ScoutMomAng

I have a new wolf scout that recently completed a 3 mile walk for the mentally ill. I'm not sure if he raised money or not. However, I know that he started the project before he was a cub scout. Does his 3 mile walk count as a service project toward some cub scout award?

Our Pack just did it''s fall rally. We had 9 boys turn up for Tigers, with their parents. All are VERY excited about having their son''s in Cub Scouts. However, nobody wants to commit that one hour a week (LMBO) to be the Tiger Den Leader. I said all evening long, "If we don''t have a volunteer for Tiger Den Leader we can not have a Tiger Den" Still, everbody claims to be busy every Tuesday from 6 to 7 pm and can''t be the den leader. Please HELP before the pack ends up without a Tiger Den! Also, on another note.... Last years Wolf leader all but disappeared half way through the year and did the same thing the year before as the Bear Leader with her older son, but for some crazy reason wants to come back and be the Bear leader for this year. However, last year''s wolf parents have said, "if she comes back we are not staying as cub scouts", but NOBODY else wants to step up and be Bear Leader. PLEASE HELP BEFORE the pack dissolves. YIS Angela

ScoutNut! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I KNEW YOU COULD HELP ME! LisaBob! Thank you too, for the information you sent. It too will be very helpful. Angela

Hi all It's been a long time since I've been on here looking for things but I know you all are great with the help you dish out and send my way so I thought I'd come back and ask yet another question. When living in Florida, I kept running across this website that talked about Scouts and the National Native American....something or another. It was held every year, somewhere, but I can't remember where. Seems to me it was in Michigan. I know I had saved it to my favorites folder but since then my computer has crashed (several times) and I have lost the information. Does ANYBODY out there have ANY idea what I'm looking for? It was some kind of event that was held annually and it seems to me that scouts were the main target, with some kind of national Native American Award. Also seems to me it was a weekend or week long thing that you had to sign up for, so that you were "camping" the entire time. ANY help anybody can provide would GREATLY be appreciated. Thanks! YIS Angela

There is not a lot of time between now & Saturday, but I think one of the best things you could do is to put together a listing of places & people in the area that do Webelos programs. Give them a list of ideas of where to go for help so that they know they do not have to do it all themselves. Let them know about all of the great resources in your community! Somebody should give ME this information since I just started in this District. My other District was in a whole different state and I KNEW where to get all that information.

Thanks for all the advice. I do not have much time to put anything together. Training is in the morning so I pretty much have to wing it and apologize to the leaders that come to training. When I did training in the other district it too was pretty much a last minute thing with no information given to me before the training session. I had two plans for that training session. What I did worked great apparently because all the leaders that came out of that training were talking, apparently for weeks, because that is all I heard from District. They were sad I was leaving for the new district in the new state. Now I'm back in the same boat, two days before the training session and I'm being asked (not even two days really) to conduct WDL training. Also not being given ANY information about training before hand, except the breakdown of how the entire training day is going to go. I know there is a Powerpoint presentation, however, the district only has one projector and apparently another DL training is going to have that projector....hmmmmm...doesn't help me out. Since the timing is way off, I really don't even have a lot of time to put Pizzazz into the training tomorrow, but I will take all your ideas that I can use for tomorrows training and I'll let you know how it goes. I will also prepare myself for the NEXT training session and be TOTALLY Prepared in case they ask again. Thanks for all your help.

SSSCout, You think the 2nd pack meeting would be too soon for your version of the opening??? Cub master wants Webelos to do another opening since the new dens are ALL new boys and may not get it yet. Angela

Hi all! I love you guys so much. I hope you can help me out this time! Tonight, I've been asked to conduct the District's Webelos Den Leader Specific Training for SATURDAY! The district has a list of what National wants to be taught at WDL specific training, which is really not the problem, accept I don't have it here in front of me. There is a Power Point Presentation for the WDL specific training, one that my husband made for me plus another one online. Personally, I prefer my husbands, however, there is no projector to show the slide show. I have done WDL training before but that was in a different council, in a different district in a different state. I have several of my own ideas on how to conduct this training however I need to know... 1. What do people want in training? (handouts, ideas, how to's, or EXACTLY how to conduct a meeting) 2. Is there someplace I can find "National Guidelines" online for training? 3. Would it be better to do a Question and Answer session for WDL training, where they ask me questions about Webelos and I answer? 4. Or would it be better for me to just conduct a den meeting? 5. How do I add "pizzazz" to a WDL training?? Thanks for all your help...need it before Saturday but will take it afterwards too since I will be doing this on a regular basis. Angela

