gtscouter

The parents committee meets tomorrow. Based on what I'm learning, I'll suggest we do the camping and canoeing at a lake in May and get everyone trained. Then perhaps we can put the float together for June as a summer activity. Maybe that would even allow us to float on a weekday when the rivers are less crowded and the rentals are cheaper. This is is so true. I took a group of boys on a bike rally and the older boys got way ahead and got off the course at some point. Luckily we had radios! The safety afloat training really stresses supervision. If we postpone the float until we have enough parents trained and available to supervise the trip, I think we'll be better off. The rivers under consideration for the float are the Huzzah, Gasconade, and Niangua. Although if we are talking about a summer float, we could choose a river that is a greater distance from home, such as the "Ozark National Scenic Riverways" which inclues the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers. I think it will be a lot of fun too, but it's better to do it right!! Thanks Beav, John, for your guidance.

We are a Missouri based troop/crew. If the event is open to the whole troop, we will have kids of ages 11 and up. If we restrict it to crew members, we'll have only high schoolers. The trip will be in early May. There are several beginner's level floating rivers in the region. But, the whole idea is starting to concern me, the more I learn. I am now seriously thinking that instead of a true "float" on a river, I should suggest we camp at a summer camp property that has a lake and practice skills that way. All these kids have qualified as swimmers at summer camp last year. So, at least we have that covered. However, we also have to get adults qualified as swimmers, safety afloat, and address the paddling skills. The whole 9 yards! A lot to accomplish for the boy and adult adviser in charge in 2.5 months.

You are confirming what I was thinking. Perhaps going through the skills outlined in the MB and then creating some kind of test of knowledge. I don't know how successful it will be to demonstrate the skills on land, but I don't anticipate we'll have access to water before the trip. I discovered there is an online tutorial for Safety Afloat and Safe Swim. That will be helpful too.

I'll be visiting NH this summer with my two sons, one a Life Scout, one a Wolf Cub. We plan to stay in the White Mountains. We're aware of the typical tourist attractions. Any tips for moderately adventuresome visitors? We'll be close to Lincoln, Franconia, etc. We won't be camping this visit, but we are looking for a place to take a canoe or kayak trip too.

Can anyone tell me what is meant by a "basic handling test" in Section 6 of Safety Afloat? I don't think it's defined anywhere. How might our Crew carry out training in basic handling skills in anticipation of a float trip by canoe? The alternative is 3 hours of "training and supervised practice" which I don't think is achievable before this event occurs, unless each scout has already completed the canoing merit badge.

Here's an update. I agree that I am disappointed that the complaining parents don't/didn't approach the leader themselves. I don't want to create a mob scene, so I'm not going to have all parents get together. One parent is the Assistant Den Leader for this Den. So, I spoke to her and asked if she and her husband were open to contacting Den Leader and his wife for a "one on one". Suggested that she keep the conversation focused only on her son and his experiences with the Den. In this way it is not a "she said, he said" type of approach. Then the hope is that if the Leader gets feedback from the one set of parents, he might alter his approach and this would benefit the whole Den. We will not get rid of this leader. As one of the posters said, he is probably better suited to working with Troop/Crew. This guy is a Silver Beaver award winner and the whole nine yards in Scouting. He's done a lot for our pack. Maybe he's just frustrated with this group. Or maybe he doesn't realize that not everyone is going to take Scouting as seriously as he does. That's something I run into from time to time in other Leaders too. I hope things improve. I am concerned that his attitude will turn boys away from moving on to our Troop. The Cubmaster (new this year too) and I are doing our best to reassure the parents. Thanks for input so far. I don't know if I used the "2 Deep" terminology correctly. I think, however, that one parent should not have the boys alone for a Den meeting, correct?? This is our usual Pack policy.

I am a newly appointed Committee Chair and have immediately been hit with complaints about one of our Den Leaders. This leader happens to be a former cubmaster and a very active member of BSA in our area. He can be very abrasive. He recently confronted the boys (9-yr olds) directly about why they lacked the commitment to go on the upcoming pack camp out, for example. He didn't let the boys make S'mores at the spring camporee with the other den from our pack. These types of things upset both the boys and their parents. In addition, the parents tell me the den did not hold regular den meetings last year and held other meetings without 2-deep leadership. Overall the boys are not having fun at den meetings, but enjoy the rest of the Cub Scout program. I really want to keep the boys in the pack and move them on to Boy Scouts in '08. Right now the den has shrunk from 13 boys to 4 in the last two years. One family went so far to move their son to another pack. I talked to the Cubmaster about having a "sit down" with the Den Leader, but we're not sure what we're going to tell him! Anybody gone through this before??