scoutermomks

Instead of searching eBay for just the patch try searching for uniform shirts that have patches on them.  I've bought all but mine and my son's first uniforms from eBay and haven't paid more than $15 for any of them.  All but one of the shirts I bought already had patches sewn on, although none of them were knots but I have seen lots of uniforms with knots on them.

I was Cubmaster last year and used the Pack Meeting Plans from scouting.org for almost all of our pack meetings.  They really do cover everything.  Each plan has a gathering activity, opening ceremony, songs and/or skits, award ceremonies, and most of them give you some ideas for the program part too.  We rotated through dens to split up responsibilities so that each den got a chance to do the gathering, opening, song or skit, and cleanup.  The nice thing about using the meeting plans is that you don't have to do them in any special order.  We used the August meeting plan in May because it fit in better with what we wanted to do that month (a "graduation" campfire).  It also saved a lot of headaches when I had to unexpectedly miss a pack meeting because I was sick.  My Assistant Cubmaster already knew which plan we were doing that month and all of the den leaders knew what they were covering.

We alternate going to the council camp one year and an out of council camp the next.  In the past the scoutmaster always chose the out of council camp.  Since I've recently taken over as scoutmaster I'm going to give the scouts a list of camps to choose from for next year.  We're working on becoming boy led but I don't want to overwhelm them by saying "ok, pick any camp in the country for next year".  I've done some research and picked 6 within a reasonable driving distance with a reasonable cost, I'll let them take it from there.

I really like the idea of going into the elementary schools in the spring.  Our council has started getting really into spring recruiting but they always focus on the Cubs and not so much the older scouts.  I'll talk with my DE and see if we can get something special going for the 5th graders for April.

I'm all for teaming up with the other troop that recruits from our closest middle school (we already team up with them for hikes and out of state camping trips) but that troop is actually worse off than we are.  They also don't have a pack at their CO and they haven't had a crossover in several years.  The only reason they still have a troop is because they get the random signups from recruiting at the school.  I'd hate to take away the one or two boys a year that they get.

The troop does have a website. I just checked and when I Google Boy Scouts in my town we're the first troop that comes up.  I'm not sure if that's because Google knows that's the scout site I visit most often though.  We haven't put pictures any new of the scouts on the website for a long time but that is something I can talk with the webmaster about.

My son volunteered at a one day Cub Scout day camp and the district Pinewood Derby this year.  I'm hoping to get more scouts back to volunteering for district events.  We had several earn a district volunteer award last year but with all of the changes we had in the troop this year we weren't doing a good job of letting them know when the events were.

Our district roundtable is coming up the first week of August.  I'm going to talk to a couple of the Cubmasters for the packs that I know we've had crossovers from in the last few years and get their contact information so I can invite their Webelos to some of our troop activities.  We have one scout from my old pack that has said he is interested in joining our troop so at least we've got some interest!  He's already been to a couple of meetings and a camp out with us and he said he had a really good time.  I'm hoping to get the rest of his den to join him on one of our campouts this fall.

Thanks everyone for all the ideas!  

I have recently taken over as Scoutmaster of my son's troop.  The troop is only 4 years old and our CO does not have a Cub Scout pack.  In the past we've had boys join the troop as crossovers because they already knew some of the boys in the troop and/or our scoutmaster from various district and council events or because they were in the same pack at one time.  For the past year my son has really been the only scout from our troop volunteering at any of the district or council events so our number just hasn't been out there for Cubs to see.  We do currently have two den chiefs for the pack that my son was in, one with the Arrow of Light den and one with the Wolf den.  That pack does have a troop associated with them but they've had a hard time getting any of those scouts to be den chiefs.  I also just stepped down as Cubmaster of that pack and I don't want to seem like I'm too actively recruiting those Cubs because there has already been some hurt feelings over boys from that pack joining my current troop instead of the troop associated with the pack.

