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Faith

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Everything posted by Faith

  1. Oh how I wish I was that lady We had a dad who did it for a couple years before they bridged. If he wasn't out of state with a new job, I'd be asking him most likely!
  2. That is awesome. I was given a very nice, new pocket knife from a friend who bought it for her son who quit scouts not long after (he never earned his whittling chip.) She shipped it to me from California and we presented it to him the Christmas after he earned his chip (which was about 2 weeks later.) He treasures it now and takes it on all his campouts.
  3. I actually just wrapped a mess kit and portable spoon/knife/fork set for my son for Christmas. When they went on the troop campout, my husband and he noticed our other 4 scouts that went all had some form of it already (I felt like a slacker, haha.) I know 3 of our boys received a knife year before last as a Christmas gift from their parents (including mine) after earning the whittling chip. I guess we're a bit too proactive
  4. One of my closest friends in scouting is our UC, she's been in the position for 2 years now (before her, we didn't have one.) I contacted her first and she had no idea besides calling council (scouting & its inter-workings really has been a learning experience for us both, in many aspects.) I told her I'd ask here first as this is my normal go-to for suggestions (working online for a living, I sometimes rely on forums too much ) and then go from here.
  5. That's a great idea, if we can't reach what we need from the other suggestions here (book, etc.) - I will look into this. We've had to have other numbers merged in the past (adult.)
  6. I used to feel the same way. Then once I took over awards and have reached out a few times before...I'd just rather see if there are any other ways beforehand. There used to be a very helpful, polite lady there that I really enjoyed talking with. She made everything a breeze. She has since been let go and some of the newer staff there that I've been in touch with since then...not so helpful. I've had other members of our Pack call for things that they needed and it went the same way. When I have to call, 4 times, just to have our membership cards sent to us (small example) - I feel like anyth
  7. Such good ideas and points here. I'm reading them all out to my husband now. My parents, honestly, don't seem to concerned about it either way. And I totally agree that the patch is what matters. And I'm just super excited for the boys to move up (they just camped with the troop for the first time this last weekend so they're all super excited too.) Sometimes I do go a little overboard when it comes to them but they're family to us. We have a surprise party planned for them right before they bridge. Anyways, I'm gonna show a few to my son and explain all this as well. We shall go from there!
  8. Thank you all so much, wonderful ideas. I prefer not to contact council and love the idea with the blind and books. He is one of our Scouts that have a blank uniform. So the book will help if it's recorded, as will his awards if they have them accessible. I know in theory it doesn't matter, I just hate having blanks before I pass all this onto someone else.
  9. Me again. I've searched the forums and a few search engines but could not find a direct answer on this. We had a scout who was with us for Tiger & part of their Wolf year. They left our pack when they moved and later joined a pack in another town (they did not transfer there, they just joined.) They were there for the remainder of their Wolf year & part of their Bear year. A few weeks ago, they moved back here and re-joined us (again, no transfer.) I am in charge of awards for the Pack. Internet advancement website, submitting, arranging pickup, dispersal. I've never had this
  10. I appreciate any recommendations. While I personally have no issue with that (it saves money, time and some stress on my part), I'm not sure what I'd tell my son. This is going to be me just being plain mom here, not a leader, in saying this. He's watched boys get a plaque in some shape or form for the past 4 years. If I decided this year nope, nothing for y'all - well, I just feel bad, lol. I know it's not the award that counts. It's what they take from this, learn, do from here & demonstrate in life (etc. etc.) But I'd still feel bad. I'm not 100% sure we'll go the plaque route, though.
  11. Ouch, that price hurts to read! We have 4 boys bridging. I found one plaque I like online, comes with an engraving in the wood, painted, arrow & the colors signifying ranks earned throughout the years. When I go to order 4, after tax and shipping, it comes out to $44/each. While I know my husband or another parent could make them for loads cheaper, it's getting the time to do so. We still have time, I just know *I* can't do it (I'm crafty but I would waste so much material trying, lol) and the others who volunteered in the past are no longer with us. I may ask around, though, as we have a
  12. Hi all, With our B&G fast approaching (where our AoL scouts will receive their rank a month before bridging) - I am looking at plaque/gift ideas. There are so many out there. In the past, our Pack has always presented the boys with a version of an AOL plaque with an arrow attached (some made theirs, some bought them pre-made.) I'm curious what everyone here has done (or what their scout received, if anything, for this event.) Keeping my options open and would love to hear what others do or have done. Thanks as always.
  13. So far, I love seeing the changes. That being said, we've already completed our required adventures this year (our campout with the troop we'll be bridging to is this weekend.) Only thing is elective adventures (which, if I'm reading correctly, just went from 3 to 1 for AOL.) So these changes really won't affect us much but it should help our pack, which has seen a drop in scouts earning rank and scouts staying on board with so much going on and being required of them. Our den has enjoyed the changes since last year but we did lose quite a few of our boys (they could no longer comfortably bala
