meyerc13

Our Council recently sold two camps. One was used for our Webelos resident camp, the other was used mainly for unit and district events. The justification was needing more money to improve the camps they aren't selling. I'm not sure either of these properties was particularly valuable. One I believe was split between the neighbors on either side. The other I heard was sold to a group of hunters. I suspect that one reason that camp was picked was because it's lake is spring fed, and with the water table in that part of our state dropping, so have the water levels in the lakes. If somethi

Thanks for another great idea. There is definitely a lot of science involved with baking, if you get the measurements or temperatures off by too much, the end result will not be what you expect. There is also a lot of science involved with cooking. I used to enjoy Alton Brown's show Good Eats, which I'm sure would have many interesting topics for food experiments.

I know them well. Here in Wisconsin we call these "Pudgie Pies." Some smart folks even put out a fancy cookbook. I started with two Square irons, bought two more when we were going to use them last year for our Cub Scout fall camp. After reading Rome's Pie Iron Recipes book, I discovered that the possibilities open up with different types of irons. I think my next purchase was two round irons, then two double square irons. Then a waffle iron. My dad found two old American made square aluminum irons that I added to the collection, and I found two new American made square aluminum irons w

Welcome to the forum! It's always nice to have another Cub Scouter join the discussion. Feel free to ask any questions, share any ideas, and don't forget to Have Fun!

Does this council have other camps? Maybe I'm cynical, but if so I wouldn't be surprised if the camp goes to the County. If the Council leaves it open to Scouting groups, it might take away business from other Scout camps. I hope I'm wrong, but I've heard a few Councils say they would try to pass their camp properties on to another Scouting group, only to see the exact opposite happen again and again. It's a disturbing thing to see Councils focus more on the money than on the kids - and this goes for both Boy and Girl Scout Councils.

Thanks for the awesome idea! We made these a few years ago on a camping trip with friends, but I think we tried to use a hot dog fork without much success. I had no idea what these were called, and had never seen a dowel used, so this is very cool. Now I have another campfire cooking gadget that I must add to my collection.

This is an interesting question. For a Cub Scout leader, I think it would be easier to hold year round den meetings if School was in session year round. Our Pack always meets on Monday nights if the School is open. So we stop holding Den Meetings in summer, and resume again in the fall. I can definitely see the challenge though in scheduling camp. Our Pack historically went to Webelos resident camp in late July, and Cub Scout resident camp in early August. We've been hesitant to go earlier than that due to a lot of kids voluntarily going to summer school (which runs from June to mid-July

LOL! Now those are requirements that I can approve!

I'm a Roundtable Commissioner, and next month's topic is Cub Scouts and Cooking. I have an idea of the information I'd like to share, but it occurred to me that I'm potentially wasting a great resource - all of you! So here's your chance... if you were going to attend a Roundtable on Cub Scouts and Cooking, what would you want to see, learn, or experience? If the logistics work out, I'm going to bring along my dutch ovens, and most likely do a Cobbler (or two) and some type of casserole. I'm also hoping to demonstrate foil packet meals and pie irons. Our Big Rock topic is going to be M

I think this is a case where your Council knows what they are talking about. After all, someone at Council hand enters all applications into the system and would know what it will and won't accept. Leaders can be registered in multiple units; and boys can be registered in Exploring, Venturing, and Boy Scouts simultaneously. Younger boys can be registered in Cub Scouts and most likely the new STEM Scouts. For Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, it is treated as a transfer application. The only way to get around that would be a lie of omission, not putting his current unit number on the applicati

This fall will be the third time our District has hosted this type of event. The first year, it was a somewhat last minute idea that we threw together with a couple of months notice, holding it before Roundtable. Out of forty something Troops, I would guess that a couple of dozen were present. We had a good number of Cub Scout leaders attend, and a few Webelos and their families as well. Last year, the event grew a bit more. The Troops had a better idea of what to expect. This year, my understanding is that the team planning it want it to be an even bigger event, with the Troops showing

Five dollars a year isn't much, less than I pay for my Boy's Life subscription. I don't have a problem as long as the pricing is reasonable (no more than the Boy's Life print copy per year).

I think the answer will depend on how many boys show up. We've played a number of Minute to Win It style games, but most of those are aimed at 1-2 players and work best for small, Den size groups. If you have more kids than that, you'll want to have multiple stations which requires more adult to supervise. If you have a large group, you could try any one of a number of games. One I learned at BALOO was Streets and Alleys, which will work if you have a group of a dozen or more. It's nice because it doesn't require a lot of space (just enough for everyone to form up into rows with arms o

Welcome to the forum! Committee Chair is the most important position in the Pack. The Committee Chair is responsible for 'hiring' the Cubmaster and other leaders, and is also responsible for all of the behind the scenes tasks that a good Pack Committee should be doing. Without a good Committee, the Committee Chair can be a very busy person, but with a well staffed and well trained Committee full of helpful parents, the Committee Chair can be a very easy position to hold. I hope you have a good Committee, in which case this job should be a piece of cake. If you don't, then I'd urge you to

