Eagle94-A1

I've been involved with Cub Scouts going on 6 years now. I was a TCDL and DL for oldest son , TCDL and Wolf DL for middle son, and back with Tigers with the youngest. So this is my 3rd time starting all over again. So I am wondering if my current lack of interest in Cub Scouts is burn out or frustration with the Cub Scout district schedule. Here's a little background on district Cub Scout schedule situation. Round Ups in my neck of the woods are not like anything I’ve experienced in other councils, nor how it is presented in training. Because of the school busing situation, all pac

Stosh, I hear ya, and agree with mostly. They need to come up with it, and they need, for lack of a better term, ownership. When the Leadership Corps found out there was a harder cross country trail available, they took ownership of it. I just happened to "go along for the hike" since I did the standard trail a year before with my first troop, and the LC was gracious enough to let me tag along. As to 2-3 special events a year, as you well know every troop is different, and for some that might not be enough. It worked well for my troop because we did a lot of servant leadership, peer

To continue the Star Wars paraphrasing, Give in to the patrol method. On a positive note, I know using the patrol method keeps the older ones involved. BUT you also have to give them some extra challenges that are just for them on occasion. HA trips, involvement with the OA, Jambo, etc. On a different note. I hate to sound negative, but what Stosh has posted is 110% true.I seen this several times, while a JLTC staffer and under NYLT. One troop sent 3 Scouts to NYLT and when they came back they were pumped and ready to take over the troop from the adults. Unfortunately the SM and othe

" Lions - Kindergarten Tigers - 1st Grade Wolves - 2nd Grade Bears - 3rd Grade Webelos/AOL - 4th Grade (one year) Boy Scouts - 5th-8th Grades Venturing* - 9th-College " I hope this isn't so. I admit I don't know how the new changes to Cub Scouts will work out, but it is already too long IMHO. Maybe, just maybe, with more action it won't be so bad. As for folks getting into a troop starting in 5th grade, mixed emotions on this one. I know at the begining of 5th grade, my son and his den were pumped and chomping at the bit to become Boy Scouts. Since then 2 have complet

Tam, Yeah, I'd probably not put it on my sash either as I plan on handing down my sash to the next Vigil I sponsor. kinda of a tradition from my home lodge. But now 3 patches are authorized for the OA sash: 50th Anniversary, 60th Anniversary, and now 100th Anniversary patches.

WELCOME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes that was me screaming at the top of my lungs. If you are in an area that doesn't snow much, I got a great fundraiser for you: Snow Shoveling Insurance. If it snows your Scouts will dig out the snow. Heard about a unit in Louisiana, and they only had to go out and shovel snow once, when the Saints won the Super Bowel.

KDD, I think JP is referring to the special white arrow on red sash that all Arrowmen who attend next year's NOAC will get. Supposedly you will only be able to wear it at NOAC, but we know how that goes.

'Skip, Long story short, in 1972 BSA made neckers an option with Boy Scout troops under themess that was the "Improved Scouting Program." Troops not only could decide which necker to wear, but also how to wear a necker, and if they wanted to wear one at all. I am going to assume (and you know what can happen when you do that ), that 1972 was also when the BSA went from properly sized neckers, to all neckers being CS sized. I know the CS sized neckers looked funny on those that did wear them still, and glad my troop used a custom made one. SO that may be one reason why many troop

Me personally, I say GO FOR IT! But it may cause issues with some UP's and at uniform inspections. Long story short, My son's troop has two neckers, a plain green one for when a boy joins the troop, and troop's current, stressing CURRENT (more later), green and red necker once they earn Scout rank. So my son's patrol, since it is the NSP, has boys wearing both the plain green necker, and green and red necker. Like I said, currently they use the green and red necker from national. BUT national is going out of the Boy Scout neckerchief business I am told. So now they are looking at go

As someone else noted, when you recharter youth protection must be current for the full period covered by the new charter, or you will have to retake YPT. I'll give an example. Pack's charter expires January 31, 2015. My YPT expires December 15, 2015. In order for me to recharter from February 1 2015 to January 31, 2016, I MUST (emphasis) take YPT before the pack turns in their charter, otherwise SCOUTNET will not allow me to recharter. I can see national making it a yearly certification. Hey they already tried to make everyone who is fully trained to redo training every time it cha

Calico, I asked about te weekly dues when I first joined my pack. I was told that some parents complained about the weekly dues, feeling they were "nickeled and dimed." Plus dues varied among the dens. So the pack decided to do lump sum, and the dens responsible for their own supplies.

