it is a regular uniform day rather than a COH or an event, or does it not matter? Is the rule the same for Cubs?

Thanks for all of the help and info!

~ Pixie(This message has been edited by pixiewife)

I am just finishing up my first year as a T.C. leader. We had two dens meeting together, which equaled 13 boys. We had each boy pay $7/month. We do not get anything from the pack for our dens. I found that the $7 was more than enough to cover, and we did a lot of things, like went to a ceramic shop at Christmas time to paint gifts for mom/dad. Now that it is the end of the year, we have almost $100 left. We are spending it by throwing an end od the year bonfire/cookout. Also, we bought fun patches almost every month for things that we did, like airport tour, which totaled about $1.05/patch. I do not want to lower the fee, since I know that things get harder/more in depth as the years go on.

Also, during the year we had a couple parents that came to me and said "I just can't pay this month", for whatever reason, and that was fine. If they made it up, great, if not, we took care of it in the den. We live in a rural area in MI which has economically taken a huge hit for the last 5 years! The recession is not news to us!

Another thing, my oldest son just crossed uver, and I was Assistant in his den for two years. That den charged $10/month. At the time I did not think it was a big deal. However, as I started doing more with the leader, and watching her shop, that kind of thing, and now that I am doing it myself and seeing the projects that the boys did, I think that $10 was a little excessive. I think if she would have charged less, but then asked for a specific amount for special projects if needed, she would have had an easier time of it. She had a lot of parents questioning her every move by the end.

I think that if you have any questions, you should sit down with your parents and talk it out. They should not expect you to cover it all out of your pocket, and probably have not even put any thought into it. They most likely think that you are sponsored by the pack or something. They will most likely all be able to agree to something!

~Pixie

I am SO sorry to hear about your experience with this!

My sons Webelo den worked on this award, and earned it in November. We sent the money and everything in right away, and had it back within a couple of weeks. In fact, they were awarded in January, and I carried them around for a while.

Wow!

I wish I could say what the big difference is in our situations!

~Pixie

In our pack, like most I think, the boys only earn the B.L. once. When they are Webelos, and have to earn it for a Badge, they do the requirements, if they have previously earned it, they do not get another actual beltloop. When they are earning their pins, they do not have to do the BL requirements again, even if they earned the BL in another year. It is like having to pass one grade to get to the next.

I'm glad you asked this question though, because I have had the same question, about time frame. I am going to ask our Pack Trainer, who told me all requiremnets must be done in the same year, or you have to start over, if that was something our pack decided on, or if it is just something that she (with all due respect) made up.

Thanks for reminding me!

Just to clarify,emb021, my experience with this patch is from Cubs, so I don't think they'd have a Jamboree patch. As far as the Scouts, I have only been to 2 meetings (son just bridged) and I don't know that I was thinking enough about it to acctually look and see where those boys have it. Although, I'm still pretty sure they have it in the wrong(albeit customary to our local) place!

~Pixie

The rules are completely up to you!

In our pack, the rules clearly state that if you are not present, and in uniform, that your car will not race. This has been a rule for a very long time, but is not the case for every pack.

Also, going to the district PWD, at least in our district, is totally optional, and has nothing to do with your participation in or placement in your pack derby. Which means, that you may have been first in your pack derby, last in your pack derby, or never even raced in your pack derby, and you can still go to the district derby.

Hope this Helps,

~Pixie

Thanks Scoutnut,

I saw in the online training, that they talked about that video. I acctually watched that video at one point a couple of years ago when my older son saw it in his den. I did not realize the reccomendation about watching it yearly, until I took the training last night. I was planning on waiting until next year (wolf's) to show it to my den, but I may have to reevaluate that.

Thanks,

~Pixie

I am a Tiger leader, and we make a new slide each month, to coincide with the BSA theme. First let me say, our pack does not heavily rely on the theme, but we are trying to incorporate it more and more. Us Tigers use it, because it gives us a jumping off point.

For Indian Nations we took the plastic ring from a water bottle, covered it 1/2 way around with a peice of red fun foam (about 3/4'' wide)using hot glue. The boys then rolled it in tacky glue, and then rolled it in beads. This gave the beaded portion of an Indian head dress. They then glued small feathers to the inside of the beaded band, with the feathers sticking up. Then we glued jute twine hanging down from eack side, with feathers on the end of them. They looked fantastic!

For december they made reindeers using 3 puzzle peices, googly eyes, and a red pom pom nose. The reindeer was then hot glued to the front of a water bottle ring.

In January I took the kind of wooden clothespin that does not have a spring. I sawed off the two 'legs', and used a rotary tool to kind of shape the wooden peice left into a basic car outline. Really I just had to smooth some off the top right to make the hood of the car, and a bit off the bottom left, to make the part where a car comes up behind the wheel. The boys then sanded them, and colored them with markers. We glue on black wheels made of fun foam, and glued them to the front of our rings.

