tcherven

It would have been difficult for me to pay the cost, but when mentioned the course to my committee chair (I'm the cubmaster), she said the pack would pay for it.

Therefore, when I wrote my ticket items, I made sure the majority provided a benefit to the pack.

I'm happy to hear that your first weekend was great. The staff members from my WoodBadge course put together a 3-DVD set, which I just received - I've only been able to watch a small portion, but I certainly enjoy remembering that first weekend again.

Congratulations on participating in WoodBadge - I've never regretted it for an instant. And, if you can believe it, I felt the second weekend was just as good, if not better in some ways, that the first weekend.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think once you've completed the course and are working on your ticket.

Tom

C-44-06: I used to be a FOX

I was doing some internet surfing about scouts and came across the Woodbadge course. I had heard about additional training, but always had ignored it. It took me almost a full year to complete my Basic training and Leader Specific training. *Ashamed*

I liked what I was hearing about the course the more I looked into it. I became a member of this board specifically to ask about Woodbadge. I decided to give it a go. I let my pack committee chair know I was thinking about going, and she said the pack would pay for it. At that point, I made a firm decision to attend.

I now wish I had taken it sooner rather than waiting 4 years, but I figure that between my sons I have at least another 10 to 12 years in a Pack or Troop. (First son crosses to boy scouts this next spring, second son joins cubs 2 months later)

The information was great, but getting to know other scouters outside my normal area was of a great benefit too.

I like the sounds of your asst cubmaster - he must be my twin.

I've been doing something similar in Minnesota. Over the last couple of years, I've been raiding my costume trunks and closets to come up with various costumes to fit the theme too. I haven't dressed up as a chicken, but I would if I had the suit. I've been a ringmaster, rented cowboy chaps, and worn a kilt. My favorite is what I wear for pinewood derby - a replica race car driver's suit. I made it in cub scout colors and have Pinewood Derby and cub scout patches placed on it. I was able to acquire a helmet, gloves and boots as well. (In fact, the suit has traveled to other packs for their pinewood derbies and was worn at the district races).

What I've discovered is this: Each person who becomes cubmaster / asst cubmaster will bring their own vision and bit of craziness. During my first year, I tried to do exactly what the person before me did. It worked, but to me it felt flat. The next couple of years I put more of myself into the position and the meetings became more fun.

The biggest things I did were change the room arrangement (just a bit, not a lot), develop a definate order to the meetings, start on time, and keep the meetings to one hour. Not big things in and of themselves, but they created an atmosphere of fun and order.

About every other month, we try to have a guest. We've had programs from the local zoo, Dept. of ATF dog, magician, the youth circus, and other various visitors that relate to the theme.

Our meetings are basic, but the boys enjoy them. They get a chance to do things, see the adults doing silly stuff, and everyone is happy.

We assign a den to be responsible for the flag ceremonies each month. Our meeting order is this:

Gathering activity (something to keep the boys from just running around the room)

Flag ceremony

Announcements

Songs

Den Minutes (I put in a two minute break so final planning can be done)

Activity (be a game, guest visitor, etc)

Awards

Final Announcements

Flag retirement.

If we don't have any ideas for an activity, we have a snowball fight. With one had, crumple a newspaper sheet into a ball, and throw it across the room. It's inexpensive, fun, and easy to clean up.

I'm going to have to remember the paper airplanes. I bet that would be a hit too.

I will say a prayer that everyone involved with your wife's care be blessed with understanding and wisdom.

My prayers are with you and your family.

What a wonderful way to be able to remember your father.

Our main yell was

"Sly as a FOX can't keep us in a box. Yippee, Yippee."

We also called ourselves the Foxes that Rockses.

Tom

C-44-06 Fox Patrol

That is my understanding - no minimum attendance required, and an event scheduled for each month. In our pack, we schedule three events. We count resident summer camp and encourage the entire pack to attend the same weekend. This year we have a swim day in July and a picnic scheduled for August.

