AnnLaurelB

Awww, thanks! Yes, the prayer of a righteous person availeth much! I sure appreciate it. :0)

Chyup. We're having a hairy scary Committee meeting tomorrow night with the UC and the DC in attendance. We'll also have a visiting CC from another Pack who's a friend of mine, and who might be willing to come pinch-hit for us. Her son has bridged, and so her hubby is sort of taking on the Scout role for their son, now. And I think the pastor has gotten across to the CO Rep that the job requires more than a name on a piece of paper, if they "want" to keep a Pack going. This meeting tomorrow night will make or break a lot of questions. Stay tuned, sports fans! :0)

Ah! Excellent point. And I hear you. I didn't like it either, and I debated it, believe me. But a couple things made me NOT call the cops. 1) I thought it would be overly traumatic for his kids to see him taken up. They're sort of sensitive about stuff since their mother died last year. 2) He lives a block or so away; yes, of course you can still have accidents 10 FEET away, I realize, but he's what I'd call a high-functioning drunk, and I've seen him WORSE, honestly. Now that would NOT matter, I admit, if he'd gotten right back in the car, but... 3) I gave him the Day Camp App, then the BSA Health Form to fill out for his son. While he was slogging through those, I helped other parents. THEN I got him to count up all of his Camp Card money, and fill out a voucher for his kid's half to use for camp... You see where I'm going with this... I stalled him in my yard, giving him paper after paper to either fill out or absorb or take notes about. I kept leaving him sitting there while I talked to other parents, helping them with forms, running to the house to make copies, etc... I left his son's Bear review until the VERY last, then took my time thumbing through it (meanwhile I had already texted the DE and the pastor)and quietly assured the other parents that I'd take care of the situation. ANYWAY, my point is that by the time he'd left, he'd been at my house for *well over* 90 minutes. In general, most peoples' BAC returns to pre-drinking level within an hour or so after their last drink. And he certainly didn't have anything with him but a paper folder, so I know he hadn't had anything since he'd arrived at 6:30. It was nearly 8:15 when he left. Everything's a judgement call.

Yep, the DE called the UC and ...whomever is OVER the UC's? They're both supposed to come to the Committee meeting tomorrow night. The poor guy might be hit unawares that anyone even noticed his condition last night. The pastor is already aware of the problem, and I let him know right along with the DE last night. His kids have already lost their mother a year ago; somebody needs to step in before they lose their dad, too. I am *cautiously optomistic* about this gal coming in to help, but my friend on the church board of trustees (whom I copy a lot of my Scouting emails, for transparancy and accountability because we use the buildings, etc...) advises me to cut and run. So that may still be the best thing for my son's Cub career.

I guess her hubby is doing stuff with Boy Scouts. She's just one of those people who are "lifers", I guess. LOL You know, I'm not sure WHERE she and the DE were thinking of getting the bodies for a whole new Pack. It *wasn't* with the idea that my Pack would be part of that, originally. She's just saying that IF they went that way, my remnants would be welcomed warmly. In light of the fact that our little Pack is on the brink, she's interested in helping us pull it back. As I understand it (her Pack is the one with like 120 boys), they were going to make a "brother" Pack from some of the newest Dens over there. I don't know for sure where it's going; I've told the Committee the issue, and reminded them that I have NO authority in hiring/firing. I can only lead them to the water, so to speak. If they want to give it a shot, I'll try, too. If they decide to let it go, then I'll join my friend in the off-shoot Pack next year.

Absolutely. He's a friendly enough guy, but a functional alcoholic to be sure, and *not* very functional at anything else. I just talked to the gal who is finishing out this year with her son's Pack, and she went Rah-Rah on me and said, "We can save this! I will help you! Don't go down without a fight!" She's going to call our Dist Exec and come to our Com Meeting tomorrow night, and discuss where she might be of help. If that doesn't go anywhere with my Comittee, then she's in talks with the DE to start a NEW pack, which will need a CM (*grin*).

You're right, and when the pastor of the CO church talked, he's the only one who would SAY with me, "We may need to let this go." But I do attend this same church, so it's a balancing act of what I feel equipped to do vs what they *ask* me to attempt. One hates to quit on something the church seems attached to, y'know? And with the events last night, I think we (the participating parents) need to just enjoy our summer gatherings, and the ones who want to can transfer to another Pack when school starts... can. After reading your post, I did email the CC who finds herself without Pack, and asked her to help me find a new one, and perhaps offer her services there, too, if she still wants to be involved in Scouting. Thanks for your words! I'm like Rex the Dinosaur; "I don't LIKE confrontation!" But yeah, my first duty is to my son.

