Vigil-Hiker

My old troop met on Mondays so, the paperwork got to Council by Thursday and the patches would arrive ~ 1 week later. Our COuncil Office and Scout shop were 2 hours away, so no last minute items for us. We did COH's instead of one of the troop meetings ~ 2 weeks after BOR and 1 month after summer camp. We held 3 BOR's and 4 COH's a year, plus 1-2 Eagle COH's a year.

Not sure how the troop I would like to see my son in(2 years from now) does their COR's, but I can tell you that nothing is presented after BOR is completed. The Troop Leaders' sons were up for review, so I sat in to help them out - they will not sit in on their own son's review as part of troop policy. We gave them a warm congradulations and made suggestions for anything they need to work on or tips for planning out service projects. We also asked them for feed back on how they see things going, and what they would like to see happening in their troop in the future.

I know the extra space is nice - especially on hot days. My wife prefers to share the tent. She has tent camped twice, once with the cubscouts 2 years ago, and last sumer family camping. I think being that she grew up in the city, she prefers to have some one near who is use to tent camping in the wild(and she was a girl scout).

The advantage of car-based camping with the cubs is I get to take a queen size air mattress.

My tent is suppose to sleep 5, but with my 2 daughters(under age 5) the tent seem a bit tight on space. My son ended up staying with my parents(in their mini-van since their tent did not withstand the storm). There is nothing like camping in the remnants of a hurricane.

For winter camping I would definately prefer sharing the tent - warmth you know, one in a tent gets cold.

How do they function? No leadership, no money. My Gawd!!

Den Leaders are supposed to have Individual Tracking Sheets per boy to track attendance, join date, and progress toward Rank. This is supposed to be taken with you to the new Pack. If have you that, it should make things a little easier for the transfer in order to show what has been completed, in addition to his handbook records.

Run, don't walk to the new Pack. They are wide open to personal law suites, have no insurance, and are impersonating an Offical Nationwide Nonprofit Organization since they do have a Charter and refuse to follow the rules. It would be no different than claiming to a priest in the Catholic Church or a Red Cross represenative. They are a fraud and a not legitimate pack.

Best of Luck.

Some Packs, like mine, go camping a couple time a year. Get BALOO trained (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation) to take them camping. Become camping commitee chair, or the go to person for hiking(at some point all levels require going on a hike to full their requirements). Run the Webelos outdoor Activities (Outdoorsman, Naturalist, Forester. Run a Pack or den fishing trip to a local lake or river and teach them to fish.

There are special awards they can earn, like Cub Scout World Conservation and Leave-No-Trace.

We are losing a Cubmaster and Camping committe chair next year. We could use you here in South-Eastern NY (NYC people say we are upstate NY, but I have a short trip to get to CT, NJ, and PA).

Scouting is supposed to be family friendly, especially for Cubs. So, why not?

There should be times when the troop has events for whole family to attend. So if both parents(non-leaders) went on a campout

open to parents staying over, they would then require separate shelters otherwise as well. That would be absurd.

But it depends on the shelter they are staying in. If using a tent that will house multiple leaders, she would need a separate tent. Just the married couple then the same tent is fine. For cabins, she would a separate private room or a separate cabin. A leader can only stay in same shelter with their own child and/or spouse of the opposite sex.

The car battery and steel works great. Especially if the person who mans the battery is out sight. If you use that method, immediately disconnect the battery from the leads that are on the ground - you want to be able to start your car to get home right? (I know someone who killed their battery on a campout this way)

Another option would be to appear that you are using the old fashioned Flint-n-Steel. Use the fire-starter Hot Spark kit to light a bird's nest of twine that will start the fire. Hide a couple of Fire-Starter sticks/blocks in the lay that the twine touches. This worked for us after it rained all day on the wood.

I have the 2006 printing of the Webelos handbook (trying to look ahead for next year so I do not have to repeat something that is an elective this year and is a requirement next year).

Either uniform may be worn. I plan to have my son switch shirts after he has earned his Webelos badge. Having been in since Tigers, his shirt is full of patches. He is only has working on electives and Leave-no-Trace available to him now(earned all 4 ranks, Outdoor Activity award, Cub scout Conservation Award, and Religous Knot). At that point he will have been in same shirt for 2 1/2 years. He will be needing a larger shirt by then and I do not want to have to sew all that on again. (Yes, I sew on my son's patches, not my wife or tailor. Have a few jealous moms in my pack on this point.)

