cyboji59

F-Troop, but gettin' better and having fun. Still lookin' for the Heckowie's.

Joined in 2nd grade in 1966. Also wore our shirt to school on den meeting days - everybody did. Went thru webelos. Crossed over to boy scoouts and dropped out after one year. Never went on a campout in 4 years. Did shoot 22's at a scout day camp, finished last in pinewood derby each year. Pretty boring experience back then. Became active adult when we signed up my son in second grade. Didn't hear from anyone for two months after we had signed him up. Thought I shouldn't complain unless I was volunteering to help. That was five years ago. My boy loves scouting 200x more than I did. Still ha

Since we are further north than you and the weather is a little more unpredictable(blizzard today), we plan a cabin campout the first month where we work on basic skills. The older boys work with the younger fellas about how to function as a patrol, cooking, setting up camp. Eagle 92 is absolutely right about the parent patrol with activities. The goal is to keep them away from the boys because the new parents are so used to doing the instructing in cub scouts - former cub scout leaders particularly seem to be a problem til they get used to the new ways. A good 2 or 3 mile orienteering cour

I actually did bring in kenpo karate instructor to one of our pack meetings. I had the blessing of the DE with the understanding it was to be used in a self defense/seperate yourself from the potential attacker, kind of instruction. It was an interactive program where the activity was 90% physical workout and 10% on how to release from being grabbed. We also used bags on blocking punches. Nothing to attack. It may be incorrect from national BSA, but the kids loved it and the parents requested it to be offered it to the siblings. It has been on the program every year since.

I supose it depends on how it is dealt out. I seen a leader dish them out in groups of 10 as an attention getter when he is speaking. He makes fun with it and the boys do it with a smiles on their faces. No worse than a PE class or a karate class. If it's meant in a demeaning way - I'd say no. Not what you say - but how you say it. Scouting is supposed to be fun!

You might also work with the unit commissioner to help with this, since the UC usually has the troop and it's "feeder pack" under their observation together. UC is supposed to help with transition. I have a slow transitional pack with 6 W-II's in my area that meets with the troop guides twice a month to prepare for summer camp/scout badge/camping skills till crossover. Not perfect, but it works.

Welcome CMasterIA_6321, You have a worth while challenge ahead of you. You will make a difference. Heart and soul of a good cub program is in the planning stage (in May) for the next year. Have fun with it. Recruit a few key helpers and your set. Lake O is like a second home to me - too bad they sold off the boy scout camp. My dad is from Arnolds Park. Cyboji

Hi Bugs, Welcome and thank you for serving! I too am a committee chair. I send out an adjenda a week in advance, that way if someone is too busy to report to the meetings they can email me their report to be read. Minutes are then posted on our pack website. We had a struggle at first in my pack because no one knew their jobs - including myself. After filling most of the committee positions we all went through most of training together so we were on the same page with each other and with BSA. You have to set the tone for the group. It's like being a manager to ensure follow throug

Thanks - as always, for the excellent input!

Looking for a good calendar to send and print up. Have been using Microsoft Office, but am not happy with it.

Hi LisaBob, I serve as a pack committee chair and district membership and recruitment chair. I made a presentation to the leaders at roundtable about several things. Started with a recruiter strip that the boys could earn. Get the cubmaster to get behind this at the March pack meeting. Have the CM tell them how to earn it. It seems to be a big secret in our district. We also had three examples of dirrerent flyers to hand out to the schools. It wasn't restricted to just Tigers. On the flyers we invited the boys, parents, and siblings to the May pack meeting(which we make a big deal with

Has everyone seen this yet? Replaces the old quality unit award. What are your thoughts?

We recieved our recharter packet in October, due mid-Jan. Took a count of boys from Den leaders then set up a table at the next pack meeting to collect all fees. Gave us two months to collect the rest. Worked pretty slick until Dec roundtable - district wanted new aps from all adult leaders who changed positions. 23/30 registered leaders needed new aps. Major headache! Boys Life is not required with our pack of 72. Did notice a huge drop in Boys Life this year. Parents said the boys were not reading it. We buy it and my son barely looks at it. Down to about 25% - any ideas?

Two things bother me on this one. Where was the leadership? How could this happen twice? 1.SAFTEY is the number one issue. These aren't boy scouts yet - someone should have been around when a boy is getting pinned to the ground by four others, and at minimum look into the problem. How could leaders and parents not have heard about it the first day? Or heard the ruckus going on. I know if this happened with my boys it would have been all over camp. 2.The harassment is just a big of an issue as the knife. A good program would have no tolerance for this. 3.Parental and pack leadership need

We use the membership and registration chair to handle the paperwork for applications and works in coordination with the cubmaster for den assignments. The MRC also coorinates with the treasurer with payments. We have the MRC hold the unit copies and keep a spread sheet w/active and non-active members. The MRC also works w/committee chair and treasurer in coordination w/recharter. MRC does follow-up calls on inactive members. Good idea to have a backup MRC to train for the future. Go to BSA website and click the cubscout box for adult leaders and go into committee duties.