ScoutNut

I made these with Girl Scouts. Very easy and very "leave no trace" friendly when used with a Burner Buddy!

A Burner Buddy is a tuna can with corregated cardboard strips, cut the same depth as the can, coiled inside. The can should be filled pretty well with the cardboard. Then melt wax, or old candles in a double boiler and fill the can almost to the top. A little cardboard should be above the wax. These last a very long time. All you have to do is add wax periodicaly.

The coffee can has (as stated elsewhere) vents punched on the sides, with a church key can opener, around the top and bottom to get a draft going inside the can. The Buner Buddy is lit and the coffee can is overturned over it. You can then cook directly on the bottom of the can or use a small pan. When you are done cooking the coffee can is turned over and set on the Burner Buddy smothering the flame.

When everything is cool, and the cooking surface cleaned, you put the Burner Buddy inside the coffee can and put the coffee can plastic cover on. Now your camp stove is all ready to go! You might want to store the stove & buddy in a plastic bag because they become pretty sooty!

This would be perfect for Webelos. They would just need help with the wax!

If I understand this correctly, your CC, who is also your COR, is trying to get a married couple who she dislikes to quit the Troop. This married couple is very active with the Troop and has done nothing wrong expect get on the wrong side of your CC/COR. Does that about sum it up?

How does the rest of the Troop Committee and Troop parents feel about the situation? From your posts it almost sounds like the problem is the CC/COR not the couple. Why exactly does she want them out?

These are some of the problems that happen when you have 1 person (especially if that person has some control issues) holding both the CC and the COR positions. I totally agree with Eamonn, you need to find a new CC. If the rest of the Troop is not behind the COR in her decision to oust these people, then they need to make a visit to the IH. Weather the IH likes it or not, they are ultimately responsible for the health & well being of the Troop.

Call the Catholic Youth Organization in your Archdiocese, they will be able to give you info. You might also contact your Parish Youth Ministry office.

Your daughter should be able to work on the Family of God program. This is for girls ages 7-9 or the Brownie level.

Juniors (ages 9-11) I Live My Faith.

Cadettes (ages 12-15) Marian

Seniors (high school) Spirit Alive

There used to be a Pualla (sp?) Maria program between the I Live My Faith & Marian, but that appears to have been removed.

My girls have earned all 5 religious awards. They received the Spirit Alive award yesterday at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago!

Sometimes information on these things are not shared well. The older leaders just assume that everyone knows, but that is not always the case. There is a lady I work with who is a Brownie leader in a neighboring town. She had no idea that there were religious awards her girls could earn. She said that her parish did not do anything like that. However, at both ceremonies this year at our Cathedral (BS & GS), the Pastor of her parish was honored for his contributions to Scouting!

The AOL and the religious knot are the 2 earned badges that can be transfered to the Boy Scout uniform. The World Crest badge can also be transfered. Also, since you wear the last earned rank badge on your left pocket, many new Boy Scouts are wearing the new Webelos rank badge until they earn their Scout rank.

You might suggest she talk to her Unit Commissioner.

From the on-line Fast Start Training for Pack Committee - "The pack committee meets as part of the monthly pack leaders' meeting."

In Cub Scouts there is only 1 meeting for everybody, including all parents if they want to show up! It should also be held every month.

In our Pack Committee meetings we review how the last Pack meeting went. What we think worked & what we would change. We talk about the next 2 months Pack meetings to sort out what we are doing. Any info that needs to go to the boys is given to the Den Leaders at this time. Extra Pack-wide activities/outings for the next couple of months are discussed. Finances are checked and discussed. Advancement person is given a heads up on any badges/awards/segments that the dens are working on and plan to have finished by the next Pack meeting.

I can't see meeting less than once a month. There is to much going on that everyone needs to keep up with! If anyone misses the meeting they try to make sure their info goes in with someone. After, we make sure someone calls and gives them the scoop on what went on.

I don't much care who is married to whom & who is doing what job at the meetings. The main thing is that we get the job done. Together.(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

If this couple are indeed causing families to either leave or never join the pack, then you need to discuss this with your Charter Organization Rep. Your Charter Organization, in the form of your COR, is the only one who can "fire" Pack leaders or committee members. The position of Unit Commissioner is a Council one and your COR has no control over that, but they do over CC and TL.