Okay, let me clarify somethings... Old council did not put programming together for the Webelos, that was up to me the Webelos den leader. New Council does not invite Webelos to camp with them, EVER. I understand that they are not supposed to camp at the camporee but the new council does not even invite them to visit. I'm not sure why they do not camp at the camporee, because in both councils they apparently do not do anything so extravagant or out of Cub Scout programming that they could not do. (My husband just came home from this weekends Camporee...no backpacking, no hiking and actually had a full day of activities but nothing that Cub Scouts could not participate in). I realize that requirement number 4 is NOT required and that the AOL can be earned without that requirement but it is an option and one I personally prefer to use so that the boys experience Boy Scout Camping as opposed to Cub Scout Camping. Its nice for them to observe that Boy Scouts do it all by themselves, without mommy and/or daddy. As for the Webelos resident camp---that still does not complete requirement 4, however our district only performs that in the summer months and let the information out so late that it was impossible for me to get the time off work to take the boys.

FS Scouter and Brent Allen, On page 344 of the Webelos book in the Outdoors requirements Requirement number 4 says exactly: With your parent or guardian, camp overnight with a Boy Scout troop. Sleep in a tent you have helped pitch. In my last council/district the Webelos were ALWAYS invited to participate in the camporees to help fulfill this requirement. They always had their own tent site and participated very minimal with the Boy Scouts. They observed things that the Boys did but virtually had their own program. The Boy Scouts always had at least one or two activities prepared that the Webelos they invited could participate in. So if Webelos do not camp with boy scouts why exactly is this requirement in their book?

I've been a WeBeLoS leader for 4 years now, so you think I would know this stuff and where the heck to find this information. I moved from one state to another and continued being a WeBeLoS leader. I was prepared to take my WeBeLoS camping to the Boy Scouts Fall Camporee. However, due to leadership issues our pack has not had an official meeting yet so the boys didn't even have the opportunity to know there was a Fall Camporee this weekend. But...I guess its a good thing because there are NO weBeLoS at the Fall Camporee. When asked why I was told this... WeBeLoS can only camp for one night. I said, No, they can camp for two. Am I wrong? I was also told. Fall Camporee is for Boy Scouts and WeBeLoS cant go camping with Boy Scouts everytime they go camping because they have their own program. I said, they aren't camping every time with them just one weekend. It is so the WeBeLos can complete requirements in their book that says, go camping with a Boy Scout Troop or participate in an outdoor activity with a Boy Scout Troop. Then....I was told, well I guess they can go camping with the Boy Scouts but they can only go on Camporees that are sponsored by the Council not ones sponsored by the District. I was lost on that one. Can somebody help me find the true real answers to WeBeLoS and camping with Boy Scouts? I explained that when WeBeLoS go camping with Boy Scouts it gears them for what Boy Scouts do when they go camping and this is where they learn the importance of a patrol. Please help. YIS Angela

Quote by Calico: Think Wal-Mart. They sell known brand names of all kinds of items for less than a local store, or even other national chains, yet they make a lot of money. Why? Because they sell more of it. Why do they sell more of it? Because their prices are lower. But WHY are their prices lower??? Because they can afford it because they can buy MUCH bigger quantities and get better discounts from the makers. Do you have ANY idea how many WalMarts there are in the US alone? Did you know they are a WORLDWIDE company?? Their are WAY more Wal~Marts in the United States than there are Boys selling BSA popcorn. By the way, WalMart also sells cookies that are VERY similar to GSUSA cookies all year long and they are only about 97 cents a box for a lot more. And yes, some of those GSUSA cookies are only 12 to a box. Samoas only contain 12. Peanut Butter Patties (or Tagalongs) only contain 12.

