AnnLaurelB

TURTLE FOR THE *WIN*!!! Mimosas during the first portion would NOT come amiss, either! :0)

Thanks for the correction! :0)

I think we're onto something! I think Basement Dweller's list is pretty good; yes, it could go on forever, but BD's list addresses some of the basic baffling stuff when you're new to camping. I would say the "on and on" list COULD be passed out as a hand-out to copy off to hand to parents. Bug spray, etc... Someone mentioned having Boy Scouts at the Baloo training to demonstrate stuff. May I recommend that it would be AWESOME if when people arrive at Baloo (especially noobs, as I was), that there be a little area all set up? It could have a tarp, a tent (NOT pitched yet), a folding table (appropriate for setting a camp stove upon), a lantern pole, a lantern, a cooler, a bottle of propane, a shovel, a little stack of kindling, etc... If everyone registering for "B(ASIC)ALOO" who files past it already KNOWS what to do with it all, and claims proficiency, then GLORY HALLELUJAH! Let's debate YP vs 2D and whether Water Buffalos and Port-o-Lets really count as "running" water for Cubbies. But if someone like ME (as someone previous described as from a very small Pack with NO other adults willing to be campmaster) with no experience, say, changing out lantern manifolds, shows up, a lovely and talented Boy Scout can lead the noobs through the basics while everyone else compared Dutch oven recipes. I would have been THRILLED to have someone show me how to light those darned things ahead of time.

Ooooh! Ooooh! (name that t.v. character) Scoutfish touched on what I was trying to say; that AS a noob, it would have been nice if they had maybe ASKED, "So, where are you?" That's all I'm saying. Kind of like if you have a new kid join in November, he's gonna hafta get his Bobcat before he can do anything else. A checklist: CAN you pitch a tent? HAVE you lit a propane device? etc... ANYWAY, here's what I thought of, too: I wish they would have mentioned some things to do outdoors during the down times. The times when the adults are either exhausted, or have to focus on something else for 1/2 hour. Like if something goes wrong with supper prep. (NOT THAT I WOULD KNOW!) I saw other Packs who had set up a shade tent with some tables and they had some sort of craft kit to keep the boys' hands busy. And a supervising adult could SIT DOWN while they did it. THAT was a great idea! And make sure someone brings a soccer ball. Or 6. Not every boy can throw/catch a football (yet), and not every boy can throw/catch a frisbee, but they can ALL kick the stuffing out of a soccer ball. And you can use it for a TON of different games, not just soccer. However, I saw some Packs at Cub-O-Ree who passed out some *impossible* schedules of events for their boys. I was exhausted just LOOKIN' at 'em! I would say to new campmasters that we can never underestimate the fun of simply running around banging things with sticks. I did a scavenger hunt with some odd things on it. I brought an old Pinewood scale and included a paper lunch sack with their lists. They had to bring me 1/2 pound of ...something... Didn't matter what. Just whatever they thought 1/2 pound of something was. Dirt, rocks, pinecones, sticks. It was fun to see what they brought, and how close to 8 ounces they each got. Ooooh! Again! It WAS very helpful when they told us to tuck the tarps UNDER the edge of the tents, so if it rained, the water wouldn't run between the tent and the tarp, soaking the floor. If you tuck the tarp UNDER the edge, the water runs into the ground, more, and mostly under the *tarp*, not your sleeping bag. Very helpful. Not that I know about camping in the rain, or anything...no. Not at all.

Oh, we've been and done and survived already. We're up for Camping Trip Number Four in June. Live and learn. And someone who has never been camping CAN lead a camp out; I have the t-shirt to prove it. No one ended up with stitches, no one got poisoned, no one got lost, no one tumbled into the flames, and a good time was had by all. It was just...um... a bit dark because the manifolds on the lanterns were blown. But we had flashlights. And I had to cut that damn zipper-overflap on MY tent because my kid zipped the zipper into it irrevocably. But, it would have just been NICE if someone had given me some basic pointers. The QUESTION, you know, was "What do you wish you had been told at BALOO?" If the training IS supposed to be 7 or 8 hours, then YES! They COULD have spent 12 1/2 minutes on lighting options. But WHATEVER you decide to teach, the tampon-shaped rolled-paper string-tied wax-dipped fire-starters were WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION, just for the laughs!!! :0) (They should have told me to not poke bears with sticks, but...I just can't resist!)