I would also talk to your Tiger/Wolf family and try to find out if her problem with the Tiger Leader is a Youth Protection one. That can be very serious.

Quixote & KWC57 are quite correct. The younger brother should NOT have been allowed to join as a Wolf. I understand the parents & Packs issues, but it does a disservice to the boys to break the rules like this.

The younger boy did not meet the BSA joining requirements for a Wolf den, therefore he also did not meet the requirements to receive a Wolf rank badge. Even if he did all of the book requirements he should not be given the Wolf rank. If you would have had him simply participating as a tag-a-long or working with one of his parents on his Tiger rank while taging-a-long, that would have been very different. What happens to this boy when he wants to join a Boy Scout Troop with his older brother? Remember, he will not meet the joining requirements for Boy Scouts either. Do you make sure the Troop leadership is all from your current Pack and will go along again as they have now? Do you try to force a Troop to take him? If you do break the rules again and get him into a Troop when he does not meet the requirements, what happens when he works for years to earn his Eagle only to be turned down because some of his paperwork and possibly ranks and merit badges are incorrect?

I know you are trying to do what is best for the boy and his family, and problems that far down the road do not seem like they would matter much. Unfortunately they do.

So you are saying your Troop would go along with a 3rd grade boy being registered as a Cub Scout, but wearing the uniform of, participating in the activities of, and being given (can't possibly be earned since he is not a registered BS) the rank badges of a Boy Scout?

If you do this, you had better hope that none of the other Boy Scouts or their families find out. IMHO it makes a mockery of the Boy Scout program and trivializes the work the other boys have done to earn their BS ranks.

If this happened in our Troop, my son & I would quickly find a new Troop.

Pack - 1 - Popcorn. This covers most expenses. Outings are either free or minimal cost for non-scouts only (scout is free).

Troop - 2 - Popcorn: all profit goes to the scout who earns it. The boys use this to pay for campouts, summer camp, scout stuff, etc. Pancake Breakfast: Profit to Troop, boys who work it get service hours to go towards money off for summer camp.

The problems with the Den Chief program fall on both Pack & Troop. If the Pack leaders (including CM) have not been trained then they probably have not even heard of a Den Chief. Those that have heard of them usually do not really know what they should be used for or how to work with them. You have only a very small % of Pack people who really know what a Den Chief can and should do. That is why a lot of Packs never even consider Den Chiefs or, if they do have them, use them as gofers or treat them as just a larger member of their den.

It seems that a lot of Troops out there don't have a clear concept of the Den Chief position either. Hey, if they hadn't a clue when they were in the Pack they sure wouldn't have one when they move up to a Troop! Also you can't force boys to become Den Chiefs. As someone mentioned, it's a lot of work! Especially for boys entering High School. If they are not encouraged by their Troop and family they will either not volunteer at all or will drop out pretty quickly.

Our SM asks at one of the first meetings of the year (if he remembers) if anyone is interested. If no one responds then thats the last it's mentioned. My son had to go to him and ask if he could take the training. He didn't object, but he didn't offer to have the Troop pay for it either. After that the Troop seemed to forget all about the fact they had a Den Chief. Periodicly, at uniform inspections, my son would get asked why he was wearing a "Trained" strip!

IMHO councils need to make a bigger deal about Den Chiefs in all levels of training. Get the word out that the position exists. Get the Pack and Troop leaders trained in the use of Den Chiefs. Then maybe we will see the program start to do what it was ment to!

My son loves working with his Bears. He has been helping with them since they were Tigers and is looking forward to the time when they join his Troop.

We have been told by our council that they are no longer allowing Packs and/or Webelos Dens to camp with Troops at Camporees. The reason they gave was that the rules and regs for camping was way to different for the different programs. They also stated that Cubs/Webelos are not allowed to participate in any activities that are specifically for Boy Scouts.

We used to have Webelos camp overnight with the Troops at the yearly camporee. No more. Council said that National felt that the Webelos were doing to many activities that were ment for Boy Scouts only. Troops are now encouraged to set aside a Troop campout specificially for Webelos. The feeling is that this way the Troop can set up level appropriate activities and spend more time with the Webelos and their parents.

"They're hoping that their old image carries them through the current problems. Instead, the image has gone from moral patriots to mindless, conservative, anamatronic, little army men."

