berliner

It sounds like you need to build camaraderie in your pack. Here's what I did early on as CC.

 

1. I found a cub scout mom who was willing to watch 6-8 kids for about 90 minutes. She had a teen age son to help, a ping pong table and a trampoline, which made it easy to watch that number of kids.

 

2. I held the committee meeting at my house (no kids allowed), supplied a couple of bottles of wine, asked other parents to bring a cheese plate and brownies/cookies. Another parent brought a six-pack of craft beer. Meeting started at 7pm which gave working parents a chance to get home and eat some dinner. We wrapped it up at 8:30pm. 12 parents attended, we got a lot accomplished and all the parents had a great time. In fact, they were asking when the next committee meeting was. It really built fast friendships.

 

I am well aware of the no alcohol at scouting events rule so I made sure to let the parents know that it was a non-scouting event, no uniforms and no kids.

BSA is strict with alcohol and kids and I agree.

But I second the motion to declare committee meetings as non-scout events for the purpose of teaching the adult beverage drinking merit badge 8-)

Cub camp is fun & games. And food. Cubs need lots of food. Books at camp?

 

Now there is 2 types:

- first Cup Camp, 1-2 nights in a small group

hikes and outdoor games, we did "river crossings" (big streams) because the lil ones enjoy getting their feet wet for some reason.

Never go hiking without duct tape!

Learn how to set up a tent (for the advanced with blindfold), make a fire, knots, basic toten chit, basic cooking by cubs (or they need to help lots),

camped next to a farm once so they got a tour, lots of nature and more bush walks and games and ... food ;-)

In the evening its enough to toss a glow stick or one for each patrol to them and the cubs figure out their own game (touch football, capture the flag..)

Watching stars (at BSA camp once we put the scouts on bleachers and waited for the International Space Station ISS to zoom past), night hikes, ...

fire circles with songs and stories and each scout had to say something as well (hard for the shy ones), I saw little skits in NZS - maybe more a BSA thing.

Scouts own on Sundays

 

-Group Camp (summer camp) 2 nights with all-group (cubs/scouts/venturers)

of course the benefit is that the older scouts can bear more responsibilites

with more people, more adults its also easier to make a big program

we always have a theme and on the 2nd night for campfire everybody,

including adults, have to dress up (pirates, knights, movies, superheroes ...)

we have a nice obstacle course patrol competition

(council camp has a big parcours, flying fox, full scale rappeling tower, pool, mess)

archery/softair/bb guns or even 22s/22 magnum depending on site (non council :-P ), availability of adults etc.,

fishing for eels (and then cooking them in foil in the fire)

tubing in mountain streams, swimming,

we carted out a generator, pump, bouncy castle and slide and pumped water over the slide into the stream (all ages love that)

 

If you can imagine it you can probably do it :-D

 

 

 

 

 

And you ever seen the eyes of a 6 year old cub or a 10 year scout who just caught an eel? makes 'em 10 feet taller :-)

Let me give this thread a lil spin:

BSA has a very basic rule like Free Masons - it doesnt matter what religion, as long as you tick one.

In other countries scouts are totally split into different organisations that DONT interact much based on

the kids being catholic/protestant whatever. I strongly dislike that.

There is nothing better than having christians, jews and muslims and hindus and buddhists and and

go out and play together, and go thrue the scouting program TOGETHER.

"A scouts own" can be different for every single scout. It should never be about

converting your peers but sharing, caring and respecting the other beliefs.

Excluding anyone is wrong IMHO, even if BSA is a private organisation,

"scouting" is more of an idea, a spirit.

Cub camp is fun & games. And food. Cubs need lots of food. Books at camp?

Now there is 2 types:

- first Cup Camp, 1-2 nights in a small group

hikes and outdoor games, we did "river crossings" (big streams) because the lil ones enjoy getting their feet wet for some reason.

Never go hiking without duct tape!

Learn how to set up a tent (for the advanced with blindfold), make a fire, knots, basic toten chit, basic cooking by cubs (or they need to help lots),

camped next to a farm once so they got a tour, lots of nature and more bush walks and games and ... food ;-)

In the evening its enough to toss a glow stick or one for each patrol to them and the cubs figure out their own game (touch football, capture the flag..)

Watching stars (at BSA camp once we put the scouts on bleachers and waited for the International Space Station ISS to zoom past), night hikes, ...

fire circles with songs and stories and each scout had to say something as well (hard for the shy ones), I saw little skits in NZS - maybe more a BSA thing.

