anarchist

Cajuncody/nldscout the brown shoes HAVE to be Buster Brown shoes!

could it be more dollars for BSA???? by the by OUR WEBELOS HATE THE HAT!

District exec?? Council? exec?? what are they??? heck the only time we here from council/district is when they want money...FOS etc...although we have seen a district comm., recently...'course he used to be our CC so he drops by to chat on the way home...

Most council shops accept fax orders and phone orders...if you are "wired" should be no problem faxing orders... If you are in charge of the awards (in our pack) advancement keeps records but I purchase and 'keep' the awards I have a great kit I carry to all pack meetings. I have a traveling scout shop! I decided 12 years ago to set up my kit to avoid a problem I kept seeing. At each Pack meeting they would call 'Little Johnnie or Sam' up for his award and the CubM. would shake his hand and the advancement lady would say 'lost in the mail', out of stock' or sorry... back ordered and I didn't think it was right! There were also lots of; "My son just finished last night can he get_____" I donated to the pack a large double sided fishing tackle box by Plano. It is perfect for the little canisters photo film comes in. On each canister we taped paper copies of the award in question; wolf, bear, webelos, each webelos activity pin, compass points, rank pins, year pins, even safty pins and uniform buttons. There is also a 'bin' area for keeping larger patches some award ribbons and other stuff...It did cost a bit (investment?)to set up, but it could be 'done' over time it keep the expense managable. We do not keep a large stock just a few of each award. In nearly 11 years NO BOY IN OUR PACK has had to wait for his award due to an adult screw up! And it is great! just an idea... good luck

A friend once told me "Unfortunately for most of us humans we judge with our eyes (heart?) not with our ears (brain?)" a weird quote, I know, but we tend to 'disciminate' frequently by visual and physical 'cues' but we often fail to really 'listen' to the persons we are makeing judgements upon. We 'like' the appearance or way someone 'has about them' but we fail to really look deep and listen to the real message. One of my best friends in scouting is short and 'heavy' poorly educated and does not speak well and generally 'presents' himself ..er ah...poorly... (like me he could put on a $1,000 designer suit and in ten minutes you would think it came off the rack from K-MART). BUT THE MAN LOVES SCOUTING, and kids...he was my eldest sons DL and gave so much of himself that 6 of eight of his webelos got all activity pins and today...4 out of the eight have completed requirements for Eagle -just waiting on the paperwork...(could someone prod my son though!) I have found that you have to really listen to 'adult leader prospects' to have even the smallest of clue and even then situations change..We had a dad come in years ago, who had been the Cub Master in his Pack and we KNEW he was gonna be our next SM...then his son dropped scouting...go figure! lesson? If any thing try not to judge (I know its fun!) just hope and lend a hand when ever possible!

macpack... one more thing...review, before you commit to a 'plan', the weight of these things... the 30-32 inch boxes are heavy; the 40 inch boxes are a bear! With the 40 incher, the boys are carrying the weight of a full 4X8 sheet of 3/4 ply...plus whatever gear/food you put in it...we have two of them...they are great(!)... and are now 'Adult' kitchens. It takes 4 small boys to horse a full one up high enough put the legs in. Most of ours (we have 6 others) are the first two types on SemperParatus' web site...don't get me wrong... we love our patrol boxes, but lots of folks are going a different route...check the forum and meditate on it....(and I love how some of our guys 'personalize' their patrol boxes!)

SemperParatus as usual gave you great info... And as much as I love chuck boxes you might want to check out several threads in these forums about alternatives. Our troop uses these things a couple of time a month and they are great but options do exist...so before you jump in a shorten a few fingers, spend time and money on something you may later not like... give the alternatives some thought..

and remember its only one hour a week.... jw_elder77 your getting in the same way I got back in...12 years ago....

Not only give him the badge soon, at the next Pack meeting celebrate it! Make a big deal of it...We also use the BSA immediate recognition kit system ...the beads give the boys a lot of motivation to complete the rank requirements (if "Chris has four beads ...I'm gonna earn five!" really works!). If on of the boys wants to wear his patch before the pack meeting he can and we 'award' him the 'mothers pin' and his card at the Pack meeting. Rank awards are done separate from activity pins, belt loops and arrow points, unless the arrow points are awarded the same night as the rank...so that 'rank' patches are 'special'. AND TAKE/MAKE TIME at the pack meetings to let the boys know that their hard work is appreciated! Its , in my opinion, the main reason for Pack meetings.