I have already picked up an "experienced" tan shirt and pants for outdoor activities for my son. Even managed to get a Red Wool Jac-Shirt for him ~ $60 on eBay.

Rank pin?

What is a rank pin?

You must be refering to Parent Pins that may be given to the parent that match their son's rank from Scout to Life. They are to show the Prent's pride in the hard work their son is doing and to recognize the support the parents are providing their son.

It took me 5 minutes to figure it out, and I am working with Cub Scouts for 2 more years until my son crosses over. My troop, when I became a Boy Scout 20+ years ago, presented the mothers with a Scout parent pin upon their son achieving the Scout rank during a candle-lit ceremony. This was rather easy to earn since most of us started as Cub Scouts 3-4 years earlier(Tiger cubs did not exist then).

My understanding is that Immediate Recognition is the presentation of the beads on the Trail to First-Class (like Tiger thru Bear in Cub Scouts). Rank patches are presented after Progress Toward Rank is sent to Council with the patch(es) order at next Court of Honor(or Pack meeting for Cubs). Troops should plan to have their COH about 2-3 weeks after a BOR.

We alway had an nice one for the younger Scouts earning their first rank of Scout, simple ones for the others, and an elaborate one for Eagle. We had a campfire program ~ 3-4 weeks after summer camp to present merit bagdes earned and any Ranks completed.

We usually ordered 2 patches per boy once they reached First-Class, since it takes longer to earn the merit badges. The boys usually had a short sleeve and long shirt by then. That way sew twice, instead of: sew, remove to transfer, sew again, remove to transer, sew again as the seasons changed. After all, not all areas have easy to find Merit Badge Counselers with very open schedules.

Uniform pants are lighter for hiking and move easier than jeans do. I give mine a light coat of water repellent before damp outings. For some seasons, I recommend the utility zipoff pants (cool morning/evenings and warm afternoons). My son has those, but I never seem to find right color in adult sizes that aren't expensive.

We may pack our neckerchiefs for wear at Flag ceremonies or uniform inspections, but we tend to leave them at home since today's are mostly designed for show and the boys tend to lose the slides.

I recommend carrying a bandana for more practical uses: sweat rag, dust filter, arm sling, etc. Especially if you need to use a bear bag, you would not want to use your neckerchief to wrap a rock to weight the throwing end of the rope. They will get holes from a toss hitting the tree trunk(Philmont experience).

DugNevius - I bet the boys loved Devil's Den and Little Round top at Gettysburg. I remember most of my old troop in full uniform doing the full 10 miles/museum/Eisenhower Farm in 1 day. We slept the 4 hour ride back home - we had an adult driver crew and adult hiking crew to reduce fatigue issues. Gawd I miss living closer. Dying to get my son to Gettysburg.

Depends on the events.

My troop: (when as a youth)

District/Council Camporees - full uniform (minus sash) unless there are extenuating circumstances. Example Indian Lore or Klondike with a dress in theme contest for the day's activities.

Troop Winter campout - dress for the weather only - uniform optional.

Summer Camp - full uniform to/from camp and for Flag ceremonies, and dress according to activities with a scout activity shirt or scout t-shirt prefered (don't wear a new activity shirt or white-based t-shirt if swamping canoes in a muddy creek).

I wear my uniform for all of my Pack's camping unless I am cutting/splitting wood for the campfire, so I change to jeans and t-shirt for that (only have one uniform, so I try to keep it in good shape).(This message has been edited by Vigil-Hiker)

Bottom line in my den is if work was not done, then do not get the award. Of course there is the possibility of some parents signing off on things that were not done, but that parent is cheating out their son on learning and practicing skills needed in Boy Scouts.

Do these boys get their allowance if they do not do their chores at home? I know I did not.

Webelos is to gear up and prepare for Boy Scouts. It is a very different system. Skills learned to reach First Class are often signed off by a patrol leader, then reviewed in a Scoutmaster's conference. Don't pass review, no advancement in rank.

If they decide to complete their work, they could look rather ambitious if they finish off 2-3 Activity Pins that get presented a single Pack Meeting.

