Gossmaaf

So this situation is now even more complex. The Unit Commissioner, COR, and Cubmaster are all wanting to dissolve and merge into our Pack. The smaller unit’s biggest problems are scouts barely engaged and adult leadership other than CM is nonexistent. District went crazy on this though and being concerned about losing a unit but the Unit Comm is concerned that if a merger doesn’t happen quickly then the scouts that are left will just quit. I met with my wood badge mentor who has consulted with others (and I agree) that it’s better to keep scouting for these 6-12 scouts rather than worr

On my right pocket I wear more excess than I would prefer but the council I'm in tends to drown out those that don't wear Coup Beads (Mic O Say and Order of the Arrow). I used to wear my dongle with Vigil pin but I had way too many people see my uniform and ask why I wasn't in OA (i had a lodge flap as well as the dongle) So I started wearing the mini-sash and that got at least a few realizing I'm a fellow member. I still get some that dont see Coup Beads and think I'm not in but at least some see the "mini-sash" and now recognize I'm a member. I would prefer to wear just my original "d

We as adult leaders should maintain the "neat and tidy" approach to our uniforms but should wear them in full. We have awards as youth, awards as adults, and awards from external parties (like the Community Service Award). Personal memory, and reflecting from my current scouts: Cub Scouts don't really care about what adults have on the adult uniform until closer to AOL. When they understand that what they are about to earn will be on their uniform even as adults they get kind of excited. Older Scouts care a lot about what adults have on their uniform. I remember seeing th

@HashTagScoutsYou aren't by chance from the old Wabash Valley Council are you? You mention the council and lodge mergers and I just remember that being a mess for WVC when the council got split across the Lincoln Trails Council and Crossroads of America Council and Kickapoo merged with Woapink lodge and Jaccos Town Lodge. I was on the Kickapoo officer team at the time and was also in Blackhawk district that split from the other two districts in WVC during the mergers.

Good point on the more than we bargained for and although I want to bring scouting to as many potential or current scouts as I can, my primary responsibility is to the members of my current Pack. @OaklandAndyOn the numbers, that's impressive that you got from from 6 up to 51. I hope we can all learn about how you did that. Our pack has some new leaders starting to step up that will really help us get there so I hope we continue to grow our energy for our scouts to have what we all want to see. They have (other than webelos) 1 den of 1 scout, 2 dens of 3 scouts and a decent Wolf den siz

@Eagledadthey are looking to merge as they are smaller and once their current Webelos end after next year the pack will be down to 12 scouts across the other ranks combined. We have had families in the past join our pack due to them looking for a "more active pack". Their Tiger den is their second largest group though, which overlaps well with us as that is our smallest den. Wolves and Bears would potentially be a size issue but that's up to the Den Leaders and Den Chiefs to determine if they have too much to handle. We also have very active Den Chiefs in our Pack from 4 separate Troop

I officially had my first pack meeting as cubmaster yesterday and picked up 1 new scout at the same time, pretty good for my 40th birthday. Today our pack was approached from a neighboring school for possibly merging units with us. Does anyone have any advice, lessons learned, or anything that could help me make sure we do whatever is best for the scouts in both units? I suggested we start by just co-operating the two units as separate entities but together until the parents decide what works best for them. I see the obvious situations, such as making sure we meet at both schools equa

There is almost continual debate over how many knots someone should wear, not wear, or even at all. As a Scouter who was in as a youth, I will say that to younger scouts it matters less, but to older scouts they see those knots as something they can obtain themselves someday. It helps pull aging out scouts to become scouters to continue service to our organization. That said, I wonder if the uniform would be slightly less cluttered (for some with excessive knots) as well as ability to tailor for the needs if scouting moved back to the Ribbon Bar concept like Exploring currently does, or as