CubsRgr8

How about asking the SM if he can handle the CC position? A lot of the work happens as the CC's schedule permits, making it more flexible than being SM. Then, it's time to find a new SM. BSA has a recommended method that I have actually seen work. What follows is a very brief summary, I'm sure your DE or Unit Commissioner can find the detailed description in BSA literature.

Establish a search committee, hopefully consisting of the IH, COR, current SM and a couple of concerned adults from the troop. Come up with a list of criteria specific to your troop's characteristics. Then sit down and discuss all possible adult candidates, drawing from both the troop's and the CO's membership (after all, it's the CO's troop). Narrow the list down to half a dozen and rank them 1-6.

The search committee contacts the number 1 candidate and arranges a meeting to discuss "an important issue related to the youth program" being offered by the CO. Explain the situation, describe the position, then tell the candidate that the search committee has identified him/her as the very best possible person to take on the role of SM.

Repeat as necessary, remembering that each new candidate is now the very best possible person to take on the role of SM. When someone says "yes", arrange a brief investiture ceremony (maybe during a COH) and away you go.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!(This message has been edited by CubsRgr8)

The President is the President, regardless of political affliation. I didn't vote for him, but I certainly hope - no, expect - members of our forums will respect the position, especially in this situation.

I am serving as the elections committee advisor for my lodge this year. My lodge does not have chapters, just a very large LEC (12 standing committees and five officers). We are having a terribile time recruiting Arrowmen to serve on election teams.

We tried direct mail, breakout sessions at roundtable (including pizza!), and asking LEC members (both youth and advisors) to recruit from their own units and/or volunteer to conduct a couple of elections. The net result has been very poor. That means the committee chairman and I spend a lot of our evenings running around conducting elections, when our responsibility should be to coordinate them.

That has led us to consider the idea of asking Inductions to include elections training at the end of the Ordeal weekend, stressing that this would be the ideal way for them to fullfill their service requirement towards sealing Brotherhood in ten months. Also, if you have any other ideas, please post them. Thank you in advance.

+100! I, too, pandered and regretted it. That said, however, I offer this comment. It seems to me that far too many packs set up AOL as the culmination of Cub Scouting. It becomes the final award that all boys earn and receive at the same time - their last pack meeting. So I understand why parents have trouble getting the idea that cross-over isn't just part of the AOL award ceremenony.

Slightly off-topic, but still in the ballpark, does each POR need to be done after achieving a rank? For example, scout serves as den chief for 12 months and then earns Star. Does he need to serve in another POR to earn Life? Also, our Bugler is Tenderfoot (and boy, is he good!), does this count towards Star, or does he have to serve in a POR after achieving 1st Class?(This message has been edited by CubsRgr8)

I was remiss in failing to note that I am an adult advisor, who's disappointed that the lodge isn't more vibrant. In this council, a lot of youth get elected, but few remain active, and I'm brainstorming ways to turn that around. I agree that many of the committees could easily be combined (such as membership and elections). The lodge usually sends a contingent (youth and adult) to section conclaves and NOAC, so it has a presence outside of the council. All in all, I'm enjoying OA, and I appreciate the feedback.

My lodge's executive committee consists of the chief, VCA, VCO, and 20+ standing committees (most of which consist of only one youth chairman and his adult advisor). All committees attend the montly executive committee meeting, while neither the VCO nor VCA have regular meetings. Often, the monthly meeting can't even muster a quorum of the youth, although it's rare for any of the adult advisors to miss one. Also, there are no chapters, although my council has five districts.

It seems to me that the current lodge structure benefits the adults while failing to promote OA to the youth. All the adult advisors, and quite a few older adults who no longer serve as advisors, get a monthly meeting with their lodge friends. The youth either chair a committee or don't attend OA meetings. While there are active dance and ceremony teams, there are no social activities for the rest of the OA youth outside of three fixits and the winter banquet. And some adults wonder why youth attendance is so poor.

I have some ideas to improve the lodge structure (you knew this was coming).

1) Establish chapters aligned with the districts and schedule monthly OA meetings, to run concurrent with each district's roundtable. Chapter meetings include social time (pizza and soda) before moving into business.

2) Each chapter would have a chief and advisor, and have primary responsibility for elections, membership, troop rep program, etc - everything that is unit based (chapter business).

3) Reduce the executive committee membership signficantly - maybe only meet quarterly.

What do you think?

Summum? Please elaborate. Thanks.

