drmbear

Boring, too business-like, not willing to do entirely embarassing things, not willing to put him or her self on the level of a nine-year-old boy, lack of imagination

Making sure the troop knows what is expected of the SPL and the skills necessary to do a great job, as well as the affect on them if they ignore those skills and abilities in their selection process, is the start of making sure you don't have a weak SPL. The best proving ground is in the work put in to develop the entire PLC, and helping the ASPL actually take control of the leadership corps or pool of more senior scouts. Like everyone has been saying, the development of leaders is a process. Make sure opportunities for leadership are handed out to promising individuals throughout the year, particularly "one-time" events and activities. Cream rises to the top, and it becomes obvious to everyone else in the troop.

Why is anyone that is not gay even concerned about whether they want to marry or not. Because a homosexual couple wants to get married and have those rights takes absolutely nothing away from any heterosexual couple. So unless you are gay, shut up and stay out of the argument. This is supposed to be a free country, with laws that protect those freedoms, and I really see no reason why two people that love each other and want to be married should have any impact on anyone else. And remember this is also a country of religious freedom, and just because your religion says something is immoral doesn't mean that their religion does. You marry who you want - and the other person can marry who they want. That seems right and correct for anyone.

As an adult in the Boy Scout program, part of the process is letting the young men discover what works and doesn't work. If they make obvious (to us) stupid choices, and they get stupid results, then they start making smarter choices going forward. The Scoutmaster and other leaders do their best to teach and advise, because event that "popular" Scout can learn to lead, and isn't that one of the points of the program.

What I've noticed about the Cub Scout program in general is that the cycle of things that a CS pack does through the course of each year just doesn't change that much. There are community events we participate in each year, particular parades and activities. The Webelos, after doing that for each of the first three years just need to be exposed to some different things. Boy Scout troops aren't locked into a particular annual program, and have the flexibility over five years(for example) to vary the program extensively based on whatever the boys want to do. I just finished the first year of Webelos with my son and his den, and I made sure we did a lot of very different things. I also try to engage these guys differently even during the pack events(meetings), giving them responsibilities. We stopped having "den meetings," instead getting together in different locations, engaged in activities as much as possible rather than sitting around a table. It is not easy though, and for some it may be very difficult to make the shift from the way the Tiger/Wolf/Bear process works to actually make Webelos something far different.

I remember all three ceremonies, even Brotherhood. After spending a great deal of time that day carving on that stick, I remember marching all around the place carrying that stick...

Here in Virginia the legislature is spending time determining medical examinations a woman needs to go through before she terminates a pregnancy, something the legislature is not at all qualified to do and something that should be left up to the woman and her physician. In the middle of a crisis with the economy and jobs it seems they really should have better things to do.

Last June I went backpacking in Shenandoah National Park, and I was concerned about the high humidity. We planned a trek where we could chill out in the running water. I actually chose to wear some of the Scout shorts (wet/dry), skipping the underwear altogether since they have the net liner. On the 2 for 1 deal at about $15, they really can't be beat, and I'm completely sold on them now. I even wear them when I'm not Scouting - I haven't found anything that comes even close to quality or value for less than $40 or more. I just wish they had a button instead of the snap (stupid for active wear).

It's why I've been reading the "Darwin Awards" books with my boy. These kinds of phrases typically proceed acts that have won awards (and removed them from the gene pool).

I've been a Cubmaster for a while now, and I'll say the very first thing you need to do as Cubmaster is to get yourself on their level - be a nine-year-old boy. If they are acting up during parts of your meetings, it is because it is BORING... When I took over, we stopped having "pack meetings," and we started having "PACK EVENTS!" For that one hour(no more), everything is happening so fast that the boys just pay attention so they don't miss anything. They participate, and they are having fun. I know as a Boy Scout and in Order of the Arrow ceremonies I participated in there was a lot of solemnity, making a big deal out of these "important" presentations. No Cub Scout kid cares much for any of that - get them awards in a fun and crazy way - in between get everyone moving, jumping around (I have a "Cheer Box"), even changing positions in the room. Have your other leaders prepare run-ons where you know there will be one, but let them be a surprise to you as well. The boys love it when something is done that makes the Cubmaster confused, interrupted, made to look silly. If there is anything in the course of your meeting (other than the game or activity that involves everyone) that is taking more than about three minutes, then it is not for the boys - I was told back when I started this: "If it's not for the boys, it's for the birds. Throw it out." My boys don't have time to be rude to others - we make the presentation (quickly), then everyone gets up and takes part in a wild cheer. They are worn out and ready for bed when they get out of these meetings.

