Novice_Cubmaster

Sorry for the hijack. I have to take exception to one of Scoutfish's points: "Then you have people who are the spouses of registered leaders..who are not actually registered themselves who somehow think they have pull in the pack." Behind a great number of successful scout leaders are some awfully hard working spouses. In our pack, these ladies were rarely registered committee members, but they were the reason our Blue&Gold nights, Holiday parties, Back to the Pack cookouts, etc. were all successful. Sometimes, they just filled in for a lack of volunteers. Sometimes having a live in "assistant", available at a moments notice, at ridiculous times, who knew what you wanted, let us registered leaders pull a rabbit out of the hat instead of falling on our faces. As for these leader's spouses having any pull - the only pull they had was adjusting a few of our plans to something they could make happen. NC

ghendron, Amen, brother. Happy Scouting from here on. NC

Before you expel this 1 boy from the troop, I seriously suggest you find out if "sack tapping" is something other scouts in your troop have been engaging in. You may have a number of scouts who need to re-examine their behavior - and have it watched for a while. NC

folks, regarding the tapper making a verbal presentation about bullying, or a very public apology - with the possibility of insurance claims leading to legal action, his parents may want him to keep his mouth shut. Anything he might say - no matter how well intentioned or honorable - could be used against him in a court of law. The "Andy Griffith" school of problem resolution won't fly when you bring in the lawyers. Second, was this really hazing or bullying? Is this scout the only tapper? Or was this something that a number of scouts have been engaging in? Please, don't think I'm condoning the tapper's behavior - it was absolutely unacceptable - but was it bullying, hazing or sexual battery? Or just stupid teenage goofing around, where all involved have at some time been both the tapper and the tapped? Because, lets face it - in the teen world, a good "nut shot" is high comedy these days. Sounds like a classic case of "it's funny, until somebody gets hurt". Now, before you tar & feather me... anybody here ever snapped a wet towel at somebody's bare butt in the high school locker room? Was it sexual battery, or just "all in fun"? The complaints by the young ladies about the tapper not keeping his hands to himself are a whole different kettle of fish. There's no mitigating interpretation of the action or intention in that situation. But it is a different situation than the sack tapping. Sack tapping, and other similar acts, should probably be addressed by the SM in front of the whole troop. The message, "it's funny until somebody gets hurt" isn't a just a funny saying on a T-shirt. NC

Scoutfish, Have you taken all the required training for your position? (Obviously not, as you would know about crease and pleat requirements, and how to properly iron supplex nylon). Guess what my pet peeve is with some of the knee jerk responders. NC

More importantly, why would a Brit like Baden-Powell pick a "French" symbol like a fleur-de-lys? What on Earth came over him? NC

Scoutfish, how bout this... Donate them to the pack for the Webelos to use. Our pack had 3-4 tents that the Web's took on our Webelos-only campout, and could use at family campouts if ok with their parents. Great for controlled independence. NC

Holding the National Day of Prayer in a "Muslim" foot basin is a great idea. Some of us could stick our heads underwater & see how many Hail Mary's we could say before drowning. NC

Sorry to join in the hijack. Want to read some interesting stuff - look up Quakers in the pre-revolutionary colonies... With the atrocities committed in England against church members, they began migrating to America. It was in 1656 that the first Quakers arrived in Boston, being two women missionaries. The Puritan ministers there pronounced them "heretics" and "witches". The result was that they were seized at the ship, stripped to the waist and lashed. They left the colony under orders, but continued to suffer, being branded on the hands with "H", thrown in jail. In 1659, four missionaries were hanged in Boston.About the same time, in Virginia, William Robinson, who migrated on the ship "The Woodhouse" in 1657, was accused of heresy, his personal property being seized, including his clothes, and sold by the sheriff. Ultimately, he was one of the four hanged in Boston. Further, in 1659 the Virginia General Assembly passed a law against the Quakers, fining 100 lbs. sterling to any ship's master who brought in Quakers. Too, prison terms were imposed on Quakers who refused to leave the colony. This caused church members to flee to a colony which welcomed settlement ? Maryland, where fifty acres of land were offered to settlers in the Annamessex?Manokin area (Somerset Co.) Since we're not hanging and branding Quakers anymore, could Athiest scouts be far behind? NC(This message has been edited by novice_cubmaster)

I too am a steak worshipper. However, my doctor insists I also worship green leafy vegetables, lest I put my faith in Pravachol and Lipitor.

I think the sad truth is that many CO's would drop the BSA. I could only hope that many of the scouts rendered unit-less would tell their parents, "I don't care if the only troop in town is chartered by the Gay Atheist Baby Seal Clubbers, I want to be a scout."

