ChuckSt8er

I'm looking for common practices on getting Den Chiefs from an affiliated Troop versus sourcing them from nearby but non-affiliated Troops. If your affiliated Troop can't meet the demand, do you turn to neighboring Troops? Do you have an open policy where all Troops have equal opportunity to fill DC positions? Does this policy change when the scouts reach their Webelos years? Would the affiliated Troop get preferential treatment as the boys come down the home stretch towards Crossover? Backstory, for perspective: One Bear Den in our Pack has a DC from a neighboring Troop who h

There have been some questions about unit size - - let me clarify: The Pack has about 70 boys, the Troop has about 50. Beavah - a thoughtful answer to a complex question, but I think (in light of the unit size above) your input helps most. Shortridge, +1 as well.

There have been some questions about unit size - - let me clarify: The Pack has about 70 boys, the Troop has about 50. Beavah - a thoughtful answer to a complex question, but I think (in light of the unit size above) your input helps most. Shortridge, +1 as well.

Not sure if this belongs in this forum or another one, but I'll fire away: An adult in our Unit holds the positions of DL and CC, is an ASM in our affiliated Troop, and has just fielded (and possibly accepted) an offer to become COR. There are some who believe that this level of position holding by one individual is counter to Scouting's leadership model (that inviting more adults to become involved and trained leaders is a good thing), that it may cause a leadership vacuum were this individual to step out of the picture, and that there might be 'transparency' issues if a problem w

Before today, I would have never even imagined that this would be a question I'd post here. To me, if you're registered to be a leader (Den, Co, Asst, whatever) at a level, and you put in the time to do the requirements, then you've earned the thread. Leadership is leadership, and we should encourage and reward leaders. But during a training session today, it was suggested that Asst Den Leaders might not be eligible for an award because of the language in the Leader Training Award requirements *technically* would exclude them: Webelos Den Leader Award, Performance Requirements, Req

Hey all: I have raised my hand to plan our District's PWood for 2009 and am looking for two things: - We seek a baseline for our budget, and are looking for copies of other districts' Pwood budgets for reference. - I'm also looking for any resources for planning District Pinewood derbies. I see boatloads of "how to plan Cub unit derbies", but haven't yet seen one that addresses district events. If you have something that can help, please post a reply and we can figure out how to share this info. Many thanks!

Thanks all. You confirmed what I suspected/knew - - I was just hoping that there was some sort of loophole that I was unaware of, but turns out the rules I was familiar with were indeed the rules. The bad news is that I stood by and kept my mouth shut on this because (a) it literally was my son's first activity with this Den and I wanted him to get to know the rest of the guys and (b) this was also my first activity with this Den and was hesitant to walk in with puffed chest claiming that 'I knew all the rules and they didn't.' The good news is that (a) there were no incidents that

As one of the first activities with our new Pack, the Bear den for my older son held a Den-specific overnighter in the downstairs area of our Chartered Organization. Most outings rules were followed (proper sleeping arrangements, BALOO and YPT trained leaders present, first aid available, good structured activities) and the boys all had a blast. I'm pretty sure, however, that there was no tour permit filed for this activity. That said, I'm pretty sure that a Bear Den level overnight activity is outside the bounds of G2SS. Based on the description above, is there a circumstance where th

Thanks all - - I had a sense I was on secure ground, but wanted to make sure (ask first, never assume). Once I went through WB last spring, I finally noticed the pattern imprinted on the Tiger/Cub neckerchief slides and said "Hmmm. I'll bet the guys would like making their own real woggles."

Please help the unenlightened. As a future reward for helping some Cubs complete their knot work later this year, I had planned to "reward" them at the end by teaching each one to tie his own woggle (out of colored cord, not leather), which they could wear as a temporary slide. I would appreciate my fellow critters advising me if a homemade rope woggle is strictly a WB totem, or if I'm in the clear. US2BFX

Did a family campout with our Pack at the local Cub Camp. We fed approximately 192 scouts, parents and siblings their breakfast, lunch and dinner, had a wonderful afternoon of den activities/achievements, a magnificent evening program with skits, fun and laughter and a beautiful Sunday Morning service with the sunlight streaming through the trees. We are tired but we are hearty, and we did it all for the boys.

All: In your experience, who leads the planning of family camping outings in Cub Scout Packs? We are a larger pack (100+ boys) and have recently involved an ad-hoc group of experienced parents under the guidance of the BALOO-trained Cubmaster (with support from our unit Quartermaster and outings). This year, the Cubmaster has been only marginally involved; the fall camping trip planning has been led by the Committee Chair with support of a camping committee (mix of parents and Den leaders). What is the norm? What do you do?

People, people, people... One hour a week is the amount of SLEEP you''re supposed to get. Only wearing two hats right now, but they''re keepin'' me busy. The good news is that I''m creating a pretty decent sized wake, and am working hard to have more than one person follow in my footsteps (growing participation in Den & Pack).