I also complained about the price of a tube of Pringles at the Jamboree. $5.00 at the Jamo. $1.29 at home. Eamonn!!! Try your local Wal~Mart...they are 88 CENTS for a full size can! Now on to the PC issue. If you think about what the boys get from selling that $10.00 tin of popcorn it may not seem like much at all. However, this is not always your ordinary popcorn. Yeah sure they sell the unpopped popcorn and the microwave popcorn, however, I KNOW for a fact that the Trails End Popcorn is so scrumtously delicious!!! You can't buy that in the store. Oh yeah! You can buy something similar but it is not nearly as good as the popcorn the boys sell. At my workplace, somebody purchased one of the $15.00 tins of chocolate covered caramel popcorn and put it on the breakroom table. This tin of popcorn was GONE in 2 hours! Everybody loved it. This Chocolate popcorn can not be bought in the store unless you go to a "gourmet" popcorn store and you know what...it's going to be about the same price and NONE of your money went to help out some local orginization that gives back to your community all the time!!! I will continue to be a proud supporter of BSA popcorn as well as the overpriced GSUSA cookies. However, some bakers are better than others and some popcorn makers are better than others. If each orginization could get the better of the two companies that make their product to be the sole maker of their product I think they would do much better. Popcorn is not hard to sell. Yes, a boy can get turned down an awful lot, but in one night, the night before the forms had to be turned in, my son started out with one lonely order. Mine! For $50.00. He added, in two hours, $700.00 to that to turn out to be the top salesman in his pack of 12 boys. And he is not a very outgoing boy. People did it because they knew they were supporting scouting! I'm done on my popcorn soap box! YIS Angela

SSScout I LOVE That idea!!! I think once I get this pack up and going and all the new boys learn that CSP I'm gonna give it a try!!! I love it!! That is why I come here, to get all the advice I can (for free!!), plus generate new ideas!

Thanks for all your input! Lisa, I like your idea! That is great. I think we'll make this person the treasurer. This pack was basically a den last year and the previous three or four years. Not really sure why but this year we had a great turn out at round up, 15 new boys for a total of 21 this year! That's awesome since it is up from 5 or 6. This person has been, really the sole survivor for this pack. The committee (not just the chair but the WHOLE committee), the treasurer, the den leader, the cub master the whole kit and kaboodle! My first thought was to put in one position and leave it at that. I'm glad somebody else confirmed my thoughts and made it that simple. Scoutnut---yes we got two parent leaders for every den. We have a new Cub Master and I will be the new WeBeLoS leader for this pack. All parents at this first meeting seemed to be willing to help where ever they were needed. Since the past years have had no real turn out for this pack, it was decided to put a "feeler" out there just to see how many parents turned up at this first meeting (a parents only meeting) so we knew basically whether it was going to be worth the trouble of keeping this pack going. Thank God! We had an awesome turn out because this pack has been in existance since I was a little girl going to school there some 30 years ago! Thanks for the advice all. ScoutMomAng

"Unless you're going to bring something for the girls, too, the answer is no." Sooooo call your local GS council and tell them to give you flyers for Girl Scouts in your school and you will get them to the school to be passed out to the girls! However, since Cub Scouts is an ALL boy organization and GS is an ALL Girl Organization I think the local Girl Scout Council should be worrying about that school on their own but if they aren't then what would it hurt to help increase their numbers? If no girls come from it, then that is their problem not yours or the BSA's. Just my 2 cents!

Been away for awhile but I'm back now! I've been away because my husband retired from 21 years of military service in the middle of a scout year so the new pack didn't need our help as leaders but needed our help everywhere else! Now we have moved packs because the old pack wasn't cutting it. The new pack was just a den last year when we got here but we told them that we would move to this pack when they were ready to start up and do a good round-up. My husband has moved in as Cub Master and I as WeBeLoS leader. If anybody remembers this is my place to be! However, we have encountered a few problems already. The former leader (we'll call him that because it wasn't really a Pack but a den), is very pessimistic and somewhat negative. I'm afraid this will have bearing on the new boys we have recruited. Last week we took this pack from 6 boys to 21! Any ideas how to handle a such a person?

ScoutNut, I did get SOME handouts but only some. Some were handouts on different recipes to cook at camp, some were sample copies of tour permits etc. Our Council office actually has for sale, for a limited time, a BALOO book...it looks very similar to the Leader Handbook, however, it is BALOO. They said they will be pulling it off the shelves because some leaders are just purchasing it, for $10.00 and not taking the course. They say they are purchasing it in lieu of taking the course, however, I suggested that they charge $10.00 for the course and give the book to those that pay and attend, that way the BALOO person has something to look back on when and if they need to. Honestly I do not know why the BSA does not charge for its classes to cover the cost of some of the materials or for the books that could enhance the courses. Ang

ScoutNut---Thanks for the info about insurance!!! It didn't occur to me that the insurance may not be effective without a permission slip...that makes sense. Training the trainers at the same training they are working as trainers for makes my head spin & makes no sense! Imagine my thoughts when I found out they were getting their trained cards at the same time I was considering they were giving parts of the training!!!! Maybe I should buy the BALOO book (before our council pulls it from the shelves) so that I can just read it from cover to cover to be sure I got all the material covered!!! Thanks all for the information and the help. You guys are GREAT!!! Angela

