OneHour

... so we have an ASM who smokes. He goes out-of-sight to get a smoke (completely out of sight). He is a great ASM, great with the boys, great leadership ability, great character, and great knowledge overall. Who am I to judge him because of his choice to smoke? Of course he doesn't practice what he preaches in terms of telling the boys never to smoke (I get a kick out of him breaking one of the scout law ... trustworthy!) Of course, if he were to smoke in front of the boys, then I would gently remind him of G2SS guideline on tabacco usage on scout activities. I'm, on the other hand, a tad bit on the light side (all right, skinny if you must). I'm not ideal, but my metabolism does not allow me to be any bigger than what I am. Am I a poor example of physically fit? By whose standards? Other than high cholesterol level (not by choice again), I am more physically fit than an average man of my age. I know many large folks who are not that way because of choice. As wingnut pointed out, we teach the boys what proper nutrition as pointed in the handbook and that is what we should do. We should explain to them what it means to be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. my 2 cents worth.(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Packsaddle ... what if that fish turns out to be a shark? Anyway, I thought that I had this worry burried deep down in my subconscience a while back when our former CC gave us the same scare. He rambled on and on about liability and how he and his wife were taking on $1,000,000 liability coverage because they were in leadership position. I guess that the only way is to find out from the council as Unc suggested. Back of our original broadcast ... scouting.

If I were a new leader or someone who's just lurking to learn about scouting and how to take on the leadership position that was just presented to me and I were to run across this posting, I would cease my search, turn and run away from the leadership position that I was contemplating on taking on; as a matter of fact, you all have made me think twice now. Tell me again, why I do what I do every week with the troop and pack while the "liability" dagger dangling over my head? Am I to be gunshied of everything that I do from now on?

RAOTFLMAO ... and inspired by Nlscouter, I have to add one more posting (as you can tell ... around the campfire, the boys laugh at me. Although, I wish from time to time they would laugh with me). Being a chess coach for my second son's elementary Chess Club, I have a few chess jokes for the chess enthus out there: 1) Q: How many Grand Masters does it take to change a light bulb? A: All of them! One to change it. The rest to analyze his moves for the next 100 years! 2) Q: What's the difference between road construction crews and chess players? A: Chess players still move occasionally. 3) A man went to visit a friend and was amazed to find him playing chess with his dog. He watched the game in astonishment for a while. "I can hardly believe my eyes!" he exclaimed. "That's the smartest dog I've ever seen." "Nah, he's not so smart," the friend replied. "I've beaten him three games out of five." 4) Three retired International chess grandmasters were playing chess in the park. The first grandmaster said, "it is windy today." The second grandmaster said, "no, it is Thursday today". The third grandmaster said, "me too, let's go back inside for a drink" A couple of jokes that I learned from my scouts: 1) There was just a dog fight A man walks into a bar one day and asks, "Does anyone here own that rottweiler outside?" "Yeah, I do!" a biker says, standing up. "What about it?" "Well, I think my chihuahua just killed him..." "What are you talkin' about?!" the biker says, disbelievingly. "How could your little runt kill my rottweiler?" "Well, it seems he got stuck in your dog's throat!" 2) Pessimist and a dog An avid duck hunter was in the market for a new bird dog. His search ended when he found a dog that could actually walk on water to retrieve a duck. Shocked by his find, he was sure none of his friends would ever believe him. He decided to try to break the news to a friend of his, the eternal pessimist who refused to be impressed with anything. This, surely, would impress him. He invited him to hunt with him and his new dog. As they waited by the shore, a flock of ducks flew by. they fired, and a duck fell. The dog responded and jumped into the water. The dog, however, did not sink but instead walked across the water to retrieve the bird, never getting more than his paws wet. This continued all day long; each time a duck fell, the dog walked across the surface of the water to retrieve it. The pessimist watched carefully, saw everything, but did not say a single word. On the drive home the hunter asked his friend, "Did you notice anything unusual about my new dog?" "I sure did," responded the pessimist. "He can't swim."

