dedkad

Volunteers give their time, and those who can't volunteer give money. Asking volunteers to give both time and money by incurring out-of-pocket expenses for the privilege of being a volunteer is a little hard to swallow. But rather than having the pack pay for their meals and babysitting, I would look at alternatives you could do to avoid that expense. Why do the meetings have to include dinner? Can't they be short meetings that occur after the dinner hour, like from 7:00 to 8:00? Why do the parents need babysitters? I can't imagine every parent volunteer is a single parent that needs a sitter. Can you work your meeting schedule around those who have childcare needs to avoid the sitter issue? Can you meet somewhere where kids are welcome to play and can entertain themselves like a member's house with lots of toys? Can you teleconference or meet less often? There are so many ways to avoid this big expense to the pack, I'm not sure why they'd even consider it.

We have spring Tiger recruits who earned the Summertime activity pin this last summer. I don't see how I can do anything but award pins based on rank as of June 1, nothing else makes sense in this context. I know that it means the Webs will earn the same pin twice, but most of them won't care nearly as much as the new Tigers if they don't get a pin or the current Wolf scouts if they get a Tiger pin.

If she looks hot in it, why not ?

Very excited about our recruitment this year. We have 27 new scouts paid in full! Now its just a matter of getting them all into dens!

^^^ They are Bear scouts though no? Bear is their "rank" They just havent eaned their bear badge yet right? I personaly hate when the BSA is unclear about so many things.

I pretty much have the year planned out before our first den meeting and know exactly which requirements we will be working on throughout the year. I also find out from the teachers what field trips they are going on to see if any of those would count toward a requirement. I then mix the boring stuff with the fun stuff at every meeting. It can take all year to complete some requirements since I break it out into such small chunks. It also is a record-keeping nightmare, but at least the boys aren't forced to sit down at an entire den meeting to learn about Citizenship.

What do think of the Den Meeting Resource Guide ? I started last year but we got hopelessly behind try to follow it. I have been looking over the Bear plans and I just don't see how to make it work. We are meeting immediately after school on premises. We can make some field trips work, but the bike stuff would be a logistical mess. Bear at least offers a lot more flexibility, so if we do the bike thing on a Saturday and some cubs don't show they can do it own their own or pick another one to do. My first two years as a leader was a small group of Webelos so that went fairly well, (except some of the science experiments I never could get to work. Tiger was easy enough because all the dads really pitched in. (Different city) Wolf last year was a pain, the prep work involved was just to much and I wasn't getting much help from the parents and the other leader was soaked at work and had a newborn. A meeting with the teachers to check their plans could save some work, just more time up front.

Just when I thought I had a handle on the recruitment, I keep getting more and more calls from parents with kids in different schools and different grades. Our dens meet right after school at the school, so these few stray boys from different schools are making it difficult. We are telling them that if they want to join our pack, they are going to have to recruit enough boys from their school to form their own den. All I really wanted was just one new Tiger den to make sure our pack stays alive, but we might end up with 2 new Tiger dens, and 2 new Bear dens. It's a little crazy, and not what we are used to because we used to be just a one school pack.

Our pack was up, more than double from last year, and the best year ever in its history, despite declining school enrollment.

.... I loved the cubs. They are far better than boy scouts IMHO.

 

Interesting. Seems like the majority of folks seem to think just the opposite. I must admit to thinking that it seems like Scouts will be more fun as a Scouter. I sure did as a youth.... seemed like all we did in cubs was arts and crafts.

 

Well there's the answer, isn't it. Scouting is a competition to you...a game of one-upsmanship. How sad.

 

Now, let's see, on the first page you wrote:

 

I think it is a good way to tell who can teach knot tying by simply looking at their lanyard, instead of spending a lot of time asking questions.

 

But now you say:

 

I think I'll pass on the button crap,

 

So a lanyard doodad is ok, but a button doodad is not ok? Now you are just contradicting yourself.