Find out if they have any schedule conflicts (religion, sports, etc.) If so, maybe change meeting night. Talk to the boys and their parents and explain how this work is preparing them for Boy Scouts and how things are done in a Troop. Maybe have a discussion when everyone is there on how fun last week's meeting or trip was or their favorite part of the activity (deer seen on a hike, how far someone's catapult fired, the gemstones found in the quarry). Talk up an upcoming activity or trip, plan a pool party following after finishing the Aquanaut swimming requirements. Make feel like they are missing out on something fun if they aren't there. If it sounds like something they really want to do, they will come.

As for 12 boys, it is a bit much. Hope you have 2 assistants at you meetings. The rule is supposed to be no more than 9 boys. Ten boys is supposed to be split into 2 dens.

I plan my year so that if everyone does their "homework" and attends the all the den meetings they will earn their rank and at least an arrow point. I had 2 just make Wolf rank by the last pack meeting without any arrow points and another was 3/4 finished on their wolf and then disappearred during baseball season. A couple of mine dropped out in favor of sports. I know how you feel, but I Do My Best and try to Be Prepared to make it a good experience for the boys.

We only occaisonally have dens doing skits. Most of our boys are shy on singing too. Our dens rotate hosting the pack meeting and do the following: flag presentation, skit or skill demo, host 4 activities, and provide refreshments.

Some of the activities are games like penny toss, lassoing a boot, balloon relay. Other fullfil requirements/electives like modeling something from clay, starting a family tree, learning about your home state, etc. The activities are based on the monthly themes from National. Every Pack should get at least 1 copy of the Program Helps at the Program Launch from your council.. You can order more copies from your Scout Shop or ScoutStuff.org (National's online store).

A format like this may make things a little more fun and easier to transition into for a start. If the boys start getting out of hand, use the Scout Sign to quiet them and remind them at the more time they run around, the less time for the fun activities. Maybe the next year shift to all dens performing at each pack meeting if you want. Things should be fun and you have to see what works best for your Pack.

I am the most experienced Scout in my pack (Wolf to Webelos & AOL, on to Eagle, and in the OA) and they look for me to take over next year. I am currently running a Bear Den and work in IT, so be CM too just is not practical for me or the Pack. I will not have the time(I also have 3 kids who are in/starting Daisies, Cheerleading, Football, Tee-ball, Baseball, and Lacrosse, plus Religion). But I help out any time I can, like going to most Round Tables and assist anytime that I can. Maybe you have a parent like me somewhere that can help do some training and advising other leaders.

At least you have a ACM, our cubmaster for the last 4 years just moved on to Boy Scouts, Our Webelos I leader stepped up to be new CM until Feb. 2007. We have needed a ACM for past 2 years and our Treasurer leaves in June.

Do a talent survey of all the adults. Try to match backgrounds/skills with committee needs. Try to recruit from Tiger/Wolf parents a new ACM to starting training in order turn the reins over to when your son crosses over. Have someone do a monthly newsletter with reminders for upcoming events, Pack meetings and leader meetings, and anything news worthy for the pack.

ASAP get a copy of the Council and School calenders and note all revelant Cubscout events and school closing. Use this basis to plan out next year. Have a leaders meeting in June to find out from all other leaders: what works and what does not, activities they would like to see done(same or differently), and get ideas to brain storm over the summer. Have a August leaders meeting to plan out the whole year (pack meetings, leader meetings, activities, district and Council sponsored cub events). End of year we meet at a restaurant, and in August we have nacho night or BBQ at someone's house.

Our pack has a camping chair to oversee 1-2 camping trips per years. He just stepped up to be Cubmaster and will be grooming someone to take over during the planning seesion for our late Spring campout. Usually the camping committe chair will oversee our members going to the Winter Cub Event as well.

We usually have different people chair the different outings according to their interests. We had a mom leading the trip to see a pro hockey game and another for a pro basketball game. Usually one of the dads handles a trip to go to a local minor league game. My wife was in charge of organizing us for the Bowl-a-thon that was put on by the Council. All of these people report to the CC and CM.

Always have a paper trail on who is handling what commitee and who the members are. The committee should document how to organize it, who the contacts are for where we go, when to submit a local tour permit, what supplies are needed, how many scouts and adults attending and the cost. This way there is something to refer to for future planning and its gets handed off the the next chair person.