G-rated: A faucet, a cabbage, and tomato had a race. Do you know the outcome? The cabbage is ahead, the faucet is running, and the tomato is trying to ketchup! Courtesy of my five years old ... he heard from school. It's much better when a five years told it, especially when he mixed the vegetables up! One more (I promise): Why does the chicken cross the road? To prove to the armadillo that it can be done! ps: Hope you all don't mind my using some of the jokes at our next campfire! (This message has been edited by OneHour)

Semper, Talking about joke, here are three that my scouts love ... an oldie but still a good one that gets a delay laughter once in a while! - What do you call a deer that got run over by a car and lost both of its eyes? - No eyes deer? (No idea?) - What do you call the same deer that got run over by a truck, now lost both of its eyes and all four of its legs? - Still no eyes deer? (Still no idea?) - What do you call the same deer that lies on the road for four days? - Still, no stinking eyes deer? (Still no stinking idea?)

Hey Unc., thanks, point well taken. I have not verified the fact about high school transcript. acco40 is correct, the scout will dictate his own course of action soon enough. Some will procrastinate until the very end while others will whiz through it as with anything else in their lives. Great suggestions! I'll just let the boys dictate their own course of actions and advice their parents accordingly. In the mean time, SM conference to keep them on course if they deviate. Thanks, 1Hour ps: by the way, you are correct. It was one of the parents who is very keen on his son's academic success who actually ask the original question. His son is in GT (gifted and talented) and is taking Algebra in 7th grade amongst other courses! Such stress at such a young age.

Need advice on this one. We have about 4-6 Life scouts who just got their Life and they are about 12.5 years old. They all came in together and they push each other to get where they are. My son happens to be one of them. Two other parents in the troop who have sons who are eagles adviced me to counsel the Life scouts to consider not finishing their eagle rank before entering high school (that's about 1.25 year away). They indicated that if the boys want their Eagle achievement to be counted on high school transcript then it has to occur during high school year. This is not adding nor deleting requirement from the eagle requirements, but it might be slowing a process that these young men have done a fantastic job of pushing each other! I'm torn. With the competitiveness of today's college application, an Eagle rank does allow the candidate to stand out. On the other hand, these boys may loose their interest if too much steam is being let out. Yes, the Eagle rank is not the end that justifies the mean and the whole scouting experience is all that the boys should be appreciating, but these boys from all appearances are very keen on getting the eagle ranking. On the other hand, my concern is that the earlier they obtain their eagles, the higher likelihood that they will "eagle out" if there is no high adventure program to keep them interested (such as the case with our troop). Have you run into this situation? How have you dealt with it? What is your advice? Thank you in advance. 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Very nice!

Jerry ... it does take 1 hour a week! 1 hour per scout a week!

The question was never answered from a previous thread about a year ago. Could a parent or other family members (grandparents, uncle, aunt, etc) write the letter of recommendation for the scout if they (the family) practice the religion within the home? We have a case where the middle eastern scout is Buddhist and he and his family practice Buddhism at home. They do go to the Temple from time to time on the main Buddhist Holiday, but other than that it is kept within the home. The scout is reverent from all appearances. He practices fasting, etc. Even I could vouch for his religious belief. I'm fairly sure that the other scouts with other religious beliefs that we have in our troop (Hindu, Islamic, and so on) may also have the same question. So Advancement Chairs ... what is the acceptable religious letter of recommendation and from whom? Thank you in advance. 1Hour

Texas ... here and accounted for. http://www.pack129.org/cubs/texasbadge.shtml

Jerry ... at least you get questioned about everything that you do. How about having one of the new parents at the new parent meeting ask you this question,"How would an adult leader be removed from his position?" All of the scoutmasters and I were at a lost for words. I simply replied, "Any one of us standing up here can be replaced at any time. The new scoutmasters will need to be approved by the COR and we are more than willing to relinguish our posts." The funny thing is that this gentleman has not dipped his hands in helping his son's Den nor Pack during Cub years! I think that I actually saw him at a Pack meeting four times in 4.5 years At the Pack's campout, you'll find him swing his golf club instead of doing the activities with his son. Oh well ... as I told him, the scoutmasters and I all have a lengthy list of "honey-do's" that we can be doing.

