5yearscouter

I do the rechartering for the pack as CC and COR again this year. Since we just did recruiting, it won't be hard. we'll verify who is continuing and take payments for those who owe money. For any leader not trained for their current position, they are not rechartered in that position. if they are minimally trained as a committee member, they may be rechartered in that position. but honestly the den leaders have been very nice about doin their training as needed, they really don't ever give me grief about it cause I tell them it's required so they go and do it. Baloo training or Webelo

My family used rubbermaid plastic tubs for years for camping. The stove and lantern go into a separate tub, as does any food items. The pots and pans go into the tub on their side if possible, so the boys can pull out a pot by it's handle, silverware and spatulas standing up in a coffee can. ideally you have your 3 wash pans stacked and they fit in the top of the rubbermaid--mine fit in and stop before they go all the way down as the rubbermaid container gets smaller as it goes down. in the tub is things like matches, clothespins, soap, papertowels, alumninum foil, little clothes lin

We charge $50 a year, and they pay it in November for the next calendar year. They can use popcorn sales to offset the cost, and most Webelos 2's understand the value of participating in popcorn sales, so they can usually cover most of their recharter fee. The pack buys them a Boy Scout Book, troop neckerchief, slide and the green tabs, that alone is a big part of what they paid us for recharter. When they crossover we have 3 or 4 troops they might join. each charges a bit different cost. most will charge $1 plus a $4-5 per month troop fee, prorated. The most expensive troop

We have a mandatory parent meeting right after recruiting, the next week. We go over the basic outline of positions in a pack and explain what positions need to be filled. We usually get someone who steps up if we need a cubmaster or assistant cubmaster usually a dad who used to be a scout. If not we recruit someone to help with finding some ceremonies and making some decorations for pack meetings, someone to help lead games for pack meetings and someone to help lead songs and skits/run ons, etc. Those people usually end up as an assistant cubmaster after they try it for a month or so.

I've tried to break down the pack fees based on using the national excel document. It's not as easy as it should be. Most of the time you just don't know, especially as a new pack, what things will cost. For instance you can do a blue and gold for $1 per scout for a few paper plates and everything else it donated or pot luck. or you can do a blue and gold where the pack pays up to $5 per boy and the parents pick up the difference. Or you can run a derby and give everyone a patch and a paper printed certificate, or you can give out the fancy car medals or trophies and the cost will v

If you have teeth of the zipper missing the kit and repairs won't work and you need new zippers. google for some directions for what the zipper is doing. sometimes the pull is not tight enough against the teeth and you can use plyers to squish the pull edges so they are tigher and that will force the teeth to go back together appropriately. Or the pull may need to be replaced, which you can do yourself fairly easily if you can get to the end of the zipper. you may need to undo some stitching, but if you can find the right size pull to replace, you just slide it in place and red

If a scout comes into a boy scout troop with a bunch of existing skills and could feasibly actually EARN 1st class in only a handful or 2 of months, why would you ask why they are in Boy Scouts if they already know it all and have the skillz? I would hope they are in your troop because your troop camps and hikes and backpacks and canoes, and makes campfires and does all sorts of things that the young man can do with boys his age instead of always doing it with his family going out hunting or whatever. Why would you not be jumping for joy that you have a young boy with skillz that you

Well my sons have been cooking since they were little, and have been cooking on campouts since they were Bear aged. So it depends on how strenuous you want the cook over a campfire and cook on a campstove testing to be. Usually I'd think it would take 2 campouts, just cause the boys tend to do only 1 or 2 cooked meals on most campouts, with a lot of grab and go foods for breakfasts and lunches. When it's summer hot in AZ you don't want a hot breakfast or lunch, so that's 6 months of the year. If a boy comes from a pack that camps and Webelos who cook their own meals instead of havi

You know we had a parent meeting when we were that small and made some harsh discussions about who was going to do the work and that it wasn't going to just be me. With a little poking all parents agree that the pack policy would be that each scout had to have one parent fill out a leader application and take a leader position of some kind. It was the only way to make it work. when we got more parents than we had leader positions (actual positions like den leader and assistant) everyone else was committee with each one in charge of an event, fundraiser, secy, treasurer, advancement, campout,

We find we get better participation and HELP make the pack GO from parents if we require them to attend the first few meetings to find out what is going on and get to know the den and the den leadership. After that, for wolf on up, if a parent is not going to stay for the meeting they have to check with the den leader after bringing the boy into the meeting room and come back for ending announcements. Lots of time parents are sooo busy that getting them to do family things at home is difficult--so for instanct den leaders may have family game night at the den meeting, and need each sco

We encourage all parents to participate in popcorn with some incentives (like cheaper registration and summer camp to those boys who sell popcorn) and incentives to the boys of prizes and throw a pie into the cubmaster's face kind of thing. But the fundraising dollars that go to the pack are there to make the pack go. All the dollars belong to the pack, the money is there to help all the scouts, not just those whose parents buy into the whole fundraising thing. Those who sell popcorn get a bit of benefit extra than those who don't sell popcorn, but EVERY scout gets their awards no matte

My absolute favorite was the year we had a CM or ACM from each of the 5 rank levels. So we put on a big celebration of America Blue and gold. Just normal burgers and hot dogs american picnic style. Kids came up and sang the abc's of america song and my kid puked and went home early. (that part was NOT THE BEST as my dh took him home, and I washed off my feet (luckily I had on a green scout skort) and wore a borrowed pair of flip flops for the rest of the night. anyway. the cubmasters got together with some parents and surprised me by hiding behind the curtain at the school once the k