Ketchup makes the tasteless tolerable. NC

Perhaps scouting pride is linked to actually wanting to be a scout? How many scouts that have no pride would really prefer to quit? Followup question - but can't quit because mom & dad won't let them, or because cash or a drivers license is the inducement? How many adults have pride in something they don't care about? NC

How common is it for a CM to not be a member of the CO? I'm Jewish & was the CM for 5 years in a Pack chartered by a Methodist church. Did I ever feel left out - no, but then again, our CO was fairly hands off. However, I did interact some with the church's youth program leader - I happily announced some of their events at our pack meetings that might be of interest to our pack families. My sons & I attended more Scout Sunday's at our CO than Scout Sabbath's at our temple; I felt I had to show support for our CO & encourage other pack families to attend. Out of respect for both my religion and the CO's, I just silently meditated instead of praying. NC

Hi jamist649, As CM, one thing I always tried to stress is that Cub Scouting (at all levels, not just Tigers) is Family or a Cub+Parent oriented. That Cubbing is really a great opportunity for a parent to do things with THEIR son, in a framework that provides a lot of ideas of things to do & things to talk about together. And, that their son ISN'T going to get as much out of Cub Scouts unless they're involved too. NC

Showers at a Cub campout? What self respecting Cub would shower while camping? Gotta be a myth. NC

Fellow Scouters, Thanks for all the responses. Double thanks to Beavah! Sounds like it would be ok if whatever a unit (or team) credits to the individual scout (player) is the same amount for everybody - regardless of participation. Which does make it "doing something for the common good" instead of "doing something for your own benefit". While that doesn't teach "credit where credit is due", it does teach a true conservative value - don't break the law, even for what seems to be a good cause. Thanks, all. NC

Isn't that something you spray on your car to repel deer? NC

Hi all, any Tax Accountants/Lawyers out there? Recently, I was involved in fundraising for my son's High School hockey team. At a parent meeting, we were discussing if each boy's sales should be used to cover his share of the costs, or all pooled together & the uncovered costs divided equally. One parent, who is a tax accountant, said that if you're raising funds for a 503C organization - 100% of the funds you raise have to go into a general pool. In other words, a person can't raise funds for their own personal benefit under the auspices of a 503C. Even if the majority of what you raise goes to the organization. Has anyone else ever heard of this? If it's true, I would wonder if it makes putting a percentage of the funds raised by a scout into his "Scout Account" illegal? Or is the Council considered the "general pool", and what a Unit does with the money distributed by the Council sufficiently distanced? NC

Hi Ian, I'm going to do something novel - I'm going to assume that you've taken BALOO and would actually like an answer to your question. Take a look at this link (here under Scouter): http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=179594 The 2 liter bottle rockets are a big hit - if it's warm enough. If your District/Council does PowWow or "University of Scouting", that's a good place to get info on campfire activities, cheers, skits, etc.. I'd also suggest going to Roundtable & talking to some Tiger/Wolf/Bear den leaders about what their scouts like do on campouts. By the way, I can see some advantages to having a Pack Campout the same weekend as Webelos Woods. It would really depend on the balance of ages you have in the pack. Fellow Scouters - please keep in mind - The content, quality, and duration of BALOO training can vary from District to District (or even presenter to presenter). If your BALOO training included activities and fun things to do at a campout, you were luckier than I was. Most of our 4 1/2 hours of class time was spent on how to fill out Tour Permits. NC

Maybe reading isn't a strong suit in our area, but our pack was about 50/50 as to whether Boys Life was getting read or not. Which is why our pack always made it optional. Whereas recognition shouldn't be optional. But Lisabob makes a good point (she always makes good points, BTW) that the pack shouldn't pay for multiple copies of the same award. Then again, our Cubs would have turned their noses up at any scout wearing 2 of the same beltloop. NC

Fund the beltloops, dump the Boys Life (or at least make the parents who want it, optionally pay for it). Beltloops are part of recognizing some achievement - whether awarded at the at the pack or den meeting - which is a big part of the program. Too many unread copies of Boys Life end up in landfills. NC

So, Basement Dweller... "I was told by my DE that if I did not attend NCS and acted as a Program or Camp Director that I would be personally Liable for any legal problems from the event." What was the DE's response when you told him to go find another Program or Camp Director? NC

Howdy, FoukeCM! First of all, congratulations - you've got the most fun job in the Pack! The most important thing about being a Cub Master is NOT being anything or everything else. Training - do the all the required training for CM. Then stop - for now. Make sure that others get the BALOO (and OWL if necessary). In fact, make sure that multiple people get the BALOO. Don't make yourself indispensable for having Pack campouts - backup is great! Get your Committee Chair to handle budget, determine Pack Dues, and set a Popcorn goal. ITS NOT YOUR JOB. But definitely have some input as to setting Pack Dues if you want to make sure the parents can afford uniforms, too. Webelos don't need to learn CPR. But they will have fun learning how if you've got access to the dummies. As for the Charter Org, most of the interaction should be handled by... the Committee Chair. As for Popcorn and any other fund raiser you do - you can be the "talking head" & main cheerleader - but you can't be the Popcorn "Kernel" or person in charge. The Committee Chair should be rounding up volunteers for these positions. In case you haven't guessed - I would hate being the CC as much as I loved being the CM! Mr. Cubmaster, you do have one very serious role - you're "the Program Person". You need to make sure that the Den Leaders have what they need to effectively put on "the Program". Which means that Den Leaders should NOT be heading up fundraising, or the Christmas Party, Blue & Gold Dinner, etc.. any more than you should be. Make sure the Committee Chair gets bodies to handle all these events. Now, go have fun. NC

Nice response, Hal! NC