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meyerc13

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Everything posted by meyerc13

  1. I'm a Roundtable Commissioner and we are going to have an end-of-the-year recap of the new program. I'm curious how other units are doing. For my Pack, I think whether boys can complete adventures depends heavily on whether they attend our scheduled Pack Overnighters. With all of the hiking, cooking, camping requirements, if they aren't attending those events (and their family doesn't camp), then I think it would be unlikly to have completed the required adventures already. Some of the ranks don't have a lot of outings, to is is possible that they could be done if they completed the
  2. I think that's it exactly... Council events likely have more insurance coverage, and the lawyers didn't feel it was justified for District and Unit events. I get it, and am frustrated because I was an Archery instructor for Cub Scout Day Camp back in the day. I can take my kids out and teach them, but can't teach my Pack. Heck, I've even taught some of the Camp Staff a few things I learned the hard way. It's unfortunate when lawyers take the fun out of Scouting. Yet I can almost understand it when I see the trained camp staff making potentially life threatening mistakes. As much as
  3. We have our Pack's first winter camp coming up this weekend, and had a fall camp back in October. I can tell you that menu planning in 2016 is a lot harder than it was when I was a Boy Scout in the late 80's. Now I have to design a menu that will be enjoyed by: Picky Eaters Vegetarians Those on a Gluten Free Diet Those who are Lactose Intollerant (unfortunately, this one is me) Peanut, Tree Nut, Egg, and a handful of other allergies/sensitivities It really is quite impossible to make one meal that everyone can/will eat. With that said, I've tried to design a menu that is flexible, allowi
  4. Our Pack Meetings run from 6:30-7:30pm. It's hard to start much earlier, many adults don't get home from work until 5:30 (or later). If we tried to move the time up, it would intrude into family meal time. The experts say kids that age need 10-11 hours of sleep. even assuming it takes the kids 1 hour after Scouts to wind down and fall asleep, they could still get 10.5 hours if they sleep until 7 am, 10 hours if they have to get up earlier due to parents' work schedules. As for Lion Cubs... It was my understanding that Lions shouldn't be invited to all Pack Meetings, just major events (
  5. Interesting. My Council, Bay-Lakes, has been trying to sell Camp Twin Lakes for about a year now. That shares a lake with Shin-Go-Beek. It seems like there is a nice opportunity there for someone who has the money to pick up both properties... I know our Council has told us volunteers that they want to sell it to another Council. When other Councils are selling properties on the same lake, I wonder how many Councils would be interested in buying property... I'm guessing not many. I'd hate to see two Scout Camps sold to developers... you just can't get that much land if you need it later f
  6. True story: I was at a Scouting event for the top Popcorn Sellers in our Council. It takes a lot of effort to be a top seller, my son averaged at least 1 hour a day throughout the sale to make that list. Since Cub Scouts aren't going out without parents, you know the family put in a lot of time too. These are families who have a lot invested in Scouting. We were sitting at a table with families from across the Council. Through conversation, it came out that one of the families was from the town closest to our Cub Scout Resident camp. It's a beautiful camp, it was a Boy Scout camp wh
  7. I was in Boy Scouts back in the 80's, and until my son joined Cub Scouts 4 years ago I had no idea how much Scouting's outdoor program had changed. Mountain Biking, ATVs, Shotgun and pistol ranges... these are all things that weren't offered locally at Summer Camp when I was a Scout. I don't think the BSA does enough to get the word out that Scouting isn't about basket weaving any more... it's about adventure that you won't find anywhere else. Yeah, some kids who live out in the country probably do these things in their backyard all the time, but for the kids living in cities, the only chan
  8. I know it isn't part of the original topic, but since several people have mentioned it I want to respond. Last year, to earn Arrow of Light you needed to complete 8 pins (3 for Webelos, 5 for Arrow of Light). Under the new program you have to earn 7. Is that really such a huge change that everyone needs to be up in arms over it? To be fair, now the Religious requirements and Scouting knowledge are considered pins, but there are still five others that a boy needs to earn, same as it was before. The only difference is not earning three pins for Webelos like under the old program. To be
  9. Many years ago, most of the elementary school PTAs chartered Packs. Then in the early 90s they dumped all of the Packs in protest and the Packs are now chartered by local civic groups, churches, etc. but yet they still typically are associated with one or more schools. My Pack is tied through its history to one school in particular, but after another school's Pack failed that school started feeding into our Pack as well. That second school has a Charter School within the school, so depending on how you count it that is either two or three schools feeding into our Pack. Lately, the Di
