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Polaris

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Everything posted by Polaris

  1. FYI: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013305260056
  2. Seriously....pick one: 1). Busy families in scouting 2). Busy families not in scouting
  3. .......duh....skip the pack meeting. Advancement chair emails scout shop who ships awards via USPS.
  4. KDD, Meetings were 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours. We would arrive a little early for play time before the start. The meetings were mixed up with activity and quiet discussions. Often the boys were promised 15 minutes of game time afterwards for good behavior. (Wild Planet Hyper Dash was their favorite---they wouldn't go home.) Family homework was assigned for Duty to God, Family Fun, and Family Outdoor Adventure, etc. Parents were at each meeting and they helped out. I agree 5th grade Webelos is "training" for Boy Scouts, however I don't agree weekly Webelos meetings will prepare the
  5. Why did I take Wood Badge? Good question. Reasons: Curiosity about the course, peer pressure at RT from WB staffers, to bring back better leadership/program ideas to my unit, to see how I stack up against other scouter and to facilitate networking. It was a lot of fun and stress rolled up into 2 weekends of adult camping. Of course, the stress was self-induced as I am a classic over-achiever. As a Cub Scouter, I have a better understanding of troop dynamics. As CC, I am better at getting the committee through brainstorming and decision making. That being said, a scouter friend of mine jok
  6. Regarding meetings: Once monthly meetings work if you only want to complete the minimums for rank advancement. My youngest son's den met once monthly during Tiger, Wolf and Bear. He doesn't have any gold and silver arrow points on his shirt nor has he ever asked to earn one. Sure, we had longer meetings, but we had near perfect attendance and got it done. I am taking over as the Webelos leader this fall. The boys are attending summer resident camp and will earn/almost complete 4-5 activity pins. We plan on meeting monthly and we will easily finish all the required Webelos and AOL a
  7. Keep 'em moving or keep it interesting. I have visited local Packs and the leaders are up at the podium talking while the boys are getting ants in their pants. Obstacle course. Relay team competition. Crawl thru a tunnel made with chairs and a tarp. Solo cup blow. Race with ping pong ball on a spoon. Pumpkin broom push. They always come back sweaty and smiling. K-9 police demo. Dance troop performance. This one shocked me. The local middle and high school song and dance team performed for the scout families. The kids were mesmerized. They didn't move. Camp
  8. Pack 212 in Louisville, KY which is chartered by megachurch Southeast Christian. They also charter AHG and Boy Scouts. I am not sure of their membership numbers. To give you an idea of their size, last year they sold $64,000 in popcorn. The 2nd highest sales were at $25,000. Unfortunately, they announced the church will not renew their charter in Dec 2013. My friend told me the church elders had voted to close the program years ago and they are just now getting around to it. I heard a rumor last week the church may shut the BSA programs down sooner based on the vote in May. Not to
  9. I have always thought about doing this, but I have been too scared to try it! Currently, we place the activities/volunteer descriptions for the year on several pages and go around the room and solicit volunteers. Unfortunately, I had two parents fail to follow through with their project and as usual, I picked up the slack. I know......I know......I am enabling them, but I don't want the kiddos to suffer because of slacking parents.
  10. Polaris

    Flailing?