Well the way I believe it should be done is that the pack works up a budget of what awards, and pinewood derby cars, events(even just pack meetings at the local school often costs something for craft or game materials), leader materials, printing, patches for special events, etc. Then figure out what that costs per scout for their part of it, add in their yearly registration fee, insurance, boy's life magazine. You then know what a year of scouting costs per boy. Then figure out how much of that you expect from history or best guess to be covered per boy from the fundraiser(s). Then

Lots and lots of ideas. I have so many ideas that we voted on the ones we wanted this year and were a bit bummed we had to take some off the list. we'll put as many into den stuff as possible, and save some new ones for next year. Standard things to include on your calendar recruiting night(s) Blue and Gold pinewood derby re-charter dates fundraising dates be sure to put in some committee/leader meeting dates campouts 1-3 a year hikes w/ campfire programs (at campout or instead of campouts if you can't do 3 campouts). pencil in crossover dates make a list of thing

Definitely packs need to change things up for the years, new themes, new activities, or just activities where the Webelos are in charge of something rather than just participating the same way they always have. Like the Webelos for the Derby sell pizza, sodas/water and snacks to keep people occupied while they race, because by their 5th pinewood derby they really aren't all that into racing and building a car anymore. or at the christmas parade, they make something cool and different out of wood and lights (it's a nighttime light parade). And one year we have a halloween party, and another

I'm just thinking of it in terms of how our summer goes. we graduate them to the next rank the end of may, so they have new hats, neckers, slides and books on June 1st. All summer long they work on the things for that rank they are currently working towards. They think of themselves as wolves, cause that's what we call the den eh? So then at the end of the summer, we give them the summertime pin for beging a Tiger over the summer while they were wolves? makes no sense to me at all no matter how you parse it. I view the Tiger pin as a recruiting tool for the spring--join by june

I see a wolf earning the Tiger summer pack award as being like a wolf joining in sept and wanting to go back and earn the tiger badge so he doesn't miss out. too bad, so sad you can only go forward from when you join, not backwards to work on prior rank stuff once you go up to the next level on June 1st. I believe it's in the Guide to Advancement about going back and working on achievements or awards for a prior rank, but I'd have to go look to be sure. I think it's also covered that way in the Cub Scout Leader book. so I would be consistent. if a boy who is wearing a wolf hat and necker c

Our roundtable gave out a bead "necklace" when you first came to roundtable as a new cub leader, a blue and yellow bead for cub scout colors, a colord bead to represent the district colors, and a clear bead to represent that you are new to scouting and come in with a brain that is empty of all the scouting ideas you gain at roundtable. Then each month they'd add a blue and yellow bead. To see the adults comparing the length of their bead necklaces sometimes was interesting. I wouldn't say that they came for the beads, but it was a visual way to see how experienced someone was, in theo

The problem is after 5 years of running cub scout events, which take a lot more planning and hands on, most parents are really looking forward to the hands-off-ed-ness of Boy Scouting. They are burnt out on that cub scout level of putting in 1 hour a week (which is really 1 hour a week times however many boys are in your unit). Besides, it is totally different to go back and try to ramp up the fun for cubs when you've already gone to the fire station many times with your scout and really don't want to do it again, you've btdt on the crafts and games and activities, you just do

Not sure where you got your info from? If every June 1st, the boys go up a rank, so tigers become wolves, why would you award them a tiger pin? It makes no sense to me to do it that way. They are no longer working on anything to do with tigers. If it's a national thing, maybe they did it that way because not very many units were giving out tiger pins because many units don't have a tiger den until the fall recruiting? I would be consistent. If you give the tigers two tiger pins that really doesn't sound so great, does it? I guess you could give new tigers the patch--if your

I'd probably do like what was mentioned, meet at a picnic area near the corn maze, or set up the back of someone's pick up truck as a stage, call each boy up as they get their bobcats, paint their faces give them their bobcat and welcome them to the pack. you could give everyone glow sticks or something like that as you put them back down into the group from the tailgate. new meaning to the idea of a tailgate party. but the kids would remember it. that's the point of the ceremony. that it's something to remember besides here is your bobcat award in this fancy ziplock bag. could even do

We have a troop rule of no cots in tents. although at summer camp it is nice when you have to sleep there all week to have a cot to put your gear under. in that case I'd recommend requiring tennis balls on the feet of all cots, and that the tents have to be x size in order to fit the cot. One thing we've found is 1 man tents, or we have a couple parents who bough "cot tents" sold at Cabelas is that it puts a distance between those people and the rest of their patrol. makes it easier for those boys to be loners and not part of the group.

With younger guys, I really prefer 2 or 3 man tents with 2 guys in it. Have had a few of the younger ones get totally freaked out on a first couple of campouts when they hear a coyote howling or an elk bugling and they do better if someone else in in the tent with them. even when backpacking, my boys prefer 2 man tents with one of them carrying the poles and one of them carrying the tent itself and then sleeping together in the tent. then they have the buddy system going on, as well as sharing the load. When they went on the cold weather backpacking, they had someone to share body heat

I see it like Calico. It was an oopsie, BOR done right before a COH and the paperwork not done, ac not notified, so the scouts didn't get their badges. In our troop it would go like this. scouts sign up for SM conference, once that is done(even if at a campout) then SM asks MC (or AC if she's present) to do a BOR asap. then the BOR completed the paperwork for advancement--signing the advancement form and turning it in to the ac's in box at the scout meeting location. the SM gives out the badge right then in front of whoever is present unless they forgot to take the box of b

Part of the agreement to BE a troop is that the CO promises to run the BSA program. Eagle is part of the BSA program and is not something that units can choose to add to or subtract from at will. If a troop were to decide they'd only recognize SOME eagles, I'd honestly hope national would pull their charter.