Okay, but... *lacking* the "basic skill set," as you call it, wouldn't I assume something called BASIC Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation might *just might* GIVE me the BASICS? Or am I expecting too much? And I guess my point was that the one I went to DID cover a lot of things which weren't specific to being outdoors. I KNOW how to look up ghost stories. And TWO HOURS?!? Mine was like 8 am - 1 pm!(This message has been edited by annlaurelb)(This message has been edited by annlaurelb)

Well, in my case, what they had was a newly appointed CM who had ~never been camping before~. So, no. When I took my Scout Hut key and pulled the camping locker out, and opened it, and pulled out a Coleman lantern with NO instructions (and blown manifolds), I'm afraid I didn't know the first thing about lighting it, let alone servicing it. I thought the "B" in BALOO stood for... *sigh* I'm lame, sorry.

OMG. Now that you mention it, "How To Change The Manifolds On A Coleman Lantern" would have been EXTREMEMLY helpful. And also how to light the thing in the first place, of which I was ignorant until I had to try to light one. With blown manifolds.

I have a Wolf Cub... and a teenage girl. Depending on the audience, the title of this thread can go WAAAAAY different! ;0)

Oh. And tent repair. That would have been useful last month.

How NOT to end up under the table, wheezing helplessly with laughter with my tablemates after they had us make rolled-newspaper-wax-dipped-string-tied-tampon-shaped "fire starters". After that, it was just pretty much all downhill for me.

I LOVE these! They look very comfortable! I would need a Cubbie one for my boy for at least his Bear year, but heck, *I* want one for myself (CM). I might yet decide to wield that seam ripper, but I'm not known for my sewing skills. Thanks for the info, both of you!

REALLY?!? Wow, whoda thunk it? Interesting. We live in the South, and the boys (especially mine) get uncomfortable with their collars AND their neckers all up around their necks. I love the neckers (partly because it helps me identify who's where from the back). But collarless shirts (*ahem*) at least for MY kid if I find them, would be sooo much more comfortable! I didn't know that was allowed! Thanks for the info. Although now I'll probably be all irritated when I can't find one... ;0)

THREAD BUMP!! Oh, now I'm just goin *lookin* fer trouble, aren't I? ;0) But... Collarless shirt?!? Who? Where? How do I get them?

LOL! You didn't *have* to look that up, though, didja? (*runs away*) In which case I think we as Scouters should observe it every year. That, and International Talk Like A Pirate Day, which is fantastic!

I made fake cannonballs for my son's "Pirate" birthday party. RECYCLE! We can throw those at each other. Great fun! But the other idea the sock thing made me think of is you could do multi-balloon volleyball. Even grandpas in wheelchairs can do that! (Blow up a lot of balloons, toss them in the middle of some sort of boundary (tape on floor, tables, etc...) and the two teams have to bat the balloons onto the other team's side. After time is called, count the balloons on each side.

(*does a little happy dance at JoeBob's link*) I had NO idea how I was going to teach the WC to muh Bears next year! Thanks!!

I hereby move that every May the 4th be, if possible, bad Star Wars Joke day in Cub Scouting.

So I had a LENGTHY conversation with a CC from another Pack, who has held about every title there is in Cub Scouts. My Pack has done just about everything backwards, with the excuse of "Well, it's small. It's just what you have to do." But...if they insist that I do the Spring and Fall recruiting (which I will do with full trumpets and regalia if that's what they want), what if I triple the size of the Pack by Sept? GLORY HALLELUJAH if I do, but then what's their excuse for NOT having a budget in place and NOT having a Trainer and NOT... blah, blah, blah... I was reassured by my CC friend that *I* am doing *MY* job as CM to the fullest extent that I am able, and they (the ghost committee members) *cannot* pawn off their responsibilities on me, try though they might. It is the CHARTER'S problem to staff this turkey, from soup to nuts (I'm nuts!). While I may point out likely candidates, it is basically the CC or the CORep's *JOB* to approach, interview, screen, register, oversee training, and install (with my *help*) ALL Adult Leaders. It does NOT fall to me, alone, which is how they've treated it all along. So I called up the pastor. He had no idea that they'd appointed the deposed CM as CC. He agreed with me that it was not appropriate ALTHOUGH at least it's not a direct-contact position. (However, he's a Cub PARENT, and he's AT everything, ANYWAY, so how do you PREVENT contact?) The pastor asked ME to "call a Committee meeting..." and I said, "Nope." I told him that THIS was part of the problem. I do NOT have the authority, I told him, to order the Committee around. He asked, "Well who IS in charge of the Committee?" I told him, "The church guy we can't get to show up to the meetings, whom YOU appointed at the get-go to get the Pack back in action. HE has the authority. HE is YOUR voice. HE needs to be in contact with the nutbucket newly appointed CC and keep him in line. HE is the helmsman. Not me." I think I scared him a little. But the upshot is he gathered the CORep and the new youth guy, and asked them if they understood that I was ONLY capable of fulfilling MY responsibilities, and if they couldn't hold up their end of the bargain, then they didn't HAVE a Pack. Those two guys STILL answered, "Well, what do you want us to do?" I said, "You know, if they don't KNOW, I can't tell them. THEY, as the COMMITTEE people have to call the powers that be (UC, DE, SOMEBODY in Scouting) and ask for direction. I can't tell them any more than is in the Leader guide for Committee members. Did they read that? Yeah, no they have NOT read it. Why don't you start there?" It was left with the idea that I will go into the school next Thursday, and do my darndest. At THAT meeting, no Den will be formed, and no Cubs registered without Adult Registrations in place. If that happens, then we go forward with the calendar that I've planned. If that does NOT happen, then all we REALLY have is MY OWN Wolf-soon-Bear Den, and we'll just take our ball and go elsewhere to play.

