Liz

Recruiting is hard for us but I'm getting some success on Facebook through local parenting groups. Families are really looking for some kind of connection and our schools are all remote learning until at least December.

I’m just going on the assumption that we will Scout On. If eventually that is without the BSA as we know it, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.

My other daughter just signed up for Lion Scouts. I’m afraid I’m in this for the long haul. Actually, I like the Pack. It’s just that one den that is non-functional.

Thank you for suggesting posting in the forums that solved it. Literally. I posted in the forum and the problem went away. After months of trying repeatedly, including again just yesterday before I finally started asking about it. 🤷‍♀️

I double checked my positions and I've got the little keys next to my name. I've logged in from my phone, and two different browsers on my laptop to try it, so I don't think it can be a cache issue. I'll try the forums. Thanks. I probably won't encourage parents who aren't den leaders from using Scoutbook unless we have to.

Yeah, I can't imagine how I could be pushy in an effective way. As a side note, are parents supposed to be able to enter stuff in Scoutbook? I have been unable to update my daughter's rank advancement in Scoutbook since her last Pack change (our old Pack ceased to exist). I was her den leader in the old Pack though, so I thought that was why. I'm the only one in our Pack who has ever logged into Scoutbook. A Scouter friend said the Cubmaster has to give me permission to update rank requirements; although as CC all the Scouts are showing as green dots (full control) for me so I'm not sure what's going on. I don't get an error, it just kicks me back to the main page when I try to see the rank advancement. I have no trouble updating advancement requirements for the members of the Troop where I'm on the committee.

He's hosted a few online Zoom or Facebook things, but nobody shows up.

Well, THIS is interesting. I just went to go finish up some odds and ends of training, and My.Scouting recommended the module CS19 Cub Scout Uniforms. No mention at all of tan uniforms for 1st year Webelos. Tan is for 5th grade, AOL.

Thank you. That does help some. I'm not too worried about doing things virtually. My issue is getting the other members of her den to participate at all. They've all been entirely MIA since March, along with the den leaders. I'll try to poke them into doing something. My fallback position will be to have her participate with the Troop she will be joining. I think I will recommend that the kids who have not yet earned Webelos Rank (all except mine) and aren't close (ditto), just go ahead and move on to the AOL requirements.

Help me out here. I'm trying to decide what direction to move in right now. We had to join a new Pack this year, and the people are super and they're great with kids, but organization was almost nil. I was pretty much immediately "volunteered" for CC, since the previous CC was nothing more than a signature on a piece of paper, which is totally fine with me, but I'm in a quandry right now. My daughter joined the Pack in January with her Webelos badge already earned and ready to start working on AOL. Most of the other kids in her Den had, at that point, earned between 0-1 pins towards their Webelos ranks. The den leaders are nice but don't seem to have much clue on advancement timelines. After consulting with me, we developed a timeline and a path to get the other kids caught up, with the hope that everyone would have their Webelos badge by June and they could all start working on AOL together. In February / early March, all the kids got their First Responder and a few things knocked out toward an elective, and it seemed like we were on our way. In the meantime, my daughter was in a holding pattern, which is fine; she has some learning challenges and repetition is good for her and she was having fun so I figured it was all good. Then of course COVID hit. Our Pack has completely stopped functioning. Our summer camps were canceled. I tried to get some movement toward online meetings and getting families interested in continuing the Scouting Trail, but attendance was very low, and in terms of the other Webelos, non-existent. So we've been just doing stuff at home and plugging along. She's about 3/4 of the way through everything we can do that doesn't require her den to be involved, but I'm not quite sure how to handle Scouting Adventure. So, which way do I go? As CC, do I try to push my authority around and try to push on her den leaders to facilitate? Even if they do get a fire lit under them at all, the other kids have a LOT of catch up to do and I'm not sure they're going to want to spend time working on AOL when they haven't got their Webelos badges yet. Then again, maybe they'd like to just skip ahead and go for AOL. Am I correct in the way I read the requirements that earning Webelos rank is not actually required to earn the AOL anymore? Or do I just throw in the towel and, once she's done with the other requirements, get her involved in the Troop and let her do things like "Practice the patrol method" with them? Technically it says "with your den" in the book, but as the Cub Scout standard is "Do your best," this may just be the best we can do. You should have seen her trying to teach her little sister who is newly registered as a Lion Scout how to tie a bowline today. The requirement says "teach a Scout who is not a Webelos Scout" how to tie the knot; it doesn't say the learner has to become proficient. 🤣

At the Pack we were in recently, our usual face painting ceremony involved the Cubmaster reading from a script and describing the face painting, and the parent did the actual painting of the face. This could easily be adapted having the Cubmaster standing further away. just a thought. My daughter is due to earn her AOL shortly so this has been in my mind and I’m definitely interested in all ideas.

