Brewmeister

Regarding meeting ideas, it works well to have a game for the first half and then do business and awards.

We have done "minute to win it" games, "fired up for camping" where we had different stations where you could set up a tent, make smores, etc; a "team cub" tournament with team building games, etc.

Just make sure that games require ALL people to participate....scouts, siblings, and adults.

We won't "let" a volunteer handle two dens. There's no reason new parents can't step up.

However, having the current leader be an unoffical ADL for the Tiger den can go a long way toward getting another parent to take on the role, knowing that a mentor is there who has gone through the program.

Yes, part of the issue is I'm a side sleeper but only when I'm in a tent. My regular bed is a memory foam so I can sleep on my back all night. But in a tent because the support isn't there I roll onto my side and that's when the hip pointers really set in.

I have tried a regular cot, but besides being bulky and heavy they are not all that much more comfortable,

How is the thermarest on durability? I have not had good luck with air mattresses in the past.

Regarding ground sleeping...it's not my back, it's my hips...it stinks getting old, but it's better than the alternative...

As the title says...

For the sake of this discussion let's assume i don't want a cot.

I've tried a few different foam varieties but it still takes a few hours in the morning for the boys to stop asking me, "are you ok?"

If memory serves, I'm pretty sure that if you slog through the archives, you'll find this very thing has been posted and commented on before

Maybe it has, but the search function on this site takes me to the dreaded "The page cannot be found" 404 error...which does make looking thru the archives a real slog!

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty

Wow...proven true right before my very eyes!

Full disclosure...I didn't write it, I found it on another forum and modified it slightly. It appears forums are the same all over!

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been

changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the

light bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ...

another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light

bulb" is perfectly correct

19 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take

this discussion to a light bulb forum

11 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light

bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to

buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this

technique and what brands are faulty

5 People to post how we should only use the light bulbs that were in use in 1912.

7 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs

4 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the

corrected URLs

13 to post "+1," or "well said."

5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they

cannot handle the light bulb controversy

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

13 to say "do a search on light bulbs before posting questions about

light bulbs"

1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and

start it all over again.

Eagle92--

The OP had posted the question in the context of Cub Scouting so that's where I was coming from.

He talked about the red vest for "overflow," but the only stuff that goes on the red vest are the "fun" patches. (Well, I guess you can put your "C" on there for pins.)

It is true there are a few more things that can go on the official uniform, as I mentioned (summertime award, recruiter strip, etc.) I looked at a picture from me as a cub and there is nothing on my right pocket at all.

But, "patch overflow" only applies to the red vest, so I don't see what the big deal is.

Additionally, based on my own experience as an adult leader, the red vest serves as additional motivation/excitement for the younger boys. New Tigers come in and see all that they can be involved in.

As a matter of fact, I use the red vest in recruiting to point out all the stuff our pack does--it's almost like a cool visual checklist.

To each his own...

I believe many folks are combining a few different ideas that are actually separate.

When it comes to the uniform, where the OP started the thread, it's not terribly different from a patch standpoint. The left pocket is unchanged except, of course, for the newer rank of Tiger.

The righ pocket does allow for newer stuff...summertime pack awards and outdoor activity patch, recruiter strip, and a temporary patch.

Where the big patch bonanza comes into play is on the Red Vest/fun patch area. And I think this is prefect because the patches on here are essentially souvenirs. I'm not sure about everyone else but I don't remember much about my cubbing days but I wouldn't mind having a "scrapbook" of mementos. Now I know the boys don't think that far ahead, but the point is that these are mementos and not awards. The low price point makes them perfect.

Now, when you talk about trophies for participating, that is another thing altogether. A trophy connotates winning (or at least it used to) and the price point is much higher.

Therefore, I think Cub Scouting really has it figured out when it comes to awards and patches. Reserve the official uniform for badges that are earned, except for one temporary patch on the right pocket. Put souvenier patches on a wearable scrapbook. And save trophies for the winning cars at the derby.

