King Ding Dong

I am sure you can find something closer than NH, but it sure sounds better than the muggy swamps of LA or MO. STL has a 3 day/2 night for incoming Webelos 1 and week long for Webelos 2 plus a slew of day camps at parks around town. My UC said they are working on a program to allow for provisional packs so cubs that don't have parents or adult leaders available can still attend. The Webelos camps here use that standard wall tents/cots and currently only 1 deep leadership is required because it is council run. My current Webelos I den is falling apart so I hope that happens for the couple of boys interested.

Yep, just like the field uniform required while traveling to be covered under BSA insurance rule.

I like that. As IH I am going to discuss that with my COR. As a general rule we don't allow electronics outside the vehicles, but at the last cabin campout a few older scouts had them and they tried to tell us the SM was more lax on cabin campouts. SM was not there, just me and SM In Training. I can't recall if it was this thread or another one but I was a bit surprised when Kudu came out in favor of allowing them even on the trail. Many of the trails around here are shared use with horses and mountain bikers. Even without earbuds they can sneak up on really fast.

An example of leader vs leader bullying would be helpful.

Sorry, this is demotivational rather than inspirational. "I don't see that challenging activity on my Eagle checklist my parents insist I get".

Ramen Torchwood. May his noodly appendage touch you.

3 or 4 max. Mix match of tents.

Young troop maybe one freshman. The older ones seem to be the worst offenders.

Our troop doesn't sing. Ever. SM not into that. Can you expand on "quite time enforced". How is it enforced and who enforces it ? There is no night watch. We just stay awake until until they quite down, usually takes a dozen or so requests from one of the adults. The SM can sleep and saw in no time. I am IH and "asst. CC" so am a bit uncomfortable taking a direct role in enforcement. But I feel there does need to be enforcement, just looking for ideas of how this is handled because this group dos not like to sleep.

Don't take it personally. It's the only way he knows how to communicate. Give him a little time and he will start to grow on you. He is always good for a chuckle. You just have to keep the image of Oscar the Grouch in your head when reading his posts. It works for me.

9:00 is Cracker Barrel and then they usually sit around the campfire playing some game called "mafia". Usually led by one of the older scouts. It is a calm game, though I can't really figure it out.

My Bear made it to the District PWD last weekend, came in mid 40s in a very big district. My Tenderfoot was really bummed he can not do PWD anymore. I tried pitching Blastcar to the troop committee but absolutely no interest. Adult led troop.

Lights out time has been a problem for our troop. Lights go out at maybe 11:00 (to late in my opinion) but the chatter continues can take another half hour of adults telling the boys to be quite to settle them down. The SPL seems to be one of the worst offenders as well. No discipline no consequences. Well there are consequences for my son as he is a 10 hour a night kid and if he doesn't get them he does not do well and has had several meltdowns on Sunday mornings which I am certain are from lack of sleep (probably less than 8 hours). After a full day of activities he could probably use more than 10. The troop we visited last October did not have this problem, they boys just went to bed, no adults hounding them and no constant chatter.

I assure you I am no imposter. Thanks for your concern. I have missed this place. What's shakin BD ? Have you learned to laugh yet ? As I said in the other post, have had a series of health issues the past few months and have had to focus my energy and time on other areas. Getting old sucks. I have poked in now and then just couldn't get sucked in to posting. Not much has changed in my scouting career. Still with same sucky troop. CC and SM leaving shortly so maybe things will improve. They were stepping down anyway, but get really hurt when I criticize how the troop is run. They don't "have the time to make it boy run" My very experienced COR is going to take a bit more active role in guiding the troop. He is starting see how the poor program is going to kill it. The new SPL has shown no leadership and the troop would squarely land in the adult led field, still do nothing PORs. The pack is starting to show its stress cracks again. The CC's son is dropping out so we need to find a new one. The Webelos II folded this past year and I am discovering the Webelos 1 den has not been meeting regularly outside of PWD and Pack meetings. Of course nobody has returned my calls or emails. The couple of parents I have talked to say the same thing "been busy with sports".

Let Faux News know about it. They can add it to their War on Christmas arsenal.

I would stick with a log cabin fire fan and streamers, colored Mylar or similar material. Secure the logs with hot glue gun or framing nailer if they are thin enough. Lights will be hard to see. Tripod over the fire would be a good visual also but don't actually hang a Dutch oven on a moving vehicle, make a cardboard pot or a beat up lightweight pot. The problem is if the cubs are sitting around it, the audience will not see it well. Fishing poles might be a good visual as well.

Also a great way to meet lots of attractive girls.

She needs a copy of the Den Leader How To book. Anyone know if there is a online version?

I remember some one on this board posting they allow girls in their pack but I don't think they are registered. BSA is not likely to take such a move anytime soon. It would be viewed as an attack on GSUSA.

Or in a few months he announces he has "finished" the internet.

Never heard my boys mention zombies in relation to Minecraft. Will ask them about it tonight. If I am busy and can't redirect my boys attention they will default to Minecraft or watching YouTube videos do Minecraft mods all day. I think they spend as much time watching the videos as playing the game. Your catapult sounds like a good project. Look into the Popsicle stick one as well. It involves taping the sticks together to make a pyramid like structure and and a plastic spoon and rubber band for tension. Fast to make. They could compare the effectiveness of the two types.

That's the nicest thing someone has said to me all day. I'm surprised he isn't being bashed for that sash.

I am talking about Minecraft the video game. Mostly played on a PC but on phones as well. It is actually a rather benign game but very addicting for a lot of boys. FYI: Terraria is a similar game that seems to be gaining traction with this age group. The cotton balls do not work nearly as well as marshmallows especially outside. Ping pong balls shoot great but are not as cheap as I think they should be. On the plus side chasing them down does burn some energy. Popcorn might be a good one for outside especially if you don't have to clean it up. Just don't use Trails End. The last time we used marshmallows for some game it was a real pain with the boys fighting over them, stuffing them in pockets and everything you can imagine wolves would do with them.

Lol. Times are changing Moose. My youngest is a bear now but even last year he had no problem telling me this (book, game, craft, whatever) stinks and "I want to play Minecraft". That game is like crack. The Popsicle stick aplastic spoon marshmallow catapult is fun for wolves as well they just need help putting it together. From now on I am using cotton balls, they end up eating all the marshmallows even if they were stepped on.

He credits Mom with supporting him. Hope that support was driving him around and not signing blue cards. Would also like to see how much money the parents spent. Some of these are not cheap.