SctDad

I think that you should try to make the dens at 10 or less. If you can find another den leader then try making it as the others have said. But before you break it down into three dens, get a leader and get them trained and motivated.

I have been kind of sitting back and reading what other have posted tin the past 48 hours. But some new things have come to light in that time also. EAGLE92 - You are right, in our area we are strapped for volunteers, as many people lead busy lives and always look for someone else to do it. I have been fortunate and managed to recruit 2 non-parent leaders to help out. I had one other, but due to scheduling conflicts, has asked to not be reregistered. That is just for my pack. On another note, I talked with someone the other day. Eagle, you know him from the seabase. This weekend he showed me a program that he is working on "Cub Scouting On Demand" Look into this eagle for your pack/family campouts. THe program looks good. Anyway, we talked for about an hour about different things with Cub Scout Camping. He asked me what I thought about the day camp. I told him and he also asked me what could be done to improve it. And yes BW, this is a person who is much higher in the council food chain, asking me a Cubmaster for suggestions. We also talked about the upcoming programs and he asked if I had any input on the topics and what we could do. He said that it was apparent that he and I were on the same page in that we were both trying to get the Cub Scouts back outside and camping. He asked me to serve on an upcoming committee with specific regards to Cub Scout Camping. He said that it would meet about once a quarter. I told him to keep me in mind and I would consider it. So that is an idea of what is coming up with what I am doing. I think that the CS program will be improving soon.

I think that one of the best ways to help keep summer camp different would be to go through and break the boys up into age/rank groups and work on things that are in line with advancement. That way the boys have something different each year. If done right, you will have 4-5 years worth of rotation and they are not repeating the same things over and over. BB Guns and Archery are always favorites. The boys I have met love it. But keep it different by helping them not only earn their belt loops, but their Sports Pins and maybe helping them improve and earn the Jr. Shooting Sports Team Patches. My son loves having the large patch from the shooting sports team on his shirt. Don't get me wrong, it was not given away, some of the boys in his summer camp den did not get their Patch. So Time for improvement is also a must. I know that you also have other questions about how to get into the helping program, I would suggest finding out more from your council. I do not know too much about the specifics, but I am trying to learn. Hope this helps.

If I remember correctly (Being that I last shopped there many moons ago) they had several different overlapping maps for each are. Just wish I cold find something like that around here. Good luck

Firebuilding for Bear Scouts is not in their program of achievements/electives. So IMO They do not need to be doing it yet. It is however in the Outdoorsman Activity Badge (Requirement 7) it is required to discuss the rules of fire safety and build a fire according to these rules. As for the untrained leader, if you have that much concern about his lack of training, talk to the Cubmaster and pass on your concerns. This may be what is needed. Hope that you figure this out soon.

So if I am understanding BW right, the only people that are allowed/charged with helping out a Cub Scout Day Camp are member sof the District Committee. No one else. I guess that means the members of the OA, (who are part of a national honor society of campers, meant to help other scouts) need to also sign up for the District committee to help out with a Day Camp. One other thing. This Day Camp was not a district event. This was a Council event. So I guess those on the district committee are not meant to help with this. Only those who are on the council committee. Boy, that eliminates a lot of the younger, more energetic scouters. Guess Day Camps are Doomed Around here, Council and Districts accept help from those who step up.(This message has been edited by SctDad)

If you have been to Maine in the past I am sure that you know about a place in the outlet malls called teh Kittery Trading Post. Stop in there and look through their maps. They had some good topo maps available for purchase when I was there. All you have to do was find your grin that you were looking for and they will pul it out of the drawer. http://www.kitterytradingpost.com/

Bob White You Ask Why??? Because I paid for a Day Camp with expectations and they were, for the most part, not fulfilled. I have seen the previous years and was disappointed. Just as many other parents and leaders. So If one sees something that he can help with to improve the program, than why should he/she sit on the sidelines and just complain. Just like Adamsdwa said, the first to complain are usually the last to volunteer. I think that this is the mentality of too many in scouting and there needs to be something that is done, and if I can provide some help some where, then hopefully it will make next years a little better. And in the process may return the 'Outing to Scouting.'

Well, Eagle, no patches from this weekend. I was kind of disappointed.

Eagle Thanks for the Help. I guess that I will need to scratch your name from the #1 spot (Just kidding) I e-mailed the young man today. Yes he was a first year director. He has also been on Camp Staff at our Summer Camp. Eagle you may know him. He seemed like he wanted to do well but was just in the lacking of the right resources and Cub Level Knowledge. His heart is in the right place. He is also an OA member. I will have to see if the Lodge would be interested in helping. Don't get me wrong. I think that all of the staff were OA. I saw a lot of people that I saw at Fall Fellowship. A lot of the advisors were there too. Many faces remembered. As someone suggested, I will be recieving some information from Daisey this week about the youth program support. Bob White Sorry if I came across too strong, but I just wanted everyone to understand that Day Camp is not restricted to week long activities. I want to thank everyone for the help. I am going to talk to the young man this week and see if there is a chance to start planning right now. I am going to look into things like budget and requirements as we want to make sure that everything is right. Keep the suggestion coming.