You should preface this with "In my opinion". This is definately not a factual statement. I have never, ever heard anyone in my area come even remotely close to depicting the image of a scout that way.

"In regards to media coverage, which is being seen more by the public: the wonderful experience that Boy Scouts has to offer, or the controversy with gays and atheists?"

The media coverage you refer to is only 2 or 3 stories which are picked up and repeated by those having a slow news day or those looking for something to argue over. What the public sees is the boy next door in his scout uniform collecting food for the area food pantry. What the public sees are all of the area GS, CS, and BS units marching proudly in a local parade. What the public sees is a bunch of Cub Scouts, in uniform, selling popcorn at a local bank, holding doors open, being polite, and talking to people about what they plan on doing with the money they are working so hard for. What the public sees are boys who are having fun, learning and doing service for their community.

Sure the politics might be hot news right now, and it certainly gives people something to gossip about. Let's face it, politics, of any sort, is one of people's most favorite subjects to babble about. Just check out some of the areas on this forum!! But what the public sees, and believes in, are boys that are not in gangs and not doing drugs. Boys that they do not have to be afraid of. Boys that they can feel proud of.

If this is not the case in your neck of the woods, then you have no one to blame for it but yourselves. Get it in gear and improve your programs, your youth, and your publicity. Blaming the way people in your neighbourhood perceive scouts, on the PR job of some guys in Texas, is unrealistic.

"I wonder - as far as spin goes - if the BSA (exec) could somehow allow chartering groups to sponsor both BSA (youth) and Learning for Life groups to join together in a kind of joint-activities w/separate memberships."

I doubt it, the programs are to different. Learning for Life is a classroom based educational program. Exploring, a division of Learning for Life is a worksite education program.

The WAGGGS site has links to the different countries. You might try sending the country of your choice an e-mail asking for information. Perhaps they could put you in touch with a troop who is doing the USA for Thinking Day!

You could also try the links thru WOSM (World Organization of the Scout Movement) :

http://www.scout.org/front/index.shtml

Many countries are dual registered because they are co-ed. You might be able to find different info.(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

ASM514 - As others have stated, the ONLY way that this raffle could be done is if your CO holds the raffle on its own, with nothing stating that the raffle has any connection to BSA or your unit. It would be, in effect, a fundraiser strictly for your CO. What they do with their money after they have it in their bank account is up to them.

"such raffle could not employ BSA symbols or be advertised as a benefit for BSA unless BSA gave its approval (read, got their cut)."

The only fundraiser that BSA (at least in our Council) gets a "cut" of is popcorn sales. Other fundraisers held by units, for their units (fundraising for another organization is also not allowed) have to be approved by council, but our council does not require that we give them a portion of our proceeds. The approval is to make sure that the fundraiser meets the rules and regs of the BSA as set down on the back of the "Unit Money Earning Application".

Our Cubs usually march in 1 parade a year. I would not try to keep them in perfect formation, close is good enough. Posters are quite correct about the flags. Even with the flag holders they are heavy and very tall for even some of the older boys. Have the adults carry the larger flags and give the lighter/shorter den flags to the boys. You want the boys to have as much fun as possible! We have the boys wave to the crowd and sing scout songs as they march. Silly marching chants are good too. If there are some who might get tired, have a few parents bring wagons that have been decorated in the parade theme. That way if the little ones get pooped they can have a ride for a while!

Studio 2B is a new program for girls 11-17 years old. This is National's response to the need for an updated older girl program and comes out of their New Directions research. Their will be 3 age groups addressed, 11-13, 13-15, and 15-17. Leaders will be called Advisors, and according to the reasearch should be between 18-29 years old because girls want leaders who are more "teen savy". There are new Studio 2B resources which include a Basics binder set ($9.95), that is 24 pages and explains Studio 2B. This is ment for the girls to carry with and add to. There are also the Collections ($9.95). These are publications for each age group that cover their needs, interests, and favorite things. Each Collection group will be changed yearly. Then you have the Focus booklets ($4.95 & $5.95). There are currently 7, each on a different topic. Girls complete certain things to earn charms ($4.25). There is also a Guide for Advisors ($6.95) which contains information, worksheets and charts.

