WVCubDad
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Posts posted by WVCubDad
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I have not had this experience and can only speak from what I've read in the BSA literature. That said, I think that with a dedicated Webelos Leader and a good plan, both boys should be able to get through AOL by next spring, even if it means the Web II delays going to a Troop by a few months.
I am basing this on the ability to reasonably complete an activity badge a month in order to meet the 8 badge requirement for the AOL. If the ability to get to a Webelos Resident Camp still exists in your council (many have already closed registration) it is possible that he can be much farther ahead if they have a well structured activity badge program. In our Council (Shenandoah Area) the Webelos Resident Camp scouts will be working on 5 different badges. I don't know how many will be completed, but it's a good start.
There are many others on here with much more experience who may be able to give you specific details on how to structure the program specifically. Good luck with it.
John
Tiger Den Leader (for 2 more days, then Wolf!)
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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Ir would appear that the Veteran Unit Insignia is not related to military service, but rather to the number of years the unit has been chartered. Here is the link to the ScoutStuff.org listing -
It can be ordered in 5 year increments starting with 5 and going to 95.
I can go to sleep now as I've learned many new things by surfing the site tonight. Thanks all.
John
Tiger Den Leader (for 3 more days, then Wolf)
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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I own a Eureka! Apex 2 tent that I bought several years ago for CAP ground team outings. Now my son and I use it for our Cub Scout camping trips. We recently camped 2 weekends in a row thanks to a Pack Overnighter followed by a Council Cub/Adult camp.
On the first trip my son and his friend were staying in our tent while I was in a borrowed tent next door. We had 4 storms roll through that evening and on into the wee hours of the night. I kept waiting to hear a little voice say "Dad, let's go home" but it never came. In fact, both boys didn't realize it rained hard after they went to sleep. Even my borrowed tent came through okay.
The second trip was to our Council Scout Camp, Camp Rock Enon in Gore, VA. We set up on the platforms used for the summer camp tents. The platform my son picked was near the campfire ring and not under any trees! That night it rained after we turned in and in the morning even with the tent tied to the frame and not staked out like we normally do, it kept the water pretty much off of us. I say pretty much because I didn't get the angle right on the fly and little rain came under and hit the side of the tent by my feet. (Thanks for the garbage back tip over the foot of my sleeping bag, I'll use that next time.)
Until my boy gets bigger, this will be a good tent for us. One thing that I've started doing is stuffing it back into its stuff sack instead of folding and rolling it like I used to do. Don't know how much differnce it has made but it hasn't hurt so far. I've also been lucky enough to be able to air/dry it out completely after each of our camping trips. It's been well worth the $89 I paid for it.
John
Tiger Den Leader (for 3 more days, then Wolf!)
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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Ahh, the ubiquitous headspace and timing gage, the bane of all tank commanders, especially those that wore bars instead of chevrons....fun times, fun times. Amazing how much consternation two simple pieces of metal could cause!
"Ummm, sir? You did check the headspace and timing before we ran TT VIII, didn't you?"
"Uhhhh, yeah, pretty sure I did..."
Back on topic, I too like Lisa's approach and hope that the Camp allows it.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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These sound like a great idea. As a veteran, I say go for it!
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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Thanks Judy, I will continue to be involved as much as possible. I'm meeting them after work tomorrow at a Pottery By Me store, hopefully they won't be too far ahead of me by the time I get there! Then it's off to a Cub/Adult Weekend at Camp Rock Enon! Can't wait for that...
John
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It's on my gotta get list (2 copies - 1 for me and one for my son!) Didn't know about the web site, thanks.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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Infoscouter,
Thanks for the kind words. I'm hoping we get to do this or other similar outdoor things again. I think she's been a little jealous of the time my son and I spend on CS stuff, so this was a good way to give her some special time and share things we both like.
