ScoutNut

Welcome!! To introduce your Wolf Den to the outdoors, start with some fun hikes in the woods. Do you have any parks that would have Naturalist programs? That is a great place to start. As for camping, take BALOO training and then get your whole Pack out camping! Have FUN! (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

After 6 years of being a Tiger Den Leader, the one thing that I have found to be the major incentive for the boys staying in Scouts is the parents. If you can capture the parents the boys will stay. That is one of the main reasons for using shared leadership in Tigers. The parents have to feel like they are a part of the whole process. Of course there will be some who are happy being just a tiny part of it, but that's ok too. As long as they feel included, feel like it is THEIR Pack too, and have FUN with their son, they will be more likely to champion Scouts over (or at least along w

All of the leaders in a Pack (den and others) are a team. They do not work in a void. If one of the den leaders is having a problem they can give either you or the CC a call/e-mail (depending on what the problem is). Or, if it can wait until then, bring it up at your Committee meeting. The CC runs the Committee mettings. That doesn't mean they are in charge of everything. It means they coordinate the meeting. Some people find it helpful to have an adgenda so they remember to cover everything. For instance: Opening (we do a prayer) Last Pack Meeting (what worked what didn't)

Years back, BSA reccomended separate Committee and Leaders meetings each month. This is no longer the case. The committee members, along with the other Pack leaders, meet once a month for a Pack leader's meeting. The Committee Chair runs the leader's meetings. The Cubmaster runs the Pack meetings. There is no need for a separate Den Leader meeting.

Tiger Dens can be fickle. Sometimes you have families just "trying out" Scouting and unless you can hook them in they give up at the first soccer game. The key is to make it FUN for the boys AND the adults! There is nothing wrong with Tigers meeting weekly. As a matter of fact that is how the BSA program helps for Tigers are laid out. You have 2 regular meetings, 1 field trip (Go-See-It) meeting, and 1 Pack meeting each month. One problem with your Tiger Den could be that it does not sound like they are following the Tiger program and using Shared Leadership. The Tiger families

Trevorum - The boy may NOT wear his actual UU award on his uniform, but he MAY wear the silver square knot on purple background patch on his BSA uniform.

Hey, everyone is entitled to a rant now and then. As a matter of fact, some of us carry our soap boxes in our back pocket the easier to pull out at a moments notice! LOL ! I also understand that you do not want to "undermine" your position with your Pack. However, a part of every committee meeting is (or should be) going over what worked and what didn't at the last Pack meeting. Politics, either pertaining to the BSA or not, has no place in a meeting that should have, as it's main purpose, the recognition of the boys. I am very suprised that nobody brought that up at your next Commit

"Be clear that he will not receive a religious emblem square knot and that the award is not permitted on a BSA uniform." Why can't his Troop present him the square knot? I understand that the Unitarian emblem itself can not be worn on the BSA uniform. However, nowhere that I can find, does it stipulate that the knot can be worn only for completing those religous emblem programs that BSA allows on it's uniform. The wording that I find is: "This knot may be worn by any Scout or Scouter that completed a religious emblem program as a youth member." No mention of only BSA appr

If your school charters a Cub Pack they will "own" that Pack and can make any stipulations they like about membership as long as they do not go against BSA principles. That is their right. However - you said : "They basically believe that people that have "put something into the school" are much more likely to take care of it. So, groups that are not associated with the school are not allowed to use the school's resources. That is there policy." If the school is the charter organization for the Pack, doesn't that make the Pack "associated with the school"? If most of the Pa

Hey, if you have a Cubmaster and Committee Chair who are 2 different people, from 2 different families, you are a step ahead of a lot of Packs! Seriously, a Committee of a CC, CM, Treas, & DL's is not to awful. That is basicly who we have attend most of our Committee meetings. Our COR stops by occasionaly, usually when he has some news of interest. We have a standing invite for any parent to attend, our meeting dates are listed in our calendar, but none ever come. At your next Committee meeting you need to bring the CM to task for his rant on the ACLU. You are right, the Pack mee

Here's a great one for your Wolves - and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to gather the materials! http://www.e-scoutcraft.com/found/bone_wolf.html I made this at Pow Wow many years ago. It worked well even without painting it. I used red felt instead of paper. One caution - dogs seem to be drawn to this, mine ended up as kibble!

One of the SWAPS I noticed would be great for B&G. A square knot! One cord royal blue and the other gold. The ends of the cords would have to be whipped or burned, but it would be kwel!

Pine Cone w/wire loop hot glued for Fall Toy Car Wheel W/loop hot glued for Pinewood Derby Paperclip Angel for Christmas And my fav everyday one - Tree limb slice with Tiger paw print wood burned in. My fav one I did for the boys was for the Webelos crossing over to BS a few years back. I did a tree slice with the flur d' lies (sp?) shape burned in. You can go to the $1 or party stores and browse thru the small trinket section. Then just hot glue a wire loop to the back. Any Girl Scout SWAPS would work. Just attach a loop instead of a pin: http://parenting

I don't think that different Den flags is divisive. I think it looks great! Each Den makes their own flag each year, putting on it what ever they deem important. Some get very creative some are pretty basic. They look great set up by each Den at Pack meetings and the boys love making them! BTW - Would you say that Boy Scout Patrol flags are divisive? These are usually all hand made and VERY different!