Well, my commitment to the Dist Exec that I'd DO the recruiting night, and we left our "parking lot meeting" with him going to "check" to see what could be done about them naming the guy CC. I had also already given out the summer calendar of events, and I didn't want to say, "Oh, and we're not a Pack, anymore." I figure we can all play together over the summer, and decide what to do closer to when school starts. The other thing was that my friend, who is the CC of another Pack, bridged her son last Feb, and wants to pass those reins to parents of younger boys. She has offered to come over to our Pack and try to help us. That was unexpected. I'm not sure that's what we'll do, but it's one idea on the table. Moosetracker, you're right, though. I have already printed out a list of Packs in the area with contact names and phone numbers. I will likely be passing those out in August.

*sigh* Really? You're going to get upset over what a stranger types on a screen in cyberspace? C'mon. You opened the thread. And this is what's called an "open forum". If some people felt your position was extreme, you may expect that their answers would swing the pendulum the other way. To remove someone's *opinion* simply because the originator of the thread finds it beyond the pale would be the worst sort of censorship. I respect your feelings; as I said, I surely understand being upset and then later thinking, "Okay, take a step back, here." But if you want a forum where you can control the *degree* of poster's responses to you, you're probably going to have to start your own website, and man the moderating buttons yourself. Just my opinion. I hope it doesn't get deleted.

I did the recruiting night. Alone. My Dist Exec couldn't be there, so asked my UC to come, which of course he said he would. But WE did not confirm, the UC and I. So he thought it was at the church, when it was at the elementary school, and he only had my office number, and by the time he reached someone who had my cell number... (*shrug*) He didn't make it. But, then again, I only had 3 families show up. 400 flyers. 3 boys. Two of them signed up: one Tiger and one Wolf for next year; they both seemed like nice families. So tonight I had an "admin" night and asked ALL the Dens to come to my house (sort of a drop-by) to get their Camp Cards turned in, register for Camps, go over their last minute book requirements, etc... The squirrelly ex-CM guy shows up with his son and daughter. He *reeked* of liquor. I had MOST of my parents there; they each in turn said something to me. So I did something I dreaded, but knew I had to do: I called the Rep and the Exec and told them that the Committee Chair appeared before 9 boys and 6 parents while clearly intoxicated. They're going to pull his BSA registration and tell him he can't come to Cub Scout events, anymore. :-0

The former CM-who-had-to-be-removed showed up tonight with his son for our "joint Den" meeting. He was clearly intoxicated. *sigh* 3/4 of my parents were there, too. And they noticed. And they mentioned it to me. *double sigh* So I had to call my Dist Exec and the CO Rep. They're going to ask him to not be in Cub Scouts anymore. This is very sad. Appropriate, but sad.

Awesome! Thanks! :0)

Jack Daniels on a piece of TOAST! COULD IT GET ANY WORSE?!? Tonight was published as our last "joint Den" meeting, to go over last minute stuff the guys might have earned (that 10th Elective for an Arrow Point, or whatever) and to get everyone signed up for Day Camp, and pass out the flyers for the summer social stuff, etc... This was announced to The Whole Pack, so that I, as CM, could make sure EVERY kid got their packet, and EVERY parent was informed about the year end stuff, camp registration, etc... I put out coloring pages, crosswords, word searches, pens, basketballs, scooters, frisbees, etc... and just told the guys to go play (the parents took turns refereeing). It was going along *swimmingly* until ... *sigh* ... the former Cubmaster guy showed up with his son (and his little sister). The dude was two sheets to the wind. Not quite 3, but it smelled like he was getting close. He was CLEARLY lit up. I sort of tried to ignore it and hoped I could just crank him through the process, but he SAT DOWN and started PONTIFICATING about "Well, what we need to do is figure out..." When I'd already announced whatever it was like a month ago. But he blowfiscated forth, talking over everyone, etc... And if it had been just a drop-by thing with him alone, I would have just said, "Mr. D, go home." But nearly ALL of my Cub parents were there WITH all of the boys AND several little sisters. And he shows up blitzed. EVERY parent found my ear and said, "Um...is he...um... I think he's a little drunk." That was the kindest of them. THIS IS THE GUY THEY'VE NAMED COMMITTEE CHAIR. Not only did he come to MY HOME in that condition, but he drove his two kids in his car that way, AND appeared in front of our entire Pack while intoxicated. And even if no one had brought it to my attention, I STILL would have been bound by my position as CM to report it. I *hated* to do it; the guy has had a really crappy couple of years (which is why he drinks), but ... I had to call my Dist Exec and the CO Rep. I think this may be the death knell, unless they can find another Chair over the summer. The problem is I don't know if I want to continue. I like being CM but this is ridiculous.

YOU HAD ME AT "BIOHAZARD"!