Our dens meet weekly, Our pack monthly, and we hold one hike at the fist of the school year, two to three family campouts, rocket launch, pinewood, rain gutter regatta a twenty mile bike ride (almost all down hill) and a bon fire as a Pack. I hate to say it... the secret to more 'activities' is the DL not the Cub Master...If your DL's are not going to do it it will be tough. If you can get them to look at the program and find ways to do thing outside great. You may want to look at the rank program and ask for a few specifics...visit certain things/sites, do field trips etc...if you/your committee do not set a goal, no one will make the grade. Most of our DLs hand down their material as they 'move up' but some of the DL's are just taking up space...but unless you have a replacement DL you are up a creek... Get your committee and DL's together and try to pump them up for a more active program...if you have or can make one, a great DL sometimes causes the others to get embarrassed and start improving. Your WEBELOS DLs should all have WELOT training and be strongly encouraged to get the boys outside for any activity pin that makes an outing possible. Rising Bears and Webelos 'I' should go to summer camp if at all possible and most of the pack should be encouraged to do day camp if your council/district has them.... its never easy but it can be rewarding good luck

teabags???I think that's what they do with the horse apples I toss out back...put it in bags! Tea is only good if it is cut with captain morgans water. LeVoyageur...is your hudson bay bread my Bannock??? iron pan produced???

Advancement_Lady, Opportunity knocking here... loudly! www.acanet.org American Canoe association you might want to contact them for a list of trainers in your area, may even have classes if you have lots of boating places around! Otherwise, make early contact with an outfitter and see if you can arrange canoe classes two half day sessions should work to put the boys on an easy flat water river... You could do an April training session(s) depending on temps and move right into a May river trip...leaders and 'families' going along should take training also.... final option could be to see if your council summercamp would let you come in in april or May to train (make sure you have a set of trainers along with you)in their canoes before your first trip... but please let the troop leaders know that a bad time on the river even without an injury (or worse) is not good. One of my youngest sons best friends in our troop was dumped in a rapids when he was a rising new scout,( his mother took him along 'cause she wanted to go),This was a family type not scout trip... He did not know a bit about real canoeing, he was wearing a PFD, it was low water in summer (thigh deep-easy to stand up in water) class 2 rapid, and he floated down 'text book perfect'...AND HAS NOT BEEN IN A CANOE SINCE...over four years now. This boy now stands 6'1" and weighs 195 lbs. and is afraid of canoes. Train them !Evaluate them! And don't put boys on the river who are not ready...take them to a commercial rafting place and let them do a small white water trip that way, if you must. Rememeber each event does not have to be for the whole troop! Make plans for multiple skill level outings...send younger/less ready boys fishing and hiking while the more skilled tackle the river... on lake canoeing...funny as it may sound, a slow river is easier for newbies than a lake. On the lake, the canoe must be propelled and controled by the boys not just 'directed'or controled as can be done on many rivers. You may find that younger boys have an easier (more fun) time with kayaks than canoes. I find smaller boys need growing time to be comfortable in canoes and spend much of their time going around in circles (literally). go carefully, go slow! good luck

ehcalum, Sometimes training may not be needed but it can still be helpfull. As a Committee Memeber, the SM fundimentals and outdoor training was not required for my position, perhaps not even needed...(I never stopped camping after scouts... through college and into adulthood)I was even asked to come back and staff the next outdoor training class... but it put me into the mix of things with new SMs and ASMs and helped me make contacts and friends I might never have made... A refresher never hurts and the new contacts can be worth their weight in coffee!