I did take her to the Pack fishing derby and she enjoyed that as well, even though it was "her and the boys". She has always enjoyed fishing and now she has her own pole and doesn't have to share mine or her brother's. Soon, she'll be taking the fish off the hook herself. She has no qualms about putting on the worms and I had to tell her to quit sticking her hand into the worm container and pulling out all the worms at once!
Now, if we can just work on getting all the homework done...
8^)
John
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For those who are interested, Chapter 4 in the BSA publication 33212C, "Cub Scout Ceremnonies for Dens and Packs," 2005 printing, specifically deals with flag ceremonies to include indoor and outdoor posting, audience orientation and specific "commands".
Having the quick cheat sheet on this at NCS last weekend would have helped with the den flag raisings and lowerings, but they all got through it without raising a flag upside down. Would it have looked better with a quick review? Yes, but the point I'm taking away from this discussion is that there is a ceremony outlined, I can find it, teach it and use it. I doubt I'll get any negative feedback from the Cubs or adults in my pack if I just slip it in.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Shenandoah Area Council
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Just got back from a nice 4 mile hike on the C&O Canal with my daughter's Junior Troop. We joined the towpath at the parking area below the Park Headquarters across the river from Shepherdstown, WV. It was a very good day for a hike, 62 degrees, mostly cloudy and low humidity.
The girls wanted to try to balance on every fallen tree across the canal and did on one, but after that the Troop leader nixed any more attempts. The main group of girls shot out ahead of the adults.
We stopped for lunch at Lock 40 and it was there that the difference between Cubs and Juniors really manifested itself. Apparently there was an icky spider/queen ant/bee that crawled up on to one of the girls legs and she began shrieking like there was no tomorrow. Soon they realized that there was a lot of stuff moving on the ground and they decided to put a towel down to sit on. My DD who at times takes very much after her mother, just shook her head and smiled at me. Later we found a little toad and the girls decided that it wasn't that bad and passed it around.
I had a chance to talk about how to use a compass and what you need to have with you when you go on a hike. Girls, like boys, have short attention spans and only the one who asked a question was left to hear the answer, the rest were chasing the toad.
After continuing a bit farther it was time to turn around and head back. My daughter's feet started to ache, but she toughed it out and made it back with the rest of the group. (She's upstairs now soaking her feet in Mom's VibroSpa foot massager!)
We had a good time and she told me she was glad I came on the hike with her. Several times I encouraged her to go up with her friends, but she surprised me and said that she wanted to walk with me.
All in all, it was a very nice afternoon.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Shenandoah Area Council
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I just got back from NCS Cub Scout Day Camp Administration training at Heritage Scout Reservation and on the first day of training this question came up during the discussion about the different ranks in Cub Scouting.
It was obvious that the instructors hadn't seen the update or forgot about it if they weren't working directly with Tigers. A lively but brief discussion occurred and even some current Cub Masters and Den Leaders were confused.
Fortunately everybody got the correct info and sequence and we were able to move on to other less contentious topics like shooting sports, etc.
BTW, it was a very good if overwhelming course. What have I got myself into....
"Day Camp One -- Sleeps at Home!"
John
Tiger Den Leader & District Twilight Camp Director
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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Do you attend the monthly roundtable meetings? As much as possible
Do you even know what they are? Yes, but only because I read about them in the CSLB and asked my CM about them.
Does your roundtable staff conduct good meetings? They are certainly not like the ones in the Roundtable guide from National and typically are combined with the Boy Scouts. The Cub RTC does try to make sure we get the Helps, Webelos Activity Badge and Belt Loops information for the next month, but it is a lecture/brief, not hands on.
Are they worthwhile attending? Yes, but...
As a new leader, I've found the RT's to be good for networking. I actually met a leader from our Troop at the last one! He was as surpised to see me as I was to see him. I will be the Twilight Camp Director this year and as was mentioned earlier, I'm trying to a) line up staff and b) get the word out.