#1 WELCOME TO DA FORUMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #2 In regards to the cost of den supplies. Every pack does things a little differently. Some packs charge a lump fee that covers registration, BOYS' LIFE, awards, and supplies. Some packs charge weekly dues that covers everything. Some charge for registration and awards and nothing else. I know the pack I'm in only covers registration, awards, and a neckerchief at the end of the year. BOYS' LIFE is extra, and any supplies needed by the dens we have to come up with. I try to tell the parents as far in advance as possible what supplies they will n

Daped01, Very glad to hear that! I hope that A) the communication and good relationship continues and B) if you douse their care it is taken care of very well. Damaged gear can cause hard feelings, and with one troop I was with, was the breaking point with the CO (long story short, they destroyed several thousands of dollars of gear that took us almost 20 years to accumulate, another story for another time). May I offer a couple of extra suggestions? 1) if you cannot get Den Chiefs from the troop, see if a couple of scouts would like to camp out with the pack and help out. I k

In regards to using troop gear, don't be upset if they say "No" or place conditions on using the gear. Troop gear can get real costly, and can be a really sensitive issue. I know that the troop my son is in has a really good relationship with the pack, CM, WDL, TCDL and a MC are ASMs or MCs of the troop. BUT they do not share any gear UNLESS the Cubs are camping with the troop, and it's usually Webelos. And even then, the pack has its own tent, the troop have theirs. Part of the reason I know is that the troop storage was broken into and a bunch of the stuff was stolen. So the troop is

Almost forgot, 6) Make sure you have some way to keep tabs on weather. I saw one major event lose 50%+ of its attendance due to rumors of flooding, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, etc. Slight chance of rain that night was the actual forecast, and the showers lasted about 30 minutes. 7)Tornadoes are not your friend. Plan accordingly.

Some things that I have found helps with getting folks camping. 1) Tell them they can attend just for the day. While that may seem counterintuitive, sometimes the first step is to get them just to attend the event. I've seen many families do that, and the next campout the are there the entire weekend. 2) Have an "Intro to Camping Class" that not only covers the "cool toys" i.e. stoves, backpacks, etc, but also the "back to basics", i.e. #10 can charcoal stoves, blanket sleeping bags, tarp tents, etc. For the past few years, I've been doing just that 2-3 weeks before our first camp o

This happened to a troop in my district. Because they were going to do individual cooking that weekend, grubmaster thought that everyone was going to bring their own food, despite a menu being made and being told that the patrol still needs to buy the food to be cooked. Funny thing is, the grubmaster didn't even bring his own food, planning on mooching off his patrol mates. Long story short, one the patrol finished work they need to get done, they went fishing all afternoon. They literally caught their lunch, and dinner, and breakfast.

My oldest bought a pair of pants that were too big in both waist and legs. Hemmed them up without cutting the legs so that was fixed. Wife took in the waist, but the pants have barely noticeable pleats in them now. Then as he grows, he can let them out.

Smurfica, I. WELCOME TO DA FORUMS! (And yes, I'm shouting at you in a friendly, welcoming manner ) II. As others have stated, this is really you son's decision. If he is happy with the situation, then he needs to stay. If he is not, then he needs to look around. III. Here are some questions my son asked when looking for a troop. A. How often does the troop camp? (Son wanted monthly camp outs. I personally would look for 10-11 camp outs per year with 1-2 "other" activities (lock in, overnighter on a ship, hikes, etc.) in a camp out's place.) B. What type of camp outs d

We did this around Christmas and used Ivory Soap. Made bell decorations for the Christmas tree. If you use Ivory Soap, key is to let it dry out some. Just don't put it in the microwave or you'll create a "soap monster" and have the smell, and taste, of Ivory Soap for a while. The day camp does Whittling Chip with the boys, and they do have the carving knives.

Quazse, I'm talking about the national Venturing director in 1998, sorry can't remember his name but it was the one before Holmes. Again in May 1998 at PDL-1, and again in August at the All Hands Conference, the director, as well as various other presenters at the conference, said the "recognitions" were an option for those Venturers interested in working on them. The focus of Venturing was to keep youth in the movement by using the 5 specialties and creating specialty crews. I do agree with you on "The notion that dozens of youth would gather together, plan adventures, serve the com

Qwazse, I must respectfully disagree with you on the expectation with Venturing awards. When the then Venturing director came to my PDL-1 class to talk about the "new" program coming out, as well as at the "All Hands Conference" that unveiled Venturing, the "recognitions" were never suppsoed to besomething optional that the youth could focus on IF they desired. Again, in everything I heard and read at that time, advancment was not the focus, but an opportunity. The focus was to keep older youth involved in the Scouting program using the 5 focus areas.

List of training award requirements can be found on this link towards the bottom. http://www.scouting.org/training/adult.aspx

Fred, In regards to BS leaders mentoring CS leaders, when it does happen, I admit it is awesome. I know of three situations where, mostly because younger sons were involved, you do have that mentoring. But it is more work. The mentor, in addition to his BS duties, has to have some involvement with the CS pack, will have to do additional meetings to mentor, etc, etc. And all of that IS (emphasis) time consuming. Trust me, I’ve tried the mentoring bit as you well know, and I can tell you it is time consuming. At least in my experience, there is a reason why CS leaders are not ex

While I know the group concept that some propose and is in use in the UK will work, I know at least in my locality there are issues. #1 Most, stress most, Boy Scout leaders do not want to deal with Cub Scouting as it it a lot more leader intensive than Cub Scouts. Trust me, the only position IMHO tougher than being a Cub Scout den leader is being a DE. I know many Boy Scout leaders are former Cub Leaders, and are now enjoying their well earned rest. And I know many Cub Scout leaders who are tired, exhausted, etc, including yours truly, who cannot wait for their son(s) to Cross Over a