dedkad

I get plenty of camping, backpacking and outdoor adventures on my own time with adults and/or family. I don't need Boy Scouts to do that. What I was trying to say is that I am disappointed over the lost opportunity for this troop to stop it's dwindling numbers and get it turned around with a new influx of boys.

And now kids can learn and see most everything on the internet, so the only thing that Scouting can really offer is actually going out and doing what you learned or saw on YouTube.

If I was a Tiger den leader, I would question whether to even teach the boys the Cub Scout promise and Law of the Pack. I know it is still a requirement, but since they are being discontinued in 2015 and being replaced with the Scout Oath and Scout Law, I would just start teaching them that instead. When they announced the change, they should have given the units authority to change immediately, if they wanted.

This sounds fun. We tried den cheers this year for the first time. The boys did it at the first pack meeting, but didn't seem to be too thrilled to do it after that. I like your idea of doing the role call. That encourages them to want to speak up and yell.

The CO troop's SM and CC shared your attitude, and it cost them an entire den of Webelos. It's not about doing things for the pack, it's about making connections with the boys. When you have much stronger troops in the area, the only way you'll be able to compete is if you make that extra effort to recruit and to teach your boys how to build relationships. We did watch troop meetings from the back of the room. It's the troop where the Boy Scouts made an effort to talk personally with the Webelos and include them in that meeting's activities that won over my boys, not the one with Boy Scouts who just sat up at the front and went about their business and expected that our boys would automatically join because their troop does cool stuff. Yeah, well, the other troop does cool stuff too, and their boys made an effort to get to know me, so I'm joining the other troop because that is where I feel more comfortable.

No wonder dogs will spin round and round getting ready to poop. They are just trying to orient themselves.

I feel like we are only getting half of the story. Why does the COR want new blood? Maybe he has good reason. Without more specifics on your troop, I wouldn't say one way or the other that what your COR is doing is wrong.

The SM may not assign a den chief, but his attitude toward the position can go a long way toward creating a culture in the troop where boys are wanting to be den chiefs.

Part of the problem is that the CO troop is a high adventure troop, so most of their outings involve lots of driving, hiking, and rugged conditions, which isn't always age/skill appropriate for Webelos. However, if they are serious about wanting to recruit into their troop from our pack, it seems to me that they should be making an effort to provide at least a few activities that the Webelos could attend to get them to know the troop. If it was encouraged at the troop level, they could easily lend us a Boy Scout now and then, which would be helpful to the pack but may only be marginal for troop recruiting unless the boy makes an effort to get to know the Cub Scouts instead of just being a talking head in a uniform. I saw so much room for improvement that would help both the troop and the pack, and was really gung-ho about trying to resolve that. That's why I was kind of bummed that my son wants to join a different troop.

I forgot about MBC! That is a good suggestion. I've been through the list, and there's probably a couple that I could teach if I brush up on my subjects.

Fred, I can see myself calling the Scoutmaster of the CO troop that my son just decided not to join. Me: "Hey, I know he didn't want to join your troop, but is it OK if my son comes with you guys to summer camp because the troop we are joining is sending them off to rich kid camp and we can't afford to go?" SM: "Your son should have thought of that when he decided not to join our troop. You made your bed, now lie in it." I haven't even told the CO SM yet that none of my son's den are joining his troop because I've been too nervous to break the news to him. But I think one boy in our den is joining a troop from another town, so maybe we could go with them because there shouldn't be any hard feelings there. I will have to inquire about that possibility.

As I look into this further, it appears the camp they are going to is not a Boy Scout property. It is a private camp that offers Scouting programs. That's probably part of the reason the cost is so high. It's a camp on Catalina Island off the coast of California. The troop alternates between this camp and another camp in the Sierra mountains each year. The other camp is at a Boy Scout property, so hopefully that one will be cheaper. It would be nice if they offered both on the year that they do the expensive camp, so at least a boy who wants to attend camp can go without breaking the bank.

I've spoken with my son's future Scoutmaster on many occasions, and he's made it clear that his philosophy is that it's time for the boys to break away from mom. That's fine as long as his feelings don't impact the ability of the troop to provide a good program for the boys. There appears to be plenty of male ASM's with this troop to help provide a fairly active outdoor program for the boys. The Charter troop is smaller and is a high-adventure troop, so they were in need of any and all adults willing to help, so they were less choosy and were willing to accommodate anyone who wanted to help. My son's future troop has women on their Committees and in positions like Treasurer, so there's probably something I could do if it sparks my interest, but paperwork does not currently spark my interest.

