committee member

Ok guys I haven't slept well for 3 days over this so let me comment and update. Bravo to most replies here, but some of you are confusing the situation. The B&G is over. The Pack sponsored it. AOL went great. When the bridging was planned months ago, all boys were going to one Troop so the Troop asked if they could do something special outdoors. All parents agreed and bridging was not at B&G as in previous years where more than one troop did participate together. They have secured the local campgrounds, planned the ceremony, put together a reception dinner.. blah, blah. Now at last minute parents want other Troops invited and SM is not wanting that. I forgot to mention the other SM won't attend something another Troop is hosting. Sooo.. My hubby, a mix between the wise old owl and the gentle giant, called the district commisioner (we don't have a uc so no comments on jumping rank please). He said no ceremony is necessary, some packs don't do it at all. If the Troop wants to do something for the boys they are receiving they can. Ok, so now we have the answer. Didn't ease my mind at all though. Still feels unfair to the other 2 boys. So, as my hubby and I are discussing a way to include all boys anyway the SM calls to say he will be happy to bridge all boys just doesn't want the other SM there. Now, this may not be the perfect answer, but with such short notice it's the best it's gonna get. And it will be the last time my butt is in this sling.

Thanks to all of you for spending part of your "one hour per week" to help out your fellow Scouters.

I agree whole heartedly - all about the boys. Usually crossover is at the Blue & Gold and we know what troops to invite in plenty of time to plan it. This year we wanted to try something different and go with an outdoor event. CC was all for it. We even planned a family farewell campout and dinner for us adults at a different campsite. (Most of us are going to miss all the overnighters together.) We did ask Scout Master about having the other troop(s) join in. Apparently Troops A & B have bad blood. The Leader Book says it is the Pack's responsibility. Let me explain breifly - the 2 boys not crossing with us - one is CC son, other is ex leaders son. Ex leader because he was giving Webelos pins after hitting one requirement. When my husband, CM, spoke to him about it our CC went to coucil to say he (CM)was a dictator. Council supported my husband and suggested CC step down if she didn't like how he was handling things. She didn't. Since then they have tried to sabotage everything we do. I feel like this is another attempt to screw something up. They had a conference with our SM and turned an application in to him. Last minute change leaves us scratching our heads. I didn't really want to go there with all that, but it might be important to the whole picture. Once again, we are not opposed to having another crossover, I just know they will complain because it isn't as nice. Don't they see while they are just giving me a slight headache - they are really screwing things up for the kids. I will never understand some people.

Help! Our local Boy Scout Troop has put together a crossing over ceremony for our Webelos II. It is going to be outdoors, and the boys will camp that night with their new troop. We have just learned (17 days before crossing over) that 2 of our boys are going to different troops. At the time of planning all our boys were going to the same troop. Two of the troops do not want to participate in one crossing over and the other boy has not chosen a Troop yet so I can't contact the Scout Master to coordinate anything with him/her. Our committee chairperson (whose son hasn't decided which troop to go to) wants us to take over the crossing over ceremony to accomidate her son. She feels the pack is responsible for the crossing over ceremony. The Scout Master in charge of our ceremony (also a unit commissioner) informed us the Troop is in charge of crossing over and the other 2 boys should contact their future Scout Master. Being that my son is crossing over, I'm a committee member, my husband is the Cub Master, and we have already had disagreements with the CC over other issues... This is putting everyone in a mess. We would be more than happy to hold another ceremony for the other boys, but it would not be as elaborate as the one planned and that would probably upset people too. About ready to pull my patch... please help.

Absolutely Webelos are still part of the cub scout pack! Maybe I should have worded that differently. Our Webelos participate in all pack activities and meetings. More so than the others because most of our committee, the CM and ACM have Webelos. However if you look at page 1-1 of the Cub Scout Leader Book it lists the parts of the BSA program as follows: Tiger Cubs- 1st grade: Cub Scouting 2nd and 3rd grades: Webelos Scouting 4th and 5th grades: Boy Scouting 11-17 years of age and so on..