Back to square one ... have fun at the den meetings! games, songs, crafts, skits, etc. Cub scouting is not all about rank advancement, especially at their age (Tigers). At their age, they want fun. When i was the CM for our Pack, one of our Dens was in the same situation as you are, thanks to a great den leader who whiz them through the requirements. He approached me with the same problem of how to keep them interested and attending den meetings until the end of the school year (he had 2 months to spare). I suggested the same thing as I have suggested to you. Use the den meeting to let the boys have fun. Toss in some field trips (visit the local police station, fire station, library, etc). Play games such as steal the bacon, relays, stop signs, even the simple "Simon says" will cause laughter. Add some simple crafts ... make and fly paper airplane, go fly a kite, make snack for den meeting, etc. There are loads of fun to let the kids do. Needless to say, the den leader came back at the end of the year to tell me that all of his boys couldn't hardly wait until next year! You can do one belt loop for each month. By the way, each belt loop costs about $1.50. Ask the parent to pay for it if needs to be. I don't understand your question "But how about the Packs and Councils offering the program fully to the Scouts." Why? Is your Pack restricting something and I can't relate it to your uniform comment? The cubscout program is fairly straight forward and everything is written in the cubscout handbook. It must have been the late night thing, but I am at a lost of your question. Are you referring to the ability to buy belt loop? That's where Pack dues and/or den dues come in, to provide these awards for the boys. If the pack dues and/or den dues do not cover for the awards, then it's up to the parents. The Council's dues cover the membership fee, the insurance, and Boys Life if the boy elected to subscribe to it. Here is another question. How can the Council tell whether or not the Pack participate in belt loop program or not? I guess by the sell of them. If your local scout shop won't carry them, then order them online. http://www.scoutstuff.org/ Cheers, 1Hour (This message has been edited by OneHour)

That's where belt loops and the various electives at the end of the handbook comes in. What do you mean "Electives are out as they have already reached their rank?" Electives, if I'm not mistaken, can be earned at any time after the cub has earned his tiger badge. A boy earns one Tiger Track bead for every 10 electives he completes. Since they have not finished 1st grade nor are they 8 years old, Tiger's electives are still fair game! Now, they can't really start on the Wolf achievements until they have completed the first grade or they are 8 years old. So that means that you will have to have fun at the den meetings! Games, sing silly songs, more games, skits, a lot of games, crafts, did I mention games? At their age, you want to have lots of fun! Next year, try to pace them and spread the requirements out and mix in a lot of fun stuffs! Look at the Cub Scout Leader guides for ideas or any of these websites: http://wtsmith.com/rt/games.html http://www.macscouter.com/Games/ http://www.netwoods.com/d-games.html and then ... graduation party ... graduating to the next rank! 1Hour ps: relax and have fun with them ... that's how you keep them interested! Also, don't forget to award them their Bob Cat badge! (I'm assuming that their Tiger badge are already sewn on their blue uniform!) (This message has been edited by OneHour)

by the way fullqauiver ... welcome!

kenk, If you explain your son's special needs to the SPL and to the troop, they will understand. I had to explain one of the scouts who has night terror and claustrophobia to them. Before that, they thought that it's this scout way of misbehaving at night (yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs)(it is not a pleasant experience for us adults). They, of course, joined in. Next morning, they laughed about it, because they did not know who did it or why. I found out about the scout's issue through his parents later on and explained it to the SPL and his staff and then to the troop. After that, the boys were very understanding. A scout is ... hepful, friendly, courteous, and kind are the scout laws that I use to remind any of the boys who proceed to make fun of others. Any help that you can provide to the SPL and his staff as well as the adult leaders to help your son's situation would be greatly appreciated by them. If you are the only one or feel that you need to be there to calm him down or prevent him from injuring himself or other scouts, then it is the right thing to do. Just don't hide his medical needs and let the troops find it out on their own. That's what happened in our case. 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

What ever happened to the Cubscout's Motto of "Do Your Best?" If I remember it correctly, the Webelos den leader is only the person who signs off the requirement, according to the Webelos handbook. If the den leader signs off on it, it's a done deal. There is no board of review in cub scout as in boy scout ... meaning ... the cub scout committee (or a member of the committee) can't say anything about rank advancement. Prairie, I don't think that even the CM can override the Webelos Den Leader's approval of the requirement. I could be wrong. 1Hour (This message has been edited by OneHour)