    We just discussed these issues last night at our Pack Parents Meeting. Question: Of the 60-80 boys, what percentage are advancing to the next rank each year? Is it 100%? Do you keep boys on the Charter that should be dropped? The reason I am asking is perhaps the attendance is low at Den and Pack meetings is because the boys are no longer active scouts. Do the Den Leaders reach out and call the parents and find out why the scout did not attend the meeting? That being said, we have good Den and Pack meeting attendance, but we have poor event attendance. Our Pinewood Derby, Rai
  11. Sarah, What happened at your leader meeting last night? As Seattle Pioneer has suggested in another post, your Pack should change the Leader Meetings to Parent Meetings. All the parents are members of the committee and they should be encouraged to attend and provide input and volunteer to help out--especially if you are down to 15 scouts. I assume the CC/CM is running all the events?? At this point, all of your parents need to take on a role within the Pack: Camping Chair, Blue and Gold Chair, Competition Chair (Pinewood, Raingutter Regatta, etc.), Service Projects Chair, Fall R
  12. I agree. The bridge should be reserved for those scouts crossing into Boy Scouts. It is a big deal and it signifies the transition into more adventure and responsibility. Our Pack leaders and AOL parents have this discussion every year as to whether or not they all cross or only those that are committed to Boy Scouts. We had one mom go so far as to talk to the SM about purchasing the troop necker, numerals and epaulettes so her son could cross the bridge and not be singled out. Wise SM told her not to worry about it. When her son finishes up his spring sports and joins the troop m
  13. A group of us stopped by Starbucks on the way to University of Scouting. Yep. We depleted the card in no time!
  14. Make it personal and useful. I love coffee, but I hardly ever go to Starbucks. Too expensive. The committee got me a $15 Starbucks gift card and I was elated with the prospect of extravagance. On the other hand, I have no idea where I put my district award plaque........
  15. As CC, when forming Tiger dens and/or splitting dens in the fall just after recruitment, I place the scouts according to geography (adjacent neighborhoods), the scout parent's preferences to stay with a friend and the Den Leaders' suggestions. (I am sure I spend more time on it than I should.) I then email the tentative den roster to the scout parents/Den Leaders and ask for suggestions. After a couple of more requests for changes, we settle on the final roster. Somehow it seems to work out smoothly each year, but I see where it could get tricky.
  16. Agree with SP. The professional scouters state our Council has lots of camperships that go unused each year. So, you should ask your Council as SP suggests. Campmaster is also likely not aware of the financial position of troop. My scout son's troop does make parents aware of Council camperships and the troop's scout assistance fund. (Although, the troop's scout assistance fund is generally used for scout outings, insignia, activity t-shirt, etc.) Our SM/CC will take the anonymous parent's request for assistance to the Troop Committee for a decision on whether or not to us
  17. Funny you should mention this...... I am currently working on something similar as a Wood Badge ticket item. I am putting together a "Pack #### Activity Guide" to include local campsite info. The plan is to post the doc on our Google Drive site so future leaders can easily find pertinent info to schedule events. For now, I am filling in my "Cub Scout Campsite Checklist." I haven't decided on the best format to organize the information. I have it in an Excel spreadsheet, but I may move it over to a Word format and save it to a PDF. I have searched other local units' websites and I ha
  18. Yes. We regularly had Webelos AOL den meetings and activities (i.e. 3 mile hike) on Sunday afternoons. We had to schedule around TKD, lacrosse, speech therapy, ice hockey, etc. It was the only time we could meet as a group. We scheduled longer meetings (about 2 hours) and met once monthly. It worked well for everyone.
  19. Our Pack meets 9 times during the school year with monthly summer activities. Aug: Popcorn Kick-off and Ice Cream Social with new parent info, Oct: Raingutter Regatta, Dec: Holiday potluck, Feb: Pinewood Derby, March: B&G with rank advancement/crossover ceremonies and Sept, Nov, Jan, April themed meetings. The Den Leaders set their own meeting times based on the scouts' extra-curricular activites. Some meet for 2 hours on Sunday afternoons once monthly. Others meet weekly. Last year, one den met on Friday nights during football season. We are sponsored by a civic organiza
  20. We have a family race (moms, dads, siblings) and a no-rules race (nuclear power, teletransportation, etc). Generally, after all the scouts race 6 heats each, very few hang around for the family and no-rules race. Pinewood races make for a long day. The families buy their own cars for the supplemental races.
  21. Testing....1....2....3 My last 3 replies did not post within Cub Scouts. I am trying in this topic.
  22. We have a father that works at a furniture store and he keeps our track and gutters in a warehouse. Ask the Pack parents if they have access to an outbuilding, extra garage, a church with storage, etc.
  23. Thanks for the Active Topics link!! Agreed with Moose. I would like to see if there are current posts within the topic before I open it. As a suggestion, please add categories to the Active Topics. There are some categories I skip over when pressed for time. Thanks for the work!
  24. Over the years, we have slowly eliminated some of the junk and added healthier options. One item we have eliminated is carbonated drinks. We no longer ask parents to bring these to campouts or potlucks. We provide drink containers with water and lemonade. I know the lemonade is full of sugar, but it is better than soda. We will have sign-ups to bring sweet and unsweet tea. A very popular item is cut-up fruit. We always run out at Blue and Gold and our December Holiday potluck. But, we do not request chips at these events either. For campout snacks, we usually have cubed ch
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