SeattlePioneer

I find an attractive sheet or cloth at a thrift shop and cuts neckerchiefs out of it. I cut sections out of a branch and drill a hole in them for slides. At our pack recruiting nights, new boys are given that neckerchief and they get to choose a slide from among those available. Parents help their son put on the neckerchief. They are "in uniform" at that point. They don't need more uniform than that at any time as far as I'm concerned, although most get uniforms pretty promptly. Much of the time, I wear one of those neckerchief and slides to set the example as Cubmaster.

It's a fine line. I came to Scouting from backpacking and glacier and rock climbing. I had a considerable depth of experience that was valuable in judging risks and dealing with problems. I think it's easy for adult leaders lacking sufficient expwerience to underestimate risks and lack the experience to deal with a bad situation should it occur. Perhaps doing some mock accidents and rescues as part of a troop, district or council program might be worthwhile. Around Seattle, the Red Cross offer "Mountaineering Oriented First Aid" that has just this kind of mock accident situations for teams of students to deal with ---at night. I took that and benefitted from it. The Seattle Mountaineers has a Basic Climbing Course that teaches the basic skills needed for climbing. The MOFA course is required and there are equipment inspections and field trips that teach rapelling and such ---- I recall being lowered about forty feet into a cravasse on Mt Rainier and then having my student team construct a pulley system to give the mechanical advantage to pull me out. Each person was lowered and pulled out in turn. After you did several "basic" climbs, you then passed the course. By then people has a reasonably decent idea of the skills needed to deal with the hazards involved in climbing. Passing the course gave you the ability to sign up as a party member on club climbs. You needed a good deal more experience to be able to lead those climbs, and completing the intermediate climbing course was suggested as well.

The witch business is an interesting case study. In most cases, I don't think it would be a big issue. I'd guess most families would prefer to keep such beliefs private rather than publicizing them in a pack or troop. Even if they want to make it an issue, I don't think you have to give them an opportunity to do so by appointing a parent the Troop Chaplain! Let people have their own beliefs, and the pack or troop can continue with the prayers and Scout Sundays they usually do. I don't see that this has to be permitted to be a major issue. I might add that as Scoutmaster I had a Jewish Scout whose father was Cantor for his synagogue --- I think that meant he helped lead prayers as well as sounding the "Shofar" or ramshorn bugle. When invited, he would call the troop to prayer with the Shofar, and when invited he would give Hebrew prayers followed by English translations. He had a great voice and I still remember that those prayers often began "Lord God, Master of the Universe....." Wow! I remember that thirty years later! That added to the program. Different than witchcraft, of course!

