Cheerful Eagle

Hi KISMIF, I have to say that if you, the den leader, can't think of who the committe chair is fo your pack, you don't HAVE a pack comittee. At the very least, even if you have a very small pack, there ought to be someone at the monthly leader's meeting who is NOT a den leader or Cubmaster, who has taken responsibility for keeping track of all the administrative details of the pack. If the cubmaster is expected to do that, he is essentally being required to wear two hats. This year we too had a new CM take over from a fellow who had been leading the pack for 4 years -- well past th

This month preparing for the B&G at a den meeting, we were snacking on fortune cookies with our Wolf cubs (theme is Chinese New Year). This is the fortune I picked at random, no joke. "You deserve respect and will eventually get it." I taped it at eye level to my kitchen cabinet. It makes me grin everytime I see it.

Ya, I'm still in the trenches with my youngest, but you know, now that my daughter is a Junior, I kinda view Briwnies the same way. It's hard to go back to herding butterflies once you've started to work with kids who are ready to start leading themselves. But little sibs want to play, too. And it really does help indoctrinate youngsters to the culure of scouting. Scoutmasters, don't forget, statistically over 50% of your incoming scouts were recruited as cub scouts!

Thankfully, our CO supports a Venturing Crew as well as a BS Troop and CS Pack. In fact, the Crew (definitly co-ed here) went alongside the Troop on their Boundrywaters trip last summer. Since I was pondering and doing my scouting paperwork and inspirational reading this morning (grin) I thought I'd post here and see what surfaced. So, ya, an important step I need to make is to start chatting with the members and leaders of the Venturing crew. Ho boy, am I glad there's a crew to join. I've started this GS troop from scratch, I don't know if I have the umph to start another

It seems to me they met after BP married, and a couple of years after Low's husband had died. She was a young wealthy american widow looking for something meaningful to do with her life. If you look at the early days of Girl Scouting, it started out WAY more like the origional boy scout program. At least as far as it could be given the social restrictions of the times. Perhaps that's part of the problem of the GS lack of program continuity -- responsibilities, roles and activities open to women today are so different than what the founder could even dream. It's harder to look back a

A couple of thoughts: First off, Akela is the name of the wolf pack leader from R. Kipling's "Jungle Book", thus the use of his name as the cub's authority figure. The role and name of Baloo is also borrowed from that book. The benefit I see from the use of Native American imagery in the AoL ceremony is the way it lifts the event out of the ordinary and mundane. I'm sure if you ask any of the boys, they can tell you that it's all make-believe. But in the moment, they can imagine themselves to be the young hero, being measured and deemed worthy to contimue his quest. And even be

As some of my Girl Scouts are leaving 5th grade (turning 11) I am starting to consider how to help them be prepared to enter a Venturing crew when they are 14. I'm used to thinking about moving Webelos to First Class, but there are several differences here with the girls. The difference that FEELS the biggest is that I don't have an established troop to hand them off to (grin). They will continue to be part of a mixed age troop (4rth grade and up, though we have taken in girls in the second semester of 3rd grade). The older girls are the first in our troop to turn 11. We are a

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Thanks for the encouragement everyone! Looks like next year we will be running a split troop too. We will have 4rth, 5th and 6th graders. I think the older girls will be finished with their bronze project and badge requirements by the end of this school year. So I'm thinking that they (the scouts entering 6th grade, who have finished Bronze) should probably bridge to cadettes shortly after being awarded the Bronze. BTW to those not familiar to GS, scouts move up generally because of ageing out, not because they have earned a rank. That leads me to a question of patrol struc

Oh yeah, include the scouts. Hee hee. Sometimes I get so carried away with dreaming I forget to include in the scouts. (Baaaaad scout leader! 50 laps around the coffee pot!) I did follow some of the links yesterday and foound some interesting sites: http://www.frankhopkins.com/horsesense1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_%28horse%29 http://netnebraska.org/extras/wildhorses/ Keep me honest about involving the girls in devloping THEIR badge. We enjoyed ourselves so much at the Luv Shack ranch last Saturday (http://www.luvshackranchrescue.com/mustang.html).

Hey, looks like the thread has wandered into a debate about the nature/history of venturing crews. (*sigh and roll of the eyes*) sometimes you guys really do not stay on topic. Anyway, MomisBoyScout, I wanted to encourage you again and invite you to help me keep the "girl Scouting" forum active. Lets start sharing there and network with other scouters that have a love for the young girls,and work with them, but feel more comfortable with the BSA culture! I think there are a lot of people in our situation. We need to network more strongly.

First, the background... I am a Cubscout leader, been to Philmont, been to Woodbadge (2x, second as TG)... my first scouting loyalty is to BP. I am also mom to a wonderful 11 year old girl, who wishes she could do all the cool things her brothers do. (And yes, we have the Venturing crew membership form filed at home and ready to be signed on her 14th birthday). I have done Daisies, Brownies and now Juniors with her as a leader -- done the training too. Last year we moved to a new state and started a troop from scratch (there were no GS troops at her school). We have a SMALL t

Last fall, my DH served as MBC on Citizenship in the Community for my son's troop . We hosted a movie night and showed "12 Angry Men", for a small group of scouts. Popcorn etc. It was a great night, and the conversation afterwards was very thoughtful.