Last year for July (scheduled on the last weekend), my son and family showed up at the beach early so we could stake out the spot for the pack. About an hour before everyone was supposed to arrive, MAJOR storms blew in. My son was the only one there, and no one else showed up. We rescheduled the beach for August.

When I completed the form, I indicated that 1 scout showed up and added a foot note about the weather issue. We recieved our Summer pack award because we had 3 events scheduled and at least 1 scout showed up for each one.

I would say count the show for your July outing and go for the award.

Have a great day.

Tom

I received this in an email a couple of years ago. I liked it so much that I saved it in a text file. I was doing some cleaning and came across it. I realized this could have an impact on some scouts, so I thought I'd share it here.

Charles Schultz Philosophy.......

You don't actually have to take the quiz. Just read the email straight through, and you'll get the point (an awesome one) that it is trying to make!

Take this quiz:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier?

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."

I thought the furniture store was great. Keep them coming, please.

You're traveling the same path I did. I, too, became cubmaster after being the Tiger Den Leader. It's a lot of fun, and if you have some good leaders working with you, you should do well.

Don't be afraid to make a change if you think you have a better way of doing things. My first year, I was trying to do things the way they always had been done. I started making some changes in my second year (not drastic ones, but small tweaks). In a couple of cases, the other leaders came up to me and told me that they liked the new format/change/ etc.

One thing I wish I had done earlier was attend the Wood Badge Course. If you have a chance, look into it. I'm fortunate in that my younger son will become a Tiger in a year, 3 months after my older son crosses to Boy Scouts. After 3 1/2 years, I'm going to be stepping down as cubmaster to give some one else a chance to bring new ideas to the pack.

Good luck and enjoy.

Tom

Well, I think I did this a bit backward. I've already posted different places, but have never introduced myself. My name is Tom, and I am currently the cubmaster and Webelos den leader. I have 9 active boys in my den, and about 30 to 35 active in the pack.

My scouting experience as a youth was about 8 months as a cub scout - Wolf rank. It just didn't hold my interest. I remember going to one pack meeting - the Blue Gold banquet.

My son came home one day from school very excited about joining scouts. We went to the Join Scouting night and decided to join our pack. Since I wanted his experience to be better than mine, I decided to become a leader. Well, his experience has been better than mine: he wants to become part of summer camp staff when he's old enough, he eventually wants to become a leader, and, in his words, he wants to stay involved "until I die". This has been his attitude for several years.

I'm currently now "working my ticket" for my Wood Badge course. I've decided that I am also committed to scouting. I also have a younger son who will be eligible to be a Tiger scout in a year, so I figure I have quite a few years as a leader ahead of me.

I'm looking forward to gaining all the information I can from this board.

Well, I used to be a FOX but I sang in the first round - I'll let one of my fellow critters lead the way this time.

2nd weekend down -

This has been an excellent course. I'm definately going to suggest that anyone who wants to attend do so. Again - I have to say that the staff was fantastic.

Now - to get working on the ticket. I'm planning to start today by researching a bit of the information I need to know to complete one of my items. My tickets help my current unit, which I could be leaving next February as my son crosses to Boy Scouts, so my goal is to have them finished by December of this year. If I'm successful, I think I'll have my beading done at the Wood Badge breakfast. My entire patrol is planning to attend the breakfast. We continued to get along very well the second weekend as well.

At one of the breaks on the last day, one of the patrol members proudly presented the rest of us with her list of "20 things I learned this weekend". These were camping related, but she was very excited to add these skills to her camping knowledge.

Fox - C-44-06

I used to be a FOX, a good old FOX, too.

But now I'm finished FOXing I don't know what to do.

I'm growing old and feable, and I can FOXno more.

So, I'm going to work my ticket if I can

Back to Gilwell, happy land, I'm going to work my ticket if I can

(Finished the second weekend of C-44-06 on Sunday. Starting my ticket today.)

I'm going to need to watch for your article on Autism and Aspergers. That I know of in my den, I have 1 scout with autism, 2 with asperger's, and another 2 with ADHD. And over 3/4 of the den attends a school for Gifted/Talented students. (It's the magnet school for the public school system). They're 2nd year Webelos, but my other son will be joining cubs soon, so I'll probably see some of the same things.

