Brewmeister

The solution is simple: Develop a backpacking program. Boys want the adventure of the woods but the woods are not outside the back door. How do you develop a backpacking program when you must rely on the parents (or older scouts who can drive) to get the scouts to where they need to be to start backpacking?

I had to look that one up! Yes I have a goofy user name...I used to homebrew quite a while ago. Do you know how hard it is to find an unused user name with "scout" in this forum?

That's a good point and our AC created his own spreadsheet for the Pack. However he is a computer guy. We looked into all the advancement platforms, both online as well as PackMaster, but found they were either too limited, too hard to use, or too expensive. Since the DLs weren't interested in doing stuff electronically and the AC didn't want to use it we go with spreasheets for dens and the pack. Perhaps more low tech but simple free and customizable. YMMV...

Another vote for the trax software, and thumbs down for ScoutManage (sorry!)

Well this is another one of those things that bothers me and that my son also notices. I know this doesn't rank up there with, say, whiffing on a part of your Eagle project, but if the requirement is to know your patrol yell and flag, you should know your patrol yell and flag. The answer that "our yell is silent and our flag is invisible"...not right IMO. Added to the troop MBC's major pencil whipping on the personal fitness badge that I detailed in another thread. I am stuggling with whether and how to address this kind of stuff.

It seems like a lot of micromanagement to me particularly since most of the loops require all of the loop requirements to be completed if my memory serves. Also no advancement report should be required on the AC's part, just order the awards. Regarding ordering of the loops, yeah you don't want to overbuy but the point about the summer gap is a good one. If I were you I would just tell her all the requirements were done for the ones you expect to need...but that's just me. At least in our area, anyone can go in and buy belt loops. Since our pack only pays for ones earned in pa

So, SSScout, you are agreeing with my conclusion then?

There's no investment in flags or yells. Is this common? My son is in a patrol and I asked him about that. He said he didn't know. I asked about and one of the ASMs said, "Well, we really don't do much with that." To which I replied, "Well isn't it kind of hard for the boys to get their Tenderfoot signed off on if they don't have a patrol yell and a flag?" It surprised me because call me old fashioned but I'm a literal guy who believes if it's written that you're supposed to know or do something, you're supposed to know or do it.

A few thoughts-- We put on the program for the people who want to come, not the ones who don't want to come. So we do a summer program. Some events are lightly attended but everyone loves them. Rather than doing a web survey do a face to face poll. I have another thread in here recently about getting adults to volunteer. Not only did we get volunteers but we got a dozen solid ideas that were whittled down to about 6 that people could really get behind. Online survey response is spotty--people that are satisfied won't respond even though they will in person. Also be careful what

Ther discussion of the merits of the rules have taken us away from the original questions I had. The rules are what they are and we accept that with the program going in. In my opinion the answer to the first one is that it is ok because the pack did not organize the event and it is not a shooting event per se, it is an outdoor event that happened to have that, and the boys are under the direction of their families. It is also open to the public and run by another entity. The second one is not ok because it is a pack level event that is not open to the public. If you agree or di

-Memorial Day Service -Boats, Burgers, and Bonfires (Raingutter Regatta & Cookout) -Parade float -Drive-in Movie -Monthly opportunities for "drop in" service at the local food pantry. -Also, summer district camps (cubs and Webelos) - about 75% attendance.

SP, central to this strategy is that I have the best person for the job in the chair role. So she is coordinating things and making sure that people don't fall down on the job. And it is possible that an event or two may fall through. But the difference that was immediately apparent from this method was that people were willing and eager to take things on. And in my mind that is actually one step better than approaching someone and asking, "Will you coordinate this?," because they have actually volunteered. Can they all do a great job of it? Time will tell, but you don't know unless

I understand that, and I also understand the reasons for it because they are specialized activities and Cub Scouts is a broad-based program. However, ask families and scouts "What do you want to do for activities," and here's what you will get: "Let's go bb shooting, I have a big back yard." "Let's do archery, my club will put on a program." "Let's go canoeing on the lake." "Let's go to that place that offers rafting on the river, it's a blast." By the fourth "we can't do that" it gets a little frustrating.

