scoutmom0618

In our pack, if you have a child camping then you can go, if you do not then unless you are the DL, you do not..It has been that way for years:) They have not as yet seen my 'vision' and I plan to tone it down before they see it, though. I do not think the issue is as much me, as they had hoped that a certain individual would commit and that person has said NO. SO, how to deal with that!

Scoutfish, Thank you for your opinion. I NEVER said that if my kid went, I would not go or if it were a pack camp...However, our current CM's son just crossed over and she is not going to a council camp in with the Bears or Wolves.. Seriously! Amazing that this seems to be major hold up!! I NEVER said or did not mean to imply that I thought it was'man's work'...to camp I WILL and AM there for my son AND my daughter!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure that many men would like the women to come because they can sit back and let the women do the work!!!!!! BTW, the following statement is rather ironic! "I mean, the entire program is about and for boys. Gender roles and stereotypes need to be tossed out." While I know siblings attend events and such with Cubs, it is still a boy program! I think you and I need to stop discussing anything further because I feel liek I am already turning negative and that is so against what I wanted!!! BTW, it is amazing how many people seem to not know what the qualifications for CM are according to the BSA....I even asked council about it and CAMPING is not one of the requirements..They are to make sure there are trained leaders on the trips but are not required ot go themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The requirements are found here :http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/AboutCubScouts/ThePack/cmast.aspx

ScoutNut, What happens to your current den next year if you become Cubmaster(CM), or Committee Chair(CC)? With parents not willing to take on leadership positions, and a CC in name only, are you going to be forced to do the jobs of CC, CM, Den Leader, and various Committee Member positions, all at the same time? If so, I would recommend you stay with, and concentrate on your den and making sure those boys get the best program you can give them, and leave the rest of the jobs to someone else. When I became serious about this, I did recruit a family from my den to take over my Tiger Den and they are officially in charge now. To be fair, they had been approached by someone else but did not commit until after I became serious about becoming CM. As far as next year, if I became Cm would like to try a different perspective on the Tiger Den, with me or ACM leading a new scout orientation and trying the shared leadership plan suggested by BSA! ON a side note, interesting that you say focus on my den and leave the rest to someone else...That seems to be the problem.. No wonder there is such a lack of volunteers in the scouting program! When someone wants to, they are told don't bother. 45-60 Scouts and the Pack can not get any parents to step up to volunteer as leaders? That is not good. We have a lot of parents that help but none that are willing to be CM or make a full time committment. We have leaders for our current dens but will need new ones for the coming year for Tigers and possibly one other den. With a retention rate under 80%, your Pack is having problems keeping Scouts in it's program. Do you know why is it losing boys/families? I do have some idea and it is something I think I can help with. Why do you want a Pack bigger than 60 boys? My first response is "Why NOt?" Is it to give you a better buffer for when you loose Scouts? NO!!! It is because I feel that there are boys that could benefit from the scouting program that do not have the opportunity as well as more boys, more dens equal more opportunities for friendships among boys, service opportunities, more parent volunteers, more opportunity to make a difference in the world, one MORE boy at a time! What does your being a woman have to do with camping with the Pack, with, or without your son being present? Well, from my perspective would not want my hubby camping with a group of girl scouts with my daughter or me...Just saying.. How often does the Pack camp? They do a couple pack trip a year and the Webelos camp more often.