We have 23 new scouts joined our troop recently. Of those 23 scouts, I know about 1/2 of them because of my affiliation with the Pack. Several of the parents have problem of "letting go." They asked how can they participate. Well, we held a parents meeting and this is what we asked of them: 1) Help your scout by encourage him to live the Scout Oath, Law, and Motto. (Don't forget the Outdoor Code) 2) Help your scout by taking him to the troop meetings and activities. 3) Help us to help them by volunteer for the various positions that are available in the troop (committee and program side) by doing this you will help us making sure that we (as youth leaders and adult leaders) deliver the program to your scout as promised. 4) You set good examples to your scout by live the Scout Oath, Law, and Motto. 5) Let our senior scouts deal with the issues (good, bad, or otherwise) and then allow our adult leaders to help our senior scouts if they need the help. (in other words, don't lecture, correct, or admonish your son). 6) If your son hold a position of leadership, please coach him on making right decision and/or on planning. 7) Keep up and encourage him with his rank advancement but don't do for him. Let him have the autonomy to do as he sees fit. 8) If your scout has special needs, please let us know so that we can make his scouting experience better. We may ask you to assist. and finally 9) Have fun with us. That's it! 1Hour ps: the worst thing that you can do is to volunteer just to watch after him! For example, one of the father asked if he can go on our Camporee last week. His son didn't want him to go because the scout wanted independence. I talked to the scout and asked his dad to go but we kept the father busy with tasks with other scouts. The father didn't have a lot of interaction with his son. They both enjoyed the Camporee!(This message has been edited by OneHour)

A few to start you off, but there are rope tricks in the Bear book. Also, at the scout store, they have the magic book that you can purchase. http://wtsmith.com/rt/magic.html http://www.conjuror.com/magictricks/free_tricks1.html http://www.kidzone.ws/magic/rope_trick.htm http://goodtricks.net/jumping-ring-trick.html http://www.charlottebear.co.uk/magic/appmagic.htm http://www.circustakeaway.co.uk/magic_trick1.php http://www.circustakeaway.co.uk/magic_trick2.php

Actually, you can make a pdf file into a "fillable" document. We did it with the Class 1 health form and merit badge blue card. You will need the full Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional version. With it, you can open a pdf file and insert "comment boxes" that everyone who uses Adobe Reader can fill in. 1Hour ps: there is a down side to this. If you have Acrobat 6.0 Professional, then you can save your inputs, but if your users only have Adobe Reader, they can fill it out and print it, but can't save it!(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Bob, don't get me wrong. I do make sure that it is phrased in a way that is very supportive and encouraging, but thanks for the pointers. We have the FFPS soccer down here (Fun Fair Positive Soccer). The parents and coaches are programmed to provide positive feedback ... to the point of taking pages off of the "Leave It to Beaver", "My 3 Sons" ... script! Having sons on this league, I have been thoroughly brainwashed! It's great! 1Hour

My favorite questions to their questions are: "What would you do?" "How would you do it?" "Who could you ask?" "... then do it!" Needless to say ... they hate a question as an answer!

Bob, our retention rates are as follows: NSP 2 years ago: 24 came in, 15 remained or 62.5% retention (these left for various reasons ... the first year of their scouting career was filled with controversy ... 3 left because of sports, 3 left do to family relocations, 2 left because of parents' divorce, 1 left because parents want nothing to do with the new scout leaders) NSP last year: 7 came in, 5 remained or 71% retention (one left for hockey, 1 left because of his night terror/claustrophobic condition). NSP this recruiting season (as of March): 23 came in ... 23 remained or 100% retention rate. I would not claim that we have an excellent patrol system, yet, but we are trying. We are hoping to use the new scout patrols to generate the excitement and the patrol method back into the troop. We are happy with the progress of our troop so far. We still have a long way to go, but a footstep in the right direction, nevertheless. I think that I have begun to burn the idea that these boys need to take over the troop completely! It was beautiful to see four of our troop guides sat there at the Camporee and worked with the new scouts on lashings and compass! As Barry says it so eloquently every time: I love the scouting stuff! 1Hour ps: This does not say anything about our oldest scouts who do not care for taking part in this "reborn" troop. They liked the way it was where the old scoutmaster ran everything for them and allowed them do whatever they want even if it does not conform to G2SS. I can tell that retention rate because they come and go as they please. We see them from time to time when they needed something, especially towards their eagle requirements! Yes, they have done their required time and position!(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Actually, the 20 new scouts are divided up into two new scout patrols. Our Star and Life scouts are in two patrols that were started two years ago when they first came into the troop. We have a fifth patrol that is made up of most Tenderfeet and Second Class, the patrol from last year recruiting season. They elected to keep their patrol intact after their first year. Finally, we have the oldest scout patrol. They are the ones who do not show up at all, but still want their eagles! In our troop, after one year, the new scout patrol(s) can elect to be dispersed amongst the otheer patrols or remain intact. So far all have elected to remain intact because of the friendship that they have built. 1Hour