Girls in Studio 2B will no longer have to wear the GS uniform. There will be a Studio 2B t-shirt that they can wear. They also no longer have to refer to themselves as Junior, Cadette, or Senior Gir Scouts. They will be Studio 2B members and part of a Studio 2B Team (I believe that is the correct term). According to National, Studio 2B is not replacing the current older girl programs, only supplementing them. Councils are in the process now of looking at the materials and deciding how they will implement the program. National will be evaluating the program from now until 2005. At that time they will finalize any changes needed and it will become permanent.

My take on Studio 2B (and my Senior Troops) is that GSUSA, while trying to attract new, older, girls to Girl Scouting, has kind of thumbed their collective noses at the girls they now have. This program is specificaly ment to target those girls who do not want to be known as Girl Scouts. It is a way for them to be in the Girl Scout program without anyone knowing they a Girl Scout! The program materials all have large Studio 2B logos and just a teeny tiny mention that it is a GS program. My daughter was very upset at the concept of GSUSA actively recruiting girls who are ashamed to be Girl Scouts. She feels that they should be doing more to promote pride in Scouting rather than the reverse.

The program goals, having the girls plan their own activities and get opportunities they would not otherwise have, are the same as what we presently do! I also wish councils much luck in finding enough young adults 18-29 to be their Studio 2B Advisors. With many, many areas out there with waiting lists for troops at every level, councils are obviously having a hard time finding enough leaders/advisors of ANY age!

Most of the people I have talked to who have seen the materials were not overly impressed. I do not think we will be purchasing any because my girls were not impressed with the concept, think the charms are dumb, are quite busy enough working on their final religious medal and their Gold Award, and were all VERY happy that next year will be their last and they will be out before "National ruins the Older Girl program" (their words)!

Kittle -

You are most welcome! Glad it helped. I find that keeping an eye on my councils website helps. That, combined with browsing thru flyers at our scout shop, helps me to keep up with what's going on. If I had to wait for our CM I would not have a CLUE! LOL!

Bobcat is most certainly a rank. It is the 2nd rank that boys can achieve in the Cub Scout program (the first being Tiger). It is also the FIRST rank that ALL boys who join Cub Scouts, no matter what level they join in (except Tiger) MUST earn before they can receive any achievement recognitions for the level they are in. That means that a boy who joins Cub Scouts for the first time as a 2nd grade Bear, MUST earn his Bobcat rank badge before he can receive his Progress thru Ranks totem or any instant recognition beads! He can work on the achievements for his level, but he cannot receive them until he has received his Bobcat Rank. The same would go for a Webelos who joined for the first time. He would have to earn his Bobcat Rank before he could receive any of his Webelos activity pins.

This concept is the same as that used for electives. Boys can work on electives from the day they get their book, but they can NOT RECEIVE the beads (Tiger) or arrowpoints (Wolf/Bear)until they have earned the badge of their rank.

My Pack shoots for Tiger/Wolf/Bear/Webelos rank badges and Webelos AOL award to be awarded at Feb. B&G in special ceremonies. If the boys don't make it for B&G, they get their ceremony and badge at the 1st Pack meeting after they earn their rank.

There is still plenty of stuff for the boys to do after they earn their rank. Tigers have lots of electives and they can all be earned more than once! There also lots of fun things to do together. Go to a local Nature Center, go on a hike, visit an animal shelter, tour a factory, go Family Camping with your Pack, just to name a few. Check with your council to see if there are any districtwide events coming up. Look into nearby districts as well as your own. My district is holding a Cub Winter Event in the beginning of February and a Cub-O-Ree in mid April. Our dens will also be working on a skit/song for our March Showtime Pack meeting and a cardboard vehicle for our April Cardboard Boxcar Derby.

For my Tigers, we will work gradually towards learning the things they need for Bobcat. Our den opening & closing ceremonies will include the Cub Scout Promise & Law instead of "Search, Discover & Share". We will incorporate Bobcat things into gathering activities like those that were suggested above. In May we hold our official Pack graduation and the boys receive their new scarves and books. They can work in their books all summer. We usually have at least 1 Pack activity (fishing derby, picnic, bike ride, Cub camp, etc) each month in the Summer, but no den meetings. Our first Pack meeting at the end of September is highlighted by our Bobcat Rank ceremony for all Wolves and any other new boys and our Tiger welcome/totem ceremony.

So it sounds like you guys have the right idea and your CM & Committee need some refresher training!

Have Fun with your Tigers!!