Most Coucils have a need-based two or three page application. (basically to determine if the finacial need is real or the family just wants to spend their money on sports camps and $300 game systems). Many troops and some packs have smaller programs for members only again with an application system or letter. Our troop has a policy of seeing to it that money is not what keeps a boy from scouting...however, since we are working with Boy Scouts not Cubs there are strings (ropes) attached. NO BOY IS GIVEN ANYTHING. HE WORKS FOR IT. Several of our committee members have made a financial committment with the troop that they will find jobs, grass cutting, fence/barn painting, cleaning the church parking lot...something the boy can do to make enough money to get to camp. This year I will be paying for a boy to go to camp and I have to find something meaningful for him to do...my sons painted the barn last year so I am having to really think about this... This boys family is not poor but they are just getting by and he has 6 siblings so money for 'extras' is short. The point is with our campership program we are hoping to help the boy pay his own way so he will not think he is beholden to anyone...he earned it (sort of) but check with the local Council...many also have programs to provide partial uniforms to scouts in need...

new-cub-mom, you've gotten some good leads here, many councils and districts heck even troops and packs have helping hand programs for 'funding problems'. I am fresh out of uniforms but this will work. Make contact with the Scout Master of BOY SCOUT TROOP your Cub Pack 'feeds' into...your Cub Master should be able to hook you up fast. SIMPLY ASK the SM to put the word out to his Boy Scout Parents that a Cub uniform is needed and I'll bet you get two! Many parents put them away and forget about them...but I found several for another pack JUST BY ASKING... To answer your retorical question about the expense of scouting... n-c-m, scouting is not free...very little that is worthwhile is free. This is a good place to start with your son, he can help. Set up a scouting jar...explain that part of scouting is working for what he wants not just 'getting it' and when he has some birthday money or finds a dime or a quarter on the street, it, or part of it, should go into the jar...My wife (a school teacher) had a cub scout at her school start collecting aluminium cans at school. They let him place a large trash can in the lunch room and the teachers lounge and once a week he would collect the bags of cans and take them to the recycling center...with his moms help for transport he made about $7.00 a week selling cans. My dad, and by no means were we well off, used to play a 'game' with me on saving for things when we would go to Macdonalds for a burger. I always wanted a cheese burger...it cost 5 cents more than a plain burger. He would offer to put the nickle in my jar if I could accept the burger...instead of the cheeseburger...was I willing to take part of the 'burden' so to speak?...do without something to get something else I wanted? (in this case a new bike)...It did work with me at least... But, just don't let it get you down, ask around, Boy Scouting parents are generally the best you will find...but do make contact with Boys Scouts not other cubs...they rarely have old uniforms or two uniforms, they buy them big and wear them long....you might say that the Boys Scouts is the mother lode for old uniforms....Contact the district to put the word out at round table...it can work...just by asking. good scouting!

We to a shakedown each year for our new scout patrols and instuctors only. While we do work on many tenderfoot sign offs, we spend a lot of time on the patrol method, patrol cooking, set up/take down of camp and care of equipment and games. PM me an email address and I'll send you some of our past schedules

Advancement_Lady, not meaning to rain on the parade, cause you have gotten good solid advice here...I would make some cautions however for you to think about... 1. has anyone in your unit 'done' this river in the past...is is easy, or difficult?...a bad experience can 'kill' a scouts interest in canoeing...if they are not ready (and the younger scouts really can't answer this question) you don't want to put them on a river they are not physically or mentally ready to run. 2. Have they had any canoe training? If this is not a flat water river, take care putting scouts on a trek they might not want to finish...I once came upon a scout group on the river after a "dump and canoe pin"...after we helped them free the boat they were forced to camp on the shore right there...cause on of the boys was so frightened they could not talk him back into the boat...and a walkout would require more daylight than was left! Some rivers are like a lake float only better... you don't even have to paddle, some with mild rapids and livery services can be done by anyone...but some easy rivers are just too taxing for young scouts...we feel it is better to have the smaller, less skillful, less physically ready boys wait a bit and look forward to their first canoe trip, rather than to putting them untrained and unready on a river and perhaps ruining canoeing for them in the future. I do flat water training for any of our new scouts desiring to go on our trips and I find that almost 100% of the new scout crop can not handle a boat even with three 'days'(four hours of stoke training and practice per day) of flatwater training without an adult (or older scout) actually running the boat...they sit in the front and pretend to paddle... I have watched new (small) scouts nearly in tears because they can not get a canoe to run straight, and/or not have the stamina to paddle up stream (ferry) to get across a river. In our troop we require parents to go along if the younger scouts want to participate in the canoe trips deemed too tough for newer scouts. In all cases the 'Trek leader' can elect not to allow a scout who in the trek leaders mind is not ready to go along...sounds harsh but on the rivers we run it is a long way out if you have to leave the river...and we do several easy canoe activities (helps to have your own boats)so they have other oportunities... And remember, every event does not have to be for every scout...you need to have events for the young guys and events for the older guys...because when the boys have 40-50 nights camping ,several summer camps under their belts and a few wild hairs... just going over to the campgrounds for yet another campfire doesn't 'do it' for them. And the younger boys should have things to dream about and work towards.... good paddling and tight lines!

