SctDad

There is a story out there that uses some calculator tape and years marked off in 1 inch increments. I know that someone heree has to have a copy or may be able to point you to it.

No GW, But I like the way you think. Where could I find that forum

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34-49.pdf That is the Individual packing list for Pack overnighters. I have found it very helpful.

Scott, I am currently serving in two positions. Cubmaster is one of them and Den Leader is the other. I understand that the Cubmaster MC's the Pack Meeting, but I am also serving as a DL for my Son's Den. I was considering taking the other training levels so that I can say to the parents that are potential leaders what the training is and what they can lookfoward to. That is why I am looking into taking the other training for all levels.

That's OK GW. I can understand how someone would forget what forum they were in.

I can see your point Lisa. Here is what we have going on right now. I think that I missed the training yesterday. So that would leave three left to go to for right now. I have the following positions filled: CM - Myself CC, Tiger DL I have some other positions that are going to be filled soon (Hopefully) We added 15 new boys this week at round-up. So I am going to try to recruit some new leaders. As for your comment on becoming a member of the district training team. I am thinking about helping to set up training for our county (Half of our district) so that our county can have a training program that is local and works for our local leaders. I have talked with some of the Local DE's and they said that they woould be willing to help get our two/three packs trained if we set up the time and date. But first things first and get all of my leaders and myself trained before I worry about other packs. I know that helpful is part of the scout oath, but I need to be helpful to my own Cubs and make sure that they have the trained leaders that they deserve first.

I am getting ready to attend the NLE training for my position. THere are several training weekends in the next month. I was just wondering, as Cubmaster, should I attend all levels of training for all den leaders after I have my specific training finished. Meaning, once I have NLE and CM Specific and Cub DL finished, would it be advisable for me to go and take the Tiger DL, and Webelos DL training. For those of you that know already, I am double tapping jobs right now. Yes we are getting more people involved, but I still love the DL job. Working with the kids is fun. So would the memebrs of the forum, (I know Lisa, GW, OGE, and some of the other senior forum members will chime in) suggest taking all levels of training. Maybe this will help some other leaders with their decisions. P.S. Sorry, forgot to mention this training is for Cub Leaders.(This message has been edited by SctDad)

Lisa You are right, this is Cub Family Camping. Sorry I forgot to put that in, but I thought that putting it in the Cub Scout Forum would show that. Hot Foot, Thanks for the information. I will try to come up with some of that stuff. I think you are right in that there needs to be a display showing what kind of things that we could use. Like the trashbag ponchos. I think that I will go down to the Meeting early and set up some stuff to help show this. I think I will take down my backpack and lay out some of the things that I will have with me so that everyone can see what we should have. ScoutNut I guess instead of Pre-camp meeting I should have explained. It will be the meeting that we have regularly scheduled that is before we have our campout. But I can see what you were tinking I think. I have the schedules/aganda and I am almost done with the maps. I tried using google maps but they are kinda hard to read, so I think that I will use the Microsoft Streets and trips that I also have. I have gone through my Baloo handouts and I am working on some final details. I am going to be looking at the weather starting, well, basically now. Any other suggestions???

We are going on our first camping trip next weekends (27th Sept) and I an looking for some ideas on whta we can do to help the families get ready for the trip. To give you an idea on what we will be doing, here is a quick look at our itinerary Saturday Visit Battleship NC (Battleship alive that weekend) Depart for local state park for an overnight campout. At campground: Hikeing, Fishing, Family time. Sunday Outdoor Religious Service Break Camp Ensure LNT Depart for CO building. Everyone seperates from CO. What kind of things shoudl we go over at the meeting. (Projects, Props, information.)

I was also thinking about having the boys comeup with a name for the newsletter themselves. Thought they might like the chance to have their idea used.

I was just wondering what everyone uses for topics and articles for their newsletters. I know there is a template online, but I am looking for a little more. I just got an e-mail today about our new Scout Executive. I think that I am going to include this in our newsletter. I plan on having a requirement suggestion section. THings that the boys can do at home. I know that some of the other things that I am going to include are: Upcoming Activities (calander) New Scouts New Leaders New Trained Leaders Advancement Picture Page (maybe a half page) Puzzle (word search, crossword, cryptograph) Any other suggestions

One other thing that I have heard through suggestions. When you are preparing the flag. Tie a piece of wire to the grommets before the flag goes into the fire. This will help facilitate with the retrieval. Then after you retrieve them all, you could present them to a veterent organization to place on grave markers of those who served. Remember, the fire should not be used after for anything else nafter the ceremony until cleaned up. That is just something that I saw one time reading.

Interesting topic and discussion. Nice to see some trivia and quizzing going on. Here is one for you. Where is the 'Truck' and what is traditionally kept in it. Those who have been in the military may have a easier time with this.

http://www.united-states-flag.com/parade-flagpole-accesories.html I did not think they were that much. But for the right thing I guess you are going to pay the right price.

