SSScout

Getcha bumper sticker hea...

"WILL WORK FOR COLORFUL SCRAPS OF CLOTH"

Aye, well said.

Twill be much copied, methinks, and needs be.

Thank you, friend.

Twocubdad: You won't find any "published" policy about this issue. The awards are declared and issued by BSA, but the means of presentation are left to the unit. My Scout Troop has a notebook of almost a hundred different Court of Honor ceremonies. It is the same for a Cub Pack. Ceremonies are generally traditional and left to the creativity of the unit. "We've always done it that way". But there will be similar themes.

Nothing wrong with that, I've seen some ceremonies that left alot to be desired, and alot that were very memorable.

But it still should be remembered, even if you can successfully combine the three ceremonial functions (AoL, Cub graduation, Crossover ), they are still three seperate things. A Cub can earn the AoL and not 'Bridge' (or Crossover, or join) to a Scout Troop. In any event, the Cub will be graduating from his Pack. The three should not necesarily be the same.

Evori: Succinctly said.

SMT224: Exactly so. How important will it be to the Cubs actually JOINING a Troop, making that commitment, if some other Cub, without the same commitment, is allowed the same ceremony?

CNYScouter knows what should be done.

Liz: You are missing the point. AoL and Graduating From Cubs and Bridging Over to Boy Scouts are three entirely seperate things. B/CO is NOT part of the AoL. A Cub can earn AoL and not join a Scout Troop. If the Cub does not choose to join a Scout Troop, he should not participate in the Bridging. Give him the ceremony he deserves, but not one that is not appropriate.

The Cub can be recognized and celebrated for his accomplishment but should really not be part of a ceremony that is not his.

That is why AoL presentation should be held seperate from the Bridging ceremony and if the Cub does not join a Scout Troop, his Graduating from Cubs can be acknowledged seperately with appropiate seriousness.(This message has been edited by SSScout)

"And now for something completely different..."

Never hurts to suggest someplace new. A Troop planned trip to Boston,USS Constitution, history, etc.

Check out the Canadian Jamboree www.ccjam09.com They will easily welcome US Scouts to visit or stay the week...

Just a couple of ideas that needn't remind them of ScoutCamp...

Well, hey,isn't that what we all are saying? Presenting the AoL is one thing.

Cub graduation is another...

Register with the Troop, pay the dues, and do the Bridging. Should be three seperate things, n'est pas ?

SR540beaver nudged my memory with his last post...

Is it a good thing to get the Scouter to reconnect with his/her childhood? Remembering what it was like? Is it possible that some of our successes are based on (in one case) remembering what worked with us OR (in another case) overcoming what didn't work with us?

Is the really good Scouter (RGS) one who remembers (or corrects?) their past?

What does that say about the oft-mentioned-in-these-forums 'problem Scouter' (PS?)?

Too many questions?

Can you not encourage the DC to earn the religious award for his own faith?

I'll add my vote:

The AoL is an important Cub award. It's presentation should be seperate and distinct and as ceremonial (if not more so) as any other Cub award. Do them collectively at the B&G if possible, otherwise at another Pack Meeting. I have often seen the CM include something personal ( Scout coin, a small custom made arrow or plaque) to the Cub along with the AoL patch and Scout strip.

If the boy (I suppose the parents do have a part in making this decision?) decided to join Boy Scouts, then a "Bridging" ceremony is held to pass the boy from the Cub Pack to the Scout Troop. There definitely needs to be a Scout presence (SM, ASM, OA team?) to solemnify the occasion and make it "official". If the boy did NOT choose to continue onto Boy Scouts, then he does not participate. He sits and watches his friends solemnify THEIR choice.

The purpose of the "Bridging" does NOT symbolize graduating from Cub Scouts. That is a seperate issue. I have known Packs that hold a seperate "Cub Graduation" ceremony. That might be appropriate here, but not a "Bridging" as if all of the Cubs are becoming full fledged Boy Scouts.

Arrow of Light equals Cub Scouting's highest rank.

Cub Graduation equals aging out, having accomplished all one can do in Cub Scouting.