Oh, I'm not put off by people's remarks about an idea that is, after all, not found in the book. As District Membership Chair and Cub Roundtable Commissioner, I work closely with the district executive and other district officer and volunteers. None of them have raised objections to a Bobcat Den. I've been aiming to build up this pack from a single boy that was there when we did our fall recruiting night two years ago. I worked on starting a Tiger Cub Den two years ago, then adding dens in subsequent years as those boys grew and now we have an excellent Tiger Cub Den Leader and Bear Den Leader, with a hole where the Wolf Den should be. So the boys in the Bobcat Den were relatively homogenius in age. New boys who would be Bears or Webelos might indeed belong in their own dens rather than the Bobcat Den, but that's not a situation I've faced yet. Good point, though. I've been nailed each year being a den leader for the weakest den when parents lack the talent or interest to step up. Forming the Bobcat Den in the spring gave me an opportunity to make Den Leaders out of parents since I couldn't do both. While the Bobcat requirements can be minimized, they can be a robust program too if desired. Indeed, our recruiting night activity has a theme of "Do Your Best." Boys making and racing Raingutter Regatta boats, Pinewood Derby cars or stomp bottle rockets can understand and appreciate what doing your best means, and our recruiting night gives interested boys and their parents an opportunity to make a candle lit pledge to do their best in the future. Other Bobcat requirements can be given more in depth treatment as well. The Bobcat requirements are the introduction to Cub Scout culture. Taking the time to give boys and parents a meaningful introduction to that culture is worth some extra time. I have a Bobcat Handbook handout given to boys at our recruiting night which allows boys and parents to get started on Bobcat requirements right away, without having to buy a Scout handbook. I like to take advantage of the enthusiasm and interest kindled at a good recruiting night. And at our June overnight camp, boys in the Bobcat den cross over into the regular dens along just as boys in existing dens cross over into the dens for their next year. Regarding the difficulty of getting the sex abuse requirement completed --- I have left that to parents and have had difficulty getting parents motivated to complete it. The crossover ceremony and the promise of a special Bobcat Badge ceremony at the June campout helps motivate boys and parents. In addition, our Scout Shop has a comic book style story that makes completing this requirement a matter of story telling between parents and boys --- I handed some of those out to parents hoping that would help get the requirement completed, but it hasn't. I also understand a DVD is available that would make completing this requirement a matter of watching a video. That's probably my next step. Anyway, no problem on the advice and comments people have made. I'm glad to get ideas from others. I have lots of ideas ---- GOOD ideas that WORK are a lot harder to come by! Another reason for my work with this pack was to experiment with how weak packs can be saved and revived. As District Membership Chair, I've seen how a failed recruiting effort can gravely weaken a pack. In addition, my opinion is that the most critical part of a recruiting effort can be getting new Tiger Cub Dens well started right away! Towards that end, I invited all new Tiger Cub Parents in the district to a Tiger Cub Den Leader Training in June, and then encouraged those parents to attend our Tiger Twilight summer "day" camp. The idea here has been to give those new parents a good understanding of how the Tiger Cub Program works, and then to show them and their boys what it should look like and feel like at the Tiger Twilight camp. Those parents are then trained and experienced and should be able to get a fall Tiger Cub program started effectively! That worked fine for the one parent (from my pack) who took part in that: he became my Tiger Cub Den Leader and has done an excellent job. The challenge this year is to get more pack leaders behind this to help get those new Tiger Cub parents involved in this process. The DE and I will have that as part of our spring recruiting plan this year.

I appreciate reading everyone's comments --- thank you. I'm the district membership chair and Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner, and got drawn into this pack because it was in a strategic position and was down to one Cub Scout. I was loathe to see it fail. I've tried to revitalize the pack over the past two years with limited success. A lot of parents are not willing to work on Cub Scout achievements with their boys. I have an excellent Tiger Cub Den leader this fall who went over all the Bobcat achievements except the #8 child abuse requirement and none of those boys have completed that last requirement. The Bobcat den is a way of trying to get new parents and Cub Scouts started off in desireable ways. Most boys last spring did get their Bobcat award at the June campout. The issue may be moot, since I have no one willing to be Committee Chair and I'm unwilling to accept a figurehead. After more than two years of hard work trying to make this pack work, there may be reasons why it was dying in the first place.

Worth reading: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scouts-20101205,0,5287804.story

Well, recruiting isn't SUPPOSED to be the Cubmaster's job --- it's properly a committee function. Of course lots of Cubmasters get nailed with the job. Organizing a good recruiting campaign takes time and skill. It would be desireable to have a capable person as a unit Membership Chair and to do that job for several years to gain experience. Personally I wouldn't nail the membership chair with rechartering. That's really a different function in my view ---- and I've never seen rechartering recommended as a membership responsibility by the BSA. Of course, SOMEBODY has to do it!

Who has a pack membership chair and what kinds of things do they do? What kind of training and experience do they have? Seattle Pioneer District Membership Chair

I've experimented with forming a Bobcat Den after spring recruiting and been quite happy with it. All boys recruited form the new Bobcat den, and I lead it as Cubmaster. The aim is for boys to complete the Bobcat requirements by the time of our June campout and crossover, at which time they cross over into their regular den for the new year. There are two big advantages: 1) You aren't adding new boys to existing dens which are trying to complete achievements and activities for the year. 2) New boys and parents get an intensive introduction to Cub Scout methods and activities aimed at new noys, parents and families.

Find a good adult to be the Parent Coordinator --- a registered position. The Parent Coordinator has two primary jobs: 1) contact new parents right away and answer their questions about Scouting and your unit 2) Finding out the kinds of things new parents would like to do or are good at doing that your unit needs done, aqnd signing up those new parents to start helping right away.