From the BSA Website Day Camps "Day camp is an organized one- to five-day program for Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts conducted by the council under certified leadership at an approved site. Day camps are conducted during daylight or early evening hours. Day camps do not include any overnight activities. Check with your council and district leaders for day camp opportunities available in your area." I do not know where the confusion about DAY CAMP. We went there in the morning, stayed during the Day, and left that evening. No overnight camp. It is not that hard to understand.

shortridge for some of your questions. Yes this was held at a council owned camp. It is one of the lesser used camps. I personally think that it could be used a little more. But htat is far above me. As for the other issues, there was just not enough pre-planned rotation of events, and the crafts were not the best in my mind. Last year was great and many were disappointed. Not to mention, I think that they shafted the Day Camp because they did not even have patches for the boys. I told the parents that they gave them out last year. They did do a short flag raising ceremony though, and that was an advancement that some of the boys needed. Thanks for the help so far.

For all of those that were asking. Yes this was a day camp. We showed up in the morning and left in the evening. Yes it was cold. The only complaints that I heard about were from some of my scout parents who, even after an extensive list of how to dress in layers and prepare for cold weather, still did not do it right. But I provided the right information for all that were going. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink. Safety was never an issue with the Shooting sports. Everything worked safely, just things were showing age. Thanks for the help so far. I am taking notes and looking to other things that people are mentioning.

We attended a day camp this weekend and we were disappointed with it in comparison to last years. Our pack was not the only one to notice this. I talked with the young man that was the Camp Director about it and came to learn some interesting things. First he said that he had minimal help. That a lot of the planning was last minute and he had to do most of it because he was unable to recruit some help. Second, he said that when he went to NCS they only had a 1 hour block of instruction on Cub Scout camping. He said that he was not that familiar with the Cub Scout camping, that he started in boy scouts and that he was unfamiliar with Cub Scouting Programs. Third, The archery and BB Gun set ups had some well used equipment. I think that the arrows were used for many years in the past and the BB Gunshad considerable amounts of rust. Not that they are the highest quality bb guns, but they still look well used. I told the young man that if he wanted to find out more about Cub Scouting, he could contact me. He lives in a nearby town so a face to face would not be too much work to do. And yes, I tried to recruit a leader. Does anyone have any suggestions that I may be able to bring up to help make next years a better one.

well since we are talking about all the different situations, how about this. I know that I am probably off base, but here it goes. You are on the Shot Gun range. All safety issues have been discussed. There is one boy who has not been paying attention and before you know it, the shot gun is spun around and now pointing directly at you. Would it be appropriate to strike the shooter if it was required to gain safe control of the Fire Arm. Yes, I have seen this situation, and the striking person only used enough force to gain control of the weapon. No this was not at scouts, but I can see it happening there. I am not saying that hitting is appropriate in all situations, but there are times.

I believe that the issue has been resolved. The boys uncle had a little discussion with him after the parade. And I think that he also told the Tigers mother about it later. His uncle was the adult partner at the Parade. Sarge - I have always enjoyed one thing that someone told me when my first child started talking, "Kids will never misquote you, matter of fact, they will repeat things word for word that you shouldn't have said to begin with."

be careful on judging the public servents. There are many people who have gotten hurt because they listened to misinformation. As for the beaver dam. I think someone should go and punish those beaver for their clear 'disregard to the LNT principles' Just kidding

Just looking for some information with reference. Where does the Summertime Pack Award go on the UNiform. I thought it would go on the Left pocket. Anyone know or where to reference it. There is no mention on the Inspection form.

I think that we are one of the odd packs. We do not charge pack dues. We did do the popcorn this year. Had a good turn out for it. We were the highest selling pack in the district. We used an incentive plan. Fill half a sheet (13 orders) we will pay registration. Fill full sheet (25 orders) we pay registration and boys' Life. And we kept our word. Also the boys don't know it yet, but they are getting PWD cars for Christmas. They will go in the stockings that we had them put thier names on. Although we did hit up a lot of parents this past month for some money. The boys that did not sell for registration, and for T-shirts. Yes they had to pay for them, because we were limited on funds. Most of the T shirts were $10 and the Long Sleeve T-shirts were $13. Not a bad deal. Not to mantion that the guy who is doing it for us will be able to print 1 or 100 depending on what we need. That was a great part of the deal. No need to try to get a list of 12 -20 people before placing an order. Not to mention after the initial order there will be no more set up charges. Any way we are going to day camp this weekend, paid for by the parents, but it is only $25 for Cub and parent. Not too bad. We have a couple that do no have parents going but they are in the higher ranks. Anyway I hope that all here have similar fortune with their pack. Merry Christmas and Happy New year.