We'll be doing our crossover tomorrow at our pack meeting.

What we've done the last couple of years is the upcoming 2nd year webelos help the new 1st year webelos with their neckers; the new 1st year webelos help the new bears; etc.

If done right, it makes a really nice ceremony that involves all the boys and lets the parents be free to take pictures.

I've recently started reading a number of posts here - a lot of great information. Saw this post and had to read it. I'm a trumpet player, and have sounded Taps at funerals, as mentioned. I'm also taking my horn with me to the the second weekend of Woodbadge training. (No brass players on staff).

What prompted me to post, however, is my son. He's currently a Webelos scout, and will be in 5th grade next fall. They start band in his school in 4th grade, and his choice of instrument was trumpet. My wife and I were talking about it and came up with a theory, which my son confirmed.

He wanted to learn to play the trumpet because he wants to be a bugler at scout camp. (He was rather chagrined when my wife and I figured it out, too.)

Actually, it wasn't the TG who gave us the information - one of our patrol members suggested (while we were still a den), and the rest of us agreed with him.

We're getting together tomorrow to work on the patrol project and finish our planning for the second weekend.

Just finished the first weekend.

WOW! All that information crammed into my head is still spinning around trying to find its home.

I'm in course C-44-06, sponsored by NorthernStar Council (St. Paul-Minneapolis).

I feel really fortunate. My patrol gelled quite quickly and we get along well together. Early on the first day, one of the members suggested that we just take things as they come and don't stress out about what we're supposed to be doing next. I think that helped us through the first weekend and let us have fun. While doing the Zulu Toss, our Troop guide commented that we were the only patrol laughing.

We have 33 members in the course and 21 staff. I am quite impressed with the staff. They are very committed to making the WoodBadge course interesting and fun while keeping it very educational as well.

I made a good decision when I decided to take the course. Now I just have to let my wife and sons know I appreciate them letting me attend the training.

I had a similar issue - Roundtable ended up being the same night as the committee meeting. So - I would go to Roundtable first (about 2.5 miles from my house), stay about 10 minutes and gather any materials / handouts, and then travel .75 miles to my committee meeting (in the direction of my house). At least I was able to meet some people, keep some connections going, and get my material.

It was nice on those nights when the committee meeting was changed - I got to spend the entire time at Roundtable. In some cases - I got a lot of good information out of it.

At my pre-course meeting, they specifically requested that we not create our ticket items before the first weekend. The course instructors said they would be covering ticket items in detail and after that we could work on them.

They did say, however, that we could be thinking about different ideas that might work. I have started a list of different ideas that I would like to accomplish, but I'm going to wait until I get into the first weekend before I try and define how my ticket items will work.

I do have to say I agree with you as well. However, in my district (North Star District, NorthernStar Council previously Indianhead Council), the trainers for my Basic Leader Training were really good. They made the course a lot of fun and did a good job instructing. Of course, they were a husband/wife team with 2 sons in Boy Scouts.

Ive also attended two University of Scouting sessions as well. In my mind, it was quite worthwhile. I didnt attend the last two because I had other meetings I needed to attend the last time was the precourse meeting for my upcoming Woodbadge course (C-44-06). And even though I heard it once, Back to Gilwell has been running through my head.

According to the course guide, it's only about 1/2 mile. I think I can walk that.

I'm looking forward to the course - it should be fun.

I got my Wood Badge packet in the mail yesterday, and I'm looking forward to the class. Is anyone else going to be at this course in NorthernStar Council (Saint Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota)? Course dates are May 5-7 and May 26-28.

Most of my other questions have been answered, but one Ive recently thought of is the Physical nature of the course. My cardiologist has told me I cant run any more marathons or other races. I currently run 4 to 5 miles and Im working to add some other aspects to my fitness plan. I would think the course is more mentally challenging than physically challenging. Is that true?

Ive also started creating a list of tasks I want to accomplish for the pack, and Im hoping some might work for my ticket. I guess Ill have to see with that one.