sierracharliescouter

We may be dancing over semantics on this, but the new requirements for AOL makes it functionally a separate rank now. It used to be that a 5th grader could not join the program and get the AOL patch without having gone through the Webelos requirements. You basically could not join Cub Scouts in 5th grade and earn AOL. That was the major point of the change, to enable newly-joined 5th grade Cub Scouts to earn AOL and be able to bridge to Boy Scouts before they turned 11. Saying that AOL is *not* a separate rank now is a distinction without much of a difference.

Our tradition is that the 5th graders (aka AOL-rank scouts, not Webelos anymore, thanks BSA for making this confusing) bridging to Scouts BSA receive their AOL patch at our Blue and Gold Dinner in February, and are received by their respective troops as their "cross the bridge". We invite the whole pack (50+ families) to the Blue and Gold Dinner, but only the AOLs are recognized, so maybe a third of the rest of the Pack attends, usually the families of the Scouters plus a few more. We do our lower ranks bridging ceremony as a big pot-luck dinner in mid-May, where all of the other Cubs "bridge" to their next rank.

Yeah, I've done a bunch of Google searches, none definitively list the width for the inflatable track. Best I can figure is 3 inch width should work.

we have a dad who is willing to cut boats from a high density foam, which is why i'm looking for the spec width.

Quick question. What is the correct boat width for an inflatable track raingutter regatta boat?

If it is a medium-large pack, it can be difficult to find suitable group-site campgrounds or get reservations at adjoining smaller camp sites. This is a problem for our pack of ~50 boys, where often nearly half the pack would want to go - resulting in 100+ folks who want to go to a campground that may only allow 70. We do it first-come first-served, and maintain a waiting list in case of cancellations. Finding campgrounds near us with sufficient parking for large groups is also a problem. I think they plan some of these site assuming there are a few 15 passengers vans being used for transport.

I have already pointed out to my Council that by not starting the girls program on June 1, with the rest of the Cubs, the girls can't go to Day Camp, and therefore can't earn the Outdoor Activity Award their first year. We do other advancement activities during the summer as well as a Pack and Dens. I will be fighting to get the effective date June 1, or BSA's effort at gender equality will start out with inequality...

To those of you who are opposed to girls joining BSA, I have to ask: Which of these do not apply equally to what we hope for girls to become as well as boys? Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent. At the Cub level, the worst that I could see happening is the boys acting a little more mature when they're around the girls. With proper supervision, that is hopefully what would happen at the Boy Scout level too. Some of the "let the boys be boys" attitude is what is has resulted in a bunch of other ugly headlines in the news in the last few days.

For traditional units (don't know about how LDS handles this), the Cub program year runs June 1 - May 31.

While the first statement is true, I find with a large pack (50+) that when we have one rank with low numbers (as we do currently), this creates a weakness in the continuity of the Pack. Conversely, we've also received several cubs from other packs where there was very low enrollment in a rank, and they opted to the send the boys to us as we are one of the strongest Packs in the area. I never feel comfortable doing this, as I know the other Pack is badly weakened when this happens, but it is the best option to get *that boy* a good scouting experience. This also ends up as a battle for our DE in charge of membership, as he wants to be getting new units created, while at the same time we have units that aren't that far away geographically struggling to survive.

The only thing that is on you is to identify which parent(s) of the Tigers will be the Den Leader(s). If you have 29 boys, that is at least 4 dens worth (if all the same rank). Bring the Tiger Den Leader's Guide to the meeting. Have another leader take the boys and do something fun with them away from the parents, and then sit the parents down and explain to them that Scouts is a volunteer organization, and just like a team needs a coach, a Den needs a leader. Now, for Tigers it is a bit different. A Tiger needs to have an Akela at each meeting. There are no "drop offs" for Tigers. Make sure the parents understand that. Show them the Den Leader Guide. It is a good "cookbook" on how to run a Den. Point them to online Den Leader training resources (or even better, live training if possible). Ask them if anyone has an older boy in scouting. With 29, surely there are a few. Don't give them an out, tell them "I need X Den Leaders to step forward", and don't give them too much time to think about it. You or another experienced Scouter should be there to support each Den Leader - that is the job of the ACM. Don't set the precedent of doing their "job" for them. After being an experienced Scouter in a number of other roles for three years, I just finished one year as a DL. It takes some time to "learn the program" (training), but once you do, being a DL really should only take 1-2 hours per week outside of Den/Pack meeting time.

That sounds like the amount they charge an individual unit. Our council charges $1 per registered youth toward their insurance.

This is completely irresponsible of National to pull this out so late on units that have already done budgeting and began collecting dues that carry us through next year. As CC, I may have to recommend to our committee that we no longer include a Boys Life subscription in our Pack fees, which was only $50 for renewing scouts.

We increased attendance our Cub Day Camp from 87 last year to 121 this year! For those of you who think Lions program isn't a good idea, we increased our Day Camp attendance by Tigers from 5 last year (which has been typical for the last several years) to 17 this year - almost entirely due to very active Lions programs in a few Packs in our district.

One of the Boy Scout troops in our area held a 4-hour First Responder training session for several packs. Probably around 50 Webelos/AOLs got trained, including 10 Webelos and 5 AOLs from our pack. No requirement that the training be done by a professional. I tested my Webelos after the training, and they did a good job! You would still need to arrange to have the boys talk with a first responder, but that is generally easy to arrange for scouts.