Our District covers two counties and quite honestly we only have 1 CS leader from right across the county line attend, the rest are from our admittedly larger county that hosts the RT's. Unfortuantely, it seems to be accepted that the others just won't come out for the meeting. I've tried to talk up RT to the other leaders in our Pack, but get the "other committments, no time, can't bring the kids, etc.", plus it can be hit or miss whether it's a good program or not. I even get static from my wife about putting on my uniform to go to it, but I tell her that most of the others wear it, it's a uniform function and, well.... that's about it.
We have some folks who bring their kids and they usually play quietly in a far corner of the church hall, so it hasn't been much of a disturbance. In fact, 2 RT's ago, they helped out the Climb On Safely instructor by passing out the climbing gear and paperwork for the leaders to look at. It could get out of hand if a lot showed up, but personally, I'd rather see the kids and leaders there, than not. I'm fortunate to not have to do that this year.
I definitely think there's room for improvement in our RT's and as I get more comfortable with the other leaders, I have made it a goal to help with that improvement.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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We went to a local radio station for our Go See It. It took several tries to find one that worked into our available times. Fortunately one of my Tiger parents knew the program manager and arranged the tour.
The boys really enjoyed it as the broadcasting company actually has 3 stations in one building - an oldies FM station, an easy listening FM station and an AM sports/talk station. Each booth was manned - Delilah was on the easy listening station, so the program manager was able to spend a good hour with us. We got to see the sports station engineer coordinate a live HS basketball broadcast and the oldies station DJ showed us how they now "spin" digital tracks via computer instead of having to dive into the discs to find the right request.
The program manager really made the boys night by recording each one of them and then selecting a couple to make a station promo with. We'll use that at our cross-over in May, plus he offered to have us come back after we practice a PSA for the pack and put it on the air.
At the end of the tour, each boy got a ticket and was able to come up to the station manager's desk and pick a different prize to go with the logo giveaways that everyone got. My son got a huge coffee mug (now approrpiated by my wife) and my daughter has a very nice extra large WEPM t-shirt for camping and sleeping.
I also found contact information for the local newspaper and nearby TV station that I will pass along to next year's TDL. There is a nearby college with a radio station as well, so don't overlook those.
Hope this helps.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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Our Den meetings start at 7pm and our Pack meetings start at 6:30. I am the Tiger Den Leader and my son has an 8pm bedtime as well, except for Cub Scout nights (and camping trips 8^)) I try my best to end on time at 8 and get him home by 8:30. He is usually in bed by 8:45 and I'm downstairs getting dinner.
I work an hour away and carpool, so for me getting home, me changed, him changed, grabing my stuff for the den meeting, loading it all up, and driving to the meeting place (10 minutes) so that I can be there at least 15 minutes early is a challenge. (My apologies to the English majors for the run-on sentence.) Starting any earlier would not work for me, and on Pack meeting nights I usually drive to work on my own so I can leave early. Any of you who are familiar with the I-70/270 interchange around Frederick, MD will appreciate the hassle heading westbound at 5 pm.
The morning after Cub Scouts can sometimes be a bear, but I try to let him sleep a little longer. We generally get both children up at 6, I'm up an hour earlier and out the door at 7. They go to the bus stop at 7:45 and my wife heads off to her practice ahead of the bus.
We like to sleep late on the weekends - 7 am or so and Sunday afternoons are made for naps, unless a race is on!
Talk with the den leader, see if a compromise can be reached, or try to accept a slightly later bedtime one night a week.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
(This message has been edited by WVCubDad)
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I remember SPAM and eggs for just about every breakfast, Dinty Moore stew, lots of tinfoil dinners, cans and cans of pork and beans and we even tried twist on a stick. As I recall that didn't work out so well.
One of my first campouts, our leaders brought a couple of cases of C-rations and then spent much of the evening collecting the cigarette packets (I was in Royal Rangers and smoking was really frowned upon.) It was my first experience with C-rats and they seemed good at the time, I recall that I loved the pound cake and several of us tried to scam extras.