I have to agree with what they are saying about having two sets of paperwork. I have heard that the DE's always want more units. I personally look for more quality units. Better programming and better leadership. If you already have the two packs meeting together, you may want to consider having them combine into one pack. If you are going to keep them as two seperate packs, you may want them to meet as such. IMO, I think that if you are going to go through and join the pack, then you may have a better leadership base and the leaders may have more time to do the thing that they need to. I hope my rambling makes sense.

sctldr must be from somewhere in my council because I spent this morning driving to clinical internship in the storm. IMO, someone should be looking at the weather 7 days out. That is part of the Checklist that is in the BALOO manual. I have postponed 2 campouts because of rain (only one was significant) and then when we did go we went to the Local Camp where we had shelters for sleeping if we needed it. It rained that morning but the afternoon was great. The boys had a lot of fun. Although I would have to say that I am lucky in that I have a lot of parents that are former military and they usually don't have a problem with a little rain. I think that there are two schools of thinking here. Cub Scouts: You may have parents that are new to camping and bad weather can turn them off for good. Tkae this into consideration. make plans to have fair weather camping. Boy Scouts: When I was in Boy scouts, we did not cancell because of a regular rain storm. Yes we did take into account the Thunder and lightening risks. But run of the mill rain storms did not cancel the trip. That was part of being prepared. We had a Webelos weekend here this spring and even though there was some nasty weather, they all stayed out and stil did the skills and events. The only thing that was cancelled was the OA crossing over, because they did not want the ceremonial clothing to get ruined. I can see their point. I think that if you have a question about the weather, look at the forecast, talk to the other parents and make a decision by Thursday. Yes you may disappoint the boys, but it will probably be for the better.

Check out this place. They are doing pack t-shirts for us and they also have sports jersies. See if there is something that he can help you with

Thanks for the info GW As for somethig that I have seen brought up a couple of times. We are not participating in Aquatic Activities. THe only boat ride will be the park ferry getting us to the Island. I only mentioned my boat as a possible emergency extraction. Not that I think we will need it. As for the walk to the campground I think that things will be OK. We do not have this trip on the calander yet, so this is still up in the air. We have plenty of other camping trips to do before we go and set out on this one. I have enough common sense to know when to ask is someone needs help.

Thank you all for some very interesting points. First - Medical Emergencies: I have this some of the way covered in that I am an EMT - Intermediate. I am also 4 months from graduating paramedic class. No this has yet to be turned into scouting forst aid certified, but I am working on that. For this I was thinking about this for an alternative. (I know this is against some of the G2SS books, but would be for emergencies only) I think there is an area where you can beach a small (less than 20 foot) boat. I wold take mine in and have it beached incase we needed to make a quick egress if they would let me. I will have to find out more 2 - Bugs: I would not go camping out there at this time of the year, it would be something that is definatly done in the spring of in the fall, when there are less bugs. We would help the new tiger parents get ready for this so that they can have an enjoyable camping trip. 3 - Swimming: I did not intent to allow the boys to go swimming, as it would probably be cold when we were there. There is still a lot of things that would have to be ironed out before we make final plans

I have a question about a camping activity. There is a state park in our state that has an island where you can go camping. http://ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/habe/main.php It is nice, I have been there before. There are facilities on the island like restrooms and showers. What do the Scouters here think about this. The only thing that would concern me is that the ferry stops running at night. Other than that it seems like a grerat idea.

I don't see the reasoning behind pulling the kids out of school for the full day. I have seen in the past (When I was a scout) where we were brought home early for a trip that required extensive travel. But we were still counted present that day because we were there untill 11:00. That is just the way the school policy was. That was for Boy Scouts though. I cannot see pulling Cubs out for an activity like that. But I would say that I am fortunate in that matter. We have 5 camps that are within 2 hours from our CO. We are planning a trip to a state park here this month. I asked the DE about the approved list and they told me that all state and national parks that offer camping in our state are on the list of approved sites, so there is no need to re-apply. Our campsite this time is 2.5 hours away. We will also have an activity at the Battleship NC. Same area as campsite. So to make things easier we will be pullig out at 7:00 am to make a full day of things. That is just how the plans are going right now. I know, parents may gripe about getting up early, but this will make for the best use of the day, with the extended travel that we must do. If we were to leave on friday, it would be after the boys get out of school, but I think parents schedule would interfere with that. But if they want to leave early I am game, my schedule and other permit that. We are just getting ready to take on a large group of new parents that I am not sure about. That is why we usually leave on saturday AM. That is my 3 cents worth. I just became CM so I guess I have to pay more now.

I have to agree with Lisa I think that the boys that sign up and then never show up has a lot to do with the parents. Especially at the Tiger level. I had one parent tell me that their son did not want to do scouting any more. then my son came home and said that so-and-so wished his parents would have let him join scouts. (Pass the 2X4 please) I cannot believe that there isn't one person in that entire family can bring this lad to the meetings and activities. I also had another parent tell me that scouting cost too much and that is why they never came back after recharter. This was right after they paid their registration dues. Go figure. I could never understand why some parents would not put their sons into a proven character building program. Not to mention, camping is fun too.

Thank you all for the suggestions. This will help us in making things possible. I will take these points to the committee. This should help us in making the right decision. Yes discretion will be the most important part. We will not advertise this program, but we will use observation to make sure that no boy is left behind because of money. But we also do not want people abusing the program. I think that having the parent help out the pack with a certain part of the program will work out for the best. Like you said, maybe a pack meeting or other special project.

I like some of the ideas that are being presented so far. I will take these suggestions to the pack committee members. We are trying to decide on how fundraisers will be split up and other things like that. We are trying to figure out how much should go to the boys Camp fund and how much for other pack needs.

I have brought up to our pack committee the suggestion of Camperships and Scholarships. they thought it was a good idea for us to start doing this for our families in need. What I would like from the members of the forum are some guidelines that you may have used for determining qualification for scholarships/camperships. Here are some of the considerations that we started to come up with. Participation Basic Need (The family should make the interest to us that there is a need) Is there anything else that we should be aware of. I am trying to keepe things fair and equal. I also would like to do this because I believe that no Cub should be left out due to financial reasons.