Beagle Scout

In our pack, the Blue & Gold Banquet takes the place of our February pack meeting and is a celebration of the anniversary of Scouting in the U.S. We try to make it a big deal, inviting all of the teachers and staff of the school where we meet as well as the usual relatives and friends. We encourage the dens and Scouts to set a goal to earn their ranks so that they may be recognized at this big event in front of their family and friends. We also try hard to make it clear that it is OK if they do not hit this goal and that they can still work on their ranks until the summer (exceptions handled on a case-by-case basis). We deliberately schedule a separate crossover for our March or April pack meeting so that the ceremony is the highlight of the meeting and there is nothing else to take away from the Webelos's crossover experience. AOL is not tied to crossover and is awarded when it is earned in a special ceremony, but in practice, most years both the AOL ceremony and the crossover ceremony are in March or April.

I think the Scouts and their families would get more incentive if you shared more of the profits with them. After reaching a certain level, give them a percentage of the sales in a Scout account/Scout bucks that they can use toward camp or any other Scouting expense. For example, if the pack wants each Scout to sell $300 in popcorn, the pack keeps all the proceeds for sales up to $300, then the Scouts get half of the proceeds of all sales in excess of $300. This should really encourage Scouts and their families to work hard to earn their own way to camp.

According to the United States Chess Federation (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11348/639/), the launch of the Chess merit badge is scheduled to coincide with the grand opening of the World Chess Hall of Fame on September 10, 2011. Also, according to U.S. Scouting Service Project (http://usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb147.asp), "At the request of the BSA, the requirements will not be posted until September 7, 2011."

With regards to Boy Scouts, Scout is not a rank, it is a joining badge, earned by completing the requirements to join Boy Scouts. The first rank in Boy Scouts is Tenderfoot.

I came across this on another site yesterday and thought it would make a great CM minute: Half Your Best is Not Good Enough http://www.thescoutmasterminute.net/2010/11/half-your-best-not-good-enough.html

Just to be clear, a total of 8 (not 7) activity badges are required for AOL. Three are needed for the Webelos badge: - Citizen - Fitness - One other activity badge from a different activity group Five more are needed for the AOL: - Outdoorsman - Readyman - At least one from the Mental Skills Group - At least one from the Technology Group - One more of your choice

My son is one of a small group of Scouts doing Citizenship in the Community together. All the other boys looked at the list of Movies With a Meaning on meritbadge.org (http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Citizenship_in_the_Community#Movies_With_a_Meaning) and chose to watch The Mighty Ducks. I encouraged my son to pick something a little bit more dramatic and mature, so he watched Pay It Forward. I believe his couselor was impressed with his choice and what he got out of it.

When my Bear den earned the Whittling Chip, we used Lever 2000 and it worked great without worrying about how old or new the soap was.

Our pack does well in fundraising, but we still ask each Scout to pay for his own annual registration (as mentioned earlier, then there is skin in the game). As for losing boys over the summer, it seems like this problem would be reduced (hopefully eliminated) by having a year-round program.

Down and Derby would seem like a good choice.... I've always enjoyed Disney's Man of the House. It stars Chevy Chase and Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a man and his girlfriend's son who join the YMCA Indian Guides to bond together (only the son is only doing it to sabotage things so his mother will not get married).

Unless I'm mistaken, belt loops are to be earned while you are a Cub Scout. Going bowling for your 4th birthday does not satisfy the requirement....

Thanks, gwd-scouter, it's good to know this has been done before and turned out well.

After crossover last spring, there were only two Webelos left in our pack. It was our plan that they would begin meeting with the first-year Webelos until next spring, but neither has been very active since crossover, and one has told us he is dropping out. In an attempt to keep them both in Scouting, these Webelos will soon start meeting with the troop as prospective members and work with the Boy Scouts on the requirements they need for AOL (only Outdoorsman and Readyman left). Both Webelos will meet the 10 1/2 years old age requirement next month, so we will have an AOL/crossover ceremony for them at the October pack meeting, at which point they will officially be Boy Scouts and may start working on the Boy Scout requirements.

We hold our popcorn kickoff at the end of our regular September pack meeting. It always starts with a loud, wild, fun skit by the leaders. Two years ago we did a "Mission: Impossible" skit with the theme music playing loudly while our Cubmaster, dressed in a trench coat, battled bad guys who had stolen the prizes for our popcorn sale. Last year, we played the Indiana Jones theme while our Cubmaster, dressed in leather jacket and fedora with satchel and whip, avoided bad guys to reach a temple and unlock a treasure vault containing the prizes for the sale. We really make these skits into big productions, building up to revealing all the prizes the Scouts can earn by participating in the popcorn sale. It really gets the kids excited. Once everyone is all pumped up, we serve popcorn and go over the pack's sales plan, including the prizes and how Scouts can earn money for summer camp. The pack prizes are in addition to the Trail's End prizes awarded after the sale, and we have them on display so the boys can see them and touch them. We make a big deal about each boy coming to Blitz Day and getting a prize. The first day of the sale (Saturday) is Blitz Day. Scouts pick up popcorn in the morning and sell for at least two hours sometime during the day. Everyone gets back together in the late afternoon for a pizza party, and everyone reports their Blitz Day sales and turns in the money they have collected so far. Last year, we had 23 Scouts participate in Blitz Day resulting in one-day sales of $8021. Every Scout that participates in Blitz Day gets a prize ($5-$20 value), with the Scout with the highest sales for the day selecting first, then next highest, and so on. This seems to work well for us, because every Scout wants to come to the party and get a prize, and once they get out and try, they found out how easy it is to sell the popcorn. By the end of the day, most are well on their way to whatever goal they've set for themselves, so there is incentive to keep selling after Blitz Day. Scouts and their families set their own goals, but the pack offers $50 toward summer camp for anyone who sells at least $500 in popcorn. The amount the pack contributes toward summer camp goes up for every $250 sold above $500. This way, not only are the Scouts helping the pack go, they are helping themselves, too. Last year 17 boys earned $2650 toward summer camp. Hope you find at least some of this useful!

Eight minutes for the popcorn kickoff seems a little short to me. In my opinion, you want to really do it right for a successful sale. You need to get the Scouts excited about what they and the pack can earn/win/do with the proceeds. You need to get the parents' support. You need to explain how it all works. It is also a good idea to do some roleplaying and show new Scouts how to approach customers. We usually divide our September pack meeting into two parts. The first 45 minutes is for handing out awards and the second 45 minutes is for the popcorn kickoff. It's tough to fit in all the awards and do a decent popcorn presentation in only an hour and a half and make it entertaining too, but it always works out OK.