The easy meal has always been beef jerky or summer sausage and hard cheese. Pogey bait was not quite outlawed, but if you were caught with it, it became Outpost communal property and shared among all the rangers.
Now with our Pack, it's usually spaghetti, cold cereal, hamburgers and hotdogs, bags of chips and s'mores. Pogey bait shows up frequently as do sodas and sports drinks. Personally, I prefer water, but we usually have a jug of lemonade or tea available as well. Keep it simple, make it fun.
John
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Hi cb2boys,
I'm the Twilight Camp Director for our District this year and will be going to National Camp School at the end of April along with my DE and Camp Program Director so I'm just beginning all this stuff myself.
However my DE did drop off two camp manuals from our 2002 and 2005 Twilight Camps and there is a 20 page staff/volunteer manual that I can turn into a pdf for you and e-mail it on Monday. PM me if you'd like it.
It is interesting to see what needs to be included. I'm told that at NCS they will give us about two binders worth of stuff, so that should be fun. Many of the tabs in the manuals I've got don't have anything behind them and I'm not sure why.
Unfortunately for us we will be using a new facility this year, but I'm told that a Troop used it for an activity within the last 12 months. Hopefully that will facilitate the inspection/approval process.
Our camp theme for this year is Space Cubs and I'm sure we'll try to do some kind of water rocket or model rocket launch as the big finale on the last day of camp. At least that will be my suggestion at our next planning meeting. We do 3 evenings and the Webelos camp out the last night and we finish up on Saturday.
The application for NCS indicates they'll be using the Pharohs theme for training. We should have a good rough draft of our stuff by the time we go. I'm looking forward to it.
Hope this helps.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
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Gotta tell ya, my son and I are members of Pack 13 and have enjoyed every minute of it. Nothing unlucky there. Same goes for our Troop.
Rain on an overnighter isn't unlucky, it's a prerequisite!
John
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Hi Jaffolder,
I'm up I81 from you in Pack 13. Last year we had a fishing derby, went to the BalloonFest at the Martinsburg Airshow - http://www.martinsburgairshow.com/, not sure if they're doing one this year, we had a pack overnighter at The Cove next to Camp Rock Enon and we did the Junior Ranger program at Harpers Ferry.
This year we're looking at camping and hiking at Fort Frederick in Big Pool, MD. Check out the Mason-Dixon Council web site for a complete series of Cub Scout hiking trails (6 of them) including one at Antietam battlefield. We're also trying to get a good group for resident camp in June (Adventures with Tom and Huck) and the theme for Twilight Camp is Cubs in Space, ours in mid-August, don't recall when Shawnee District's is.
The Hagerstown Suns are always a good bet as is the Frederick Keys, especially if you go on a fireworks night.
Hope this helps.
John Collins
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
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Mike,
Thanks for the comparison. While I picked up the 2006 edition after starting with the 2005, I hadn't really checked much beyond the Tiger section to see the differences. This is very helpful.
Hope you guys miss the freezing rain.
John Collins
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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My Pack participated in our local Apple Harvest Parade (October) and the City Christmas Parade. We rode in the first one on a trailer pulled by a flatbed wrecker. It was only later that I read the G2SS and realized I was setting a bad example by sitting on the edge of the flatbed dangling my legs. Fortunately most of our boys were in the trailer and safely observing G2SS.
The Christmas parade was a walker only because we did it at the last minute. But it was shorter than the Apple Harvest parade. We were a definite gaggle, but the boys enjoyed dodging the leftover foam from one of the fire trucks that was spraying it as they went along. Since they were walking the boys also had a chance to scarf up some of the leftover candy along the way. Next year we'll try to do a theme float.
