rjscout

That is pretty much a synopsis of what I had found last year. We are now in our fundraiser mode for our track and timer. Hopefully we can get the popcorn sales pumped up and we are also looking at a rummage sale. On another Pinewood Derby topic, What is your favorite type of scale for weighing the cars? I am looking for an affordable scale that can be calibrated and is consistent. We would like to get two (one for pre-weigh station as families make final adjustments, and one for final weigh-in) Thanks!

I had heard that it was removed, so we were going to try to use laser tag as an incentive for the Pack for popcorn sales. Looking at usscouts.org, it says that it does not keep an online version of G2SS since it is updated at BSA (scouting.org). The version there does say: "Pointing any type of firearm (including paintball, dye, or lasers) at any individual is unauthorized." I have head of Pack doing it as a 'family' activity, but if Pack money from popcorn is used to pay for it, doesn't that make it a scouting event? Do any other Packs or Troops do Laser Tag still?

We don't have a Webelos specific resident camp, but our Cub Scout resident camp is $105 (discount; $125 regular) for 4 days and 3 nights. I had a blast going for the first time as a leader. There is no charge for the first two leaders with up to 10 boys. The third leader is $50 unless there are 15 boys signed up. It is a GREAT price. $250 does seem pretty high.(This message has been edited by rjscout)

The knot that I WISH I could wear would be Eagle, but my troop was weak and I did not have the forethought to hang with it. I do wear my AOL and I am working on my CM. I hope that my son sticks with Scouting longer than I did (the first time around) so that I can have thoughts of other knots on my uniform. There are some great thoughts on this topic.

Yes, of course a Webelos can wear a brag vest. We have one who wears his all the time at Pack Meetings. It is getting more of the others wanting to get one.

It seems like we get a lot of parents who would rather that their boys don't sell popcorn. I always thought that having the boys sell helped the Pack (and council), as well as being a growing experience for the boy. Does anyone have any good ideas to help get the parent's buy-in on selling popcorn?

I was a Tiger Dad in the Pack just 14 months ago. I was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout (one year), but no other qualifications. As many others, I did the quick climb up the leadership ladder to become Cubmaster last month. I would choose a motivated Cubmaster over one who has the background but not the enthusiasm. With help of others, especially this forum, a new Cubmaster can gain LOTS of experience in a quick fashion. A non-enthusiastic CM could cause the Pack to deteriorate, unless everyone else shares the load.

I hate to hear it when a parent says that they don't want their son to sell popcorn. It does take more time as a parent to tag along while they sell, but it does give you more time to be with your son and to help them to grow. What better way to build confidence than to talk with people and to try to sell them something. I am like GW and will buy almost anything from a child for a fundraiser, even though I know that I could buy something similar for much less. It was easier when we were young and the world was safer. I actually went beyond the Scout fundraisers and sold greeting cards to

Our council resident camp (called Adventure Camp) has the rule: "In accordance with BSA Youth Protection policies, there must be one adult leader for every five boys and a minimum of two leaders for each unit." Sounds like there is a lot of variance through the districts. Our Pack does have better coverage than that.

Things must vary a lot between councils. Our resident camp requires two adults for a pack/den registering a group of up to 10 boys and an extra adult for every five boys above ten. Scouts can register as an individual and they will be placed with another group. This is my first year of attending resident camp as a leader. We actually have three leaders for less than fifteen boys, so I am not sure if they will assign other boys into our group, or if they will notify us. I would assume that your son and the other boy would have been registered as individuals. I'm looking forward to cam

I was never questioning a scout having more than he deserved. I enjoy working with my son on the many activities. I would like to do more of them, if time allowed. I didn't want it to look like I was trying to fill the shirt with arrow points, but I let my son decide when to stop and how many of the arrow points to wear. How do you display the odd silver arrow point since the inspection sheet mentions "the silver arrow points are worn below the gold arrow point in double rows". Should the single silver arrow point be centered? It does look better that way.