Scouts own on Sundays

-Group Camp (summer camp) 2 nights with all-group (cubs/scouts/venturers)

of course the benefit is that the older scouts can bear more responsibilites

with more people, more adults its also easier to make a big program

we always have a theme and on the 2nd night for campfire everybody,

including adults, have to dress up (pirates, knights, movies, superheroes ...)

we have a nice obstacle course patrol competition

(council camp has a big parcours, flying fox, full scale rappeling tower, pool, mess)

archery/softair/bb guns or even 22s/22 magnum depending on site (non council :-P ), availability of adults etc.,

fishing for eels (and then cooking them in foil in the fire)

tubing in mountain streams, swimming,

we carted out a generator, pump, bouncy castle and slide and pumped water over the slide into the stream (all ages love that)

If you can imagine it you can probably do it :-D

I like the online/conference call idea.

Committee meetings are a bit more flexible than the boys: we had our CMs at a different leaders house every month.

If they dont want to come to you/the scout hut, take the meeting to them ;-)

With a longer drive meet somewhere halfway?

Hi NJCubScouter :-) many many moons ago I stumbled into a european scout chat - it didnt have threads, just a "box" ... like the dark ages of the internet LOL

Now imagine waaaay back in the good ol' days when the Scouts where runners/messengers ... from TAC in Europe to NJ would be more than a swimming merit badge ;-)

Discussing it among the leaders is important, asking the parents is important ...

but a Life Scout is not too young - how about asking the boy himself as well?

I got BSALT, IOLS and NCS/NDCS (National Day Camp School) Range-, Program- and Camp Director.

Looking for BASIC skills at NCS is wrong.

How to set up a pack/troop camp site you should learn at IOLS (if you didnt learn it as a youth in scouts ...)

NCS is for DIRECTORS, so advanced and not basic.

I learned a lot for camps and programms for more than 100 or 200 scouts.

It is not the job of the Program Director to actually teach anything but to organize the teachers and curriculum.

Of course you should know the backpacking and cooking 101 that you expected others to teach, so if need be

you can show the Merit Badge Counselors or whatever. You need to know the requierments for the badges and

the adults who have the skills to pass them on.

The NCS folder we got is the size of a big city phone book, no kidding. Talking about BSA regulations and stuff.

I can only advise anyone willing to take it one step further to go to NCS. Well worth the time (and I spent more on travel to "camp" than the actual course cost).

The organisation is a tad bit different and may vary from unit to unit:

The NZ Scouts have "XY Town Scout Group" that include a pack and a troop and sometimes a crew;

the SM is Group Leader and he has 2-3 Section Leaders who in turn have Cub/Scout Leaders (like ASM).

Packs dont have Den (Sixer) meetings but meet on a different day than the scouts and once a term (3 months) the

group will get together (cub/scouts/venturers) for "end of term group night" with awards, foods and games.

1 or 2 scouts or venturers tend to show up at the pack meetings.

Sixers/Patrols dont have individual patches like in BSA.

And yes pack leaders get Jungle book names.

I went thrue NCS so I know the BSA paperwork and NZS has a lot less rules & regulations.

There is no "charterd organisation" concept.

New Zealand has a "Baden Powell Lodge" which is a Freemason New Zealand lodge only made up of Scouters. Takes about 2 years to get in ;-)

There is scout camps and scout huts scattered across the country, as well as many camps and huts run by the state

or operated by tramping clubs (tramping is the kiwi word for hiking).

Very extensive trails going all over the place.

Something similar to Kool Aid is called Raro. A lot of imported US foods available as well :-D

Food is pretty expensive in NZ compared to EU/US.

There is a lot of outdoor stores but it pays to have stuff shipped in sometimes ...

New Zealand stretches for over 1,400 km between arctic and equator,

and being between the pacific and the tasman sea further influences the weather.

Wellington has had snow once in the past 30 years.

Earthquakes every now and then, tropical storms.

Nice place really and worth a long trip or a year or 2 8-)

In 2009/2010 I was ASM with BSA then 2011/2012 with Scouts New Zealand.

Its nearly the same language aye.

Tiger Cubs are called Keas (Keas are an alpine parrot, interesting creature and like lil kids :-) )

The co-ed factor takes out a lot of testosterone overload you would see in a BSA Pack/Troop.