We did this as a recruiting event, but we did a "Recycled Regatta," using plastic soda or water bottles, straws, plastic grocery bags, duct tape and other tape, foam egg cartons, and other assorted stuff. A little gravel or sand in the bottom side of the bottle keeps it from tipping. In a half hour or so the boys had boats made, and then they raced them at will. They'd challenge others in their den, others. They even enjoyed beating me, the Cubmaster, particularly when I'd start blowing on the back sides of their sails to slow them down, etc. It was fun. The new blow up tracks from the Scout shop are great - cheap and easy.

I'll start by saying that I am a Cubmaster, and I've been serving as one of the Webelos Den Leaders (along with a couple others) for my son's den - they are finishing up 4th grade. I was never a Cub Scout, but I stayed very active in Boy Scouts, am an Eagle Scout, and patrol method and "boy run" are deeply part of my understanding of Scouting, particularly as I spent several years running our council's Troop Leadership Development/Training programs. As I took on the job as CM, I knew my place, because I was essentially taking my all time favorite job in Scouting, I was getting to be the Senior Patrol Leader, and relive my youth. Although I only served briefly as an adult with Boy Scouts, I know that in that role there is someone else that has that job. Late last spring, just as my boys were getting set to transition into Webelos, I had them, completely on their own, work to come up with a den name. In the weeks that followed I left it to them to determine which activity badges we would work on and when, making sure they knew what was required. They've also been making decisions on the other activities they want to do. Among the parents, we've rotated around the role of "counsellor" for the activity badges, so it is not up to the parent when the requirements for the activity badges are met. When they satisfy the counsellor, then they are done. It will be interesting to see how they do as they move into Boy Scouts, but I know that my role is to let my boy find his own way, with his patrol, and with the Scoutmaster. I know my boy can read and follow the directions in his Scout Handbook on his own, without my involvement. Certain I will help my own boy to develop skills and mastery, but he'll get pointed to his patrol leader for working his way through the process. If a boy is not ready to have a conversation with a Scoutmaster when that is what is required, then he is just not ready. It's okay, because eventually he'll get ready.

The charts irritate me to no end. When I was 14, just back from Philmont, 6'6" tall, skinny, without anything that could be considered fat, I fell into the obese category on the charts. That was 1976, so you can imagine where I fall on the charts now, thirty-some years later. Something doesn't compute correctly when they get to tall people.

There's a new Whisperlite now that I just picked up (I've been needing a better stove), and it's called the Universal. On the whole, I really don't like a canister stove for backpacking, but particularly with the occasional restrictions on liquid fuels associated with Scouts, it is nice having the option. It features all the best of the International in that it can burn about anything, and now can even convert to canister fuels. I've tried burning it both ways, and I like it.

I love this thread. The very best stories from all our adventures come from the disasters - of course! As a Scout in the '70's I remember a great trip where the Navy took us on those beach-landing craft across the Chesapeake Bay to a beach at Kiptopeke on the Eastern Shore. It just so happened that a hurricane was on its way, and where we were was not really the best place to be in those conditions. All the tents, both adults and youth, except one, had been flattened by the winds, and I think there was at least a patrol of us all in that one 2-person pup tent. There were boys sitting on the beach under their ponchos. This was the only campout in my entire Scouting experience as a youth that was called for the weather - every other month for those years I camped. When my now 18yo daughter was just 2yo, with her mother, we were camping all around the country. Near Carlsbad NM we were hearing reports of severe thunder storms and tornados. We pulled into a State or National Park campground somewhere there early so we could make sure to get set up before lots of rain. I staked everything out really well, blew up the air beds(we use those for car camping), and pretty much had everything set before the rain started. We ended up having a light dinner in the tent, since it was still early, and we had planned some games. But then the water started to rise, 1", then 2", then 4", then 6" or more. Apparently we had managed to set up in a flash flood zone. So technically, that wasn't a night in a tent, but a night in the front seat of an old Isuzu Trooper. I've got lots more disaster stories, but I survived them all, and they tend to make for the best and most funny stories - so I wouldn't trade them in for something boring!!

