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Twocubdad

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Everything posted by Twocubdad

  1. I think the orange shirts are fine and have never heard any complaints from the Tigers. In fact, my younger son used to get mad at me for wearing my full uniform (as Den Leader) to Tiger Den meetings. He wanted me to wear an orange shirt like he did. I do, however, wish they would improve the quality. By year's end, half the boys have gaping holes in their arm pits or the collars half off from where the seams come apart. We give our Webelos a good bit of latitude as to when to go to the tan uniform. We tell the parents to stay with the blues as long as they fit. All the boys mak
  2. Does anyone know the official date of the Tiger Cubs' conversion to blue uniforms? I assume that this year they are still in the orange t-shirts, but want to double check before I start sending folks to the Scout shop.
  3. We've tried that approach but with mixed results. Last year we polled existing Scout families for the names of little brothers and neighbors who were planning to join. Of the 20 or so boys who ultimately joined, about half responded to the survey and we got one Wolf Den leader out of the bunch. With the Tigers, however, if we had all the leaders set prior to Roundup, we would have missed a very good den leader who just appeared at Roundup night. This year, we tried the same approach but with no response. I don't know if there just aren't any little brothers in the Pack this year, o
  4. Bobwhite; Doesnt the book say you cant be "registered" in more than one position in the same unit? I thought the primary purpose of the policy is 1) to prevent someone from registering as both SM (or CM) and CC and thereby avoiding some of the checks and balances, and 2) to keep units or more likely councils from cooking the membership books. It seems to me what we're talking about here is registering in one position and functioning in others. In my humble opinion, if everyone is strictly limited to performing one and only one function, the whole organization collapses before bre
  5. I first trained under the old Basic Cub Scout Leader course, but have since had New Leader Essentials and position-specific training for Tiger Leader, Den Leader and Committee Member. I've been trying since April to do my Webelos training but have had Webelos Leader cancelled out from under me once and WLOT cancelled twice. If I may, I'd like to join the whine and cheese crowd for a moment. Unless the objective is to re-train all Cub leaders every year, there are too many dang position-specific courses. There is very little difference between the courses. It's a distinction without di
  6. Reminds me of the old line about Vince Lombardi. The three most important things in his life were God, Country and the Green Bay Packers -- but not necessarily in that order!
  7. We had a similar discussion among our Pack's committee members late last fall when scheduling problems pushed our fall campout further into November than we wanted. We came up with a good rule of thumb, for Cub Packs at least, which is this: Cub Scout camping is all about having fun. We're not out there to hone our survival skills, prove our manhood or test our mettle. If the weather forcast looks like if will make for a not-so-fun weekend, we cancel.
  8. It's not just the parents, Pack leaders can be just as bad. I'm our district's Roundup Chairman and sent letters to 21 Cubmasters asking for them to let me know which schools their Packs wanted to recruit. I even provided stamped, addressed return envelopes. Five of the 21 responded. You can set a nice table, but you can't make them eat. My attitude is that our Pack runs a good program, plans plenty of activities for the boys, but we're not going to beg anyone to participate. With Cubs at least, it's all up to the parents. I have one boy in my den who hasn't been to a meeting since befor
  9. A lifetime ago I worked as both a reporter for a local paper and later in public relations. Having been on that side of the notepad, I'd like to make two observations. First, the reporter you're likely to have assigned to cover your event is likely a very young kid, fresh out of school with very little training and even less experience. This is especially true of the small, hometown papers that can't or won't pay for more experienced reporters. My advice when dealing with such reporters is to be very clear with your part of the story. Always prepare a news release to give to the
  10. Actually, the Tiger Promise is no more. They still have a separate motto, "Search, Discover, Share" as noted above. I used the CS Promise and Law of the Pack for our openings and closings in our den meetings, beginning in January. I spent about 10 minutes of one Den meeting going over the Bobcat requirements with my Tigers. Of course they knew the sign and salute, which are part of the Tiger program, and most know the handshake. A couple boys knew the CS Promise and motto, so they led the den in reciting it. Every week we would recite one or the other for our opening or closing. By the e
  11. Ed -- for that matter, where does the constitution say you can't scream "Fire!" in a crowded theater? Where does it say the police have to read you your rights before questioning you? Where is the Federal Communications Commission mentioned? And while we're at it, where does it say that the Supreme Court has the right to rule legislation unconstitutional? I get a kick out of these Congressmen who carry a copy of the Consitution in their breast pocket. While it's a nice touch, it means little without a truck-load of law books behind them. The Constitution says what 213 years of case law
  12. Clearly, the plain language of the First Amendment prohibits the government from promoting not just one denomination over another, but any religion. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." If they had intended that government would promote religion generally, but be neutral among the various sects, they could have said so. "Congress shall make no law favoring one religious belief above another...", for example. I also suggest care in invoking the beliefs of the Founding Fathers. While most of the founders were reli
  13. Unless you have a Troop committee full of control freaks, I've found that forgiveness is frequently easier to obtain than permission, as the saying goes. Why don't you and one of the other new parents just jump in and start working with the new boys and get them off on the right foot. Organize classes for them at every Troop meeting to cover the Tenderfoot and Second Class requirements they need. Take them out on a weekend (with proper two-deep leadership, of course) and work on orienteering and other outdoor requirements. Set up a merit badge class for them to attend during Troop meetin
  14. Thank you all for your replies. Everyone seems to confirm that I'm on the right track persuing this. If I understand correctly, my best recourse is with the Council training committee. We've gone through all the permutations of juggling the registration to make this work. But we shouldn't have to play games to get this guy the recognition he earned. It's especially bothersome that peole in leadership positions at the district level are creating an atmosphere where playing games with the registration is necessary. The bottom line is that this guy has earned the award -- and yes, for a job
  15. Here's another good resource from the Virtural Cub Scout Leader Book: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/9152/adultinsignia.html
  16. I'll go the Cub Scout route a step further -- if your Troop doesn't have an affiliated Pack, start one! This is especially true if your chartered organization is a church or a similiar group with a ready supply of younger boys. Contact you local District Executive about setting up a Pack. You can also talk up the idea with your chartered organization head and parents of boys with Cub-aged brothers.
  17. I'm the Committee Chair of a large Pack and need advice on how to handle a problem with our district training chairman. Six months ago, our Cubmaster was recruited away to serve as Scoutmaster of a new Troop. Fortunately, we have a great leader who was willing to step into the Cubmaster slot. This guy is an old Eagle Scout, has been through the program as a den leader with an older son, has all the training and is well versed in the program. At the time he moved into the Cubmaster position, he was (and still is) serving as a Tiger Den Leader with his younger boy. According to him, workin
  18. I made a hat press out of two pieces of particle board, one solid and the other with a cutout the size of the crown. It's pressed together with two bungies. Much nicer than the one Supply division sells. I also drilled a hole in one corner to hang it by, avoiding the "stuffed in a locker" look. My campaign hat stays home on campouts. I wear it mostly for Pack meetings and other "Class A" events.
  19. Here's your arcane trivia question for the week: Has the upper age limit for Scouting always been 18? The reason for the question is that we were recently cleaning out my grandparents house and found my grandfather's certificates for earning tenderfoot, second class, first class and star ranks -- all dated circa 1940-41. Problem is, my grandfather would have been 24 or 25 during that time. Was that legal then? It couldn't have been too bad as after the war he served as a Scoutmaster and Cub leader. And of his five grandsons, four are Eagles (and the fifth is working on it!)
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