One point about unit equipment and finances... we often hear that the assets and fund belong to the CO. While there is some truth to this, look at the Fiscal Policies and Procedures for BSA Units. In there it states: So the funds and equipment can't be used for just any old purpose, they must be held or used "for the promotion of the program of the Boy Scouts of America." What this means is that a CO can't take the funds/equipment and sell them and use the money; a CO also can't use the equipment for a non-BSA Scouting unit. Both of those would be violations of the BSA Rules and Regu

I'm sorry, Ankylus, but I don't agree. Most of the girls who are interested in joining BSA are interested because the BSA stresses camping and the outdoors. Opening up membership to them wouldn't dilute the program for the boys. If it can work in the rest of the world, it can work here. I don't disagree that there are differences between girls and boys. However, we can't discount the fact that some of the differences we see are learned. Take LEGO. Both boys and girls like to build LEGO, but over the years LEGO had marketed more and more to boys. I was in a Target store, and saw a li

I'd say, why not? It's a good way to get those who may have been Scouts re-interested in Scouting; a way to get the word out to non-Scouts that we do cool stuff, and finally sometimes one forum is a good fit for a person and another may not be.

When I started as Cubmaster back in 2013, we had a very small Pack. A Pack that wasn't much bigger than some large Dens that I've seen. Other than me as Cubmaster, I had one other Den Leader actively involved in the pack. That was it as far as leadership. Several of the age groups had only 2-3 boys, and running separate den meetings with so few boys wouldn't have been much fun for those boys, and would have been a lot of work for the two leaders. What got us through that first year was the Alternative Cub Scout Delivery Manuals. They were a great resource for running mixed age, combined

If I might ask another question (or three), how did this group come to exist? I'm sure if any of us took this idea to our existing units we'd hit some major resistance. Perhaps if it was new units created solely for the purpose of running a co-ed Scouting program it would be easier to do. I'm also curious what the BSA and GSUSA (District, Council, or National) reaction was initially, and if that has changed over time as the unit's success is evident. I also wonder about unit finances, are they tracked separately, or do the Cookie proceeds combine with popcorn sales to provide one lar

It doesn't have to be anything super complicated, and if the den leader isn't offering the boys opportunities, the boys are certainly free to approach the den leader and say "Mr. (or Mrs.) Den Leader, in order to complete Requirement 9 of Build a Better World, I need to lead an activity. I've thought of a great game/project/etc. that I would like to lead. Can you make time in one of our Den Meetings to do this activity?" The main point is the boy should be leading the activity, which ideally would involve soliciting help from his den. Maybe ask Tommy to bring some drinking straws, and a

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing this. That picture may be the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. Maybe instead of fighting with our local Girl Scout Troop over who gets the rooms at the school on which night, our Cub Scout Pack should join with them? This seems so simple, but yet so radical at the same time. While you guys seem to have figured it out at a unit level, I'm curious what your units do as far as District/Council events and summer camp? I don't know of many >Unit Level events or camps that are open to GSUSA/BSA at the same time.

After reading about the latest girl who wants to join the Boy Scouts, Sydney Ireland, two points in her story really jumped out at me. One, she is 15, so is old enough to join Venturing. Two, she doesn't want to join Venturing because she wants to be an Eagle Scout. Then, today, I read a post on this forum from someone who knows a girl in a Crew who wants to earn Merit Badges. So the question occurred to me, why does the BSA allow boys in Venturing to continue on Boy Scout rank Advancement (including Eagle and merit badges), but not the girls? Is there anything in either our merit badg

Beavah - Assuming this is an LCMS church, it may just have to do with this: https://blogs.lcms.org/2015/boy-scouts-of-america-update The synod advised local congregations to "seek local legal counsel and guidance on how best to safeguard themselves legally." It may simply be that this congregation feels that only church members are fit to serve in Scouting leadership positions given the changes to the BSA's membership policy. Like you, I don't have the facts, so this is all speculation. But given the timing, I know that many LCMS churches have made drastic decisions over the past fe

I've read through this whole thread twice. As others have stated, the Chartered Organization 'owns' the unit. As long as they are willing to maintain the Unit's charter, and haven't violated any BSA policies, they can pick and choose who they want to be the leaders and there is nothing you or anyone in the Pack can do about that outside of leaving to find (or start) another Pack. I wish I could tell you something different, but unfortunately those are the rules. Just remember, if you leave you are leaving the unit numbers, unit equipment, and unit funds behind. You're starting over with a

Wow... my Pack serves three of the poorest schools in our City. We have a hard time collecting the $24 from each family. The thing about this program is that it still doesn't cover the unit's operating costs. Want to go to a baseball game? That's another $10/person. Family campout? $20/person. Den supplies? $12/person. Special Pack Meeting speaker this month? $5/person. Summer Camp? That's over $150/person. The unit will still be coming with hat out, and/or still be asking parents to fund-raise. Listen, my son is in Karate and we pay over $100/month for that, but there the pri