For march we are going to use pop can tabs, and weave them together with pipe cleaners, so that they encircle the neckercheif. We are also going to hang a small enamal charm from the front.

We found that not only do our boys love making them, but they also love wearing them, and now many people from the pack are looking forward each month to seeing what we have come up with! Oh yeah, we are also working towards our collecting BL with them!

~Pixie

Thanks for the quick replies!

I acctually just decided to stop waiting for my Cub Pack to put on the Youth Protection Training that they were going to do as a group, and finished it online about 5 minutes ago.

Now, I better know that answer, cause I'm TRAINED!!

Thanks Again,

~Pixie

P.S. That was the answer that I gave, when asked the question by my husband. Even though I would never tell him if I were wrong, I still wanted to verify my accuracy! ;-)(This message has been edited by pixiewife)(This message has been edited by pixiewife)

I'm sure I will learn this in training, and I'm pretty sure of the answer already, but I want to be more than "pretty sure".

If I am a registered committee member of the troop, am I able to be considered part of 2 deep leadership?

Thanks!

~Pixie

Thanks for the replies!

EVERYONE in our pack and troop wears this patch above the right pocket, including, I believe, our UC.

Huh...I'll leave it on though, thanks!

I am checking to see if anyone knows the ruled about the Good Turn for America patch that is worn aboce the right pocket. It is a circular patch, that has a new "year" banner each year that you earn it, that goes around the original patch.

Anyway, my son earned this as a cub scout, and has earned the year badge each year that he has been in. He just crossed over into Boy Scouts. Our Troop does participate in the Good Turn for America. Does he need to take off his old one, and re earn the entire circle patch? Or should he leave it on, and just earn the year banners like he has in the past?

Any ideas are appreciated.

~Pixie

Wow Gunny!

I missed like 4 words, and had the whole scenario wrong!

Sorry about that!

With all due respect, I think you all missed what the problem was that the original poster was acctually asking about.

The problem, as I see it, is this:

SM wants to have a quicky conference after the meeting w/ SPL. The poster does not have an issue w/ the meeting, only the timing of the meeting. Current troop meetings are 90 minutes long. SM wants to shorten them to 80 minutes, and have his meeting w/SPL in that next 10 minutes, so that his total time spent (in a perfect world) would be 90 minutes. Poster thinks that troop meetings should stay 90 minutes, SM should have meeting w/ SPL in next 10 minutes, making total time spent by SM, and SPL 100 minutes.

Poster states that 2 deep leadership would not be a problem for the extra 10 minutes, as the poster is willing to be the one to stay.

Crossramwedge (the original poster) wonders if he should go along with the SM and let the boys lose 10 minutes of all meetings, or try to get the SM to see that staying another 10 minutes would not be a problem.

Thank you all for asking, and thank you all for the advice!!!

Well, I would say that the experience for both my son and Husband was fantastic!

First as far as my son goes: He stayed warm the entire time. He acctually listened to everything that I told him. As far as sleeping, there were 31 boys in one man made hooch, and he was near the middle. He said he slept better than he does when he's at home. My son's Webelo den just crossed over 2 weeks ago, so really the whole experience did a lot to get him integrated with the troop. He really felt like he got to know the guys that were in his patrol, I think it went a long way to making him feel like he fits in.

Now, for my husband, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. He said he was cold, the whole time. Obviously, he didn't listen to me! Aside from that, he really loved the whole experience also. One of the first things he said to me after he got home was: 'I wish you wre there too. Next year we will both go. Oh yeah, I think we should both get trained. ' He went on about things with the troop, and how he wants to step up and be a part of it. He also has a new perspective on the pack, and how that is the primary feeder source for the troop, so the program has to be solid there as well.

Now of course, I knew what he was telling me. He is currently the ACM at the pack, and I am a Tiger cub leader, and was the Ass't for my son's Webelo den before bridging. He always supported scouts, but time away was also wearing on him. Now, we are both on the same page.

Last night was our first CoH, and we both turned in our adult volunteer applications, so forward ho!

To steal a quote from someone here:

"I love this scouting thing!"

~Pixie

Any one have any ideas on games to play that originated in another country, to fulfill the requirement for the Language and Culture Beltloop?

I am looking for something that the boys can play in the cold (prefer indoors) next week in February. What I mean is, we all know soccer is from outside the U.S., and all of my Tigers have played soccer, but I want to acctually have them play it now, rather than talk about "remember when we played soccer, that game is from....." you know what I mean.

I appreciate any ideas...

Thanks!

~Pixie

Apooh:

You will love the lanterns!

I did originally see them on the Bugle, and forgot about that! One thing you can do is pick a different country for each den or rank, and change the colors for that country. Or, you could just do the fluer de lis, and that would look awesome too!You will use a lot of hot glue on this project to get them together.