 

The best way to see how a scout performs is to SEE how they perform and ask them some questions (which you are loathe to do). That process does not require another doodad on the uniform. But you've already been told that, so...it's sort of pointless to talk with you from here on out.

I think you are on the right track with building stuff. Getting them outdoors is also important. I have a night hike planned for my Webelos II this year. Bike rides, Frisbee golf, camping, field trips to cool places. Have them attend a few Boy Scout meetings and activities. Service projects for the community or for your charter organization are also important and build character.

I am still interested in hearing from Richardb and the repercussions of not following BSA rules.

 

Cub Scouts Assaulted on Canoe Trip; BSA Denies Coverage

A recent canoe trip has left several young boys injured and the Boy Scouts of America denying any liability for the incident.

 

According to Cub Scout Den Leader John Smith, his group of 9-year old boys were on a short canoe outing on Big Lake, accompanied by their parents.

 

"Suddenly this guy comes up to us, calling himself Kudu, ranting and raving about the scout charter," said Mr. Smith. "I heard him say, 'You young hoodlums should be back with your den mothers making macaroni art, not out on the water where only red-blooded young men belong! I'll box you about the ears with paddles made in the fashion of those manufactured in 1916!' And he just started wailing on everybody with his paddle."

 

But the young boy's nightmare trip had just begun. "Then another guy paddles up, apparently going by the name 'basementdweller.' Starts calling me a candy… well, he starts calling us a bunch of very non-scout-like names. Says he's going to 'turn us in to national for not following the rules,' whatever that means. Says we're not even supposed to be on the water. Starts tipping the boys out of the boats, saying he's the only one who knows the right way to canoe," Smith said.

 

Unfortunately for these young, innocent boys, their nightmare trip wasn't over. Upon notifying the local scout office of the incident and injuries, Smith was shocked to learn that national BSA was going to disavow itself of any insurance coverage for the incident.

 

"I got a call from some guy named 'Richard' who said that cub scouts aren't allowed to go in canoes. I never heard of such a thing," Smith said. "Apparently it's in something called the 'Gee Too Essess,' which I never got a copy of. Nobody else I know ever heard of it either. It's just heartbreaking."

 

On contacting the BSA's national offices in Texas, a spokesperson refused to comment on the incident and instead referred the Journal to a recent press release on the organization's commitment to youth protection.

 

I would. As Akela, you need to sign off on their attendance because parents can't sign off on Webelos requirements. It will also help strengthen your connection to the Boy Scout troop. Besides, Orienteering is a good skill to learn for adults as well as kids.

And don't forget that he has to earn his Bobcat badge too.

Yeah, we sorta ignored that whole no-canoeing guideline thing when my son was a cub... Remember that the "G" in G2SS stands for Guide...

Last year we had over 10 Tigers at our recruitment meeting and a den leader already lined up. This year only 2 Tigers showed up and no leader so far, so we are having the 2 Tiger parents reaching out to their sons' friends to try to build a Tiger den. Oddly, with very little recruitment in the upper grades, we ended up with 7 new Bears, so we are adding a new Bear den. Overall, though, we are probably going to just break even with our numbers because we had a den implode and are losing a bunch of boys.

Option 3 - Have less committee meetings.

We have an active pack with over 50 boys. We have one pack planning meeting in August to plan out the entire calendar for the year (meeting dates, major events, who's responsible for which meeting, duties, etc.) Any changes or additions to the calendar throughout the year are all handled through emails. I think you can have a very successful pack and program without the monthly committee meetings. Your parents will thank you for it.

In our pack, the CMs are mostly a figurehead position. They will attend the pack planning meeting and give valuable input, but then it is up to the committee chair and committee people to make the events happen. We present the Cubmaster with a list of what is planned for each meeting, then the CM will come up with opening and closing remarks and act as MC at the meeting. They also are great sounding boards for den leaders who are struggling with parent or scout issues and need some support, advice, or just a pat on the back letting us know we are doing a good job. The CM doesn't necessarily have to be a hands-off leader, but they should not be a micromanager, particularly when it comes to the den programs. The den programs are the den leader's responsibilities and the CM should not get involved unless there are some problems. It's the nature of the CM position. Want to be a more active leader? Be a den leader or CC.