The Scout Parent idea is a tool, and a tool is useful if you know how to use it. Same for the Scout Parent Coordinator position that parents can choose as a registered adult leader position. Personally, I'm experimenting with those as follows: Scout Parent Coordinator: As a District Membership Chair I find lots of recruiting nights where parents leave with a highly limited understanding of the Cub Scout or Boy Scout program. It may take weeks or months before they start learning the complexities of the program. Also, many packs and troops may take weeks or months before they get around to asking new parents to help with the program. Often a unit committee chair looks around for someone to help when something needs to be done, but that's not an organizaed way of getting people involved. If you have a Scout Parent Coordinator, you have someone who should be on the phone the week the family was recruited, getting acquainted with the parent and family, answering questions the parents have about the Scouting program, and finding some task the new family can do to help provide leadership for the unit. When the parent completes that initial task, they are recognized as "Scout Parents" at a pack meeting or Court of Honor and their name is added to a perpetual roster of Scout Parents maintained by the unit, and they are signed up as Scout Parents when rechartering (no cost). Our district Cub Scout and Boy Scout Roundtables in December, 2010 will be a joint presentation on how to recruit more adult loeaders, and using this model of the Scout Parent Coordinator will be part of the recommended methodology. I think it makes good sense to have one specialist whose job it is to greet and orient new parents to the program and look for ways to have them get involved as leaders and volunteers right away. For many units that is a haphazard process. Having a specialist makes good sense, in my view.

I have seen quite a few boys who were experience in camping with their families, but that is a lot different than camping with the Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts are responsible for deciding what kinds of trips and activities they will do, reseraching camping spots, planning menues and collecting the gear, menues and work assignments needed to do the trip. They are responsible for getting together their own gear, and using a map and compass to find their way to the destination. Once there, they are responsible for setting up their camp, cooking their food, cleaning up after meals, and organizing their own campfire for entertainment. On Sunday they organize their own church service, and plan the content of their weekly troop meetings. The Scouts that can't do these things are taught how to do them by the boys who have learned how to do them. So, It's Me, how many of these skills has your son really mastered? How many can he teach to other boys? Seattle Pioneer

It's a Pack activity, and the Cubmaster and Pack Committee should decide how the activity will be conducted. So, have the crossover ceremony. What happens after that is a Boy Scout Troop activity. Competition for Webelos Scouts is often keen, and hurt feeling can be easily aroused. Last June, our troop supported the Cub Scout overnight camp, helping all the Cubs make foil pizzas. The largest troop in the area sent several people just before the crossover ceremony, and told the Cubmaster, "We'll just initiate everyone into our troop to keep things simple." That's while our Scouts and adult leaders were helping cleaning up the mess from dinner. The Scouts from the other troop did help eat up dinner, though. The Pack leadership needs to be in charge and insist that all the boys be included and respected. It might be better for the new Boy Scouts to establish their own camp for the night with the assistance of the Scout Troop. Nothing wrong with having all the Webelos have a nice overnight camp together before they split up. And a pushy Scoutmaster should be advised to co-operate or back out. Seattle Pioneer

My suggestion would be to make your fundraising program an integral part of the Pack program. If you are doing the popcorn sale, make selling popcorn a theme of the month, and selling popcorn at a store or other location a major outdoor activity for the month. You could have a Pack meeting at a store location, and put together an outdoor "camp" there so that the Scouts can have fun and customers can see them having fun. Seattle Pioneer

Sorry Beavah --- bad advice in my opinion. Scout patrols need to be aware of the hazards of food borne illness and take the precautions needed to prevent the spread of illness. As I understand it, Scouting recommends the use of bleach in a final rinse as a means of reducing that risk ---not boiling water, which probably isn't boiling very long and which doesn't stay on the dishes long enough to kill off bacteria. So in my view, use the bleach and detergent and leave no trace values will just have to lump it. Human safety and welfare comes first. Seattle Pioneer