OGE Not sure if you got your answer as to what age GS sends their girls out on their first campout, because I haven't read the whole thread yet, so here goes. Daisy Girl Scouts (Kindergarten) can only go day "camping". That means they can come up to camp during the day with their adult parent. Brownie Girl Scouts (1st through 3rd grade usually) go camping with their leader(s) as long as the girl/adult ratio is maintained. And with each age level (Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors (or now known as 11-17 yr olds)) has a different girl/adult ratio. As for Webelos crossing over in February??? What's the big deal? So he joins the troop and if the troop is run properly, the boy learns some responsibility and becomes a more independant young man. If he needs to wait until the end of the school year to get his AOL, so he has to wait. No big deal, however, don't expect him to go to summer camp if he has never been away from mom and dad for a more than an evening at a time if he isn't responsible and dependable. In other words, it all depends on the boy. There is no "law" that says he has to cross over at 10 or after he has earned his AOL. For example, he could earn his AOL and still not have all 20 activity pins so he could continue on in Webelos and work on other activity pins, maybe on his own so that he could learn that boys in Boy Scouts earn merit badges on their own (choose it when they are ready) with a merit badge counselor. As for summer camp with the Boy Scouts though, if you were an uncomfortable parent about sending your son off to BSA summer camp for a week you could sign up as an adult leader and attend camp with him, but remember to give him the space he needs so that he does not depend on you for everything all the time. JMHO Angela

Thanks for the quote from the BALOO book. That would've been a more adequate answer than the one I received, however it still did not make sense that I was not getting a health form for any siblings attending. I can see where a permission slip from a family with split custody could come in handy...thanks for that insight. It never really occurred to me because I wouldn't sign my kid up for something if I didn't have him that weekend, but then again, I'm not divorced either. However, NLDScouts reply seems to be the way more packs seem to go. The answer I was given at training was: "so that they can not say that you forced them to go on the campout". Saying that, if they could say that I forced them to go on a campout couldn't they also state that I forced them to sign a permission slip????? hmmmm See why I had the questions still???? As far as trainers receiving their Trainer cards or their Trained cards....I'm not sure because I did not see the cards themselves, however, I did see that at the end of class they were still all put together in one sheet, which to me would say they were "Trained" cards. Also, at the presentation, if they were Trainer cards, wouldn't they have stipulated that these people received their Training cards instead of clumping them with those that received their Trained cards???

Hi all! Been gone awhile but I'm back! We made a move half way across the country, from Florida to Michigan and boy what a move it was! Anyway, since being in Michigan my sons, husband and I have joined a new pack and troop. I recently went on a FAM camp with my boys and took BALOO training. While in training a question arised and I don't feel it was answered adequately so I'm hoping somebody here can help clarify things up for me. We were told (and I've been a Cub Leader for 3 yrs and committee member for a year), that the only camping cub scouts can do is FAMILY camping. Having said that, we were also told that if we do any camping on our own as a pack it must still be family camping, one boy to one adult. However, we were told we must obtain a permission slip from all that are going and health forms on adults and boys. If it is family camping.... 1. Why must I obtain a permission slip from anybody going? 2. Why must I obtain a health form on any non BSA registered adults? If I must obtain a health form on adults why wouldn't I obtain a health form on any siblings? I'm not confident the BALOO training I received was completely adequate since some of the people giving parts of the training also received their BALOO training card that weekend. Thanks in advance for your helpful insight! Angela

Thanks all for your help! Everything I thought you guys (and girls) would say...YOU DID! I just wanted to make sure I was not in the wrong. The CM always has these grand ideas to keep the boys busy all summer long but we are in a military community, most boys are gone for most of the summer, so the participation on a trip like that would probably be low (JMHO) but I wanted to know everybody elses thoughts before I did or said anything. Thanks you are all GREAT! Ang

Our current Cub Master has made mention that next years WeBeLoS will not attend day camp but rather a trip to New Mexico for a camp out in a National Park. We are in Florida, can a WeBeLoS den do that? At that time I will no longer be the WeBeLoS leader and the current Cub Master will be both the Cub Master and WeBeLoS leader.

Is there something special for a boy earning his Outdoor Activity award for the second year? My son earned his Outdoor Activity Award as a Tiger Scout and now as a Wolf Scout has completed the requirements for it according to his wolf book/wolf tracker. When a boy earns it a second time does he get something special or is it just in there for those that did not join as a Tiger and are earning it for the first time? Hope that wasn't too confusing. Ang