Pack18Alex

The Council budget supports the camps, staff in the store/office, and the DEs/SEs. You can pull up the 990 for your Council and see how they spend money. Niche product, a neighbor's sister wrote a Passover Cookbook that we wanted to sell as a fundraiser. They said no non-BSA product sales were being approved. OTOH, we hadn't done a Council Fundraiser in a few years. And we had stiffed them on a recharter fee a few years earlier that was still on the books. I'm pretty sure after doing good Popcorn/Camp Card sales, we'll get whatever we needed pushed through. Other things for us...

Council doesn't get dues, unless your Council charges dues on top of national. Our council doesn't pay dues. They really want us to do their two fundraisers, but several units refuse to do popcorn (we apprehensively tried it for the first time this year, had a smashing success). If your only involvement with Council is to show up at re-chartering, fine, skip their fundraisers. But if you want a good relationship with Council, I highly suggest participating in the fundraisers and urging the parents to give SOMETHING to FoS. We applied to do a fundraiser for a niche product, we were

I think if we do that he'll have to donate pin work so we can do both at once...

When my wife was reviewing them with our son, she commented to me that in PE she remembers learning different sports and playing a bit. It seemed to her like the same purpose here, to make you more well rounded. Last Pack Outing, we did Chess and Badminton. Some of the boys already knew Chess and taught the others, the others learned a game they wouldn't have learned otherwise. Badminton is one of those things that is a "only because of Scouts" like Marbles, things people don't learn otherwise. On one hand, I think doing Belt Loops @ Den Meetings is a mistake, it's crowding out the

Overstated. The High Priest new the ineffable name, and mentioned it in the holy of holies as part of the Yom Kippur service. Various names used for God are prohibited from distraction under Jewish law.

I apologize for getting the origin of hymns wrong, I'm not Christian, and while I have huge respect for all people of faith (and respect for people without faith), I'm not an expert on my own religion, let alone an expert on others. I didn't say discussing religion, I said discussing faith. Focus on Faith is a VERY Christian concept... salvage via faith, etc. Jews have a commandment that is best translated as to KNOW God. We're not supposed to have faith, we're supposed to KNOW God and we're supposed to serve God via 613 Commandments. There is no bonus in the world to come f

The Troop is responsible for recruiting for the Troop. The Pack is responsible for recruiting for the Pack. Fine. If the Troop wants to find 6th Graders to join and ignore the Pack, that's their choice. But if you don't want to recruit, then you die. Put another way, why should I, as a Pack leader, help your Troop (as opposed to another one) getting a NSP from my Webelos II if you haven't done anything for me. The Troop gets Scouts from Packs. Why is it offensive that Troops have to do something for that? None of us WANT to recruit, it's part of the program. I rese

Accepting atheist Scouts is distinct from accepting atheism. Some atheists will reject Scout Law and can't be Scouts, some atheists will accept Scout Law and can be Scouts. The problem is, once you open it up, you end up with atheism crowding out religion, with things like removing God from the promise/oath.

Regarding BSA being Protestant: BSA is extremely Protestant, it's just that Protestants don't even understand how it's Protestant, which I've posted elsewhere. Scouts' Own: EXTREMELY Protestant. Not the content, which is non-denominational, but the structure. Catholics/Jews/Muslims have fixed prayer liturgy. LDS has it's own structure. Freewheeling services are Protestant. Religious Requirements: talk with parents/religious leader type stuff. Again, very Protestant in the personal interpretation area. Other religions have their own structure. Cub Scouts: Tigers talk a

As an individual, you can absolutely have verb strong morals and be an atheist. You can be a very strong theist and utterly immoral. The very legalistic side of Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam all tend towards amoral legalisms. That's NOT the point. Scout Law as a philosophical framework requires that there be an absolute set of principles, enumerated as 12 points of Scout Law. That framework requires "black and white" from an external higher authority. It is a philosophical framework, divine morality. There are certainly non-divine morality frameworks, but most of them require

If you take out the religious component entirely, the entire concept of Scout Law goes away and we have a camping club. Not because religion is inherent in 11/12 points of Scout Law, its only inherent in one I suppose. BUT, the concept to "there is a right and wrong" is critical to the concept of Scout Law. Atheism can define a set of morality, but the morality is inherently legalistic and morally relativistic. Without the divine nature of morality, you are stuck with awkward things like Categorical Imperative, Veil of Ignorance/Justice, Utilitarianism, etc. All of which lack hard

I think that the current Pack/Troop model is fundamentally broken. The administrative separation causes a problem where the parents have to choose which one to support, and if they have two sons, it's always the troop since "he'll be in the troop soon." But, the Troops never feel the need to help the Pack, and all BSA recruiting is falling on the shoulders of Cub Parents, and that's pretty lame. GSUSA mostly does single-level troops, but you can do a multi-level troop, which lets you run from age 5-12 under one number. You can operate age based patrols under one banner, and mix the

Sucks for you, but it's all about the boys. You can still be involved in the Pack and work on the Pack/Troop integration. If they don't want you because your son is a "traitor," so be it. I know our district is trying to recruit Cub Scouters to fill the District Committee when their boys bridge to troops. If you like BSA involvement and your son's troop isn't welcoming, I know volunteer Scouters are always needed. Your son's Troop time is limited at 7 years, there is plenty of Scouter activities for you for the next 7 years. Perhaps you can find a Venturing Crew that wants an active