Hello OKScouter, Your impulse to look for ways to promote and recognize training is a good one. I would look for a variety of ways to do that, not just one. Sending e-mails or announcements of training to parents and volunteers will provide people with information of when training is available. Your district training staff might be willing to send a trainer out during a pack activity to train people in situ, making training easier. Honoring people who get their training strips is a powerful reminder and inducement for people to do the right thing. There is also the Scouter's Key award, which has a more comprehensive list of requirements to obtain a "knot" for your uniform. These requirements include two years of service as a registered leader, completing prescribed training, and options such as attending Roundtables, additional district training, conducting two Friends of Scouting pitches and other such activities. The Scouter's key has a little pamphlet that Scouters can use to plan and get the requirements they complete signed off. You might consider getting some of those cards and filling them out for your adultm leaders, many have probably completed several requirements. In my district, this card can be downloaded from the district website. There is a similar special award for Cubmasters as well, you might want to check that one out! Seattle Pioneer

Not performing as promised is certainly unfortunate. As Scouts and Scouters, we are only expected to do our best. Even then, we can fail that standard often enough. There might be circumstances in which they should be praised for being able and actually giving a twelve hour warning that they would not be able to perform. Certainly, with twelve hours notice a Cub Pack leader should be able to come up with a variety of substitutes. Pack leaders have a responsibility to be prepared for the unexpected as well. I do think it would be a good idea for the Cubmaster to write to the OA chapter and explain any heardships or disappointments created by the failure to perform. That would keep the OA leaders informed of the consequences of their failure to keep those arrangements. They need to know the consequences of that failure so they will do a better job of planning that kind of activity in the future. Seattle Pioneer

Here's a fun compass game we used a year ago with young Scouts: Mt. Rainier National Park has a trail that run all the way around it, the "Wonderland Trail." As the adult leader, I supplied a map of Mt. Rainier National Park that had the Wonderland Trail marked on it. I then posted a picture of the mountain in the troop meeting room. The Scouts needed to use their compass to locate where they were on the Wonderland Trail based on their present location and bearing to the mountain summit. This exercise was repeated several times, with the picture of the mountain being relocated each time. They got the idea pretty quickly. You can use pretty much any known point on a map and make your own Wonderland Trail for this exercise. Seattle Pioneer

Last summer we had an eleven year old who had been with the troop eight months. The troop was assisting with a Cub Pack overnight, and everyone was warned to be on their best behavior. This boy (1) stole $30 from his tent mate (2) pushed a much larger Scout when he was off balance sending him sprawling in what might have been an injury and (3) sprayed a Cub Scout with deoderant. Pretty busy kid. The Scoutmaster and ASM called in the father and discussed the problems. The SM suspended the boy for 30 days. Nothing but venial sins since then. Seattle Pioneer

It seems there must be some natural limits to size. The biggest troops are rarely morew than a hundred boys. Has anyone ever heard of how many boys may be in the largest Scout troop in the country? What's the biggest troop you have seen in your district or council? Seattle Pioneer

Hello Venture Scout, Are you talking about the red wool shirt? As a Thrifty scouter, I've resisted spending $100+ dollars for that article of clothing. I wear my uniform to all our troop and district activities (except monthly district meeting where the agreement is not to wear uniforms). But I wear whatever outer clothing is needed and suitable to stay warm and dry. That fairly often means that the uniform is covered up. My aim to to be a model for the uniform. Last night we had our PLC meeting and most of the adult were in uniform. The best way to promote wearing a uniform is to set a good example. That may not be enough, but it's a start. I could easily afford to buy the red wool shirt, but I'm not especially interested in setting that example for adults in the troop. It's expensive and I just don't see a compelling need to do it. Does anyone want to try and convince me I'm wrong on that point? Seattle Pioneer

Hello Eagle 1973, I took our district's outdoor skill training last fall, and thought it was outstanding. I learned some of the suggested Boy Scout means of using an axe and sharpening a knife that conflicted with my own techniques. I had a tendency to comment that the suggested method was the way plaintiff's lawyers would want people to chop wood in court... But the contact methods suggested ARE safer, especially for younger Scouts with their limited physical skills. A don't think much of the recommended method to sharpen a knife by holding a stone in one hand while holding the knife with the other ---that seems like it's inviting a cut hand. So I was exposed to the current Scout methods for doing things whether I liked it or not. That probably would not have occurred if another old salt had been mentoring me. The most valuable part of the course was putting adults in patrols and camping and functioning as patrols. There is no better way to make the point about the patrol method. The second most valuable thing was the effective use of Scouting rituals throughout the course. Another underused means of influencing boys... and adults. The third most valuable thing was demonstrating the uses and benefits of campfires and campfire planning. So I thought there were lots of things to learn by attending that training. In my opinion, too much emphasis is placed on selling Wood Badge, and too little on attending the outdoors skills training, which makes the same points in far less time. Seattle Pioneer