Wow, thank you all for the response! Some of it made me laugh, some- shake my head, and some of it made me feel encouraged. I guess I did not expect a lot of negative responses since there are so many people complaining about the lack of volunteers. I have been reading these boards for months and should have expected the response I got! lol First, sorry for the typo of xm, yes I did mean CM. Second, we do not have a functioning committee. Our CM and her two ACM's have basically done everything for a couple years. Ideally, I would love to be CC, but know that I will have to become CM to begin the transition. The DLs and pack, I have been told are willing to make changes. In fact, they expect change with a new leadership. As far as most of the things like growing to 75, on our recharter we had like 64 so it is not a giant leap for us. Retention is pretty well and we would probably be gold now if I sat down and ran the actual numbers.as far as the camping, the person who stated if it was pack wide then I would need to go, otherwise not...echos my feeling. I am a woman and while this may sound old fashioned, I would feel really strange going camping with men and boys that were not my family? I realize that I have to be available tp everyone whether my kid is involved or not, I plan to. The service projects are in addition and can be fun, after all I want to the boys to understand that service IS fun! As far as health, thanks to those who did not use it as a reason...lol At first, I actually thought it would hinder me, until I went to University of Scouting and saw all the people with canes and the majority were not very physically fit..lol In fact, out of all the instructors, I think one might have been 'physically fit'. As far as membership, currently the CM does this so I would do it for a while until we could get the committee working properly. The current CM and her 2 ACMS also do the pack finances.. Again, I reiterate that I do not think anyone has a problem with me, they wanted someone else that could not. I also wonder if one of the reasons that organizations, packs, churches, schools, etc.. do not have enough volunteers is because ultimately even while saying they do, they do not want someone to step up and volunteer. I volunteered several months ago and even after the meeting in Jan, where I was told to shadow the current CM, at the Blue and Gold, there was an announcement made to the general pack that someone needed to step up and fill the role of CM because no one had. Anyway, I am going to stay positive. I know I can help and plan to be honest tomorrow and go from there. I do know that if there is not a good decision made, we will tranfer to another pack. It is not good for a pack to be in limbo and I will not allow my son to suffer because of adults playing games. Sorry for any typos! Again, thank you ALL for replying, even though some of the responses were not what I wanted to hear, they helped me clarify my thoughts so they were very helpful!

Jaimist, Thank you for your response. I realize that I would be the one making it happen, and I can do that. Most tasks are fine, however, one thing about our pack is that while no one wants the responsibility of being cubmaster, everyone pitches in if given specific tasks such as tables, etc..The reason that I am very specific about my vision is that I was told that I would be asked to present that at the meeting tomorrow. I loved your comment about 'settling for status quo"!

Nike, Thanks for your response. As for the first concern, as you mentioned there are active duty military and a whole lot of other people who have issues so that is why there is back up in place:) I think that is why one of the reasons that 'health' issues reason bothers me. I wish I could figure out a nice way to say that 'health issues' should be considered on the same level as every other thing such as militarty, family obligations, etc. Also, the concern is that I will not be active in camping..Personally, if my son is not going, I really do not think that I should either? (I am a woman) The second issue of relationships...I am not aware of any issues and get along well with everyone in my den and those that I have been around outside of den. If they have issues with me, then I am not aware. From what I understand, our pack was larger at one time and the current leadership decided to stop recruiting from all 4 schools and only do 1. So as far as over enthusiasm, I guess it is possible but honestly, if something is worth doing, it is worth doing right..I think. and the Cub Scout Motto is : Do Your Best...lol As for vision, I am willing to change somewhat but I still think that we should aim for the best. As far as what the Pack needs, they need leadership. They need someone coming up that is willing to take the lead. Our current team, took over in a crisis and have done wonders with the pack. It became financially solvent under them when it was completely broke before and could not even provide awards. Our pack needs someone willing to learn and at this time I think it would benefit them to have someone who is newer to the pack become CM because right now everything is dumped on the current CM and bless her heart, she does it and with a newer person,the pack would be starting essentially over as far as leadership. I did not start out wanting to do this but feel like if someone is put in name only, then the pack will suffer. In every situation that I have ever been a part of, the leader's enthusiasm builds the followers enthusiasm. So, I really do not think that it an issue. It is more that there is 'someone else', but that person does NOT want to become CM. My son, has 4 more years here and I want to make them positive. I do not want to settle for less than the best! I also want to teach him to stand up and be willing to do what is needed whereever he may be:) As for RT, yes it would be awesome to attend every month but it meets on Wed night and that directly contradicts with church. In fact the Cub Scout promise states that "..to do my duty to God and my country.." So, if in fact I did skip church to do RT all the time would I be fulfilling the Cub Scout Promise? I am really not being sarcastic but serious? I am willing to come a little later to RT and catch the 2nd half because I would be able to get there after church. I am also fine with activities other than Wed night such as meetings, etc..and would be willing to go to a different district RT in our council... Anyway, thanks for listening and offering advice because I am definitly going to use your question, what does the pack need tommorrow, if that is ok:)