If the policy brings more corporate money in at the Council level, that'll be really helpful. The youth policy is largely irrelevant. If a boy is a problem, he'll be kicked out. The policy really hurt with some more liberal parts (extremely liberal parents won't want an activity with military style uniforms and patriotism front and center). BSA losing the narrative to GLAAD has been deadly. People associating BSA with bigotry instead of service has killed the program. GLAAD clobbered the BSA brand, sad to say. We did popcorn sales for the first time ever this year, raised a bunc

Mixed feelings. The boys LOVE the belt loops, it's easy to have stuff for many boys at Pack Meetings. They are much less work than the other ones. However, I feel in our Council (our district and another one whose summer camp we attended), Belt Loops are crowding out electives. I have memories of doing a bunch of electives with my Den and my dad when I was a kid, and the electives seem like they should be a core part of the program. But 10 electives takes 2-3 meetings to plan and execute, while you can do 1 belt loop/meeting pretty easily. OTOH, the academic ones seem silly.

But either way, christineka, your time as a Cub Leader is coming to an end (well, at least your emotional investment is). If your boys want to hit all 20, run your own sessions for other pins. Focus on making sure they are enjoying Scouting and getting ready to join the Troop. They only have a few months left in Webelos. Alternatively, pre-merger, call a Pack Meeting and Award Webelos for anyone that earned it, then it's a moot point. Send in the paper Advancement report to Council reporting their Webelos badge in December (when it was earned) and move on.

I think that the over-exposure fear is a myth. The concern isn't over-exposure to BSA, it's that the program shifts so dramatically from Cubs to the Troop. Webelos is a pretty weak transition program. However, jblake47's approach of using Webelos II to get the boys ready for Scouts makes more sense. No reason to not do Webelos + AoL in one year, the LDS units do it. I think the push for 20 pins is a mistake, it makes Webelos more cub-like (Tiger/Wolf "do it all"), instead of the Boy Scout "merit badge" system it's designed to emulate. I also think it's a poor transition program. The

True, but if a scout joins in 15 and goes all out for AoL, they are into it. The way this reads, to me, is a Tiger,Wolf,Bear,Webelos self contained program, followed by an arrow of light program. At least before you need to do the 18 month program in 6 months, now you can just do the 6 month one... Hence my lame comment...

I find it disconcerting enough the way Arrow of Light is. Under the program guidelines, a boy that's been scouting 4.5 years and one that has been scouting 0.5 years that amassed the pins in 6 months gets the same recognition as the highest honor in Cub Scouting, one that they'll wear on their Boy Scout Uniform AND Adult Scouter Uniform. There is no need for Arrow of Light for someone that isn't in Cub Scouting and a real participant in the program. Strengthening Webelos is good. Continuing to spit on the program that is the bread and butter of Scouting is lame.

Cub Scouter here... Our families get them there. On our Tour Plan, I list Transportation Other: event begins at location, families are responsible for arrival. No problem getting my Tour Plans Approved... At the Boy Scout level, tell the CC it's a problem. They need everyone's DL/Insurance info on file. For each event, contact the drivers, ask who is available. It should rotate. If that doesn't get you volunteers, minimums are hard, but a credit towards dues for driving might work. Is the goal more equitable driving, or more driving? The former is a different problem than

I would suggest talking to the leaders, and focus on all the positive things. You're excited to be in a more Active Pack. You are happy to be a part of the new team, etc. I would focus on the non-standard issue that bugs you, awarding of the Webelos Badge. I believe that LDS Packs use the old-school Webelos Square badge on the blue uniform for Webelos, right? In that scenario, I would ask that they are awarded their Square Webelos Badge when earned, so they can wear it as a Cub Scout. Then they can switch to a Tan Uniform, wear their Arrow of Light, and be presented their Scout Rank

Every Dec 24th I'm at Home Depot before it closes... Always do a home improvement project with a full clear day and no obligations. Cashier was shocked at my materials that I was having for Christmas Eve. I told her that I was Jewish, so it worked out. She got embarrassed, nervous, and I just smiled at her and said, "Have a Merry Christmas." She beamed like it made her day. This Jew hoped y'all had a merry Christmas. We enjoy the display of lights and cheer, though we avoid the malls for a month - mall holiday season makes me fear I'll hurt someone... But I am quite comfortable in my r

You could also drop Boys Life and let them re-add it with their Troop transfer application. We charge dues for our program year, Sept - August. New members "cost" us money, because we pay for them in the fall, then pick them up for the year. My dilemma is I have Scouts who paid dues for the year, have said that they are "out" and it's recharter time. If I pick them up, it hurts us for JTE for next year. If I drop them, it's kind of lame, because they paid, and I'll need to re-enroll them if they return.

Qwanze, Early Chanukah didn't help at all, but our problems crept up before that. Reviewing with the Cubmaster, I think that part was a decision we made over the summer that needed to be revisited. We only really had two active leaders last year, the Cubmaster and myself. In prior years, the Pack had skipped the meeting before or after a Camp Out to let the leaders recharge. Last year, we didn't do that, and the Cubmaster and I burned out. This year we reinstated it, and I think it created confusion as to when we were meeting or not. Also, we scheduled an October Camp Out, and chose

We had great recruiting, came on strong with our Dens in October. People were excited, joining each week, new people coming, everything was great. We had solid campouts, everything went smooth. We hit November, the clocks changed, and things started to fall apart. Leadership team hit strong, then we hit a snag in one of the Dens. We didn't have our communications super strong, and we lost a few Scouts. We're rechartering and not sure how many people should still be on the roster. Administratively, I think I'm going to drop anyone that looks gone, and if they show back up in Janu