Beagle:

I have Tigers, so we purchased from "Hands on Fun" an Oriental Trading Company subsidiary, these blank cut out dragons. They were about 4" tall, and 17" long, and they folded like a card. Our original plane was for the boys to each decorate them by coloring them, using glitter, feathers, shiny paper, whatever, but out meetings were cancelled due to weather, so the other leader and I just colored them ourselves using colorful patterns. They did look really nice though.

I hope yours come out nice!

I couldn't agree more with the previous advice: Wahtever you do, do not wait to have him start his badges. I was Asst for my son's Webelo den, who just crossed over, and five out of 6 of them earned every single badge, and we only had to do one of them this entire last "year" ( since school started this year). The point is, if we did 19 in an entire year, you can surely do 8 in 9 monthes utilizing your summer.

~Pixie

Hi Michele,

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for, but we just had our B&G, and we used the BSA Chinese New Year Theme. We made luminaries for our canterpecies and they were beautiful. We took the large popsicle/tounge depressor sticks, and glued four of them into a frame, each luminarie had four frams ( a cube minus the top and bottom). We then painted the frames black, and when this was dry we toog glue, and made squiggle marks down the center of each stick, which we colored with gold glitter. Once that is all dry, you flip the frame over (to the back side) and glue a peice of wax paper to it. We had purchased plastic "gold" Chinese coins from Oriental Trading Company (very cheap) and glued these to a peice of red paper that was cut in a circle slightly larger than the coin. We used the fancy edge sissors to cut the circles. On the front side of the wax paper, in the center, we glued the coin. We then glued the 4 frames together to form the cube. We could not use any open flame, so we used the battery operated candles inside of them.

It may sound kind of difficult, but it really wasn't but it did take some time with all of the steps involved. We only made them in my Tiger den, the boys did the painting and the glitter, the other leader and I did all of the gluing at home, but when we left I saw boys from other dens taking our decorations home, and tossing theirs out. I'm sure you could use this same idea and change the colors and maybe the symbol on the circle to represent any country. We acctually had 6' banquet tables, so we also made Chinese dragons, and had them sit lengthways on the table. It went dragon, luminarie, dragon, luminarie, dragon.

Sorry if this was too much info, but it was beautiful.

You guys are all so great!

I have to agree with all of you, I'm shaking my head on the plastic tote idea too, but it's what I was told! I guess they started it last year with summer camp and liked it, so they're going for it. If nothing else, and they do find they do not like it, I like having a tote for all of his stuff at home anyway, it does keep it all in one spot.

I think if they both just read through some of the stuff I have read, so that they know about keeping dry at all costs, and layering PROPERLY they should both be ok.

The Troop is planning on having hot soup with each meal, so the cup is for that in addition to any hot chocolate!

As far as his winter coat, the good news is that it is even a layered coat. It has a outer shell which is a little more water proof, and does have some insulating properties, and a zip offable inner coat that has fleece lining and a windbreaker top. Again, I just need to educate him about going through the layers BEFORE he gets sweaty.

I think I would not have worrried at all, except that he has only been to one meeting, does not have his handbook, and ready or not, here camp comes!

I look forward to asking/sharing with all of you on the boards in the future!

Pixie

P.S. I'll update how they did after the weekend! ;-)

Gonna have to agree with you Gold Winger,

I too am really getting disgusted with the way ALL "news" is turning into infotainment, with less and less emphasis on the info part.

I know this isn't exactly what you are talking about, but it is all in the same bowl of wax if you ask me. My local 12:00 news (Big Metro area)has a couple top stories, you know scandle, house fires that kind of thing, does the sports and weather, and then usually does at least 5 minutes (out of 30)on a 'segment' that they try to make look like news, but is usually just a big advertisement for some business. It may be a grocery store doing "Super Bowl cooking", which is irritating at the least. Last week though, there was going to be on the 5 o'clock news a story about children and bed wetting. I waited all day for it, and even Tivo'd the darn thing so I wouldn't miss it. Did they acctually have a revolutionary story on bed wetting? Did they cover tips or advice, or even cause? The answer is no. They featured a local family who went to a local "anurisis" treatment center and after 6 months the child's bed wetting is done. Well if I could just plop down the cash for an anurisis center, don't you think I might have done that by now, and not been waiting to see what the NEWS was going to INFORM me of?

The lack of usable information in our society is frightening!

Wow!

Thank you all SO very much for all of the help!

Acctually, I feel a lot better about what I have, and how things are going to go. Seriously, I think I am now more scared for my husband than my son, since my son is acctually more willing to read the things I tell him to, and listen to me when I tell him things. Plus, he was doing very well when I was giving him 'what if? ' situations and quizzing him.

Lisa: as far as the plastic tote goes, that was not my idea. Apparently, the entire troop is trying to switch over from personal duffle bags of stuff to personal totes of stuff. One tote per scout. I guess they think it will keep their stuff dry, and also they stack easier in the trailer. I triple checked this, since I didn't want my son to look ridiculous when he got to camp!

Thanks again, because I really feel like we are ready for this!!