Karen_216

That's the name of was looking for CERT. Our county offers 3 or 4x per year and it is free. Takes about 12 hours- one evening and one full day. Find a nurse to teach the den

"I thought about doing it as a den but our local red cross is outrageously expensive to get training to teach basic aid training. Is there somewhere I could just get the book and teach myself the course? It doesn't look to be more than common sense" Look into your county government. Ours teaches a disater response training and gives you supplies for 10 people for free. Also contact a hospital they may have a trainer willing to do a basic age appropriate course for your cubs. you can also have an ambulance corp or Nurse come in. We're mostly talking basic first aid and where to go for help-- -

There are many things open to interpretation. Nessmuck, then why did you read it and respond? I guess you missed the lesson on if you cant' say something nice, say nothing at all. I certainly hope you are not a teacher as you would tell your students "that's a stupid question" and leave them running from the room crying. Probably your cubs too. Many questions have been raised on this forum and I thought i was joining to get one on one mature dialog and a modicum of respect but you never can tell who's going to "lambast" you for making an inquiry.Sorry it wasn't up to your standard of appropriate questions. BTY -- it was just not myself asking this but a whole PANEL of people asking was behind the question as it was raised in committee by a parent. I said I dont' consider this cooking and it's not dangerous. But look at it differently-- perhaps I have a pack of special needs children. You don't know. I've encountered many people and situations in my life but never been made to feel as disrescted as you have done. CONGRATULATIONS on a mature response.

Bob, Thanks for clarifying that. Karen

The G2SS states only webelos are allowed to cook. i don;'t consider this cooking but wanted to double check. We only have a few boys at a time roasting. I know one of the parent's is nervous becasue she seemed to think the pit was too large!! But we had no problems last year.(her boy is one of the running around type). we strickly enforce the campfire rules. We have very long sticks we used (several feet).

I know cubs aren't allowed to cook outside but can they still roast marshmallows??

As for administering an epipen you just take off the top and stab it in the until you hear a click. Right through clothing, etc. My suggestion is to talk to go to council or talk to emergency personnel. There are individuals you can't give this to and you may not know that. Also they have those benedryl quick dissolves now so you don't have to swallow a pill or get messy- also those 1 dose packs. so yes-- in the absense of epi-pen use the benedryl-- better than nothing at all. Also many reactions for first-timers may not be as severe as the 2nd time- it's the multiple exposure that causes the extreme reaction.(I'm not saying you can't have a severe reaction your first time- more likely you've had one before though). You should advise anyone going if they've had ANY sort of reaction to a sting of any sort to get a presciption and bring it along.(or even something else). It's the next exposure that could be life- threatening. Don't know if you could get one for the kit in those cases. The laws may vary in states-- don't know.

Here's my 2cents on this. You will need to consider the following before looking at a budget: (based on apck progream just larger scale for district) Location: Free or a fee for rental Decorations: how much or can you get donations AWARDS: Will be most of your budget. What types of awards are you giving out and how many-- just 1-3rd(or 4th) in large trophies (we ordewred through a website and got huge ones at an awesome price). Use medals for 1-4th in age age group and ribbons and patches for each participant? Any awards for Best of Categories and what type- Trophy or medal or certificate? Track: Do you have one already or borrowing one- does it need any maintenence? Advertising: Any cost associtaed w/ this-- flyers, newspapres, etc or just by email. We had a cafe that sold hotdogs, soda, candy snacks that were all donated and it covered the cost or our derby.consider this to make up cost. Any registration fee for scouts and do they bring their own car or are you supplying them?? You may want to find a cost for each of those above and any others I have not addressed and then add it up.

It is grade based.(usually) My son is 7 and just completed wolf year -- he is in 2nd grade and is younger than most of his group-- you can tell by behavior too. I asked the council about a friend who is same age and wanted to join our den but was in 1st grade and was told is he would have to be 8 or 2nd grade to be wolf so he must join tigers if he wanted to join. So following this you have to be in 1st grade or 7 to be a Tiger.(not both) If a boy turns 7 in Jan and is in kindergarten he would need to wait until the end of his kindergarten year to join. He would be with the children of his same grade. Only exception may be a child who perhaps was held back for education reasons. that's my interpretation.

I'm also glad I found a group as involved and concerned about scouting as I am. Or should I say "obsessed"? But in a good way. I'm learning all kinds of cool stuff for recruitng and other areas too. Thanks to everyone!!!

Consider this. You may need to use in everyday life, not just the wilderness. Be prepared as you can. My husband went to deli a few years ago to get a sandwhich. A kid behind the counter started screaming that his arm was stuck in the meat grinder. As everyone sort of gave blank looks my husband rushed behind the counter and helped this 15 year old boy who's arm had been traumatically amputated. No saving the rest of the arm but my husband applied a tourniquet and got the kid to lie down and just generally talked to him so he didn't go into shock. The resuce workers were near by and got there very quickly. they said my husbands actions kept blood loss to a minumum and prevetned the boy from going into shock. Will you be ready and be able to act calmly and make quick decisions when it counts?? Why do we have fire detectors or airbags? Even in everyday life you can never be too quick to act and make a rational decision but if I'm out on ahike or campout I espcially want someone nearby that knows what to do. What if I'm the only one and everyone else panics? What would you do if you fell in hole and no one was near? I've heard of many situations where someone had to save their own life- to make a decision between a limb or their whole life. Kudos to everyone and anyone who goes the extra mile to take any emergency courses. Someday you may walk into a deli and need the knowledge. What about your buddy on ahike- you look over and he's gone or gets stung by a bee and has a reaction?