In the last 2 years the DE and others from council have come to all of our Troops's Eagle COH's (approx 4). We invite the District Key 3 to the Pack's B&G every year. The DE came once, about 3 years ago. District FOS and Summer Camp Chairs come to the Troop and Pack meetings they are invited to speak at. I am planning to ask our District Cub Day Camp Chair (who is also RdTbl Chair) to come to a Pack meeting after the 1st of the year to get the Cubs phyched about "Knights of the Not-So-Round Table". Our DE has said that he would be happy to attend our roundups and d

If you go to the bottom of the G2SS table of contents there is an Appendix titled "Updates". You will find all recent changes listed here. (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Don't you just love the stuttering! Anyway - Sure why not! Yes, it is supposed to be a "Den" go see it, but if the whole Den is going on the field trip, great! A repeat visit, even to a different fire station, could be boring to the youngun's. There are lots of different things to do and see, for both achievements and electives, why repeat! Do your CM's fire house next year.

6 year old kindergarten Tigers, girls in Webelos. Is there a full moon or something?? What you folks don't seem to understand is that you CAN NOT do whatever you want and still expect to be a chartered unit of BSA. You CAN NOT simply say this person is registered in our Pack and make it the truth. First - The Pack's Charter Organization could loose it's charter. Second - You, and yes, I mean you PERSONALLY Den3702, along with all Unit Leaders, could possibly be sued for everything you have in this world if something were to happen to this girl at a Pack/Den activity. This g

A few questions - If no registration form or fee was accepted by your Pack how can this child be a member? Was the Tiger Leader given a listing of REGISTERED Tiger Scouts? To the council folks here - will the scoutnet program even accept a registration of a 6 yr old in kindergarten? Final question - Does your CO, you, as CC, your past and present Cubmaster, and your Tiger Leader all REALLY want to face the possibility of losing EVERYTHING they have? I mean all personal assets, including house, car and bank accounts? That is a very real possibility if you continue to let this child att

Ang - As I said before, have your sister contact the Pack Treasurer and get a copy of their financials. If they are selling popcorn on top of this fee then she needs to see just what is what. Maybe a good idea would be to go to the next Committee meeting! Sorry Foto, I do not like forced participation and do not see the need for it under any circumstances. Yes we have planned for 40 and got 10 at activites, but when you know there is a chance of only getting 10 you can plan for 40, but not commit for 40. If we need to put money down in advance we tell families that they have until suc

IF the $135 was a PACK fee which paid Nat'l reg, insurance, recharter, patches and awards along with the other stuff I could ALMOST understand it. However, that is NOT what it sounds like. Also, mandatory pre-paying for outside activites like a hayride and hockey game is nuts. Why force your families to either attend an activity or pay even though you know you can't go? We have done both events and neither required reservations that far ahead that we did not have time to ask who wanted to go. I can see the Pack requiring pre-payment of entry fees to reserve a spot, but only from those

It is very frustrating for the girls. You would think that an automatic return "thank you" e-mail would be easy enough. Kwality & Beetlemom - Have your girls resend their e-mails directly to Eileen Doyle. At least they will have got them to the right person instead of having the e-mails floating around the S2B e-mailbag for who knows how long! . (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Here is the GSUSA contact info. Eileen Doyle (bottom) is the person who is currently working on Studio 2B and the re-write of the IP book. She might be the best person to address the e-mail or snail mail to, with perhaps cc's to the others. National does not have a good track record of replying to messages, but at least the girls get the satisfaction of knowing that they did contribute some of the feedback that National keeps telling us it wants. Kathy Cloninger Chief Executive Officer 420 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018-2798 kcloninger@girlscouts.org Phone: 212-852-5000 Fa

SMA - I too feel that $135 is rather high. Especially when it look like a specialized fee (den?) rather than an overall Pack Dues type of fee. What I would do is talk to the Pack's Committee Chairman and it's Treasurer. Get a breakout of what exactly this fee covers and the cost of each item. Then get a copy of the Pack's financial report for last year and this year. All of this information should be available to all families. With this info she should be able to see exactly where the Packs money is going and what they do and don't pay for. If this fee does only cover special

There is no "proven" way to get scouts back once they decide that they would rather be doing something else. What you need to do is work with the boys from day 1 to provide a fun scouting experience. You also need to be flexible. I have 2 Tigers who are having problems attending Den meetings just now. Because I talk to the parents, I know that both problems are temporary and that they should both be free in a few weeks. I include both in all of my calls and notes to the Tigers. The things that they can attend they do. Meanwhile the boys are working at home with their parents on