So I talked things through with my Chief Operating Officer (wife), who helped me get to this solution: - Ask the parent/scout to bring in samples of their own work in order to inspire others in the Den to achieve/do more, since they clearly have been able to accomplish great things - Ask the parent to help be a guide to the rest of the pack since they have truly raised the bar on what can be achieved; if the parent can be a resource for other parents wanting to earn more S&A pins and belt loops, then their rising tide can help left all our boats. And now, the challenge is what

You''re right, not much to do with the internet.

Cubmaster here, back again to seek advice. We have a Wolf Scout who graduated back in June. Since then, according to records submitted by Mom, he has earned 32 belt loops and pins. When I asked the Mom last night to verify this (i.e. Did you happen to put the wrong check box in the wrong column?), she directly stated that she hadn''t falsified records, & that her son had earned all these awards. She claims that she didn''t receive some of these awards last year, so it''s not beyond reason that these have actually been accumulated over the past 12 months. (We are fixing a drastical

OK Scouters, time out. I think many of you have missed the original point and request of this post. While I did not mind feedback on the idea of 'mandatory volunteering', my goal in this post was more to get you all to share YOUR OWN UNIT'S APPROACHES. Tell me what YOU DO that has worked. To put it bluntly, don't sit around trying to blow out my candle. Instead, perhaps light the way with your own insights and experience. Do you have a better path that achieves the same results (more equitable distribution of tasks, rather than continually overloading one small segment?) If so, th

OK, as you were - - please feel free to debate the issue of whether it is appropriate to ask for a Pack to develop and execute plans to require volunteer time/support as a condition of being a member of that one pack (not Scouting in general). The benefit is that it allows a more even and equitable distribution of labor, rather than continually taxing the "usual suspects" volunteers. The bad news is that parents whose time is stretched may not be able to provide the support that such an arrangement requires, and ultimately will pull their son out of the program. Debate away.

Great feedback so far - - I appreciate the comments. A point of reference and inspiration - - when I was at Woodbadge this past spring (I used to be a Fox), our PL re-introduced me to the wonderful and egalitarian concept of the duty roster. As soon as I saw it, the rationale clicked: In what Troop is ANY Boy Scout allowed to continually sit on his tush while the rest of his patrol prepares, cooks, serves and cleans? Jobs are supposed to be shared equally among all participants. If you want to enjoy the benefits of this activity (e.g. eating), then you are expected to equitably shar

OK Scouters, I want to hear from a WHOLE bunch of you on this one. We're all coming up on Back to Scouting after our summer 'break' (peals of laughter from most of us), and many Units will soon face the timeless dilemma of how to broaden our base of parental support for Pack and Den activities. Our Pack is pursuing a philosophy and program of mandatory family support during two activities per year with assigned teams. Unless there is a REAL good reason for doing so, nobody ducks this expectation, not even Den leaders (they only have to support one activity due to their Den responsibilit

We adopted a pack hat as an alternative to the different hats by level. We sold through our first inventory last fall and parents have been begging to know when we'll have the reorder ready. The only advice I have goes the same for any style hat - - INSIST that parents write the scout's name on the inside of the brim. I can't tell you how many hats I've collected in the course of 3 years with no way to return them to their owner...

Won't restate what parents/leaders have said above - am in complete agreement with it. One thing I discovered recently is that camp planning (by admin/staff) is a year-long process that pretty much kicks into gear upon the completion of this year's camp. By December, all major staff positions are filled. In February, the first presentations go around to Units. Health forms, t-shirts, special presentations/content/guests. The list of preparation to-dos is mind-boggling. And if it's followed, you get a pretty awesome camp. For reference, check out our District's Day Camp website at ww

For those who have seen a season or two at Cub Day/Resident Camps: We've all been exposed to a variety of Leadership styles, and I'm curious to know what the feeling is about what's appropriate/works best when one is leading a small to mid-size group of boys and chaperone parents. I've seen the "less involved" style in which kids/parents aren't really led, but are herded. I've seen the "overtly led" style in which one person establishes themself as the leader and is vocal, sticks to Scouting structure (marching in lines, active buddy system, keeping a tight rein on boys). The f

I recently gave a session on Cub Scout Annual Planning at our Council's Annual Leader's meeting in Central VA. I believe that a strong Annual Planning session can be the key to establishing the right rhythms, priorities and principles that can prevent the "Oh no, we forgot to ______" discussions that crop up during the year. You can find the presentation at www.hovbsa.org under the "Super Saturday" link from the main page. Download the PPT presentation to see what we covered. Ditto on all the advice given above. They've covered the fundamentals - - this can help you give structu

2 cents: We are rapidly becoming a gorilla pack, having doubled the size of our unit from 35 to 76 boys in the past year, selling 6x the amount of popcorn over the previous year, and by Centennial Award standards, hitting on all the fundamentals. My beliefs: If we are doing our jobs at the Cub level correctly, then our units will grow, split and continue growing. Provided the right infrastructure is there, we can and should foster responsible growth. My beliefs: There is not enough cross-pollination of success among Units. We're run as feifdoms, when we should be united in o