When other kids are safely doing activities which parents and adult leaders approve but National prohibits, we lose the whole scout family and worsen our chances of attracting more boys to scouting. This is what I am running up against. Let me tell you, we already have several Webelos who are shooting 12 gauge shotguns in DNR-approved "learn to hunt" programs with a mentor, as well as completing in youth trap leagues. So yeah, they're already pretty bored with the single-pump BB guns at council camp and whatnot.

Archery and bb are not allowed "at the pack level" and how both can be done as a scouting organized event is laid out in the guide. Ok, so two questions. 1. Actual example: A local nature center holds a event open to the general public and your pack attends as an outing. At the event are many displays and activities, including a local sporting club that is duly trained etc. that has a display where anyone can come up and shoot. Are the scouts allowed to do so? It does not appear to be but it's a tough one to enforce when their non Scout friends are there; mom and dad and sister hea

At a recent roundtable we were introduced to a strategy for pack event planning and securing volunteers for events that we tried with excellent results. Maybe it's common knowledge and I didn't know it but here you go. Take an event that many parents will be at and ideally where they will be eating and the scouts can go somewhere else. So in our case we were having a year end pizza party at a park, and the boys and siblings were over on the playground equipment. When everyone has a plate of food, Take a big easel or whiteboard and explain to parents that you'd like their input into t

How do you encourage patrol hikes in general?

Baden, I think I understand the OP's point, and it ties into what EagleDad says. Basemenent describes a typical transition process, with the Webelos doing more and more scout stuff. But the fact is that you can't fully know what it's like to be in a troop until you are in one. Let me tell you, I am an Eagle Scout and an experienced Cub Scout leader. I understand the program much better than your average parent as a result, and I also believed I prepared our Webelos den well. Nevertheless, it has been a HUGE learning curve for my son, and for me, just a few months into the Boy Sc

Yes, I agree that part of Webelos is prep. But that doesn't mean Webelos are 100% ready to go. All of this: Looking at my sons book, tenderfoot.....wow he has done all this so I sign it off, son is proud he has earned the rank already and he has been a boy scout for a week..... Meeting night come and my son is in tears because he did not earn the rank and an older boy needs to test him on the requirements. Son finally got the tenderfoot requirements done and now he needs to ask the SM for a conference......Scout waits a month and still hasn't asked.....he is afraid of the SM so I as

If we take the first few paragraphs of the OP's post away and start instead with "new recruit," you still have the same transition problems. In my opinion, it is incumbent upon the SCOUT troop to assimilate new scouts into the program. It's not a Cub's fault that he only knows the Cub program, just as it is not a new recruit's fault that he knows nothing about the Scout program in general. Or to put it another way, I don't read a lot of Tiger leaders bemoaning how kids come to them unprepared to be Cub Scouts. Instead they just do the job they're supposed to do. The disdain tha

On a related topic (maybe should spin a thread), whose job is it to prepare Webelos for the "culture shock" of Boy Scouts? Yes, Webelos is a transition program. However, WDLs are not SMs and don't live and breathe the Boy Scouting program.

Does it ever happen that a Webelos acts like a provisional member of a troop. Say goes to their meetings, attends a campout without parents, while still attending den events. This is what my son did and part of the reason he chose a different troop than our affiliated one. The troop he chose suggested he start coming to regular meetings and do everything except work on advancement. I believe that feeling like part of the group will overcome a lot of the trials and tribulations.

February. More time to get prepared for summer camp. This way the Feb B&G can focus on the Webelos and the May "crossover" can focus on the boys moving to the new Cub rank. Plus, 2 years in Webelos is about 1 year too many. Boys are ready to go. Regarding the 9pm meeting closure, when do the little league teams run their games? In our neighborhood we have evening games that start as late as 8pm, and that's while school is still on. So perhaps complaints about the meeting time are just a cover for other issues.(This message has been edited by brewmeister)

Dan, that's an impressive array of activities. And I certainly agree about the boring academic parts of Webelos badges. (It's also frustrating that so many of the Webelos & AOL requirements end up being repeated verbatim in the Scout Badge and Tenderfoot Rank requirements, but that's another topic...) I'm going to suggest some of the activities you do to our troop!!!!

Yeah, I noticed the field manual fits perfectly in the sleeve they sell for it. It looks like if you just put the spiral book inside the cover without actually putting the book cover pages into the fabric sleeves, that works ok. I thought the book would slide out but it sticks in there. So perhaps that crisis has been averted!