ArrowCorp5 is a one time event being held this summer for youth and adult Arrowmen. There are five, one-week service projects being conducted at five different national parks scattered across then nation. The youth spend most of the week in service (trail clearing, etc.) and have a day or two of fun. It looks like OA is going to fill all five sessions and accomplish some significant projects. For more detailed information, try this website: http://event.oa-bsa.org/

Hey, hey, HEY! No denigrating foreign cultures or their currency allowed! Although now now Italy uses the ubiquitous Euro, the Lira is sorely missed. Back in the day, it was the most beautiful currency in Europe and nothing compared to the thrill of pulling a 100,000 note out of my wallet to pay for dinner at a neighborhood trattoria.

WVCubDad,

Congratulations on stepping up to be a leader in your son's pack. I found being Cubmaster to be an absolute blast and can tell by your post's enthusiasm that you'll do a great job.

I disagree with the previous post about waiting to go to Philmont till your son is a Boy Scout. I say go now! and since there's a scheduling conflict with the course you first picked, take another Cub Scout level course that doesn't conflict with previously scheduled activities. I suggest that you choose the course Strictly For Cubmasters which I think might be a better course for you. Here's a link to the website that lists the courses being offered and if you need more info, call them direct at 505-376-2281.

www.scouting.org/philmont/ptc/courses/courses.cgi?by=cat

(This message has been edited by CubsRgr8)

All excellent suggestions for the PLC to consider - thank you! I'll pass them on to the SPL and, if I remember, I'll let you know what they decide. I personally like the idea of reminding those who cancelled at the last moment about the word Trustworthy, which gets to the whole point of Scouting. Thanks.

Two weekends ago, the troop went on a cabin campout (yes, I know, it's not a real campout). At that Tuesday's troop meeting, 29 scouts were going. By 5:30pm Friday, that number was down to 21, including 4 cancellations right there in the parking lot! There wasn't a blizzard, an outbreak of the pox, or a declaration of matial law. The scouts who cancelled had all sorts of reasons, none of them any good IMHO.

I forgot that I was in the school play Friday and Saturday nights.

My best bud cancelled on Thursday, so I don't want to go.

I changed my mind.

The troop rented a larger cabin than was needed, parent drivers showed up that weren't needed, and a lot of money was spent on food that ended up being wasted. How does your troop prevent this? I would really appreciate some feedback that I can bring to next Tuesday's troop meeting. Thanks in advance.

Our troop meets weekly, 7-8:15 Tuesdays, with a few breaks (Christmas, week after summer camp).

Emb021, you said:

The BSA has stated (if you know where to look) that the Boy Scout program (advancement requirements, materials, etc) is written to the 11-13 year old boy.

I'd really like to know where to look.

Our pack "starts the clock" the day after school ends for all dens. When a boy is no longer a 1st grader, he's a Wolf, whether or not he was a Tiger and whether or not he earned his previous rank. The same applies to all the other ranks.

Not to hijack the thread, but why in the world would a week long summer day camp focus on the Citizen activity badge?!?! IMHO that's a terrible choice. Summer camp experiences for Webelos 1 should focus on activity badges that are outdoors oriented - Naturalist, Forestry, Geology - not Citizenship. Yuck, it's like still being in school! And I'd be very interested to learn how they fullfilled this requirement: "Participate in a family, den, or school service project."

Split the den! Really! I had 7 tigers last year and that was a great size. 1 more would have pushed it over the top, given the size of our meeting space. Don't let thoughts of next year influence you much, it's this year that needs to be FUN for the boys and easy for the parents. That's a lot harder to pull off when the group is so large. +1 to all of Jens3sons comments.

from the father's view; with the pack meetings on different nights

How about if Dad hangs out with the younger son one year and lets the older one go to troop meetings without him? Dad can always go on campouts.

the Webelos I den has only one other kid in it and the leader isn't doing much

How about Dad stepping up and becoming the Webelos leader?

The dad travels a lot

What, whoever is taking care of the kids while he's gone can't be bothered to take the kids to scouts?!?

Please excuse the rant, but do you see how this Dad comes across in your post? I mean, it seems like it's Dad pushing for this to make his life convenient, not about what's best for both boys. Sheesh! End rant.

Merlyn,

I don't think your answer negates my contention that this is a matter of equal access. Government cannot impose requirements (no matter how well intended) that contradict constitutional rights. Similar to school facilties usage, government must treat all users equally, or allow no users.

Also, what are the City's requirements of non-profits in order to obtain free berthing at the marina?

If other non-profit groups are provided free berthing, this turns into an equal access question. How is this different than the the ruling that requires school districts (which are political entities of government) to provide equal access to all user groups if they provide it to one?