Our former Scoutmaster decided to not do any active recruiting for this year so we had no crossovers.  I don't want to repeat that next year. I've talked some with other leaders in my district about recruiting but they don't have a lot of ideas other than to go to the closest middle school.  Another troop with the same issue as mine already does recruiting at the closest middle school.  So, in a situation where a troop does not have a "feeder" pack (yes, I know that feeder packs are not a thing, but most of the parents and leaders of Cubs don't seem to know that they have other options besides the troop with the same number as their pack) how do we recruit new scouts that don't just happen to be the little brother of a boy already in the troop? 

I'm a little late to the conversation but I'm in a similar situation for next year's camp.  We'll have about 5 older scouts who will want to do high adventure and the rest will need a traditional camp.  Last year we went to Lewis and Clark in Yankton, SD.  They have a traditional camp and also a canoe trek for older scouts.  Others in my troop's acceptable driving area (we're in south central Kansas) that offer some type of optional high adventure water based activity for the older guys: Camp Arrowhead in Marshfield, MO; Camp Cedars in Cedar Bluffs, NE; Camp Rockefeller in Damascus, AR.

Quivira Scout Ranch is my council's camp and no, they have never had tents or platforms, except for staff.  Our troop went to Lewis and Clark in South Dakota last year and they didn't provide tents either.  I think in the midwest it's hit and miss on camps that do provide tents.  I've been looking into out of council camps for next summer and I'm finding that about half of them have tents and half don't.

blw2 - That is a good idea.  I'll talk to the Webelos den leader and see if he will talk to the den about helping at the pack meeting.  We only have 3 Webelos right now so it shouldn't be hard to give them each a chance to help out.

Stosh - We are planning on doing s'mores and letting the boys run around and be boys, the ceremonies are just going to be short "cross overs" not the longer face painting ceremonies we use when they get their rank badge.  In the past we've had boys (and leaders) that didn't understand that June 1 starts the next rank so the ceremonies will just be a visual reminder that now they can start working on the next book.

Our Pack is starting what I hope to be a new "end of the year" tradition.  We're going to a local park for our May pack meeting and having a campfire with special "graduation" ceremonies for each rank and an induction ceremony for the boys we just signed up that will be next year's Tigers.  I have the ceremonies all planned but now I'm realizing that I'll be completely leaving out our current Webelos.  We had cross over for our 5th grade Webelos in February so we only have 4th grade Webelos now.  I'd like to do something to recognize them as the new senior scouts in the pack but I'm not finding any ceremonies like that.  I can certainly write my own ceremony but I'd like something to at least give me some idea about what to do to make them feel special too.  This pack meeting will be my last hurrah as Cubmaster since I'll be taking over as Scoutmaster of my son's troop after summer camp so I'm probably obsessing a little too much about the ceremony being perfect.  Anyone have any ideas?

Our pack walks in a parade every year. We don't do a float, not sure why, we just have the boys come in their uniform and bring a bag or two of candy with them. Last year we also told them to bring their Halloween buckets. The adults walking with the boys kept most of the candy and refilled the boys buckets as we walked, that way we didn't have the problem of them handing all of the candy out in the first block.

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. I think I'll just let all of the parents know that requirement 12 should be done at home and leave it at that. If they have questions beyond that then I will use what some of you said about helping the family. This also helps me since my family falls into the "religious but not church going" category. And who knows, maybe once we start the discussion my son will be interested in going to church just to see what it's all about.

I should also mention that the church we meet at is not our CO. The local Lions Club is our CO but the building where they meet isn't big enough for our pack meetings. We just started meeting at the church so I thought doing a service project for them could be something to get us off on the right foot with the church and also help the scouts with their advancement.

I do intend to have the families do the requirement at home, I guess I should have specified that. I just know that a few boys (mine included) do not attend church and might have trouble coming up with something to satisfy that last part of the requirement. I don't think a scout should miss out on getting his rank badge because he can't complete one part of a requirement because his family chooses to not attend a church. I'm just looking for ideas to give the non-church families so they can complete the requirement at home.