Hi all! My Junior troop is volunteering at a Horse rescue ranch in Northern Phoenix this spring as part of our Bronze Award service project. I'd like to develope a badge (scouters - think webelos-level type requirements) that empasizes the part of the mustang in the history of the southwest. Any ideas? links? resoueces? Thanks

Hi Mom, Gee, you and I are totally in the same boat. What to do is really a matter of just how crazy are you? I am certifiable. I started a GSUSA troop last year. It only took 3 months to get the ducks in a row as far as the council is concerened. From this I learned that most GS councils are ridiculusly understaffed. If you need something, or start outside the usual box (like starting a troop in February instead of August) then you must play the part of a squeeky wheel. Be very assertive and persistant, but cheerful. Things were very tough, as I had no back-up adults, no funds

Ok, everyone, I know it's a strange name for a holiday. But really, we are celebrating the birthdays of BP and his wife Olave. It's a scouting holiday for boys and girls around the world. Maybe this is the time to show a bit of scouting spirit in support of our daughters. Tell them how the girls showed up all unexpected at the first Jamboree. Encourage them to earn their gold award. Recognize the young women in your venturing crews for their achievements as Girl Scouts. Yes, I know that "other organization" sometimes makes us feel less than welcome at the scouting table. But we

See, here's my "secret weapon": I'm a woman. Shhhhh don't tell the rest of the forum *evil grin*. just kidding And I've got all my GSUSA training done for the Junior level , cept I need the camping training *sigh, under breath, a scout is cheerful, helpful, kind, considerate... I WILL have a good attitude* And, really, as I read the materialsput out by GS, I don't think there's a philosophical or practicle conflict -- as many have said, it's mostly a matter of leadership. I just feel that my daughter and I are kin to the girls who showed up unanticipated at the very firs

ScoutNut, thanks for the encouragement [Are you going to be involved in your daughters life, or aren't you.] That's a good swift kick in the pants I need when I start to feel overwhelmed or like David the night before facing Goliath. So, given that GSUSA has some cultural biases that just grate on the nerves of a BSA scouter, I'm guessing I will end up starting a new troop. Well, I'll carefully check out the troops in our area; maybe I'll be pleasently surprised. But I will definitly hold out for aspectes of traditional scouting the I hold dear, and that my daughter wants to participat

Having three children of scouting age spread over three units is keeping me spread a little thinner than I'd like. My youngest and oldest are now in related Pack/Troop. Lots of leadership overlap, minimal calender conflicts. I'm the den leader for my Tiger, and active adult in my oldest's troop. So now we're adding in a Junior Troop, and I'm not even sure there's one in the local area to join -- the council office won't take calls until September. Well, ok that's today, but sheesh we've been in school for 3 weeks by now. Sarah still enjoys the pack meetings, but wishes that her GS

Oh boy, what I have to look forward to! This spring, while my front porch was decorated with drying tents from snow camping trips, and my living room festooned with sleeping bags airing out, and storage boxes for technicle clothing strewn about, I nearly made good on my threat to redecorate the house a la REI. Hey, I'm as bad as my dh and son. Between staffing for woodbadge, camping with cubscouts and girlscouts, it didn't make much sence to totally stow my camping gear either. Then there's my stash of props for teaching CS Pos Specific, my Den "box", and my growing library

um, no, it's not just you. Unfortunantly for all of us there is some pretty heavy self-imposed segregation going on. There is a very active and helpful forum for Girl Scouting at http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/main.asp?webtag=GSLeaders&nav=start&prettyurl=%2FGSLeaders%2Fstart try it out!

hmmm, yes, you're probably right, pack saddle. If I were to be honest, I'd say my internal mood was less than chipper last week. Point taken. sooo... acco40 is an office stapler? And this is significant because...? Is this a reference to "...fold, mutilate, staple or spindle" or what? I don't get it. acco40: acrimonious (Pronunciation: "a-kr&-'mO-nE-&s. Function: adjective): caustic, biting, or rancorous especially in feeling, language, or manner Had your posts been acrimonious, it would have been ironic because you were complaining about less than pleasent reas

You're right on about option #3. ICK. I really like the proposed "Navigator, Sojourner, Ambassidor" idea -- it has a very scout-like ring to it, but not a copy of BSA's interpretation. It would be refreshing to stop competing with other non-scout organizations like 4-H and Boys & Girls Clubs, and be more in synch with the other WWAGGGS groups! I'll send off an email to National today! Thanks for the info (A GS leader -- Juniors -- as well as a Scouter!)

I started attending (Cub Scout)roundtable because my best friend was a regular, and because satified a requirement for the den leader knot. I made some friends, so I kept coming. Then I realized it was a great place for fighting mid-year burn out, and I started showing up early and hanging around to help with clean up. Now, I'm moving to a new state, and I'm looking forward to the roundtable meetings to start making new friends. Before the move, I was cubmaster, and I had planned to have my den leader/program planning meetings at an inexpensive resturant right before roundt

*grin at SR540Beaver* Honestly, acco40, your posts in this thread are the most acrimonious of all. This would be ironic, but we're Americans, and everyone knows we simply fail miserably at irony. CalicoPenn's image of a late-night, scouts-all-tucked-in campfire bull session resonates with me. Beavah's spelling is annoying at times, but it gives good "color" to his "voice". I'll aspire to thinking like a commish, Beavah, maybe someday I'll feel qualified for that role.