The Kiwi scouts are a lot more outdoors than most BSA, but NZ has so much to offer:

within an hour of our scout hut we could go sailing, into the jungle, basic mountaineering, or visit a farm.

The entire Kiwi lifestyle even from non scouts is more outdoors.

One has to remember that the entire population of New Zealand is 4,4 million, so its all a lot smaller.

I think 18,000 scouts or so. There is 5 profesional scouters in the National office.

They just went thrue a uniform change: from nice green Polo shirts to grey made-in-china shirts with a pocket with Fern on it.

The NZ fleece vests in black, blue or green are cooler than the red BSA ones ;-)

There is a lot less activity badges and merit badges, but some like the collectors badge can be earned several times for different things.

Queens scout is like Eagle Scout. Slight differences in cub/scout law etc, will post them at a later date.

Found someone on here that I know but I cant PM. Tried it twice. While logged in. And I cant "undo" that red message icon if I receive an answer in a thread. But happy to have found this place - we'll just improvise and duct tape it together ;-)

The current TAC patches you can order from the scout store on the TAC page. They order all our BSA stuff from the states, plus have the local patches etc.

Check online what you want, order via fax and pay with creditcard and TAC will send the package anywhere in europe, probably beyond if you ask.

http://www.tac-bsa.org

http://www.tac-bsa.org/Shop

https://www.facebook.com/TACScoutShop

Cheers from West Berlin, Edelweiss District

2 words qwazse: peach cobbler ^o^

thanks again RememberSchiff, the 2nd link worked :-)

But the scouts just visited the army, in this case not the Chartering Organisation ;-)

The good things of being in an army/air force pack or troop:

-MREs

-MPs come by Day Camp with K9s

-Huey helicopter at Day Camp

-Medics at Camp bring the army ambulance and sit around, just in case

-visiting the General in the HQ

-MREs (scouts love them and want 2nds ...)

-infinite supply of Kim lights aka glow sticks

-the discipline - if just one father/leader is an NCO ...!

-loads of fun with "army stuff" that kids love

-american food in the most remote places

-a truly unique scouting spirit

-feeling safe with the boys behind barbed wire LOL

-spending a night in the barracks on the way to summer camp

Scouting was historiclly part or attached to the military and evolved over 100 years,

I have Scoutbooks from the 1950s and 1970s and 80s/90s and they keep on becoming "softer".

Most people dont get the connection between scouting then and recon now.

One con to overseas scouting that I remember as an ASM:

-being told that you and your boys are not to wear uniforms or neckerchiefs in public/to fairs off base because of terror warnings

-terror warning on the way to summer camp (2 vans full of kids and 1,000km on the Autobahn - paranoid joy ride)

All in all mostly positive.

Military has been most supportive, although since the 1980s a jungle of red tape has appeared ... (not their fault!)

Now if they could just air drop some MREs next scout camp ... ;-)

Thanks RememberSchiff.

see, the Transatlantic Council has its own ways:

We had Merit Badge University for the boys and the

Scouters Conference, which is what you guys are talking about I guess.

Same thing different name ...

University of Scouting sounds interesting. College? More info/links on that please.

And yeah I have my first experiences with special needs and all as well.

The article doesnt load for me, cant read it. My cub den went to the Generals Office ... but then again I grew up in one of "those" troops 8-)

Hi there, Transatlantic Council Edelweiss District reporting LOL German scouting is different, and the history of it is just part of it. They are all split up among religions, so catholics & protestants dont scout together. Most are co-ed. There is like 100 different organisations so there is no one german scout book, there is several. I will look if I can find some, I sent one to OZ just 2 years ago or so. I collect old scout books and actually have a 1970s one from Switzerland in storage somewhere (its in german...)

Hi @ll,

so I have found this small digital encampent.

Let me introduce myself a little:

I started scouting in the late 80s in the Trans Atlantic Council, right at the end of the cold war.

The cub scout pack was run by an elite US Army & Air Force unit so lets say scouting was a tad bit different.

My Den Leader came to the meetings in woodland BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform),

our day camp was on a military training area and looked like - yup - a military camp.

The military police K9 dog handlers came by day camp to demonstrate to over 100 cub scouts how

the dogs could find "stuff" in several suitcases. The next day at day camp they even flew in a Huey helicpoter...

I was a bit old so I went bobcat-webelos-arrow of light (with 2 compass stars) before I crossed over to one of the 2 troops in town.