I'm interested in getting some ideas for completing this requirement for boys whose families don't attend church. Requirements a-c are easily done at home but what about e - "Find out how you can help your church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or religious fellowship"? We do have our meetings at a church, could doing a service project for that church complete part e?

Thanks for the suggestions! I do have the How-To Book at home so I'll check it out. I did talk to our Summer Program chair about doing an obstacle course and she seemed less than thrilled with that idea. I'm not sure if I wasn't getting my idea across clearly or if it's something the pack has never done before and she's afraid of change I also like the Stop on a Dime idea. I think most of our boys are more interested in going as fast as they can and don't think about stopping!

Congratulations!

I used to be a Fox...

I volunteered to organize our Pack's Bicycle Rodeo this year. Problem is I've never been to one and have no idea what kinds of activities to plan. I'm meeting with our Summer Activities Chair this weekend and I'd like to have some ideas to present. I'm thinking about asking one of the Pack dads who is a local police officer to come and do some safety checks on the boy's bikes and teach them the hand signals. We have also talked about doing a group bike ride on a local bike path. It just seems like there should be more for the boys to do. Has anyone held a Bicycle Rodeo? What were some of the boy's favorite activities?

Our pack stays really busy in the summer. The dens still meet weekly and we still have a pack meeting/activity every month. For this summer we have our pack campout planned for the end of May, a bicycle rodeo for June, Raingutter Regatta in July and our pack kickoff is in August (we might make it into a swimming party). Other packs in the area have done Cubmobile derbies and we have considered trying that out too but we're not sure we'd have a good place to hold the racing.

I think this site has all of the information in PDF format:

http://burchcreekcubscouts.org/Fun4Fam.htm

Thanks for the ideas! I also came up with a couple on my own and I'm excited to run them past the rest of my patrol.

I'm still tired and processing everything but I can't wait to go back in two weeks! Since only 5 of the leaders in our pack have not been to Wood Badge I did have some idea of things that would be happening the first weekend. I think I had just the right amount of knowledge about the course before I got there. I knew enough to be prepared but not so much that I knew all the details. My patrol (go Foxes!) worked really well together and had a good mix of Scouting and camping experience. I have 3 ticket items already approved, 1 that just needs a small change and 1 that I'm rewriting because once I put it on paper it didn't really look the way it did in my head.

The one thing my patrol did have some trouble with was patrol yells. We came up with a couple but I'm wondering if any of the other Foxes out there have some suggestions for some good ones I can take back with me the second weekend. Those darn Beavers, Bobwhites and Owls kept outdoing us!

When I first became a leader I was told that as a den we could decide if we wanted to wear our neckerchiefs over or under our collars. We chose under, the same all of the dens in our pack wear theirs. I have seen other units in the area wear theirs over the collar, it just seems that our pack prefers under.

I did end up getting clarification from our ACM. She went to Wood Badge last year. She actually told me that my huge tent would be fine but I found a great deal on a 3 man tent and bought it for me and my son to use at pack campouts. It seems that our council has a pretty loose interpretation of "backpack" when it comes to Wood Badge. My ACM said that hardly anyone at her course had a frame pack and they really only had to walk about 5 minutes to get to their campsites.

It probably would have helped if we would have had the Wood Badge breakout we were told to expect at the last Roundtable. Instead our awards banquet took up the whole night.

All of the female leaders in our pack, including our Webelos leaders, wear the tan shirt and olive pants. I would think that if you wanted to continue wearing the yellow shirt and blue pants you could. That is a female Cub leader uniform and you will still be a Cub leader.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I know I'm probably overthinking it so I'm going to just try to not worry about it until I need to. I really wish I hadn't sold my old pack I bought while in Girl Scouts. It probably would have worked fine but at the time I had no idea I'd ever have a need for it again.