Bridging equals Cub Scouts joining Boy Scouts .

That's as I see it. Them's the cherces. Pays yer money.

Welcome to the electronic crackerbarrel (low fat). We have a few forumites here in Murlen.

We have heard from a couple here in Mungumry and in Fredrik and Balmer counties. I'm sure if you ask around you'll find some active Packs in, ooh, I'll guess you're in PG county?

After you make the acquaintence of your Pack membership and leadership seek out your District Executive. He can help you keep busy ;-).

Lewis and Clark: "I just got a $200. discount on my canoe insurance!"

Columbus: "But my Queen! If you want chow mein, I can get it quicker by sailing WEST to pick it up, than by sailing WEST!!"

Jack London, Robert Service, The Yukon Gold Rush,"Snow Dogs": "Mush! Mush!"

Go where the spirit leads you! Good possibilities! Crafty stuff as appropriate. Nature trail as led by discovery.

KiS MiF YiS

Been there, done that...

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=183742#id_184042

Truly a personal decision.

You can go to WB, son can't. Would he want to?

You can do WB another time. Is this the time? Can you see it aiding you in your Scouting "career"?

Son can go to camp, you can too. Should you? Would it benefit your boy?

When you decide on your WB Tickets, your son could concievably help you, might could be depending...

Can you help him earn his badges? How so?

What's the gut say?

The home Pack did "International" this year. Six Dens: different cuisine from each country: Germany, Japan, Peru, Mexico, China, Italy. Very tasty, flags, decorations. The skits had nothing to do with other nations, just "fishing" and "camping" and a scavenger hunt for "Cub Values".

What Karen said.

Talk to your DE or UC. They can have anything you want printed on the front and back of the Cub/Race flyer (times, places, why Cub Scouts, who to contact, phone numbers, emails, etc.) that you might want. Work with them to make them custom to your unit and neighborhood.

Ask the school for the rules about sending them home in the student announcement folder or "backpack packet" as they are called around here. Neat eyecatching flyer. Start the conversation at home...

Better to recycle the whole can.

I was once the 'daddy with the pickup truck' at my daughters school. The school collected aluminum cans from the start of the school year until Earth Day, crushing and bagging them as we went. On the appointed day, I loaded up and took all to the metal recycler. I seem to remember the number 1.6 tons, about $170.

See http://www.snopes.com/business/redeem/pulltabs.asp for Urban Legend discussion.

Congratulate your Cubs for their charity and give them a "Good Deed" patch and then give the RMH a cash donation.

GWDSCOUTER: Buttonhole your UC and/or DE and pass on the info about those possible Charter Orgs. If they have some Scouty folks in their flock, let them meet with the DE and UC and, like Mathew Bradey used to say, 'see what developes'.

Collect all the redloops in your District and string them on a rope. And then...

"I promise

to DO MY BEST

To do my DUTY to GOD

And my Country

To HELP other people, and

To OBEY the LAW of the Pack".

What? They didn't cover this in Fast Start?

Choices:

1) "Oh, so you're an atheist, huh? well YOU'RE out a here!!!" No, not that one...

2) "Mrs. Jones? I have heard (tell her HOW you heard) that Timmy is/thinks he is/is telling people that/told me that he is an atheist. As a Scout leader, I have to point out that part of Scouting is encouraging the boys in their religious faith. Now we don't really care what faith that is, that's up to you and your family after all, but as Timmy moves on in Scouting, it will become a more important issue. Could we talk about that?"

3) Interpretation: If one believes that their duty to God is to not believe in him/her/it, then by not belonging to a given religion or professing a given belief or even not being able to express your belief/feeling, is THAT doing your duty?

4) Don't get personal. Point out to the boys in the Webelos Den that when they move on into Boy Scouts, they will be asked to make a Promise and asked to abide by a set of Laws. Discuss whether setting some ideals to base one's life on is a (choose one) good thing/not a bad idea/not necessary/. Remind them that the very first of these Laws is to be TRUSTWORTHY. Discuss what 'hypocracy' is. Discuss how human it is to strive for the ideal and not make it. Suggest that if one cannot in good faith (there's that word again) agree to this promise and these Laws, perhaps they shouldn't move on in Scouting, of their own free will, but you'd love to see them try.