Hi. I am new to the forum and need advice. This is the first year I have ever been involved in Scouting. However, I usually love to jump into things. I volunteered to be the Tiger Den Leader and completed every bit of the online training for Cub Scouts and boy Scouts, including all the committe positions, cubmaster, wolf, bear, leader, Outdoor, etcc...All of them (except Venturing) I also found out about University of scouting on my own and registered out of pocket for this. I have read this forum for ideas, etc...The only thing I do not do is attend roundtable regularly. Oh yeah, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and missed one meeting this year because I could not maneuver the stairs to get to our scout hall. The reason is it is on Wed night and hard for me to make because I like to be active at church. Anyway, when I joined the CM and ACM's (there were 2)made it known that they would be leaving the pack when their boys crossed to the troop this year. Not knowing much I waited and read what I could find and went to University and took classes such as recharter, Finances and Budget, and Building a Pack. Afterwards, realized I could be a CM, Our CC is really in name and so the CM does do a lot for our pack. However, I am good with that...I have the extra time and would love to give it a shot! My problem is when I met with the existing leadership, they told me that they really did not think I could do it because of health, my RA, because I would not be able to go on all the camping trips..So, I did more research and realized that I could be an effective XM or CC without going on every camping trip. After that, I sent a letter to the CM abd ACM saying I would like to be considered. Since then, things have been a little strange and some things have been said that make me want to be very defensive, However, I still think that I could do a great job and help grow our pack as well as retain the current members!! But when the committee met in Jan, due to the flu and being hospitalized, I could not attend. I do not KNOW for sure what was said but was told by a couple people that some negative things were said about me to the committee. They tabled things until this week and I plan to attend. I am supposed to say anything that I feel I need to. I know that the current leadership wants someone else to feel this role, but noone else in the pack wants to and they have all reiterated this several times to everyone. I do know that I do not want my reputation ruined because of this. I am willing to step up, learn what I need, and do a good job for the pack, however I am NOT playing politics!! After reading and researching, I have come up with something I plan to pass out Tom. Night listing my vision, direction I would take the pack and specific goals. Vision for the Pack. I also want Pack 254 to embark on the Journey of Excellence and strive for a gold medal! My vision for Pack 254 is to be known for the highest standards in the district and set the bar for all others in recruiting, retaining, and preparing our leaders and our boys! Goals: I want to see Pack 254 grow to at least 75 boys in the coming year. I would like to see our retention rate at 80% and achieve a gold standard of the Journey of Excellence. I would like to see at least 50% of our boys attend day camp. I want Pack 254 to participate and spearhead 4 service projects other than regularly scheduled scouting projects. At least one of these should be in conjuction with FUMC. Identify Wolf, Bear, and Webelos leaders by May 31st. Have all leaders trained Complete a written budget and get input from chartered organization, parents, leaders, and scouts. Have 100% involvement in fundraising activities such as scout show cards and popcorn. Increase popcorn sales 150%. When were we first chartered by FUMC? "Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized." D. Burn While some of these may take a little while, they are attainable! Right now we have 45-60 boys depending on time of year. Does anyone have ANY advice on how to address the negativity withoutbeing negative? And health issues? are they valid? I mean, I don't know what will happen tomorrow but I can perform day to day tasks and stuff..now I don't do rock climbing, etc..but I can watch..lol I am very good with administration and think I could do good with Pack meetings... I realize that if a decision is not made soon, our pack could suffer and how can I make them realize that waiting for someone who does not want to commit could be detrimental to our pack? Anyway, thanks for listening as I am so nervous about tomorrow night!!!