My son is bridging over to Boy Scouts in February, and he is looking at going to camp with the troop. I had a bit of sticker shock. I'm used to the $100 Cub Scout Day Camp cost. The camp his troop is going to is $700 for the week. Is that typical for Boy Scout camps?

My son is bridging to Boy Scouts in February. We visited several troops and they are all good choices for different reasons, but I was really hoping my son would choose a different troop. Our pack recently lost our Charter organization, so one of the local troops lobbied to have their Charter organization pick us up. The Charter troop was looking for a feeder pack to help with membership. As Committee Chair and Webelos den leader, I started working hard to develop a relationship with this troop. My work wasn't really successful because the troop didn't reciprocate in terms of reaching out to the boys in my den and building relationships with them. I tried to get the troop to offer an outdoor activity for my Webelos to attend. No luck. I tried to get them to give us a den chief. No luck. I knew my Webelos were leaning toward the other troop, and I tried to warn the Charter troop that we needed to work on getting their boys to connect with my boys, but still no luck. I saw a huge need and envisioned this great opportunity for myself as a scouter to improve this relationship between the pack and Charter troop once my son bridged over. I had grand plans to encourage the troop to offer joint outdoor activities with the pack, provide den chiefs, and even stop by and visit at the pack meetings since the pack and troop meet on the same night at the same location. However, now that my son (and his entire den) have decided to join a different troop, I think my scouter career is over. The troop my son is joining is not very welcoming to women in leadership roles or on outings. I can't see how I can implement my grand ideas of developing a better relationship between the pack and Charter troop when I am dealing with competing troops. Although my son will be happy in his new troop, it is my own disappointment over a failed opportunity for myself and the Charter troop that I am trying to deal with.

There's lots of information here: http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/01/01/better-activities-simplified-advancement-coming-to-cub-scouting-in-2015/ It doesn't take effect until the 2015-16 program year, so August or September of 2015. Not sure how the LDS programs will be run, but for the rest, it looks like they are completely separating out the Webelos I and Webelos II programs. You will be able to earn AOL without earning Webelos. The link doesn't give a lot of details, but it sure looks like earning AOL won't be the big deal that it is now, which is disappointing.

I like this comment someone posted to the news article: "Perhaps Lockheed should stop selling their planes to Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi, Oman, Indonesia, Singapore, UAE, etc. because of there religious bias. Let's at least be consistent."

Not sure where you live and what the weather is like this time of year for you, but if I had only one meeting left and didn't have any requirements to do, I would use that meeting to do a cool field trip, a hike, or play some fun games. My Webs just did a night hike and they loved it. This time of year is perfect for night hikes because it gets dark so early. If you are stuck indoors, you could do a paper airplane contest or an egg drop contest. Someone mentioned duct tape wallets. You could also do duct tape water bottle holders for the boy who needs to do craftsman, then go on a hike and use the water bottle holders.

With all the extra time I'm sure you have on your hands, you could always become a Webelos den leader. Then you can spy on the other troops under the guise of troop visits for the Webelos boys. I've learned a lot about how the different troops operate in our area by attending these visits and asking lots of questions.

I'd go for the modern gear, but still have a few campouts where you break out the primitive gear for fun.

My Webelos II den wanted to play Capture the Flag at our next den meeting, but we are missing one boy, so there will only be 5 boys there. Too few for a game of Capture the Flag. What other outdoor activity games would be fun for five 5th graders? We have access to a grassy playing field, blacktop, and playground equipment. And I should probably note that one of the boys is on the Spectrum, so games with grey areas like Red Light Green Light don't go over too well.

An 11-year old 6th grader? I don't think he's even allowed to be in Cub Scouts anymore, regardless of whether or not he's done a cross-over ceremony.

Club sports are getting more popular around here. Because it is so time-consuming, boys who normally would be participating in multiple sports or dabble in other non-curricular activities can no longer do that. Kids' football leagues also seem to be taking off again, which could account for the loss of soccer players, since it is the same season.

GeorgiaMom says: "The entire charter system is designed to shift legal responsibility to the CO's and the units. The BSA goes to great lengths to make sure they are not responsible for anything. So, when things go wrong, who gets left holding the bag? Sometimes, the individual volunteer. I doubt many BSA volunteers realize that." Please provide an actual example of when a BSA volunteer was found liable.

We are registering our treasurer too to make sure there isn't any embezzlement history.