AOL is the ultimate goal of Cub Scouts, but I think that the Webelos, Bear and Wolf rank advancement is just as important as Tiger and Bobcat. The beads and arrow points can be moved to a Den meeting if you are running low on time. We don't do awards on PWD night, but we will do the Rank Awards on any other Pack night. We like to make a fuss over the World Conservation, LNT and Outdoor Activity Awards, too. Our last official Pack meeting of the year is at the end of May and the Fishing Derby is quite popular. Not everyone makes it, but we do have a pretty good crowd. This is

Does he like camping and other outdoor activities? How about the Outdoor Activities Chair? Send him to BALOO and that might motivate him to become more of a leader in the planning stages. That's where I started, after being just a Tiger Dad, and now I am the CM (and having FUN). BALOO training really pumped my up and got my created thoughts flowing. It is a good idea to have an Outdoors/Camping subcommittee to help plan things and to prevent him from getting overworked. It would be good to get more people in the Pack BALOO trained, as well.

Yikes!!! I have learned to 'overplan' just to have alternate plans, I never considered not being able to get into the building for the meeting. Good call on the option.

My son ended up with 5 silvers arrow points. He was short two electives to get an even number, but was busy with some other school projects to finish those two. The Uniform Inspection Sheet states that the silver arrow points are worn below the gold arrow point in double rows. How do you handle a single silver point at the bottom? Do you leave it off, place to one side, or center it? Thanks!

Find some fun activities to do in some of your local parks to get the boys excited about the outdoors. As they get excited, they might invite their friends to join in to grow the Pack.

I do like the idea of using the dry ice. I also like the part where the parents reach in for their son's badge. I remember the intrique of dry ice when I was young.

This morning, I wake up as a CM. Now I get to starting thinking more about some of your issues. We do already have good team of DLs, so I don't have to worry about that aspect. I do need to think more about how to expand the list of dedicated parents to help out. You can never have too many parents willing to help out. When I became the ACM, I started to think that a good pack meeting didn't need as many parents to help as what I think now. We try to have a lot of fun activities to go along with the achievement award ceremonites. But then I realize that I was getting to wrapped in the d

It sounds like there are enough parents interested in helping to keep the Pack going. If the COR is only on paper, then I would build up the committee (sounds like you have a good start with the interested parents) and have them. If the old CC resigned because of the CM, ask him if he would be interested in rebuilding the Pack. Meet with the CM and have buy into the new Pack structure, or resign. If he refuses to do either, then it sounds like time to give him his walking papers. The Pack cannot be successful with one person running the show. I feel fortunate to have a great committe for

Those are all good points. I like working with my son on the electives. I just didn't want it look like I was pushing him, or others think that he was trying to brag. I'll let him decide how many he wants to get. Thanks for your comments.

Talking with a Den Leader, we were thinking that five Arrow Points look pretty good without going hog wild. I saw one uniform at a Council Spring Camping Event with seven silvers and one gold. That looks a bit crowded. How many Arrow Points do you like to see on a uniform?

Our Pack had a tradition of staying in the opposite corner of our county, in two Yurts at a county park (about an hour away). It is pretty cool for a Cub Scout to sleep in a Yurt. We had a pretty good turnout, but there are still people that can't make the Awards Ceremony part of the event. For next April, we are going to travel 10 minutes down the road to Cub World (nice to be close). Hopefully we will have a larger number camping and some that will be able to attend the Awards, even if they aren't going to spend the night. I don't think we would get many to travel more than 2 hours.

Do many of you work on the Emergency Preparedness Award for your Cub Scouts? I thought it would be a great experience for the kids to learn a little more about being ready for emergency situations. We had a paramedic in the Pack take a look at the American Red Cross online Basic Aid Training and he wasn't sure how well it fit for the Tiger and Wolf scouts. What is your opinion? The award does have requirements for all for levels. The local Red Cross does not offer Basic Aid Training until 4th grade, so that rules out the Wolf and Bear ranks. I would like to get some more awareness by

Funny, my CM (for less than a month when I become the CM) just sent me an e-mail asking if we want to do this for next year. We don't seem to have too much trouble with Advancement. Does anyone else have an opinion who has seen the program? I would like to hear diverse opinions to help us decide. The deadline shows April 30, but I am not sure when the CM received it.

As I have seen many times on this forum, there are many interpretations of the same words in the G2SS. That leaves many questions for many scouters on a lot of topics. I see the marshmallows as a legitimate question since there is at least one person with a doubt of what is proper. That is what makes this a great forum. The only dumb question is the one not asked.... Well, I guess someone could ask one that is irrelevant to scouting or the outdoors (what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?). (This message has been edited by rjscout)