I am wondering if I should get the award for my son. We just transferred Packs, other pack earned it (and he participated) but the new pack doesn't do summers (yet).

Techniques for controlling behavior problems is certainly something that is lacking in our Cub Scout training. You are busy trying to run a den meeting and the burden of managing the inappropriate behavior of one boy should not fall on you. If his behavior continues to be disruptive and Sakitima's suggestions don't help, I would insist that one of his parents attend the den meetings with their son.

The Third Party sites say "year completed," which makes sense, because all the Summertime Stuff includes Den Stuff, and you don't really know your fall Den Numbers because Dens might merge/split in the fall. We used the year completed, because that lets an active Scout earn all 4 pins, and it makes zero sense to have no ability for a Tiger to really earn it and a Webelos be able to earn it twice. Same thing with Outdoor Activity Award... we do stuff all year, then we go to camp, camp is only offered in the summer. You could never earn the Tiger one unless your parents came as your adult partner?!?!? That's silly.

 

That said, you can do it either way, whatever makes your Pack Go.

 

Will the Summertime Pack Award incent Tigers to sign up in the Springs and do stuff with the special Tiger award (we tried that, totally failed, new Scouts have no idea what Scout bling is). Alternatively, does doing it with their Tiger Buddies give them a reason to come, and have a chance to "collect them all?"

 

In general, a Cub advances at the later of:

June 1st, assuming rank earned

Sept 1st, assuming rank not earned

 

I mean, why would you deny a Scout the summer to wrap up his prior year Rank? Electives? Who cares, work on the new ones. One or two away from an Arrow Point, wrap it up, then move on.

 

I mean, my Scouts were psyched to move on to the next level, why would they stick at the old level. If one "missed out" on an achievement, why not let him wrap it up in June?

 

Regarding the Pins... I look at it like Outdoor Activity. All my Scouts that went to summer camp had their new Patches, that was cool and different. Why wait until October/November to earn them at the new level. Finished the School year, go to camp, get cool new patches.

Your Cubscouts are the rank that they are when you turn in the advancement sheets to Council saying...this Scout is now a Bear on this date. Done. So, during the summer that they are a BEAR, they get the BEAR Summertime Pack Award PIN.

 

A Tiger can earn the Tiger Pin if they sign-up as a Tiger before Summer. IE: Spring recruitment. That new Scout who just graduated Kindergarten can join Cubscouts.

They should get the Bear pin. They completed wolf, and during the summer can work on Bear requirements (if they went to day camp, they would work on Bear not Wolf, right?). Same deal here. Award them the Bear pin and call it a good summer!

I took a little liberty with the picture frame requirement. Instead of having the boys make the frames from scratch, I bought picture frames for $1 each at Michael's and had the boys use a wood-burning tool to burn designs of their choice into the wood. They really liked that. Got the wood-burning tool for about $8 at Michael's using their 40% off coupon. Do you have a Michael's near you? You can print out 40% off coupons from your computer any time you want. You don't need to wait for Sunday's paper. Just do a search for Michaels coupon on google. Don't choose the link to Michael's, look for other sites that offer their coupons instead.

I also counted Pinewood Derby cars as one of the wood projects.

For one of the non-wood projects, I had the boys make birds nest necklaces that they could give to their teacher or mom for Christmas. The cost of materials is super cheap. I even found some "ribbon" in the local fabric store for $1/yard that looks just like silver necklace chain. They came out beautiful. I wear my necklace all the time. And for another non-wood project, I had them make gift boxes out of Christmas cards to put the necklaces they made into it. Here's a link to the birds nest necklace: http://www.lisas-craft-blog.com/2012/01/tutorial-wire-wrapped-birds-nest.html