Don't just include Cub Scout leaders - target them! A letter from the SE to each Cubmaster, Committee Chair and WDL, specifically mentioning his/her desire for more Cubbers to attend Woodbadge, followed up by phone calls from their DEs, and then the Woodbadge staff. If they say "no thanks", find out their reasons so that the staff can address those concerns for next time. Then, make SURE the staff treat the Cubbers well during the course so that they come back to their units ready to spread the news of how great Woodbadge was. Remember - for every SM, there is at least 5 registered Cubbers out there, many who don't know much about Boy Scouting and for whom Woodbadge would be an eye-opening experience. Go for it!

Lisabob,

My son will be a second year camper, although young for his grade. I appreciate your insights and will follow through on them before sending him off. That said, since both parents attend his troop's summer camp as leaders, he's quite happy to spend a week away from us, hence the desire to try out provisional camp. He went to a week long computer camp last summer without knowing anyone there and had enough fun that he signed up to go again.

Thanks again to everyone for their insights!

Well, I'm the original poster that Beavah refers to, so here's the scoop.

For its 80+ year history, my sons' troop has run its own summer camp. Why this tradition didn't die out when the council opened its various camps, no one knows. I can only guess that it was a strong enough tradition that the scouts and leaders enjoyed. I'm told the troop attended council camps some years, in addition to running its own, but not for the past twenty years or so. Here, in no particular order, are some factors that I think help explain how the troop pulls this off every year.

Location

The troop goes to a state forest group campsite in northern Wisconsin (almost Upper Michigan). It's the only campsite on a spring fed lake with no outlet, so there is a lot of peace and quiet, and no interaction with any other campers. The campsite is nestled in a grove of white pine, which manage to mask the smell from the pit toilets quite effectively. There's a decent sized sandy beach, and even a small island in the lake. There are fish in the lake, birds in the air (including eagles and loons), and bullfrogs the size of small cats to serenade you to sleep at night.

Key Adult Leaders

The current scoutmaster and committee chairman are very dedicated scouters who learned the ropes of running summer camp about ten years ago from their predecessors. They are currently teaching these ropes to their probable successors, as neither has a son in the troop any more.

Support Staff

There are enough of us support staff so that we probably only have to "work" half time. Either you run a support function (primarily the commissary and kitchen) or, if you want to be registered and wear the uniform, you spend time teaching youth in the great outdoors. (I work with second year scouts who are not yet 1C, and this year will also teach the Nature merit badge.) As a bonus, we get to breathe fresh air, eat fresh food (we cook for ourselves), sleep in tents, swim in the lake, enjoy adult fellowship, play cards, etc., and forget about our real responsibilities for seven days. In a very real sense, we get to go to summer camp as much as the scouts, although we don't earn merit badges or advance in rank.

Summer Camp Mission

Summer camp is designed to help scouts advance through the ranks to Life Scout. If you're not 1C, you spend the mornings at the Advancement Site. If you are 1C, you work on merit badges. Most MBCs offer two or three, and most of those are outdoor oriented, although there are always several craft oriented MBs (sculpture, basketry, etc.) Afternoons usually include a patrol competition and lots of free time, most of that spent at the waterfront or just hanging out with your friends. Boards of Review occur in the late afternoon or after dinner.

Fun Stuff

There are several activities that are unique to each day. Sunday there's Scouts Own and the Scoutmaster's sermon, which is ususally based on one point of the Scout Law. There's an overnight canoe trip for older scouts, and some MBs require a field trip (I hear Forestry is fascinating). There's a 6 mile hike into Boulder Junction (the Big City!) on Wednesday to buy ice cream, candy, soda and call home. Patrols compete to see which one will earn Honor Patrol, based on points awarded for merit badges completed, competions won, and ranks advanced the previous day. The last night, there's a campfire ceremony where all scouts are honored for their achievements during summer camp, even if it's just for "having a great time" (my son two years ago!).

Bottom Line

The site is superb, there are enough adults so that they, too, can have fun, the program will allow any scout to advance (if he wants to), and there's enough variety so that every day is a little different.

Amy questions? I'll check back and post replies to specifics, or PM if you want.

Thanks for all the feedback, it's great to hear about the positive experiences you've observed. I've identified several camps in Wisconsin that gladly accept provisional campers and three (Ed Bryant, Tesomas, and Bear Paw) that actually set up Provisional Troops. That sounds like the best route for my son, as he does not know any scouts in other troops. Thanks again!

My son wants to attend a regular Boy Scout Summer Camp, complete with dining hall, lots of crafts, a waterfront, etc. Since his troop runs their own week long summer camp, he will have to attend as a Provisional Camper, either assigned to another troop, or at a special Provisional Troop session. Along with general feedback about provisional campers, I'd appreciate any recommendations for a BSA camp in Wisconsin or Illinois that does a good job with Provisional Campers.

From day one, I told my Tiger parents they could make up any missed activity on their own. It worked out well, with 7/8 Tigers earning their rank by the Blue & Gold.