First, I appreciate Jamist649's sensibility to my delicate (female Cubmaster booger-joke-telling bobbing-for-apples-champion fish-hook-baiting) self. And second, I recognize the "damn-I-was-really-upset-at-the-time" mode. Sometimes we just have to take a step back and cool down, yes. But AS a Cubmaster who ran her first PWD this past Feb, I pretty much agree with the advice given here. I KNEW what the problems were, but I had to soldier on and do my best and keep up a "Hey, y'know what, guys? That's okay!" attitude. The guy who was running the pc program HAD NO IDEA what he was doing. There were LOOOOOONG periods of inactivity while he tried to figure things out (he was the PWD chair--lotta good it did us). I had to make the best of it, and ask the boys what they were gonna eat on their hotdogs, and how many they thought they could eat, and what parts of what animals did they think went into them, etc... My point (and I occasionally HAVE one), is that if you think it could be better, YOU'RE ON DECK, BABY! My parents (God bless each of their non-committal-but-ever-patient hearts)knew if they whined about something being "not right", GUESS WHO I'D NOMINATE at the next Committee meeting to start planning next year's event? :0)

Does anyone have an online resource for printable worksheets/coloring pages/activity sheets for the 12 Core Values? Just searching the terms is a VERY ponderous undertaking. I've found a couple things, but most of the coloring page web sites are chock full o'viruses and malware. It's raining, and I'm having an end-of-the year Badge Review and Camp Sign Up; sort of an administrative night (since 1/2 of the parents decided NOT to show up to their individual Badge Counseling Nights). Chyeah. It's probably too late to find anything at this hour; but it would be nice to know some resources for next time. Thanks in advance!

That's beautiful. But there's one thing I find missing from your list. You forgot the mimosas!!

I think we're definitely seeing some personal slants on this stuff. My BALOO course spent very LITTLE time on on the actual Campfire stuff. Oh, they gave out a little sheet with some skit ideas and websites where you can find good stories and stuff (it was probably that Ultimate Camping one, which IS wonderful!). But they spent a LO-O-OT of time on cooking and washing up systems, for example. That was just what THOSE trainers had felt was important info. They DID cover stuff like, "Have the boys change into completely clean clothes BEFORE bed, to stay warmer." (Although this certainly helped ME stay warmer, I had a VERY hard time convincing even the other adults that it made a difference. Most of them just slept in their clothes, despite my exhortations.) Our session was taught by two VERY-pro-Cubbie people! They didn't make fun of Cub Camping AT ALL! They were dedicated to making it gradeschool-friendly, and I appreciated that. I think over an entire nation, you're just going to have different slants on things, based on demographics, and the personal leanings and experiences of the ones standing up there doing the training.

POPSCICLE STICK BOMBS?!? Do tell! Please! I just made a shortened version of my slide show--I only included the very best action shots, the best smiley faces, and the sweetest parent/child shots. I've been scrolling through them, practicing what I'll say about each event; most lines geared to the boys and HOW MUCH FUN WE HAVE, but also some geared toward the parents about how all the fun is actually sugarcoating learning the 12 core values. I'ma hit 'em hard on the sentimentality, but also point out that I'm just the dog-and-pony show. THEY as parents are the ones who take the program and make it wonderful moments with their sons. I'm trying to think of some questions I can ask the boys at the beginning, so I can throw candy. I throw candy a lot in Pack meetings. It seems to be enjoyed. :0)

Heh. Moosetracker. :0) I promised that I'd work through at least this coming Scouting year, and that means doing my best and not treating it like a lame duck (though it may be so). So I'll do my best to get boys interested, and I'll have to play hard ball with the parents and say they CANNOT form a Den unless they get a Leader and Asst Leader REGISTERED. My DE said he'd either be there or get the UC there for me, so I can answer questions, and he can work on the applications. I'm wondering if I should borrow the church's projector so I can blast the pictures up on a wall, and a boombox to play some fun music. (I don't have powerpoint on my lappy. Don't judge.)

Hmmmn...can't do it outside this time (this school doesn't HAVE an outside, really. It was built last year, which is AFTER the school district abolished recess, so they don't NEED outdoor space, since the kids don't ever...oh, never mind. It depresses me to talk about it. And time is an issue; I get off work at 5:00, and can't get into the school until 5:45. But there WILL be uniformed Cubbies there with me, and I can enlist them to do things with their Ranks age groups. I went in COLD last year, and did my best to emulate the pitch I'd heard (which wasn't bad) the year before. But he didn't really do anything fun. It didn't occur to me to PLAY, really. But I guess you CAN treat this kind of like a Pack meeting, right? (*wheels turning*)

Wrong label was campmaster. Was meaning humanoid selected by each unit to seeing over camping trip who is.

I have a pretty cool slide show (sans tunes); I thought about having my lappy running that the whole time, with pictures of everything our Pack did this year. Should I ...throw candy... ? Pass out flyers?

Local elementary school cafeteria. Prospective Cubbies and their parents. Lower socioeconomic strata. Mixed ethnicities.

So what do y'all suggest I include/do (or not do) at my recruiting night?