  10. So much good information has been give here, I can't do much but repeat what has already been said and assure you that you are not alone. I'm half a country away from you, but I'm giving a presentation on recruiting leaders and leadership succession at Roundtable tomorrow night. When I signed up with my son for Tiger Cubs, we joined a dysfunctional pack. It's taken me three years, but I feel like we've finally turned the Pack around (I'd like to take all of the credit, but it was a combined effort of my wife and I, help from the District Execs and Unit Commissioner, and from a core group
  11. Hedgehog, I want to thank you for your posts, I have found them very informative. I'm not an attorney or an accountant, but I studied quite a bit of criminal law in college. My take on this is that the tax code leaves a lot of room for interpretation in this case. I think in some cases you could debate on whether the benefit is to the unit or to the individual. Is it in the unit's best interest if all boys go to camp? I think you could argue yes on that point. However, it could also be considered personal benefit. But as others have pointed out, so could the unit purchasing awa
  12. Yes they can. I can't find an official source, but I did find something in the Guide to Advancement that is close: A Webelos rank earned as of June 1, 2015, and moving to Arrow of Light may also substitute any of the new program WEBELOS required adventures for the three required electives of Arrow of Light I know I've seen it somewhere, but can't find it in the handbook, Leader's Guide, or FAQ. I'm fairly certain that the version I saw was "For boys joining Scouting in the fifth grade..." I'll keep looking and will post back if I find it, but to be honest the BSA doesn't track Cub Scout
  13. From the FAQ: Q: How should recognition take place? A: Boys must be recognized as soon as possible after completing an adventure – and a badge of rank. Pocket certificates are available as well as devices for adventures (adventure loops and adventure pins) and cloth badges of rank. Your pack may establish a practice that makes sense for its members. Two possible examples: Presenting the device (adventure loop or adventure pin) at a den meeting immediately after completion, and presenting pocket certificates at the next pack meeting Presenting pocket certificates when the award is com
  14. Wow, sounds like an ugly situation, especially with the DL's husband being the chartered org rep. The chartered Org picks the Committee Chair, the Committee and Chartered Org need to pick the Den Leaders based on the Cubmaster's recommendation. That's the way it is supposed to work. Since the Chartered Org rep isn't likely to pick your side on this, I'm afraid you might not have much leverage unless someone else in the chartered org is sympathetic to your case. You could always threaten to quit since the Chartered Org Rep is undermining what you are trying to do with the Pack, but is that
  15. It isn't complete. Those who didn't show up for the grocery shopping will have to plan a menu for their family and do the shopping. We're planning on doing the grocery shopping trip on a normal meeting night, luckily for us it worked out because our meeting location wasn't available that night so we had to either cancel or do an outing. Our Bear den will join us at the grocery store since they have a similar requirement. Our AoL den will do a Troop Visit that night. Our Tiger and Wolf dens get to visit the police department (our Bear and Webelos did that two years ago).
  16. I haven't had to deal with this issue yet, but our Pack has been growing and I can see this becoming an issue in the near future. I've been putting some thought into it, and here are a few things I've been pondering: If the parents are interested, have the two dens meet on different nights. We've lost some Scouts because they have a conflict on our traditional Den Meeting night. Having a second night might be a recruiting/retention tool. Ultimately, see if the boys/parents have a preference. This could backfire if they all want to be in one den, but at the same time if two friends want t
  17. Our Pack covers two schools. Over the past few years, we've had good luck sending fliers home at one school, but weren't allowed to at the other. One school told us we could put up posters in the school, but since many Kindergartners can't read, and even if they could aren't the best at remembering dates/times/details, that wasn't terribly helpful. So rather than give up we decided to get creative. We staffed tables at the School Registration days/Back to School Nights. We also were able to obtain a list of boys and their addresses from the school district and used that to send out a f
  18. I'm curious, has anyone been able to complete the Scouting Ideals course? I've tried going through it five times, and it always tells me that I haven't completed it, although I have. It seems like the last slide doesn't register as complete even though there is nothing left to see/do. Also, I've noticed that with the modules currently, there, you can't complete any of the tracks (Den Leader, Cubmaster, Committee Member). However, there is a lot of good information there, and even though I'm a Roundtable Commissioner and I've been to a ton of training and completed Position Specific unde
  19. The official recommendation was to award either the card or the pin/loop at the Den Meeting immediately upon completion of the adventure, and award the other at the Pack Meeting. If your Pack Meeting is the week after you complete the adventure, you could do both at the Pack Meeting, but you shouldn't wait longer than that to give some type of immediate recognition. Overall I like the new program. I'm a Roundtable Commissioner and have become our District's unofficial expert on the program changes, so I've done a lot of studying of the new program at all ranks. I would agree that out of
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