The thing I hate about trying to sleep in a hammock is that I barely sleep and I feel in the morning like I've been folded into a pretzel. I need to be able to straighten myself out, and I'm not able to get comfortable folded into a hammock.

I know that at the National Capital Area council Scout Camp Goshen they do not have a pool, but they have multiple camps and swim areas on the lake all the way around it. When I was a kid doing the mile swim, the first half mile was swimming up river on the James River, and that was a killer. Doing Lifesaving and Scout Lifeguard on that river was crazy with the current. Going down to lift something heavy and then getting it back to the starting point I still remember as an incredibly difficult thing. I was one of those kids that if I was completely motionless, I sank like a rock. Even now, though I have quite a lot more padding, if I stay very long without moving I start to sink.

The answer to my wife is always: "You look beautiful." True, regardless of what she's wearing.

We were moving and in transaction, so we didn't get started with our Pack until the end of January, and by then there was only one other Tiger and the den leader. Even though I am an Eagle, I knew nothing about Cub Scouts, so I didn't even try to get involved as a leader. I ended up the Wolf DL the next year, and by late spring I was the CM as well. My first year as CM, I put the Tiger parents that decided to be DL's through the same kind of things you are experiencing now. No one liked it, and it wasn't right My second year I did something very different. Although I work with my son's den as a Webelos Den Leader and serve as CM, I decided it was more important to work with the Tigers to get things going right. I got other Web parents to step up, and for the first 3 or 4 meetings after our fall Join Scouting Night I was the acting Tiger Den Leader. I think this worked amazingly well, since the Tiger Den is supposed to work on a shared leadership concept, and I could get that working right from the beginning. They knew that I wouldn't be staying long term and would have to take over. They knew they could do this because I had different ones take the meeting plans right out of the book, and three different parents ran those three meetings after the first one I did. Tiger den can be so very much fun, and I was completely nuts with them, knew all their names, and they had a personal connection to me in connection to the whole pack. The parents were all eager to help, got involved, and created the rest of the Tiger year. By the time I got back to my Web. I den, the boys all had Citizenship Activity Badge, so those parents stepped up as well, even registering as den leaders. It's been a great year, and I know I will do it all again this year. I may even continue to do it after I'm a Boy Scout leader in my son's troop, because it is so much fun, and because it is so vitally important to new Scouts and their parents as they kick off this journey, and just as an act of service. I hope I'll have the time to do it.

As ASPL, you are essentially the patrol leader of the Leadership Corps, correct? Thats the TGs and other staff positions. Instead of YOU spending a great deal of time coming up with stuff, spend more time working with your "patrol" to develop what you want to do. That's where your ideas will be. I haven't staffed WB (yet), but long ago I was a regular staff member for our council's Troop Leadership Development course (later TLT, then Brownsea II, then TLTC), and served as ASPL, and a couple years as SPL. What I always wanted from the Leadership Corps was that they were to be the ultimate perfection in what is a Scout patrol, and that in itself was often the comedy of it. Perfect uniforms in every way, absolutely identical. When travelling together as a "patrol," we'd march in line, in step, singing outrageously loudly. Ideal Scout Spirit. Something to try, if your opening ceremony is precisely at 7AM, for example, practice timing to work out coming from completely across the parade grounds or from a distance, in formation, singing rediculously loudly, getting completely in correct position (and quiet), just seconds before 7AM. Throws everyone off!! Also, there are countless run-ons that can be used that are fun, interesting, do a good job of getting the SPL flustered, and take only seconds. Find them online.

Tiger, Wolves, and Bears have den names. The Webelos don't, because the way I see it they can choose their own den name, much like a Boy Scout patrol chooses a name. So, after they had earned their Bear badge, toward the end of the school year, I had them work together to come up with a den name they liked. They became the Thunder Snakes, and when they bridged from Bear to Webelos they also got a den emblem that we ordered for them. The AOL guys have bridged, and the Thunder Snakes are the oldest boys left. For one thing, they will be helping out at the bridging ceremony (beginning of June, bridging into their next rank, new neckerchiefs, etc.), taking part in the process, but they will also be getting one of the Scout coins - I don't remember which one I got them.