Problem is you can't always find the yellow shirt and female tailored (such as they are) pants. The store at my council has some but their hours are council hours and I work. There is a really big scout shop near my work for another council that is a national shop but they did not carry the female versions either. The other local sporting good store has only VERY limited scout supplies-- mostly for the boys only.So you don't always have a choice!! Ordering does not work for me as I have to try them on-- measured myself for the switchbacks but size according to chart was not correct. I'm glad I read about the scarf that can go w/ the tan blouse-- I may see if I can find one of those!! Question here-- My son is a Bear now and I have the DL scarf but don't want to wear that so am not wearing any neck wear but them can't wear my coll slide I made with my old den. Can you wera the women's scarf for the tan uniform w/ a slide?? And can you wear it as a cubscout or is it just for boy scout leaders?

Last weekend I stepped in a hole and I fell.(ok so that part is not so funny). Luckily the xrays showed no broken bones. This I was showing to my family the extremely large very red bruise underneath my whol ankle and it was still quite swollen. My husband said " you really should go to the Orthoeadist and get that checked out again". I said it had improved and although a little painful I could walk ok. My 7 year old (wolf) son looked at me and very matter of factly said " Mom, I have to agree with Dad on this one." Now that made me smile, just the way it was said-- Earlier this year we took turns telling a little about ourselves at the 1st den meeting after new scout registrations. Varoius things were said"my favorite holdiay is Chirstmas", "I have a dog named ___". When it got to scout #6 he very proudly announced " Hi may name is ____ and I LOVE PIE." this was a room buster. So funny at that time. That same scout just makes me crack up all the time.

Try one with a "tail" to boot!! He's one of the funniest kids I know!! and VERY nice (and involved) family!! Did you not see the tatoos?? LOL

I have no problem w/ training. As trainer made it my priority to chase leaders down and get them trained.We have every den with multiple leaders trained now- first time in history I'm told. We also have multiple BALOO people and I am cold weather trained along with our CC too so we can do the wonderful Valley forge Pilgrimages in Feb next year too. (BRRRRRr). I also do enjoy the roundtables and take any handouts given. Always looking for those ideas and guidance. We have a roundtable commisioner but our District chair is not present at RT. It just seems that certain trainings are few and far between come March or later. There are any number of New leaders essentials but no Leader Specifics. I guess I can learn the Chainsaw and Safety Afloat and all that other outdoor stuff for right now ohhh ahhhh. and Of course learn all types of goodtips from the forum members too. I suppose council has other endevours right now- maybe focusing on other outdoor trainings. Thanks for all the good advice.

Thanks. I just went from DL and PAck trainer to CM and the new CC is "trained" but not specifically in that position.(although he is doing Wood Badge right now and is an Eagle Scout). We were both wondering if there was training in our specific positions and i do remember during the Leader specific portion of training that they separated Webelos leaders and CM and CC from the DLs. We're going to go back and take the Leader Specific training when it's available either during camp or in the fall now.

If a leader has already attended training as a leader (now has a new position CC or CM , etc, do they need to go back and attend a training for that new position?? Is it the same training as the Leader Specific training??

I'm not an old scouter but I'm an enthuasastic scouter.(2 years w/ cubscouts- 10 years listening to my sister's experiences (she's council trainer) and several years GS exp)But in that 2 years I've been Tiger DL, Cub DL, pack trainer, various event organizer, general busybody and volunteer and now CM. (and luckily now ADL) We had a very similar experience w/ a CC this year. When asked last year if he would be CC he said he may not make all the meetings but he'd do his best. I have no idea what he DID do because he just "poof" dissapeared in the fall. The CM was leaving soon so wanted the CC to take over things he should be doign anyway such as arranging and flooring the committee meetings. He did one and then changed our schedule from Tues to Weds and everyone was confused and asking me what was going on, as I had stepped up and said I'd take over as CM when the current one retired (BTW - did it not just to pack but me as he was my co-leader in Wolves). He did not recharter us so we could get quality unit and had the packet from nov-march-- Put ME in a huge bind as new CM- I took everything and did the best I could.(got everything to council w/ one day to spare before our info deleted from the registry). I did not have time to set up meetings with COR as expected- just did the paperwork stuff. Now the new CC is going back to meet w/ COR and doing planning meetings. I was in discussions about asking about trying to sart the process of asking the CC to step down when he resigned. Often they know they are not doing a good job-- especially when they get mutliple calls and emails asking-- "where are you". Anyhow-- you're not alone... things resolve themselves. It takes time for everyone to get their roles down. If you divide and conquer you can get through. Maybe consider getting an Events Chair, membership Chair, to do those things, do you have an Assist CM? We also have the person who is running event to take the money and make the res and send out the info, etc. Share the wealth.. Ask others to step up. Right now we don't have a secretary (the Dad who was going to do be sec. is now the CC- I think a better fit ). I'm dividing up duties and hopefully we'll get some knew blood to help out. If you take a step back you may see that everyothing is not as bleak as it seems. Didn't you say it was mentioned the pack is much better run now?? There are highs and lows that everyone goes through. I like to do stuff by email but sometimes you have to pick up the phone. People panic when they can't get in touch w/ someone rigth away but there are many ways to find out the info you need, otherwise you just do what you think it correct and go from there. If it comes back to an error at least you can say you tried to get in touch. Sometimes you jsut have to go ahead and DO IT. Also, do you REALLY have to be doing all the things you're doing?? What happens if you don't do jsut one evetn and take a break?? Someone else can do that if they really want to go. Assign someone. Sorry this is so long but I think we take too much on sometimes. I'm trying to learn to let go of doign so much too. Good Luck

