OwntheNight

Howdy from North Texas. Thank you for giving back to Scouting and for your service to our country. Got a lot of friends from the Falls, man that place is HOT!!! Welcome to the forums

When I was a Boy Scout, I was in the Cobra patrol. Ours was " Cobras dont cheer, they SSSSSTRIKE" Yea, we kind of took that as a rally cry, more than a cheer! During WB, we changed it every day. Our main one was "BEAVERS, We do give a DAM" We also did other ones like "WARD?" " Hello , Mrs. Cleaver" The everpopular one from Naked Gun, half the guys would do the first part, the other half the return line "NICE BEAVER" "Thanks, I just had it stuffed" And then after the GOL, it was " BEAVERS, We're not really PIRATES!" for obvious reasons

What kind of activities are you thinking about? I think if you schedule to many activities, then you kind of brand yourself as the one who plans everything, and then den leaders don't take the initiative on their own to plan activities because they know you'll take care of it. As CM, I plan pack meetings, create the themes for campouts and encourage the dens to make their own plans. I can give them ideas for things to do, and point them in the direction of resources. Our district usually has lots of events available. I will send information out about the event to the pack. If the members want to take advantage of the opportunity, that's their choice. I will encourage participation at some of the events, Cuboree, and special ones.

Way to Go. Incorporate those new boys into the pack, so they , and their parents, feel welcome! At our Pack Picnic next week, we will be bridging the boys over to their next rank. We will also be letting the new Tigers bridge and receive their neckers and Pack t's at the same time. I'm also trying to encourage our experienced parents to step up and get to know these new parents, make them feel welcome with our family!

It's really what is going to be best for you. I think your going to get multiple opinions here, which can just add to the confusion. The everlasting debate internal vs external frames. I spent 3 years reading reviews here and different sites, and talking to people in the troop about the best back pack type. I finally just "manned" up and went to REI and tried on a bunch of different packs with weight combinations, both external and internal. Obviously walking around the store for 30 minutes wasn't going to represent a day on the trail, but it gave me an idea of what I liked and didn't, and what to look for in form and function. Me personally, I'm tall in my chest area, so I needed something a little longer for that. I finally got it down to the Osprey Aether or a Deuter, I saw that the Scout store had the Osprey for about the same price as REI, so I bought it there. The Deuter was just a little out of my price range, but I did like some of the features better than the Osprey. I also liked how the Osprey supported my lower back, it just felt more comfortable for me. So man up, and just go in and spend an afternoon trying them on and walking around the store, the right one will find you.

First off, welcome, and Howdy from North Texas as well. Belt Loops are only true advancement for some Webelos activity pins. For the most part, they are just an extra thing to work on to draw interest, not really advancement stuff. Good Luck with the new venture.

June- Day Camp Webelos Resident Camp One of the troops in the area is having a mobile rock climbing wall come in and has invited packs in the area to come and "Hang Out" Minor League baseball game- Fireworks, Pack recognition on the big screen, AYCE hot dogs, hamburgers, and drinks July- Participating in the 4th of July parade Going to rent out one of the ice skating rinks in the area and have the boys and families play "broomball" on the ice. August- Debating between bowling or driving an hour south of us and going to an actual drive in theater, with double feature and a mini golf course on the property. Bike rodeo right before school starts. This will be one of our big recruiting efforts. One of the bike shops is going to come in and do safety inspections, adjustments, and might bring one of their show teams in for a demo.

What do you mean, Santa Claus and Snipe hunting AREN'T real ?!?!?!