Lisabob, I am very glad that during my time in Scouting, during the late '70's, that it was men who were the leaders in Boy Scout troops. I don't think a kid can have too many loving and caring adults to look out for him or her, so I am appreciative of all the men and women that decide to be leaders in Scouting. At the same time, I think there are great advantages during the Boy Scouting years for these boys to step into a community of men. Cross-culturally, all through history, there were rites of passage for boys to step away from "mother," away from some of the shelter of their family, and they typically did this by stepping into a community of men. These rites of passage have been virtually eliminated in our society, and in my opinion it is a large part of the reason we end up with far too many emotionally stunted men. Look around for men with emotional maturity beyond a 5 year old (and I'm not talking age or size or education and knowledge), and there just aren't that many. I'm sure there are plenty of fully capable women in any Scouting skills, but my call is that what a boy needs most at this age is the thing no woman can provide - and that's how to be a man. I guess when it got to the point where there aren't enough willing me, then women stepped in to pick up the slack. I've just seen that the dynamics of an activity change dramatically when there are women present. That may be okay, but it definitely isn't the same, and it may not be what's best for the boy. Anyway, I've spent a lot of time studying and learning about being a man, what I'd call men's work, books like "Iron John" and "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover" by Gillette and Moore, and lot's more. I've related the aspects of Scouting and my Scouting experiences to the development of men. I appreciate programs like Boys-To-Men that connect to the value of the community of men concept. It appears there may be no putting the genie back in the bottle for Scouting, and I know many incredible women in Scouting, but I'll keep exploring the things involved in the development of men, particularly since I have a son soon entering the fray (he's finishing up Web I now), so we'll see.

I don't care how you measure, I don't believe it is possible in any way for a group of Web I boys, currently in 4th grade, to meet the first requirement for earning their Arrow of Light by June (unless all of their 10th birthdays were last fall): 1. Be active in your Webelos den for at least six months since completing the fourth grade (or for at least six months since becoming 10 years old), and earn the Webelos badge. I'm also a Cubmaster, as well as being a den leader for our Web I boys (including my son). I don't see Scouting as a race. Is it an advantage to put boys that have just finished 4th grade into a Boy Scout troop? I'd much rather see them have some time as the big shots in the Pack for a while. I was even thinking to have them "visit" the den meetings of the younger boys to teach or help with something they learned when they were younger. As the "senior" boys in the Pack it seems reasonable to do. Like in September come in and help the new Tigers earn their Bobcat. Later a bike safety workshop for the Wolves, Whittling Chip workshop for the Bears. It would give them something productive to plan and do together, increase their value in the Pack, and give them experience in the interactions between boys of different grades and ages that they'll see in Boy Scouts. Some of our previous crops of Webs were actually rude to the younger boys, and on the whole in our society, the kids in higher grades look down their noses at the kids in younger grades. Out in the work force we work with all different ages, our friends may be all different ages, and we may not even find it strange to have supervisors or managers that are much younger than us. The idea of 5th graders harrassing 1st and 2nd graders becomes rediculous when taken in the right context. Of course there is the same problem with the 10th and 11th graders not being fair with the new Scout 5th and 6th graders. So I think of what I want to do with my Web II den as introduction to leadership, and we'll see how it plays out.

Make sure they have campouts planned every month. Have them plan what they want to do during the campouts - hanging out is okay. Don't YOU be setting up hikes or anything else. If you are camping someplace that has hikes (State Park, etc.), make sure your boy leaders know about it, but don't push anything.

What we need is more Scouts becoming the next Bechtels, then we could see purchased other great locations for Scouting adventure, right? My guess if we take a look at the population "center" of the country, the location in WV is not too far off. They did put the center of our nation's government right here where you'd fly into for coming to the Summit, so what's the deal with the location - it is not like it's a place you'd be coming every year. In a Scouting career, age 14 to 18 (when eligible for the Jamboree), there is only one chance to attend the Jamboree as a youth since the event only happens once per 4 years. So what difference does it make that the Jamboree is held in only one location - it is always a new location for the boys eligible to go. If the location rotated, and during my eligible time the Jamboree was across the country, that is still the only opportunity to go as a youth participant.