The BSA breaks down the cub scout program because of age appropriate activities. Not being one that likes to be wrong I called council about this. (I just wanted to make sure our boys were being taught right.) I was told that once the boy earns the Webelos Badge, not just graduates into the den but actually earns it he is to use all the boy scout things discussed previously. (handshake, salute, motto etc.) We simply have all the boys do the Pledge then the Tigers, Wolves and Bears do the Cub Scout promise, then the Webelos do the Boy Scout promise.

Don't forget service stars. From page 12-9 of the cub scout leader book...

"Adult leaders wear a service star with a light blue background to indicate years of service as an adult leader in Scouting. Adults who were youth members may wear multiple stars with different backings (gold for Cub Scouts, green for Boy Scouts, red for Venturers, brown for Varsity Scouts) or may combine all BSA tenure in a single star with a blue background.

One per month is all that is required. Offering two per month so that everyone has a better chance of earning it is great. We also are marching in the Memorial Day parade, having a pack overnighter followed by Sunday morning worship service at our campsite. This is an option for the outdoor activity award for Webelos. (It helps to know a pastor to drag to camp). We have a family day picnic in which the pack provides hot dogs and families bring side dishes followed by an optional campout. This is a great way to get parents more involved, and a great opportunity to work towards your "pack 75th award". We have also planned a field trip to an animal rescue farm. Our local State park is holding a "meteor shower campout" in August to view the Persium meteors. This works towards the sumertime pack award and the astronomy pin in the sports and academics program. There's more planned but this is getting too long already.

Basically check with your local and state parks for events they are hosting. Many of them will tie into something with scouts. Also check with the Army Corp. of Engineers. They will sometimes create a program to help scouts earn badges. Our state park is holding a Geology Badge class and will put together Forester Badge classes if I take them the requirements.

Hello again everyone. I just bought a stickball set from Walmart. It looks just like a broom handle only it is make with foam and has a wiffle ball. This makes it safe for all our boys. I think it was $3.88?

Just thought this would be easier to involve more kids at once than jacks or marbles.

He is correct. Cub scouting is divided up like this: Tigers are Tigers, Wolves and Bears are cub scouts, Webelos are Webelos - preparing for boy scouts. This means using the Scout sign, handshake, oath, law, motto and slogan. Pages 49 through 58 of your Webelos handbook has all this information.

These things must be known to earn the Webelos Badge.

There are advancement reports in the back of the cub scout leader book. You can obtain a copy from your scout shop for about $9.00. The cubmaster or pack trainer should really see to it that every den has a copy. It contains every form you will ever need and answers any question you will ever have. You can also buy big poster type trackers from the scout shop for about $3.00 if I'm not mistaken.

According to the "Cub Scout Leader Book" page 11-4 *Money-earning projects are pack, not den, activities...*

Before finding this out, as most of the committee in our pack are new, we had den fundraisers. One den made jar candles and did great. Three dens sold candy bars and profits helped pay for daycamp, also worked great. One den leader signed a contract and has been accused by the company of not complying with said contract. What a mess. Council was called, lawyers are involved. Of course our DE was quick to point out page 11-4 to us. We won't be allowing that anymore. Fortunately since she signed the contract our den, pack and council are all safe from prosecution. She isn't. It's a bad situation.

Hope this helps.

Jacks were popular in the 30's and something called a bolo bat. After much research I found this discription "A thin wooden paddle with a small rubber ball attached to it with a thin rubber band". Ahh.. paddle ball right?

Ok so I'm seeing 50 rubber balls banging me in the head at the same time. Think we'll do stick ball. hehe

What about tug-of-war? Red rover? Marbles?

I would like to get some info on this topic as well. We have a den leader that is taking evening classes. I am all for higher education, however, her classes keep interfering with meetings. The time and place of meetings have been changed once already. Now the assistant leaders are running the show. The leader and her son are usually not there, or are very late to meetings. She refuses to turn over the den, dues, or records. She is hateful to the assistants that are doing their best to keep the den going. Granted, kissing the money goodbye would be painful but not terminal. Records however, are essential for tracking the boys progress. She has been somewhat inactive for several months, and totally inactive since the end of December. Adding to the confusion, our CM has experienced an ongoing family emergency that has required non-involvement there too. My hubby is Assistant CM and is planning to meet with the DL first to try to resolve this problem. He will also be taking over as CM soon as ours will have to step down due to the family situation.

Thanks for any advice on this one.