At the moment I am with a pack that goes camping 1-2 time a year. We do car camping, but we have camped where we had to carry everything ~1 mile in. Needless to say we had a few wagons on the camp fire road.

One of the troops we feed does both. They will do an occaisional overnight backing trip on a section of our state parks with 200 miles of trails. Every 2 years they do a high adventure trip (backpacking and/or canoing) and try to get to Philmont every 3-4 years. They usually have at least a couple of scouts go to Jambo as well.

I hope I hold up physically to take my son to Philmont. I loved my trip there, but would have been easier if did not have to have stitches removed from my knee the day before hitting the trail. Otherwise a great trip I would do in a heart beat again.

See if there are historic Trails in your area that may qualify for the Historic Trails patch.

You need to camp overnight and put in service hours on the trail or historic site, so this needs to be done in a group. I do not remember the distance requirements. There are a set of requirements for cub scouts and another for Boy Scouts for thi award.

jens3sons,

The 50-miler is not for cub scouts. It is to be completed in a single outing over several days. You are to camp over-night during each stop. It is to completed on foot, canoe, or bicycle carrying your gear and food with you.

What cub scout is going to carry 40-50 pounds of tent, pots, sleeping bag, clothes, rain gear, food, water, etc.

I earned mine hiking 60 miles in the mountains of Philmont Scout Ranch the day after having stitches take out of my knee. Some of my troop did that trek and went on a 50 mile canoe trip during one week of summer camp - all the gear in the canoes.

Not every Philmont trek or week long canoe/bike trip will go the 50+ miles. It is one of those special awards that instills pride in going the extra distance to those who earn it. And there is no 100 miler.

My troop use to wear them in the early eighties until the shirt change. We had no choice in the old v-neck yoke style shirts. I think I may have a couple of the square neckerchiefs around in scouting box.

My troop rarely wore our chosen neckerchief. We usually wore one from one of the camps we went to. The camps in my old council each had their own neckerchief and patch design for the Winter Camping season and another for Summer Camp. They usually had the dates and a different animal on them and varied the basic color. Of course the Philmont crew picked up Philmont ones to show off when we returned home.

We usually wore our neckerchiefs or Bolo ties only for special events (BOR, COH, etc).

I try to do the samething for my cub scouts. I am currently a den leader and always wear full unform to Scout events and Pack meetings. For my den meetings I wear at minimum, my shirt since I often end up working late and just make it home in time. For certain things like painting, I tell them to not wear their uniform. More of the Pack leaders are now wearing atleast the shirt, where before they wore street clothes. We suggest to the parents to not buy uniform pants for the boys, but get dockers style ones for less and can be used for every day wear too. All the cubs I know need new pants every year since they grow so fast.

Our Pack also has its own polo shirts and sweatshirts that we wear for things like camping and hiking when the uniform is not practical. We sell them for a $2 profit to help defray some our expenses. These are ok for some den meetings, but never for Pack meetings.

The first neckerchief is bought by the parents. At the end of the year, the Pack buy neckerchiefs for al of the cubs who are moving up to next den level, whether or not they completed their rank requirements. That way no one get left out of getting something by the end of the year. The Boy Scout troops we feed present our Webelos with their troop neckerchiefs when they cross over. Some packs here present the boys with their next handbook too.

At some point for each rank they are suppose to go on a hike with their den or family. On camping electives, there is learning the buddy system and the 10 essentials to go hiking/camping. I know of several cubs who would want to earn such an award.

Maybe if they had something for doing a couple of hikes, with some of the camping elective stuff and a little of Leave-No-Trace fundamentals. It may help push the get-out-into-the-outdoors and going camp stuff that seems to be coming from National.

We have hiking clubs here and some timed orienteering competitions every fall. One event is an all-day mountain trail competition that goes all the way across the county and passes our local Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps. So in that case, it is a sport.

When I was a Tiger leader, we went a living history farm and museum in the Fall. During Christmas season, our town Historical Society had a small train show in one of its Historical homes it does events in. It featured memorabilia from the old rail lines that use to be in the county, like the now defunct Erie Railroad.

Most went to the first one, and every one went to second one. Trains & boys is a sure to win thing.

For things like scrapbooks and collections, they had to bring it to a meeting to show it off. Every boy had questions about each others items in them. They tended to impress each other in those.