I was at a town parade the other day and one of the leaders came up to me and told me that one of my Tiger Cubs called someone (She thought it was her) a Fat _ _ _ . Well I told him that there would be no place for that language and that if I heard something like thatagain, then he would be asked to get off the float. Should I bring this up at a meeting where I have all the boys present, and make it absolutely clear that profanity from Cub Scouts will not be tolerated, and that it is strongly discouraged among parents. I myself have a foul mouth from time to time, but I have learned to control it among the scouts. If this is something that I should do, and if so what can I do for consequences.

First I am guessing that you are looking for a way to make your Instructor do his job. IF this is the case then I would set the following expectations. Every meeting, the instructor coordinates the teaching of one skill to scouts. If there is one scout who needs a skill then teach it to all. It will not hurt the older ones to brush up on skills. Or if that is too much, then maybe there should be two blocks of instruction a month, designed to teach scout skills. Also set a way for them to teach skills on outings, DO cooking, firestarting, and stuff like that. Maybe if you have more than one instructor, then they could work together to create a round robin type training, so several skills are taught in a meeting. Hope this is the type of information that you are looking for.

I think that getting the story straight and talking with the offenders is the right first step. I think that they may have not realized that what they were saying was offensive. There is so much disrespective lyrics in music they may not of thought of anything different. If this is the case, and they are truly sorry for the misunderstanding, then ask them to make a personal appology. Does not have to be public, just a simple, "Sorry Joseph, didnot realize that we offended you and we hope that we can put this behind us" That may work wonders. If it doesn't, try to the death to keep Joseph in. He obviously has gotten something out of scouting and enjoys it. Use the SM Minutes like John suggested. Revisit the Code of conduct if your troop has one, the Scout Law, and gneneral harassment and discrimination topics. There is no room for bad blood in a troop. I think that this may have been something that was not said with offense meant, or maybe something said in a snap. I think that if you ask your SPL he may realize this. But you know him better. If there is still a problem, then it may be time for a new SPL who can Follow the Scout Law. My Two Cents

I hate to do the cut and paste, but here is what the BSA says. Responsibilities: An assistant Cubmaster's responsibilities (as designated by the Cubmaster) are to Help the Cubmaster as needed. Be ready to fill in for the Cubmaster, if necessary. Complete Cubmaster Fast Start Training and position-specific Basic Leader Training. Attend monthly roundtables. Participate in pack meetings. Supervise den chiefs and see that they are trained. Conduct the monthly den chief planning meeting for all den leaders, assistant den leaders, and den chiefs to plan and coordinate weekly den meetings and pack meeting participation. Work with neighborhood troops that supply den chiefs and into which Webelos Scouts may graduate. Help inform pack leaders of training opportunities and arrange for them to attend training sessions. Work with the pack committee to develop and promote an ongoing plan for recruiting new boys. Work with the Cubmaster and pack committee on pack reregistration. Help with pack activities, such as dinners, derbies, bike safety workshops, service projects, etc. Work with the pack committee on outings to see that the pack and dens qualify for the National Summertime Pack Award. Participate in the annual pack program planning conference and pack leaders' meetings. Promote the religious emblems program. Basically, you have the same responsibilities as the CM. The ACM is there to back up the CM when he needs it. We have talked about dividing up certain responsibilities like, outings, advancement etc. kind of like you would have on the committee

I would say that what you need to do is sit down with all of the leaders and try to set forth a plan for three months. That is what we are going to do during the Christmas Break. Come up with a plan that includes Den Meetings, Pack meetings, Monthly pack outing/event, and anything else that you may do on a regular basis. We are going to be having a planning meeting for our pack soon. It will include plans for January, Feburary, and March. Then in March we will plan the next three months. We are going to be doing this because we are all busy, so if we do it right, we can have things already planned. Just a few things that we will be doing are, Planning our den meetings using program helps, planning the last few Go-see-its for the Tigers, Blue and gold banquet, pinewood derby, and starting the planns for the Spring Campout and Webelos Family Campout. We will also discuss our upcoming fundraiser, and start the committee for the Summer Camp. PM me if you need any other help.

With the A-Mazing-Games theme coming up I thought we could start a discussion about games that we could play with our boys and things we could do with our time to follow the theme for the month. I know that there is the program helps, but lets get creative. Talking board games, and things like that. I was thinking about taking a checkers game for some gathering activities. Or maybe finding the different mazes for the boys to do. I have also found some of the other things on line. So what board games would you recommend. What group games would recommend. Let's help each other out.