SP, School starts for us the week before Labor day. Our pack meetings are the last Monday of the month, unless it's a holiday. The school district gives us 1 night in the school, usually a week after school starts. This is for all packs in all schools. I have boys from at least 4 or 5 different schools. Needless to say, I can't be at every school that night. I will start den meetings in August to get existing den's back in "den meeting" mode, and to get the den's that were created from our May open house together. I'm taking your cue of getting the new dens up to speed during the summer as much as possible.This also gives me an opportunity to talk to our existing parents about the expectations for JSN. We will use a 3 tiered approach for the Sept meetings. Tier 1- We will host a bike rodeo for the neighborhood probably the Saturday before school starts. Try to get our name out there for kids, and it shows where our CO is so they know where to go. Tier 2- Use the designated JSN for handing out fliers, and putting up signs for our actual JSN probably 4 or 5 days later. The principal's have been receptive to me putting up signs for longer than the 1 day allowed, by the school district. Boys will also have those extra days to hand out recruitment material. I can also have them wear their uniform, we stand out in front of the carpool lane promoting our JSN night, that entire week. Tier 3- Our actual JSN night at the CO. We can use the gym of the church. More room to spread things out. I absolutely love your idea for either building rockets or the egg drop. (BORROWING!) The following week, Den meetings get started for all dens. I should have established leaders or close to it for the new boys just joining. Last year, I spent that entire week calling parents and making a list of those who might make good DL candidates, and then offering positions. Need to figure a better way on that. I spent last year's JSN trying to convince everybody to join Cub Scouts. This year I will probably spend more time on the nuts and bolts of the pack, and try to get parents committed to helping out. After that, it's off to the races for another year. Popcorn will probably be addressed at the den meetings, with a handout. We are contemplating doing just show and sell this year, and having a big fundraiser event next summer.

"I am also a bit confused over how a den leader gets in the middle of a Pack leadership dispute." 'Nut Look no further. I was a DL when our CC and one of our Tiger DL's got into a major power play in the pack. Tiger DL was an experienced Scouter and began to question everything the CC did in a very public manner. Anything from how to fill out paperwork to awards. Everything was a battle between these two. CC and CM were good friends, so the CM was naturally drawn into this. As the DL with the most "seniority", behind the CM. I was asked to add my opinion about having the DL removed from her position. I researched the how to's, even going so far as pulling threads from here to validate removing a DL. After going through the procedure of removing the DL, there was a lot of phone calls to the COR, who was a very absent COR at the time. Once all the dust settled, at recharter the Tiger den transferred en mass to another pack. Our Bear Den also transferred at the same time, due to Bear DL had a sons in Bear Den and Tiger Den. In December, CM called me and said she was stepping down and wanted me to be next CM. Shortly after that, COR called me and said that CC had resigned. I became Capt.Smith of the Titanic at that point. 2 active dens, No CC, Families divided within the pack. We did authorize payment to the other pack for popcorn sales that year from the Tiger Den. Now, 1.5 yrs later, our pack is starting to grow on our own merits.We added a healthy Tiger den at the beginning of the year. We just added 9 boys at our May open house this week, and hope to add quite a few more in August. I still hear snippets from people outside of the pack asking why don't we just fold up shop and move on. My focus through the entire process was the boys. Failure was not an option for us. Snappy, Keep your focus on the boys, they are what matter the most. Leave the adult stuff outside the door. Remember, that 1 hr is theirs and theirs alone. No matter how painful and daunting this seems, you will get through this with perspective and wisdom. Keep taking the high road, the other stuff will come out in the wash. Good Luck

We do the formal crossing at Blue/Gold. However, most of the boys are typically attending Troop meetings in November or December (provided they've already earned AoL). Others of course have pushed right up until B/G to crossover. It really depends on the boy and what he wants to do. My oldest crossed over in November, because he wanted to start camping with the troop and didn't want to wait 4 months to be a part of troop activities. Alot can depend on the Troop itself. My son had actually chosen one troop to join, but they wouldn't let the Webelos crossover until March. We instead went with the troop that opened their doors and welcomed them when they had their AoL completed.