Song my son loved at SEaport overnight: "What do you do with a drunken sailor" (repeat 2x) "erlie in the morning.... Remember this one? I was surprised that it wasn't edited a little but you can make up end phases as some of the lyrics can be kind of adult.. "Tie him to the mast and let him hang there" (3x- erlie in the morning) , (kids like to get pretty gross w/ this version ) YOu can use "surley pirate" or "scurvey pirate".. also add Cubscout versions... "weary leader... get him a cot and let him sleep" -of course!!!), "rowdy cubscout.. send him to camp and make him stay there"... "graduatied webelo... send to Boy scouts and make him camp out"...etc... Versions are endless and funny when boys get to make up lines

What's a Pirate's favorite letter ?? RRRRRRRRRR

I love this theme. You can have a pretend "mutiny" in the beginning of the week to start things off and now the pirates are in charge of your area rather than an official BSA rep. If you have a pier or diving board make them "walk the plank" or make that into a game where the boys want to walk the plank-- that is the reward to get into the water. Don't know if this works for your setup but may if it's swimming every day. For your crow's nest look at Home Depot for a huge flower pot. They make them out of some sort of light foam now-- may find one to be bigger than a bucket-- put a blowup parrot inside. They also have these toy parrots that repeat what you say that you can carry around on your arm (you can turn it off when it gets too annoying). I don;t know how deep your water is-- I'm guessing it's a lake?? Maybe anchor a small dingy to put your mast on it.

We call our chair just Recruiter. In any case (if you don't know already), have all the contact info for each den and leader and be familiar with den numbers and meeting nights and times to brief new members. Know where to purchase (or if the pack has a store) uniforms and what they need in teh way of emblems. Brief them on proper uniforming or give them handouts about placement of emblems. Have new leader and new scout registration forms on hand always. Make sure you know what fees you are charging if different than just the national reg. Have info and samples of boys life as well as leader books. The main job for ours is setting up and advertising recruiting events so mostly it's seasonal and following up on any contacts and inquiries during the year. You may also want to keep on eye on any recruiting oppportunites that come up to participate-- council-wide or community events.

Food ideas-- some type of fruit punch concoction named "grog" and give out oranges so they don't get scurvy. I don't know if it matters hugely what you serve just come up w/ funny names!! Keep making a deal that these are their rations and that the cook is going to walk the plank!! You can name your games "walk the blank" and similar pirate themed names and have pirate "wars". Play capture the flag but rename the game. URGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MATEY

Did you add finding a buried treasure??? Maybe give clues and a map as an on-going thing and then they have to submit their guess to find the "treasure" at the end of the camp week.(make a big deal that you followed their directions and come out all tired w/ a dirty shovel and the treasure chest) Give them some "booty"(gold coins etc.) They can get a clue at the beginning or each day by a Pirate note and give them a Pirate map to lead to each activity. At the campout maybe they have to chart their way by the stars and earn Astronomy beltloop. Don't forget the sea chants -- my boys from the pack had an overnight at a Seaport and they had to each pick pirate names by spinning a wheel or you can have them pick their own by using the name of their fav pet and last names as street (or something similar)-- makes for some funny names!!! My son sang the songs for months!! Also each Den needs to make their own pirate flags. Sounds like fun. Which I could go!!! you may known these sites for ideas or to order stuff-- Oriental trading and also S&S worldwide.

Good luck to you. We have a program called Scoutreach in our area to bring the scouting program in a non-traditional sense to lower income areas.In one program they play soccer,in another mostly do things after school at a time when they boys could be vulnerable-- maybe some do not have anyone to look after them after school even. You could do relays and take hikes- even just walks in the neighborhood to and from areas- doesn't have to be the woods. Teach them personal safety. I'd say the sports thing may be good. Also appeal to companies such as TArget, Walmart, local sporting goods places for donations of camping supplies. Target chooses a certain amount to donate each month to organizations so put a letter in to them.