Katrina -

The Native Trails District of Buffalo Trace Council is holding training on 02/15/03, at the University of Southern Indiana. Here is the website:

http://members.sigecom.net/bsa156/ntd.html

There is contact information there. Hope you can make it. Every boy deserves a trained leader! Let your council know you want more training opportunities thruout the year!

Ghosthost13 - Check out your local State Parks. Some might have patch programs. If you are near the National Lakeshore, I believe they participate in the NPS Junior Ranger program. Your county park districts might also have patch programs thru their nature centers. Also check out area historical societies or landmarks. One of our neighbouring towns has many, many historical houses and spots. They have a patch you can earn for completing a historical hike around the town.

BSA Family Award was mentioned. This is a nice award for the families to work on individualy.

Do you and your scouts have access to the internet? If so, there is USSP's Internet Scout Patch you can earn. Here is the address:

http://usscouts.org/internetscoutpatch.asp

Nations Trails United States Heritage Award

http://www.nationstrails.com/

Check out local zoos. One of our local zoos has a very nice patch program for youth groups. There are various activities you do, depending on the ages involved, to earn the patch.

Remember though, Scouts doesn't end with the Bear year! Save some stuff for the next 2 years. Especially belt loops. There are some that can be used for Webelos achievements. The catch is that they have to be earned as a Webelos. That means that if they have already earned them as a Wolf or Bear they must re-earn them as a Webelos!

Have FUN!

Twocubdad is correct, B&G, aside from being a celebration of the beginning of scouting, is also a regular Pack meeting. So you should include what you usually do at Pack meetings along with any "party" type stuff.

Some Packs go all out hog wild for B&G. They rent a hall and everything. We stay at our regular meeting place in our Parish Hall, but fancy it up. Our B&G is on a Saturday evening so there are no worries about school the next day. We issue special guest invitations to the head of our CO (Holy Name Society), our parish Pastor and priests, and our Troop's SM and ASM's.

It seems like the themes for February are mostly patriotic types. This is fine every once in a while, but we usually like to change around. If January's theme (strike up the bamd) sounds fun, we will usually go with that. Pinewood derby is our January theme!

Decorations are handled by everyone. The dens each make centerpieces based on the chosen theme. Sometimes we have them do posters as well, to hang on the walls. We have set-up the night before and anyone who can make it, comes by to help. Same for clean-up. Whoever can, stays to help. Needless to say, since we have awesome families, we always have plenty of help! We do not do committees. Each leader kind of parcels out the stuff assigned to their den to some (or all) of their families to coordinate. All decisions about B&G are made by our Pack Committee at our monthly meetings. That is where you should start.

For food we usually go with having it catered thru our local VFW. They have tasty food, tons of it, and at a price that you can't beat with a stick! Since we have a pot-luck dinner for December we like to give ourselves a break in February. We charge a minimal amount to help cover the cost of food and families bring dessert. Some years we do a Dad/Cub cake bake and that is our dessert!

For entertainment we will have the dens do short run-ons or jokes during the meeting portion of the night. At the end of the evening we splurge (we try to keep it as low as possible) on paid entertainment and the boys all gather on the floor in front of the stage and watch. A few years we used a young man (high school age) who was a wonderful magician. He brought boys up on stage and did great up close and personal stuff with them. Last year we did a birthday party theme and had a clown who did balloon animals all thru dinner. We will NOT be doing that again. It encouraged the kids to run around during dinner, there were long lines to wait for animals, we had balloon "sword" fights, and in general way too much chaos! It was decided to stick with a sit down, end of the night, type of thing.

We hand out the usual awards during the meeting portion. We also try to get everyone to reach their rank by B&G. We do larger/fancier presentations for rank. On the years we have OA do their Indian crossover ceremony, we reserve it for the end of the night entertainment spot. It is truly great! Costumes, props, lights, fires, mystery! We have some great budding actors in the group!

So, what your budget is, and how close to it you need to stay, will determine how fancy you can get. We usually end up in the red for the night. But that is OK because we try to keep the cost to the families as low as possible. After all, that is what they sold all of that popcorn for!

Remember, like everything in Scouting, B&G is for the boys and should be FUN!(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Check with your Council. Some are now offering Basic Leader Training as a take-home course. Also bring your co with you to your District's next Roundtable. You will find lots of info and training for using next month's theme.