TWOMORROWS, Are you being serious or being sarcastic? I just couldn't tell by your tone and intonation since I'm looking at a computer screen

Well there goes my Idea for the next Pack meeting..... I can't wear a cheerleader outfit or Ballerina costume (ALA Scoutfish), the boys can't hit me with a whipped cream pie for bringing somebody to the meeting. We can't do "Nuts the elephant" skit, and I certainly can't sing because I left something at home that I should have brought. Certainly wouldn't want a 9 yr old to come up with a funny song, since we all know what is funny in the mind of a boy. I guess we shouldn't have sang Happy Birthday to our CC last week, because it would have publicly humiliated or degraded her self esteem. Well at least we didn't mention her age. Imagine the backlash I would have gotten for that. (Backhand across my head at the least). Oh wait, that would have condoned physical violence. Shouldn't have done the "Miss America" skit with my DL's at our campout. Going to have to apologize to the boys for making them laugh at the expense of their DL's. If you can't laugh at yourself, in this situation. You're in the wrong gig. Every thing I do is FOR THE BOYS. That's why I was asked to be the CM. The committee and the COR thought I could be the right person to represent our unit, and that the boys might actually enjoy the program I gave them. Even if it means getting a pie or cake in the face, or a water baloon soaking. My boys understand when I'm having fun, and when I'm serious with them. If they trust that they can have fun with me without fear of repercussion, Imagine what they would trust me with if they actually had a problem they didn't want to or were afraid to talk to their parents about. Trust and respect go both ways. As far as the OP goes, if the DL in question doesn't want a cake on their head, Fine...They don't have to have it done. Would I offer the boys an alternative to destroying an entire cake? Absolutely. But If that's what they chose, I'm OK with that as well. THIS POST HAS BEEN CLEARLY EDITED WITH TONGUE FIRMLY PLANTED IN CHEEK.

Hey, I'm not getting fat...My clothes are magically shrinking, must be something in the washing machine! I know I could stand to lose about 30 lbs myself, especially if I want to be a crew advisor for our next trek to Philmont in two years. Our Troop is blessed to have a SM and ASM's who are physically fit and try to set the example for the boys. It shows as well. We do do more backpacking trips, more HA trips, and yes, maybe taking more physically challenging trips than some others do. I've seen those same troops that aren't very active that do the plop camping, and that's the extent of their physical activity. (WHEW, We made it 100 yds from the trailer...All right boys, let's set up here!) It does make a difference as well. We have a number of boys starting on their varsity teams for their schools. And the non athletic ones that chose band, are in just as good of shape as the football players. (You try wearing a band uniform, and playing an instrument on a Friday Night game in September, here in Texas. Not pretty, and those uniforms don't breathe AT ALL!!) We do owe the boys the ability to take them places they haven't been, and see things they haven't seen. Our troop has learned from it's share of mistakes as well. Myself and another ASM had set up a trip for just the new patrols. This was their final campout as the new boy patrols, before the next group of boys that were joining. For the most part, the boys did great on the hike that we took. Some were not so prepared, with not bringing proper water bottles and such. Our mistake, was letting some of the Dad's go with us. It was over 100 degrees out, and we were hiking through some ugly terrain, lot of rocks and dry river bed stuff. Dad's weren't prepared for that kind of work, and we spent more time trying to keep the Dad's from suffering heat exhaustion than anything. After that, we learned not to schedule those types of hikes in August, and for the visiting Dad's, they sit in camp and watch from a chair. If they want to participate, they better have some physical activity plan going on before they come. I will say this, at least 1 dad took that trip to heart and has worked his tail off to drop about 65 lbs. It certainly opened my eyes to being better physically prepared for trips, or choosing to not go on certain trips because I knew I would be the burden to the troop if I went.

Tiger Cub DL- 2x Wolf Bear DL- 2x Asst. Web DL Cubmaster- Starting Yr. 2 Day Camp Walking Den Leader- 4x Day Camp Cubmaster- Starting Year 3 Webelos Resident Camp Den Leader Those are my official titles, Of Course I've worn every hat in Cubs and then some!