Another make-up event possibility that will get them there is going to visit a fire training center. Ours does a yearly demo open to the public using new and old equipement.

When I was in Boy Scouts, I managed to have a summer job, ran Winter and Spring Track, Marching band(we went to every football game, and performed in 3 competitions per season), concert band, and stage band. Concert band had concerts twice a year, and stage band usually had 3. I also managed getting a seat in County band 2 years in a row. Every time there was a school musical, stage band provided the musical background. Every year went troop camping 3-4 times minimum, attended 3 camporees, and every OA Ordeal Weekend(3 times a year, and was on ceremonies team). I did manage to earn my Eagle, but cut it close (3 days before I turned 18 with exactly 21 merit badges).

The kids need to decide what is important to them and what they enjoy doing. If they want it all, they need to be supported by their parents, and have a busy schedule that they can manage and not be overwhelmed by their choices.

Middle school football is only 2 1/2 months of the school year. Scouting is a year long program. If they want to get their Arrow of Light and think time may be issue in the Fall, work hard on requirements during the summer and attend day camp. This will also give them something to do during days they are bored and had no idea what to do in the summer.

I agree that you should recommend that the boys wear uniform shirts only. Depending on where you live, choose identicle baseball style caps or boonie style hats for sun protection.

I don't think my dad could ever afford a full uniform until he was in high school. He grew in an almost similar position you are in. My dad was in cub scouts and Boy scouts from the mid-50's until ~1970 and grew up on a semi-rural farm. My family had a large farm, but never much money. Most everything was grown on contract or sent to markets an hour away.

My dad and his little brother and sister decided to have a small roadside stand to sell fresh fruits and vegatables that they grew themselves in a large garden. Their profits went to buy seed for next year, school items, scout stuff, and to save towards college(my dad and his siblings all went to college with scholarship money and loans). Perhaps some of your scouts could do the same. Maybe even each growing different items and marketing them together to pool their resources.

Personally I am living paycheck to paycheck in Suburban New York and can't afford to buy new cars(ever), have cable TV, or broad Internet service, and barely pay rent and utilities some months. My son has his cub shirt now for 3 years that we bought used, and his cap. Our Pack presents neckerchiefs as you move to next den level. I have pants, shirt, and neckerchief, but only after 2 years.

Stick to the must haves and durable basic equipement. Inquire at Council for camping equipement. Most Council purchase new items for each Jamboree that they send scouts to. So they be able to get you some used equipement bought for the Jamboree last year.

Why have to choose? Most coaches will tell them to get at least half of the weekday day practices with Friday and Saturday as mandatory. POP Warner Flag football is for 6-7 year olds and tackle for the rest. My den is made up of all Catholics who attend CCD classes on different days and play football, soccer, or basketball in the Fall and play baseball or lacross in the Spring. Most have stuck with it so far from Tigers and are now Bears.

Our village has 2 Packs, 3 Troops. 4 Flag football teams, 3 7-9 year-old tackle teams, 2 9-11 year-old tackle teams, 13 7-9 year-old baseball teams, 8 9-11 year-old baseball teams, atlesat 2 teams for each basketball level, and 6 soccer teams. (we also have Gaelic football, plus all the girls sports teams(same sports), cheerleading, and 2-3 Girl Scout troops.) We also have the top school district in the County and one of the best in NY State.

It is a matter of what you want to do and flexibility in scheduling time. Every coach here says "school work first, then everything else" and must make 1/2 of the practices to play.

Tiger\Wolf\Bear Cubs can wear a temporary patch on right shirt pocket or progress towards rank beads. Right pocket is for temporary patch or compass points on Webelos uniform.

I am thinking of re-activating my OA membership. Miss all the camping and right now finishing up with a Cub Scout wolf den. Pack camps 1-2 times a year. If re-activate, then can camp 3-4 times a year with Lodge and help get camps ready for my son's day camp. I had lot of fun on the ceremonies team as a youth.

The other time to wear OA Sash is during an event the the Lodge is taking an active roll in. Say there is an camporee and camp or place of the event needs traffic control for entering/parking etc and the Lodge volunteers to handle this. A scout troop may be in charge of the event, but the Lodge is running the parking portion.

When sashs are not need to be worn enroute to event most peole loop over belt keep out of the way and cleaner. Miss the pants with large pockets on the thighs. They were perfect size for OA Sash or beret hats.