MamaCM

Yes the church is going to be the CO for the new troop. I am hoping that once we get a UC, they can look into it, and possibly get farther.

Wow, I guess great minds really do think alike. I have been thinking I should switch too. It seems to make sense. The CO is a church,of which the outgoing CM is an active member. So, I am not sure how a talk with the COR is going to go. We live in a town of about 400 people, every body knows every body. My spidey sense is telling me there is something wrong here. I had such an uneasy feeling being around them last night. I was considering just letting it go, but I am not sure I can do that. They are taking money from these boys. I am going to make some calls today and make sure we get a UC right away. I feel like I am opening a big can of worms here.

UPDATE: Well, met with the pack and outgoing leadership tonight. Apparently the outgoing CM is not leaving yet, exactly. The second year webelos, which it turns out there are 5, will be doing their own thing. That is why he no longer wants to be CM. That leaves us with 2 first year webelos. I overheard a conversation the treasurer was having, and she told another parent that there is about $800 in the account for the tiger and cub scouts. The rest of the money is for the webelos. I also learned that this group of parents has gotten together and decided to start their own troop after the boys cross over in Feb. They are using the rest of the money in said account as their seed money. My CC was a no show, I am not surprised. I can't really blame her. I am going to call her in the morning and find out if she wants to quietly resign, and I will find her a replacement. The outgoing CC gave me all the records she had, including minutes from committee meetings. Apparently, they have not met since March. I am still going over everything, but so far I have read nothing about this money they are planning to take. They say they will also be taking the pack's camping equipment when they form a troop, but that we are welcome to borrow it. My priority tomorrow is to get us a unit commissioner. I was told I will be meeting the COR next week. Apparently he is active with the pack in the sense that we get free reign over the church as long as we leave it as we found it. The church also donates $100 a quarter to the pack. I will say that tonight was eye opening at the very least. I spent most of my time observing and listening. This group that has chosen to seperate from the pack gives me the willies. Something is not right. They looked uncomfortable when I started asking too many questions. They also seemed surprised at how much I have learned about scouting and they way a pack is run. The icing on the cake was when I told them I know our DE personally. We shall see how this turns out. At least if they are doing something wrong, I have until Febuary before they leave with the cash. On a good note, the parents all seemed to respond well to me. Everyone is embracing their leadership roles. Some of the other dads even started talking about helping out. Our resident fire fighter is even going to help organize an outing for the tiger cubs. I think we are going to have a great year. Oh, I also found out that this pack was just started in 2006. So the pack itself is still a baby. Thanks for al the feedback, it helps more than you know.

I agree that we all need training. I have done all the online training. I registered for the leader basic training for Sept 28. I am going to encourage all of our leaders to do the same. This forum has been really great. I have been pointed in some great directions that will surely benefit our whole pack.

I found out today that my DE is actually my neighbor. We had a talk and he is going to meet with all of the parents and myself. He also said he is going to make sure we get a UC. I know it is a big undertaking, but I think it is all going to come together. I truly believe the other parents will come around.

Our CO is a local church. I am going to get the contact info for the COR on Monday when I get everything else. Then I am going to set up a meeting with them, the CC and myself. Hopefully we will have a treasurer by then too. I think once I can talk to all of the other parents and we can all get on the same page, we will be on the right track. I know way more than I did about cub scouts a few days ago. I am sort of a research fanatic, so once I can explain it to them better, I think they will all be on board. My neighbor is a really great guy. I have seen the dedication he has for his job. He has even offered to do my training himself if I am not able to make the 1 1/2 hour drive to the district training. I am feeling more confident each day. My excitement seems to build with every new piece of knowledge. There is nothing that makes me happier than to see a child smile. To see that on the faces of 22 boys and know that I played some role in that, is all the motivation I need. I think we are starting out a little rocky, but once everyone gets on board, we are going to have a good program. You can bet I will be asking for the budgets and everything else mentioned here if they are not offered to me. If nothing else, I think it will really help us newcomers get a handle on how things have been done, and where exactly we stand.

Well, here's the progress so far. I completed all of my online training, getting scheduled for the rest. I found out the guy at our meeting was "A DE", not "Our DE". He was just filling in. I was happy to learn that my next door neighbor is actually our DE. I spoke to him briefly today. He said that the money thing is not normal. That was really all he said. He just kept stressing what my role as CM is. He told me to organize a meeting with all of the parents and tell them we need a committee. He said he will attend that meeting. He told me he will help me any way he can, starting with the meeting and making sure we get a UC. He also gave me a bunch of literature that I was not given the other day. I am going to try not to bombard him with too many questions as we have a great neighbor relationship, and he tries to keep work and home life seperate. Oh, and he also told me not to tell any one in the pack where he lives, doesn't want the whole pack showing up when there is a problem. I can totally understand that.

Yea, I think we were all misled. When he was recruiting for CM, he said he needed someone to be a coordinator between the DL's and him. For the DL's when someone asked what they would have to do, he said they pretty much just need to bring the cookies and punch. I am going to look further into his money thing on Monday. It is just not sitting right with me. I just found out that my next door neighbor works for the BSA, not sure what he does. I am going to ask him for advice, he's just now home much right now. I don't want to upset the outgoing CM or the scouts. I just don't want the pack to get shafted. Thanks for the replies, they have really helped.

I think I am going to have to do that.

I thought it sounded a little off, but since I am brand new to scouting, I figured it must be just the way things are done. I am not really sure what, if anything I should do about it.

The old CM was very vague. All he has told me is what I have posted. I am hoping to learn more when I see him on Monday. His wife was the treasurer, and he said she kept good records that will be with all of the other info he will be passing on to me. I am not sure how active my CC will be. At our sign up the other night, after I volunteered for CM, the DE then said he needed someone to be my assistant. After a long silence, someone finally raised their hand. Later when she was told what her duties would be as CC she looked like she was going to pass out. She left the meeting as quickly as she could. I am just trying to get an idea of where we should be because I am not sure how much help I will have. I wasn't sure if taking the money for the boy scouts was standard. I know that two of those boys are the sons of the outgoing CM and treasurer.

I believe there were 3 scouts that crossed over. The old CM is going to be handing everything over to my reluctant CC and I on Monday. I guess then I will get a better picture of what we are working with.

For those that have not read my intro, I am a new CM for a less than organized pack. The outgoing CM informed me that we have about $3000 in the bank right now. He said they are giving $1000 to the outgoing boy scouts since they worked very hard for that money. Being that I am an absolute rookie, I am just wondering, how much money should we ideally have in the bank? We have 22 boys in our pack right now, 3 of which are webelos.

These responses have been great. I am soaking it all in. Honestly, I know it is going to be alot of work, but I am just getting more and more excited. I think it is going to be a great year, even with the bumps in the road. This forum ROCKS! I can tell I will be spending quite a bit of time here. Thanks everyone!

Oh, I forgot to mention one more thing. The DE went around to the different den tables to get den leaders. We only have 3 webelos this year, one of which is my son. He got to our table and said we were covered, pointing at me. He said we needed an assistant DL. Neither of the other 2 parents wanted to do it. One of them finally accepted. So, I guess I am also the webelos DL. It should not be to bad with such a small group. I do wish we could recruit at least a couple more though.