Now these BSA troops had both been around this small town for 40-odd years after WW2, there was a tad bit of rivalry.

At the "high adventure camp" in summer of 1992 troops from all over the country met, and there was a competition to be

"Honor Troop". Funny enough, the competition was only between 2 troops from a small town far behind the front lines of the cold war ...

The other troops didnt stand a chance. Over the entire summer 2 troops took turns taking the award.

It was a fun time: we worked on merit badges like everybody else, but when we drove to a camp that was 8 or 10 hours drive away,

they carted us off in army school buses and tossed in a bunch of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat).

Soldiers tend to hate combat rations, and scouts always love them.

When I handed them out as ASM, my scouts asked if they could have them at every camp ...

Back in the days most scouts got backpacks, sleeping bags, ponchos etc from their fathers:

all in G.I. olive drab. Or woodland pattern camouflage.

Yes we looked like G.I. Joes at times, but I have never again seen such discipline.

In Central Europe every year in one of 3 varying locations there is Intercamp ...

Now some of you have been to Jamborees, but let me tell you ...

2,000+ kids and a couple hundred adults on a field for 3 nights is just ...

And this is scouts from 20-30 different nations speaking nearly as many languages.

Very fun. Intersting. Unique experience. And I have been to 3 Intercamps, both as youth and adult.

So the perception changes from "lets have fun and make friends" to "logistical nightmare and will anyone get lost?" LOL

Funny thing: I had completed 2nd class just as my scoutmaster was leaving, and he gave me an old style patch before he left.

But when the new SM came I had to redo 2nd class due to incomplete paperwork and got a new patch. I have both patches to this day.

Unfortuneatly my troop "folded" when the army left. The other troop became an "embassy only" troop for a while and I quit scouting

and took up other scout like activities, to return many many years later.

I had been self employed for a couple of years and wanted to get out of the office.

At the time I had just found the son from my scoutmaster as well as 2 others from my patrol on social media.

I googled and found a young troop here in town, only 4-5 years old at the time.

A new generation of competition between 2 troops in this "little" town?

I started as an assistant scout master.

Ohhh I didnt know what I had just rekindled.

My favourite quote from my SM after 1 year as ASM

"You did in 1 year what others do in 10".

And I had: after joining the committee I started venturing thrue every training available:

IOLS, NDCS (Camp Director, Program Director, Range Director),

Scoutmaster Merit Badge with council extra miler award.

I was travelling thousands of miles to a from camps and trainings.

Organized an embassy visit, a fair visit for a merit badge, 10k hike with camp and

forest ranger visit for the scout ranger badge ...

I moved in with my girlfriend and commuted 300 miles to & from troop meetings nearly every week.

My SM had great ideas and was about to turn me loose on grants when it was decided

to close this 5 year old troop because of lacking numbers and merge with the other troop.

My rival from the 90s.

Having already booked the train tickets and having paid for woodbadge,

I was told I no longer held a position so ...

Close but no cigar.

About 7 months and 8,000 miles later I rejoined scouts:

new country, new kids, co-ed, but similiar programm.

I went all out even faster now:

Cub leader on tuesdays, scout leader on wensdays,

committe member & fundraising officer and grant administrator

and liason for the scout group to the local civil defense ...

Organized a visit from a sports team coach, an embassy employee, scouting for food,

created & strengthend the bond between scouts and civil defense

(there was an emergency drill ... while I was out of town).

Dunno. I went on a couple of camps as well.

Fed to many girl guide cookies to my scouts

(its a win-win-win: guides get fundraising, scouts get sweets and I dont eat them ....)

and I think I have never ever lost weight at a scout camp ... incredible.

Funny to compare 2 different scout organisations as an adult, but I think I might

post a future thread on that topic.

Scouts has given me a lot, and I do my best to give back, best I can.

One of my most memorable moments:

I had visited the scout group for 3 months then returned after 5 months overseas and

a 10 year old girl scout repeated to me what I had tought her half a year earlier:

What does the cub/scout sign mean when you fold you small finger and put your thumb over it?

The big one protects the little one.

Now that I have managed to succesfully put together a couple of events,

got a couple of kids to earn a bunch of badges etc,

inspired and pushed other peoples and their projects,

I catch myself thinking "what else could I do?"

Woodbadge. Woodbadge trainer. Then what?

Currently planing on an idea that may or may not work and ...

No, I dont scout very much ;-)