So, when my daughter signed on as a Wolf Cub in early 2018, I didn’t get the memo that the blue uniform was no longer considered a Webelos uniform. She wore her blue uniform all summer after finishing Bear Scout rank, and when I found out that tan was now “required” I decided that I’d start working on putting her tan uniform together - but I didn’t hurry. Her blue one still fit and her tan was still a bit baggy on her. I finally switched her sometime that Fall. There are kids in her Pack that are still wearing blue uniforms as Webelos and it doesn’t bother me a bit. Most of this discussion has been about the relevance of uniforms in general and not about blue vs tan. As far as I’m concerned, as long as either one is worn appropriately I don’t think it’s worth worrying about. My youngest just signed up for Lion Scouts. I couldn’t find a 2nd hand Lion t-shirt locally, and getting one on eBay and paying shipping one might as well buy new. So when COVID first hit, I was prepared to go get her a Lion t-shirt when the Scout Office re-opened, but the longer it dragged on and as we face a drastically different vision of den meetings this year, I decided I didn’t want to spend the money for a one-year t-shirt for my last child to maybe wear for Zoom meetings. It’s only $10, but for $8 I was able to get a great used blue uniform shirt that she’ll be able to wear for 2-3 years. Since she won’t be at any in-person meetings, and the old yellow Wolf scarf looks like a Lion scarf from the front, she got a hand-me-down scarf. I was able to pick up a school uniform Skort for under $5. I figure since Lions don’t require any particular bottom wear, this part is entirely within the rules and I’ll get her official uniform bottoms when she’s a little bigger and can wear a size I can more easily find on eBay (she’s tiny, and barely can wear a 4T). Her belt buckle has a Webelos symbol on it, but that’s temporary until her sister crosses over in around December or January and can pass her newer style buckle down (I know they can trade, but my older girl wears it more so having her use the newer and easier to use belt buckle took priority). I noticed during the last year that about half of our Lions wore the t-shirt and half wore the blue uniform. A Scout is Thrifty. I’m definitely “Team Uniform” but I also place an extremely high value on the Scout Law. So I say, have the kids wear the uniforms they’ve got with pride while you see if you can start gathering up some hand-me-down tans for them. There is no sense in stressing the families out about colors.

My older kids were in Cub Scouts with a boy who was absolutely phobic of water. He was also an over-achiever who determined he was going to get every single Webelos pin that was offered. This was back before they had the over-achiever badge for Webelos. He just did it because he was determined. He got them all done except Aquanaut and then had to face his fear vs. his drive to get ALL THE PINS. The entire Webelos den rallied around him. All the den leaders and parents, all the kids, and the den chief rented out a local indoor pool so it was just us. All the kids earned their Aquanaut that day and the kids were all coaching their friend through every step and cheering him on. I have never seen a more beautiful reason for a kid to be in Scouting in my life. My older kids are still good friends with that boy and attended his wedding a year or two ago. I would encourage your son to face his fears and do it. If he has a disability, the requirement can be modified for him. Swimming is an important skill and it's important that he do his best to learn. Private swimming lessons would probably be super helpful.

This is my first foray into Lions. I registered my daughter with the pack and picked up her Lion guidebook at the Scout Office. My question is about the activities and outings. I notice for each adventure there is a short list of “requirements.” Am I correct in assuming that with language consistency, only the things listed under “requirements” are actually required, and the rest of the activities and outings are mere suggestions? Good suggestions, by the way. But some might be pretty challenging to adapt to a post-COVID world. I’ve been asked if I’m willing to serve as Lion den leader this year, so if we can figure out what to do about my current position as CC (I can do both personally but I’m not sure that is allowed) then I’m going to do my best to follow as much of the activity guide as I can but for some things I might just swap out something else entirely in order to make it easier for the Cubs to do things on their own and then meet virtually to tell each other what they did. If the only things I can’t compromise on are the “requirements” then this becomes much easier.

It also shouldn't be a huge surprise that "patriotism and civic pride and service" don't have to equate with "military and law enforcement." Civic pride and duty are main reasons that I have my kids in Scouting. It teaches them to work together to make their community a better place. Killing brown people at home and abroad is NOT a reason I have my kids in Scouting.

Yes, and we still suffer from that reputation to this day. It's the main reason none of my friends will let their kids give BSA a chance.

We have the National Camp-In streaming to the TV today. I've noticed everyone wearing a necker is using the friendship knot. They also had a brief tutorial for how to tie the friendship knot in your neckerchief. I don't have an opinion on this. It's just interesting to see.

Class B is just a 3rd party vendor. Nothing they produce is official. I suspect they hold licenses to use BSA logos that your local vendor might not have, but I don't have any inside knowledge on that part. Other than the possibility that Class B might have permission to use certain trademarked images which may not be as readily available to you for home-embroidery, there is no difference. An activity shirt is an activity shirt. Other than general "appropriate clothing" guidelines, there are no rules governing your unit's chosen activity uniform, if they even have one at all. The unit my older kids were involved in never did have an activity uniform. Any Scouting related shirt at all was considered an appropriate activity uniform. So the kids would go to camp and buy previous years' camp t-shirts at a huge discount, just a few bucks a piece, and that was their "uniform" when not wearing a Class A. Nobody ever tried to coordinate everyone wearing the same shirt at once. Does it say Boy Scouts on it somewhere? It counts. A Scout is Thrifty.