Our Dist Scout Exec TRIED to get our CORep to BE the CC, but he declined, his wife asking why IIIII (CM) couldn't be listed as CC. (Um...no, dear.) I think it *absolutely* has to do with getting that CORep TRAINED for his/her position! I called the pastor of the CO church and said, "Are you aware of _______?" He said he was not, and asked me if I could do thus-and-so. "Call a Committee meeing and tell them ________..." I said, "Nope. I am the dog-and-pony show, your cruise director, your master of ceremonies. But your man the CORep is the ONLY person (with your guidance) with the authority to do that. I suggest you insist that he do so. I think they were both sort of stunned when I insisted that I would not take the reins. Nope-nope-nope. But I can see where in other Packs you might have people trying to overstep their bounds, so there the guidelines come to play.

Sorry; didn't mean to derail. I'm just getting my Wolfies finished, and we'll get our whittlin chips next fall. I would have thought Ivory wouldn't work because of the air whipped into it. But the drying-out makes sense; I'll get them NOW, and lay them out in my linen closet! Thanks for the info! And to prove I CAN be on-topic, I know *exactly* what K1986 is talking about. We're also a Pack of 11, my Wolf-almost-Bears being MY Den, with 6 boys (1 my own). We have one parent-scout duo who have chased people further and further away all year. The adult is laid up with health problems, and while I hope she gets better, I also hope she and her problem kid don't come back. I agree that you and/or the CM need to approach this Cub-dad team and say, "Guess what?!? YOU'RE READY FOR THE TROOP! I've let the Scoutmaster know you'll be visiting their meeting; here's his number, and their time and place. Here's the BSA Youth App for your transfer. I've filled everything in for you; all you have to do is sign it and give it to the Scoutmaster. He'll explain everything to you from there. Gosh! It's been fun having you! Good luck!"

"Firefighter" Badge for the CM/AL who has to go around putting out fires started by other ALs or parents. Real fires or otherwise.

What kind of soap, please?

*LIGHTBULB*!! Our Pack is chartered by the church I happen to attend (how do you think I ended up CM???) :0) But only my Cub and 1 other attends there. The rest either *don't* attend, or go somewhere else. I might could offer a God & Me class on Sundays during Children's Church. How many weeks do you think you could stretch this out without being torturous? We'd only meet 3 Sundays a month, because of Commnunion Sundays when there's no CC. And CC is only about 30 minutes, so... Maybe this could be an option for the 3rd-5th grade boys. How many lessons can you eke out, do you think?

The scheduling thing for me was a BIG factor! As the DL (last year Tiger, and now Wolf, even though I'm the CM), I picked what day worked for ME, and I hold Den meetings at MY house. I don't have to haul stuff around, and I don't have to drive anywhere. I come home from work, and have over an hour to change and get ready for the meeting, but I can also reboot the laundry and open the mail and sign my daughter's permission slip, etc... ANYWAY, I also agree with the "tough love". Asking for volunteers does *NOT* work (see my ponderous thread on non-committees). You have to look someone in the eye, and STATE what you NEED from them. "The Den MUST have a registered leader next year; you'd be AWESOME at it, and we'll help you all the way. Would you please fill this out so we can go ahead and register the Den for next year? Otherwise, we can't."