5) Show, by one's own example, the life that one's faith leads to, that creates in one's spirit. To get Christian about it, your actions may be the only Bible they read today.

6) Pray for guidance...

7) All the above.

Bet you didn't see that coming...

Baltimore.

City Industry Museum. Flag House. Fort McHenry. Maryland Science Museum. Waterfront includes National Aquarium, Lightship Chesapeake, USCGC Taney (WW2), USS Torsk, (WW2sub), and USS Constellation (civil war sloop o'war). All within about a 7 mile circuit. Arrange for overnight on one of the ships (recommend the Constellation!)

See www.constellation.org They can send you mucho tourist stuff, too. Get apatch!

B&O RR Museum , abit further off, but worth the visit. Take the bus...

Possibilities:

Goshen Scout Reservation, off I81 in VA, near Goshen VA. Check out

http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=15974&orgkey=1933

Call National Capital Area Council 301-530-9360

Heritage Scout Reservation, near Uniontown PA. Greater Pittsburgh Council(412) 471-2927

Blue Ridge Scout Reservation, South of Roanoke VA. off I81. Blue Ridge Mountain Council http://www.bsa-brmc.org/

Leave some time for site seeing! Good Scouting to you!

I find it hard to believe that a whole DEN wants to sabotage the B&G.

If I understand your situation, you have TWO Webelos 2 Dens, and one family in Den A (say) doesn't "get along" with the Den A leader? Have I got that right? I trust Den B is fine?

And the Den B leader wants to have the Webelos (in Den A and Den B?) come to her/his celebration rather than attend the B&G with the family in question? Bizarre. How does this help the boys...

If there is time to mend fences, find your UC or DE and see if they have any experience in conflict resolution. It may be too late to try and understand the dynamics that led to this imbroglio, but the techniques and responses presented by others here may be the only thing to do.

If the Council Scout Shop does it's thing correctly, as had been said, only the CM or CC or Advancement chair can purchase awards.

"I'm sorry you feel that way".

Hold the awards until after the B&G and present them at the next Pack meeting to those that "missed" the B&G. I expect that the "Crossover" would be seperate from the AoL at the B&G? It should be...

Is it only the parents or do the boys have problems too? Feeding off their Parents attitudes?

Keep to the high ground and try not to be pulled into their whirlpool of ill will.

YiS

Oh yes. A trunk. Don't try to live out of a backpack and cardboard boxes all summer. Think about a trunk with shelves and little buckets along the side to help organize stuff.

A platform tent, I hope. With cots?

Beside the usual camping stuff, (and consider what has been suggested previous):

Pillows

Folding chair. Two, if you like company.

Writing tablets, pens, pencils, envelopes, stamps, addresses.

Duct Tape.

1/4" cord, 200'

Money for the camp store, for the stuff you forget.

Extra Scout (and other kind) Tshirts for trading. Patches, too, if you like.

Cool, unique, hat. Sun glasses for waterfront.

Skit props.

Have fun!

The pride of appearance needs be infused early on. Also, the uniform thing can often be seen as a "power struggle" ("you can't make me").

I once had a Cub Scout in my Pack that participated in most things, but wore his uniform shirt unbuttoned. Entirely unbuttoned. His mom had properly sewn on all the insignia, he wore a necker, but his mom announced to me, the CM, that "buttons made Timmy uncomfortable", therefore he had no other shirts that buttoned. Us other parents thought this was a litttle bizarre, but okay, everyone's different. At one meeting, I knelt down in front of Timmy and said to him, in front of his mom,"gee Timmy, I think you look sharp in your uniform. But I see in your hurry to get to the meeting, you forgot to button up your shirt. I usta have trouble with that, never could get the buttons even, here let me help" and I proceeded to button up his shirt. He stood there and did not protest. Mom said nothing. Timmy came to all meetings after that buttoned and tucked.

Now, I don't suggest doing that with a thirteen year old Star Scout. But ya never know.