  14. Thank you all for your input! We invested in a few different lights like the ones mentioned here & a fire starter. He will have his head lamp as well as a backup and we will be working soon on the proper way to use it without blinding everyone. We stayed away from anything that took anything outside of the A/C/D batteries.
  15. I'm going to jump in here since this is a newer post on roughly the same subject. My son will be bridging in March and for Christmas, I'd like to get him a durable, good light for camping trips. Right now all he has is a BSA headlamp and a bunch of small, not-very-bright flashlights. I wasn't sure whether to go the flashlight or lantern route. I looked around but kept finding items way out of my price range (I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible.) Will be looking up the Rayovac SE3DLNACOM but any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!
  16. I've never heard of it, either. Sounds exciting - good luck to your son!
  17. We tried the splitting method a little over a year ago when I had 15. It did not work and I ended up absorbing back some that split so that we did not lose them (the rest, well, we lost.) If my son's best friend asked to join my den, yes, I would say no. Because when I was at 15, I was about to go crazy. I couldn't give my full attention to the boys like I should be able. I refuse to take another scout "to be nice" at the expense of the other boys' enjoying the program. I will gladly help train another den leader to start a new den (which we will need this year if any additional AOLs sign up)
  18. I am so torn on this. I've only been with scouting since 2012 but have always "giving it my all" whenever I could. I've been a den leader the entire time, along with fill in assistant cubmaster when we abruptly lost ours, pack trainer (although I don't consider myself worthy of that title knowing I haven't done nearly as much as some do), awards chair, camp coordinator, popcorn kernel, pinewood derby/cubmobile planner and other various positions. I was always told you'll burn out if you keep on and I just laughed it away. Now with my son approaching his last year (he will be bridging next Mar
  19. I'm with the majority here on both accounts. My scouts were Webelos from June 1st of last year until this June. They all (but one) earned their Webelos patch in February. They will all become AOLs June 1st. We will then start working for that patch. I am not accepting anymore scouts in my den this coming year, so unless a new parent takes over a second AOL den, all of ours would have had to earn the Webelos patch in order to get the AOL patch. The one scout that didn't earn the Webelos patch, I doubt he will even try with AOL. He didn't earn Wolf or Bear either. I have 10 scouts so no one in o
  20. This is what we always did as well, twilight camp. 5:30 - 8:30 Monday through Friday. It was always a big success but this year we are forgoing one, due to everyone expecting only 12-3 of us to pull the whole thing together for our district camp for over 100 scouts (we did that for the past few years and it about killed us.) Instead, I'm sending my son to a 5 day 4H camp that does lots of what we have done at our last few cub scout camps. It costs more but was worth it to save my sanity at this point. I will say, if we had the option to do a week of camp versus 5 Saturdays, I'd pick the we
  21. I wish they would, too. But sadly, it just doesn't work that way. I'm learning its the same way in sports, too (only speaking from experience with my younger son's soccer team.) Sorry to hear about your Christmas party, that sounds very familiar! We just had our end of the year party and 9 of our 10 showed up. I was amazed. #10 showed up...the next day. She called wanting to know where we were (and then double checked my message.) Almost perfect attendance So glad the engineer activity went well for you and that it was a success!
  22. I think you're my doppelganger here We have 10 in our den as well but lots of sporadic activity. The trip we've planned for this weekend - I have 4 yes' to attend and the rest, maybes, nos or no replies (maybe almost always means no.) 3 of ours do sports, 5 do robotics. My son is one of 2 that do nothing but scouts (mainly because I can't be all over the place with another son in sports already!) I planned a huge Christmas part last year, half didn't show. And our end of they ear party last May, the three I bought awards for, for never missing a meet - didn't show. Plus some others. It was ve
  23. We considered doing that elective but I got a whole lot of 'meh' from my boys. So instead, for our two required electives, we did the looking forward, looking back one and the game design one. For the next few months, all our meetings are now trips to various parks, historical areas, etc. and working on their outdoors skills. I'm taking them out of our 'class room' and putting the book away until June when we start on our AOL adventures. As for the plaque and arrows, I think its a great idea but I definitely agree with blw2 on it. I have been anxiously awaiting making those plaques since m
  24. Faith

    Den Names

    I'm a Webelos leader. I had fully planned to do this at the beginning of our year. It fell through the cracks with everything else we've done. We've been 'Den 9' since we started as Tigers (you get to vote on a number in our pack when you start out as Tigers and carry it on throughout the years) but no patch. I briefly explained what patrols were to our group but we never got back to it. No one else in our Pack does this that I'm aware of. I've pushed limited parental involvement this year, almost everything has been scout led with some assistance from me of course (we're only lacking on adven
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