Quite honestly the old soldier in me wanted to form a couple three columns, swing the arms and march in step to a smartly called cadence. Fortunately I overcame that urge and enjoyed watching my son and his friends walk, wave, sing and smile.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Shenandoah Area Council
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Just got back from RT. We had, including the CS RT commissioner, a total of 5 Cub Scout leaders present tonight. We sstarted with the DE giving announcements to the joint group (BS/CS) and then we broke out, but there have been other RT's that we haven't had enough to have a break out and so Scout Leaders sat through the Cub presentation and vice versa.
The RTC did a good job tonight taking us through the Aloha Scouts theme and had some great suggestions for things to do with the boys. He talked about several belt loops and pins that would be appropriate for the theme as well and we discussed good local locations and resources - I've got some great notes. We also talked about the Webelos activity badges for the month.
Hands on stuff would be good, we've got PWD coming up at the Pack on 2/10 and the District is doing one at the local mall 2 weeks later (with a Scout show - should be nice to see.) I would also love to see the Glowing Bobcat in person - the description on the forums sounds really interesting.
But...how to get more packs involved? At this point I don't have anything more to add then what's already been said. As a new leader I wanted to make sure I had as much opportunity to find out what's going on and get training and tips from other experienced Scouters. RT was talked up positively in our NLT course and since I didn't have anything else competing with the third Monday evening of the month, I've committed to making as many RT's as I can. I will make a point of encouraging the other leaders and parents in our Pack to attend and do my bit towards increasing the numbers.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Shenandoah Area District
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What I've done so far with my own son and suggested to other Tiger Partners in my den is to place a repeated elective in the next line (or lines) of paws for the Tiger Track Beads. That way it's being counted towards a bead, but not abused as in having one or more beads for just one elective.
I haven't had anyone yet (knock on wood) argue that they should be able to put it all on one line. But, if they did, that's okay becuase they are the Akela for their son and unless I've totally misunderstood the BSA guidance, I'm to take at face value what they are telling me. A gentle reminder of searching out and discovering new things to try and share generally brings a nod from both Tiger and Partner and a different elective reported as complete the next week.
John
Tiger Den Leader
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
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Caught an episode this afternoon where he parachuted into the mountains and walked out. My kids were watching it first and I heard it from the other room. It peaked my interest and I wandered in to watch.
They thought it was great (even eating the small snakes) until he caught the rabbit and started to skin it and cook it. My son (a Tiger) wanted to continue watching, his sister (a Junior Girl Scout) thought it was gross and switched the channel.
I finished watching the episode on another TV and thought he made a bad decision to cross the mountain lake instead of either building a simple raft or in my opinion taking the better route of walking around the lake and staying dry.
It was the first time I'd seen it and I haven't seen SurvivorMan, what network is that on? I thought it was decently done, although I wasn't sure I'd try going down the rock face the way he did, but in a survival situation, I might. All in all, I'd watch it again but with a very critical eye.
John
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Generally in the middle of the campsite, never under overhanging trees and with a large bucket of water nearby in case....
John
Who is originally from WNY but has spent much of his life south of the Mason-Dixon Line so as to know where "afar" is... 8^)
Happy Holidays to all and a Happy New Year
Tiger Cub Coach Award
in Wood Badge and adult leader training
Posted
The host team is the Tiger Partner and Tiger Cub who will help you with the month's den meetings under the "Shared Leadership" concept of den meetings in the Tiger Cub program. Since there isn't an Assistant Den Leader in the Tigers, the shared leadership allows for each Tiger Team to get a taste of what's involved in leading the den meeting and hopefully inspire them to continue on as den leaders, assistant den leaders and active committee members within the Pack. Sometimes instead of having a team volunteer for a whole month, you can ease them into it by rotating on a meeting by meeting basis.
And I think the name for the award has been updated to Tiger Cub Den Leader Award, same orange and black square know, different name.
I hope this helps.
John
Assistant Cubmaster (gulp!) and Wolf Den ADL (Formerly a Tiger Cub Den Leader)
Pack 13
Potomac District
Shenandoah Area Council
Next project - Twilight Camp!!!