fibre glass acts as a wick, a wick that keeps the fire/heat evenly dispersed rather than flickering back and forth. Several of these home made stoves -add a top (usually a soda can)with many, many small holes like a propane stove holder to distribute flame...check the web sites.

That is how we do it. Our church/CO almost always has "Scout Sunday" a week late...works out nicely actually....

Welcome to insanity central! fasten your seat belt and keep you hands inside the car its a heck of a ride! Good question...and no it is not too much to ask of the den leaders,in fact I don't know of any packs that have monthly "PACK EVENTS" outside of the pack meetings...BLUE AND GOLD, Pinewood,rain gutter etc, Our Troop does at least two troop District events per month but Our Pack (I'm ACM) does four per year...a battlefield hike, couple of Family Camps and a Picnic...Dens do most of the activities... for exactly the reason you have picked up on!

actually the micro thin rust inhibitor on the steel wool is what burns, but no stell wool would not work for this... You may be able to subitute several wicks from oil/alcohol lamps, or kero heaters...You need to 'install' around edges with ends 'up' (thats what makes the fibreglass so nice...stands on its own! Could also try sand...you have lots of it...means more fuel to keep the sand moist but it may work (sand works with gasoline...if you are careful...very careful...but that should not be a scout project) wonder if you just got lots of canvas cut into strips and wound around inside the can...might have to 're-canvas' for each use but may work.... let us know how you do

acco40 web site can be both. Ours has general information and scouting links in the public area and troop only stuff... schedules, forms, info etc. on a pass word protected area. Seems to be working really well. We also have an associated email site on the same server to allow anyone to email the adult leaders and if necessary the troop parents with just two addresses...but we are beginning to get bounce backs as folks increase their spam filters.

SemperParatus- good web site but it comes nowhere near the objective or subjective truth of world history... all of the old testament wars were religious, some examples are not even part of wars...the arabization of the middle east, southern Europe and Africa, spanish inquistion, etc. even in most of the wars noted, religion played a large part in demonizing the 'other' side. But that was not the real point...religion is a very dangerous topic and needs to be handled with lots and lots of tempered 'turning the other cheek' type toerance around the old campfire. God willing.

At many of our camporees cooks roll out at 6:15 (depending on what they are serving)SPL and PL's decide this) most boys are rolled out at 7AM... As chief cook for the adults (at many events) I have the percolator preloaded and on the stove when I hit the sack. Morning comes for me at 6 (usually) and I roll out, fire up the stove, put on a water pot (cocoa and cleaning water) and start the charcoal (if needed)... then head to the head....where is that dratted newspaper!

EagleInKy?? Most of our CM's have UNIFORMS...are we unusual? A good number of them (our CM's) could step in as ASM's tomorrow, Many of us have taken SM fundimentals as well as the Committee challenge. We (as a troop) do not use SM/ASM's for BoRs so having a large uniformed corps of CM's is important to hold BoRs which reflect (to the scouts) the importance and honor of the proceeding..."not just a bunch of parent sitting around". Our CM's include many 'life for lifers' and three Eagles (last two CC's were Eagles). We also feel in is important for the CM's to understand the scouting program, participate in camping and what know what the 'program' side is trying to do so that we can be sure "THE COMMITTEE" does it's job rather than try to second guess 'program' and the PLC. Do other troops handle this differently?