I'm not agin Merit Badge Universities (Jumboree in our district) in principle. They can be well done or poorly done. I did the Cooking Merit Badge with another adult a year ago. We had a class covering hygiene that I did and the other adult did a good discussion on the food pyramid and such. Scouts sat down and planned out some menues for their upcoming campoing trips. The Scouts all cooked their own lunch from a selection of ingredients that were provided ---a foil dinner. We had a Scouter who is an excellent chef give an excellent discussion of how to get into the restaurant industry, and what kind of training is available. Scouts still had work to do to complete the Merit Badge, but a good deal of it can be presented in a classroom type situation, and the opportunity to have an excellent group discussion with a chef was a great opportunity. I would say this was an excellent start on doing the Cooking Merit Badge in good style. Seattle Pioneer

I've been working with a small troop of about ten Scouts. Last year there was an effort by a parent to teach the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge --- very few completed the requirements. Last August a parent organized an outing to a horse ranch where the Scouts got to practice saddling a horse, brushing and caring for the animal, mucking out a stall and generally passing the merit badge requirements. All the Scouts completed those requirements. That was our monthly outdoor activity. We are now having a monthly PLC meeting in place of a troop meeting, then two troop meetings to prepare for the monthly outing, and an unstructured outing (swimming, bowling or such) for the Tuesday after the outing. This plan is working pretty well. The SPL isn't overwhelmed by perpetually having to plan meetings and the need to plan for upcoming outings helps create a good deal of the plan for a troop meeting anyway. There is no longer any time for Merit Badge classes. We do have a parent who is teaching the Personal Management and Physical Fitness Merit Badges to four Scouts on the weekends. I think that is a good model --- it provides some structure and the older Scouts have a chance to work on something together. Last weekend we did the council's winter camp, which included advancement instruction. I bird dogged our "Three Musketeers" who are working on Tenderfoot requirements. They got signed off on firebuilding and Tote 'N Chip requirements, cooked their own lunch, and in the afternoon I set up an orienteering course in which they had to use a map to locate specified locations around the camp. They didn't actually get a fire started (neither did I!) the wood available was too wet in the rain, and neither the instructors not I were prepared with firestarters or even much in the way of dry newspaper. Last night I experimented with a firestarting kit composed of a homemade firestarter, some finely split tinder and matches double baggied to keep out moisture. I'm going to take that to our PLC tonight, and it may well become a part of skills building session in which all the Scouts (and adults) will have a chance to make a good little firestarting kit. I expect to announce that we will have a troop firebuilding contest at our campout at a Scout camp in early March. So the failure to build a fire at winter camp drives the Troop program the next month which promotes and drives the next month's outing. Seattle Pioneer

I'm with Beavah in finding a fair amount of the advice in this thread to be strange. I've had lots of winter camping experience ---not that much in below zero temperatures, but plenty above that, and plenty in wet conditions. I take care to keep myself dry during the day, and would not bother undressing or changing clothing to sleep unless I were noticably wet. Even then, on multiday cross winter trips, it might be desireable to wear damp clothing as a way of drying it out overnight. And I would hesitate to add more clothing if I were cold. I usually wear a wool hat, and wear one inside my tent hood. I recall one six day cross country skip trip into the Pasayton Wilderness --- my down bag was getting rained on by condensation dripping or falling on the bag, and it was getting pretty damp by the end of the trip. How are you guys going to carry all the perfectly dry clothing you are going to change into on a trip like that? I never sleep cold, although when I came back into Scouting a couple of years ago at age 54 I was AMAZED at how much harder the ground had gotten in the past twenty years! I sleep on a rather thick mattress pad whenever possible to avoid having a restless and uncomfortable night. Seattle Pioneer