>>Yeah I've run into the elitism thing aimed at cub leaders. It used to really tick me off, until I realized that most of the time, people with that attitude also don't know what they're talking about when it comes to the current cub scout program.

The worst elitism I've run into in my years in Cub Scouting has been in these forums in my short time here!

The only place I've *ever* seen Cub Scouting used as an insult toward a Boy Scout troop is here, where troops that don't measure up are referred to as a "Webelos III" program.

What about adding the sash? That gives you more real estate.

Otherwise we've pinned patches over the tops of others...sewn them on the bottom of the uniform so they are only held on by the tops.

(Girl scouts are different from boy scouts/cub scouts, in that "fun" patches can go on the back of the uniform or sash versus being displayed on a red vest.)

Each summer, before the new year, we make tie-dye "class b" tshirts for the den. In the wolf year we did yellow, bear year blue, webelos year green. We the use iron on transfers to print a den logo or something on them.

We then make a white flag out of heavy cloth, tie it up, and chuck it in the dye pot with the shirts. Typically we also iron on the same logo to the flag and have the boys sign it. So, the flag matches the shirts and vice versa.

We cross them over the bridge like the other boys, and they get a service star. The other boys get a star and necker.

I am an ADL for a 4th grade Webelos den. In the den, we have a boy who has major hygiene issues that are compounded by unlaundered clothing. In other words, it's not just a typical sweaty and smelly boy who needs a shower after a few days at camp. It is really, really bad.

The DL and I really don't know how we should address this, if at all. The dad is involved in the Pack and is there working with the boy and doesn't seem to share the same hygiene problem or notice his son's. Do we have a meeting where we talk about "A scout is clean?" But a shower will not solve the problem when it's clear that the boy's clothes aren't making it into the washing machine.

The boy is a good kid who loves scouts...we want to be helpful...I dunno!

Perhaps part of the reason is also that BSA units can "opt out" of popcorn fundraising, but GSUSA troops cannot opt out of selling cookies to choose a different fundraiser. Troops can do an additional fundraiser but not a substitute one.

EDIT: Just FYI, our pack also sells rolls of trash bags with a price point averaging $4, which gives us about a 40% profit--just a little more than popcorn. We sell these simultaneously with popcorn, so boys can choose to sell one or the other or both. Each fundraiser brings in a similar amount of revenue.(This message has been edited by brewmeister)

Having done GS cookies, popcorn, and other fundraisers....

GS cookies net my daughter's troop 50 cents a box, on a $4 price point. 12.5 percent to the troop.

Popcorn nets 35% minimum to the unit. So that $10 bag of caramel corn equates to 7 boxes of girl scout cookies.

Also, the BSA is MUCH more liberal on how their popcorn sales are administered to the benefit of the unit. Not to mention that in the GSUSA you are required to sell cookies before they will approve any other type of fundraiser.

Yes popcorn is priced high but it's a fundraiser, not WalMart.

I'll take popcorn any day!!!

>>Now what?

You just do what you were going to do according to your own plan and needs.

If you decide it's time to move on and nobody has stepped up to be CM, so be it. It is your CC's responsibility to fill your role or fill in as CM if nobody is willing.

If the CC is unwilling to do it, so be it.

"somebody" has to if "everybody" wants the pack to continue.

I don't know about prestige, but it's extremely easy to witness that some of the most seasoned and presumably respected posters here who are solely affiliated with the Boy Scout program do not give any kudus...er, sorry, "kudos," to Cub Scout leaders and Cub Scouting in general.

AnnLaurelB, I've enjoyed (is that the right word) reading your trials and tribulations over the past several months. I'm glad it has worked out!

One thing you can be glad of, and that is that your CC and COR were not one and the same. I had dealt with that unfortunate dual-role command-and-controller for several years until the leaders basically banded together to "mutiny," and she left "voluntarily."