Can you talk to the Scouts directly before their MB is completed and they turn in the card? How do you know that these Scouts didn't set up the photos using a tripod and a remote shutter?

That pair is actually slightly different, but it might have the same cut. Those have the pockets off to the sides, whearas the pair she likes so much has the pockets right on the front of the thighs. I bought the ones she has now on eBay, just bought another pair in a size up, and am watching a couple more size 12s.

Thanks! I'll pay shipping if you have them in youth 12 or 14. LOL! They fit her PERFECTLY. Most girls her age don't have that hourglass shape that she was born with. Everything is either too snug in the hips, causing it to ride down and show crack, or too loose in the waist, causing the same problem, and 90% of girls pants are low-rise, making it even worse. These ones fit her comfortably and are very flattering. She just looks so sharp in her uniform!! -Elizabeth

My daughter has a pair of vintage BSA uniform pants like these ones. They are a youth size 12. They fit her better than literally any other pants she has ever owned. She has always been a bit curvy in the hips (even as a toddler) even though she is slim everywhere else, and getting pants that keep her booty covered has always been difficult. I'm looking at the new girls' pants with the roll up cuffs, and I think she'd really like those but I wonder how they would fit. She likes these pants and I'm getting her an extra pair on eBay so she doesn't need to save them for uniform wear. Does anybody who is familiar with the fit on these pants know how it compares to the same size in the girls' capris that are available now? What about other available styles of pants (current or retired)? Our scout shop is of course shut down so I can't take her down to try them on. She has outgrown all her long pants during the shutdown except these, and she's a little hard to fit so I'm kind of stuck. Can't take her shopping as all the shops are closed, and can't easily order pants online unless I know ahead of time how the fit will be. I wish I could find the same style in cub scout blue. They'd go with more of her regular clothes.

Zoombombing is a good enough reason for me. An adult monitoring can't prevent it, but they can immediately deal with it. I "sat in" on our kids' troop meeting this week. I put myself on mute and turned up the audio where I could hear it and had dinner with my family while casually listening to the girls discuss cooking requirements for rank. It wasn't a big deal. There were a couple other adults there too, and I wasn't the one in charge of hosting, so I wasn't the one watching for hackers. A little adult oversight doesn't hurt anything, and has the potential to help a lot if "something" happens.

That is super helpful, Barry, thanks. My daughter is in 4th grade. Her Pack only has 1 Webelos Scout ready to cross over soon, but for the 4th graders there are several; including two other girls aside from my daughter. I'm really hoping our place in the Pack will really help. This fall my youngest daughter joins the pack too, so we'll have an in with this one Pack for years to come. The Webelos den leaders are looking to me for guidance already because they are both very green and I have been a den leader for a while now (although I'm not currently in that role in the new Pack). I think getting the girls to go sign up as den chiefs will really help. Some of them have already expressed an interest in this. I know with my son, he ended up following his Den Chief pretty much everywhere he went - to his Troop, the OA, whatever - for the rest of his Scouting years.

Well, I happen to know the leadership of the other Troop as we had the experience of being in a Pack with them earlier and determining then that there was zero chance I ever wanted my child to be in a Troop that had those leaders. I was willing to stick it out for the Cub Scout years until they ran off our Cubmaster and, actually, all the other kids in the Pack except their own child. We jumped ship when everyone else did. Which is also a main reason why we have two Troops in our city instead of just the one. They have visited our Troop. They appeared to have a really fun time. Our girls enthusiastically welcomed them, played games with them, and involved them in their activities. But the parents later tell us they picked the other Troop. No idea why, really. The other Troop has more experienced Scouts in that the older girls have been in Girl Scouts together since they were little. They are all working on their GSA and BSA requirements together. So I have no doubt that their kids are proceeding in their "Trail to Eagle" faster than ours are. If an Eagle Factory is what you want out of a Troop, yes, the other Troop is probably a better fit. Maybe that really is what these Webelos girls are looking for. We are really working on that. But there aren't a lot of Webelos / AOL girls in our city to pull from. Our girls have a plan that goes through this Fall, and the next yearly planning meeting scheduled for June. We are actually not doing too badly in terms of recruiting NEW Scouts. We started with 3 girls signing on with the charter in July and we are up to 9. But the only Webelos girls we've been able to attract are either our own children or the younger relatives of other girls in our Troop. I think what's going on is that our girls look, and are, still new to Scouting for the most part. The other Troop is linked to a long-established Boy Troop, and as I mentioned earlier, the older girls in the Troop are experienced Girl Scouts who have been together for years. We can't really pretend to be something we're not. The question is how to convey to the families that what we have to offer is worthwhile even if it isn't as flashy as theirs. I love this idea. You are right. We should put together a written calendar to give to all visitors to the Troop so they can see what's coming up. I also love the hand-written card idea for visitors. Our Webelos aren't going to be in the same schools with our Scouts, or riding the same buses. They come from all over town and Middle School here starts in 6th grade.