ScoutNut

"As Scouters, I feel it''''s our responsibility to seek out these children & parents and do everything we can to see that they share in the Scouting experience." Unless your Pack is one that is specially targeted at a specific group of boys (special needs, specific faith, home schooled, etc) I do not feel that it is, in fact, our responsibility to seek out and focus our recruitment efforts on one specific group. When we recruit, we offer our program to ALL of the boys.

I agree with scoutldr, split the dens now and build them both. This will benefit all of the boys. The BSA joining requirements for a Cub Scout Pack are - Tiger CubMust be under the age of 8, have completed kindergarten or be in the first grade, or be age 7. Cub ScoutMust have completed first grade but not completed third grade, or be age 8 (Wolf) or 9 (Bear). Was your council one of those piloting the kindergarten Lion program last year? If so he might have been involved in that. Or, the Pack he was in might be one of those that runs things their way, instead of the BSA way. Either way, it does not really matter. If your Scout is currently 7 years old and in the 1st grade he is a Tiger. It does not matter what the Pack he was in last year did. ScoutNet will ONLY accept his registration as a TIGER. To be sure of his placement you might want to have the parents bring in paperwork to verify his age/grade. Does this now give you 2 Tigers? Keep plugging away at 1st graders. Get your DE involved in doing a boy talk at the school if possible. Have your Tiger(s) bring in a buddy or 2 and earn the Recruiter patch. Have the Tiger parents talk to the parents of their son''s buddies. While 1 or 2 Tigers will be a small den, it certainly makes for real easy record keeping!

I don''t see a problem with it as long as what they did for the school assignment covers the MB requirement. They learned about it and did the work, you can not add to the MB requirement. Of course the FINAL decision on weather or not to accept work (any work) on a Merit Badge lies with the Merit Badge Counselor. Not the SM or the Troop MB Coordinator. To complete partials from Summer Camp or a MB University, the Scout must contact a MB Counselor for each Merit Badge he needs to finish.

I can not see most Council Cub Camps allowing a popup camper. They are definitely NOT "leave no trace" and most do not have the hard surfaces or facilities to accommodate them. Consider buying a bigger tent, one you can stand in, and a sturdy cot with a nice pad on top. That should give you the comfort you need.

While we do not have a "uniform closet" in our Pack, we do have funds from our CO that are earmarked for the purchase of a uniform for any family that needs help. Most of our families who balk at the cost of the uniform will hit the local thrift stores, garage sales, craig''s list, and ebay, and usually find what they need there. The accessories like hat, belt, and socks are not required. The Pack provides neckers, slides and handbooks to all Scouts. I would not recommend including used handbooks in your closet. They would tend to be well used, written in, and not necessarily with current information.

My Pack gives a brag vest to every new Cub. We use segments to recognize the boys for lots of the things they do (cheaper than big patches). The vests look cool with lots of colorful rings on the back. They also put on other patches they receive. Many are participation patches for things like the popcorn sale and Day Camp. The Sports and Academic "C" along with pins go on the vest. Some are patches from places they have visited. Others are things like State Park Junior ranger patches or patches they have received from being dragged along on Girl Scout activities with their sisters! Between fun patches, earned patches, and everything in between, those vests make a nice keepsake for the boys of their Cub Scout years.

Good for your son Lisa! I''m glad he discovered how difficult it is to say no when looking into the wide-eyed, awed face of a Cubbie! These guys LOVE Den Chiefs! If they are working with good leaders and care about their Cubbies, being a Den Chief can be a wonderful learning, leadership opportunity. My son was a Den Chief for 7 years and then graduated to an Asst Den Leader. Some of "his" former Cubbies, THEIR former Cubbies, and their brothers, are now all trained Den Chiefs. At our Pack meeting last night I was telling the Den Chiefs how proud I was of them and what a great job they are doing. It was nice to see their chests swell up a bit!

Welcome Hersheygirl! Does this Troop use Scout Accounts? This is where a portion (or all) of the profit from a boys popcorn sale goes into a fund for his use? You stated that none of the profit from the $750 in sales went toward the cost of the trip. Does this mean that if you sell $750 in popcorn you then get the privilege of paying even more out of pocket to go on this trip? May I ask, how many boys are in this Troop? What is this special popcorn trip? How many of the boys actually go on it each year? I must say that as a sales incentive I can sort of understand (not necessarily agree with) the idea behind the trip. But, if the trip is not going to be funded by the popcorn sale at all, what happens to those youth who sell their pants off and then can not afford to pay out of pocket for the trip? Oh, and just a question - What the heck is "presale popcorn"???

Because you are not a registered leader with the Pack there is not a whole lot you can do. You can try talking to your Committee Chair or the COR about your concerns for the Pack. You also might consider talking to the Cubmaster on the fact parents are concerned about the disorganization and lack of timely communication.

Bears (with or without their families) can NOT camp as a den. This is against BSA policy. Tiger, Wolf, and Bear Scouts are allowed to camp with the whole Pack as a group and to camp at council events such as summer camp. That''s it. Webelos are the only Cub Scouts that can camp on their own as a den. This should all be covered when you go to New Leader Essentials and Cub Leader Specific training. BALOO training is required to take a PACK camping. To take a Webelos den camping the Webelos den leader should take Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders, however there is currently no training that is required. For your Bear den(s) you need Fast Start, New Leader Essentials, Cub Leader Specific and Youth Protection. Youth Protection can also be found online. If you plan on taking your boys on any outing that includes water activities you will also need to take Safety Afloat and Safe Swim Defense. These can both be found online, but some councils prefer they be taken in person. Check on your council policies at training. Also ask at training about your council''s policy on Local Tout Permits. It varies greatly by council. Some require a Tour Permit be approved for every trip away from your normal meeting place. Some require it only if you leave the boundaries of the council or district. Now a question - 2 bear dens?? How many boys in each den and WHY are you leading 2 separate dens?

The chart is for those units that want to pro-rate the registration fees for the time from initial registration to recharter. For instance, if your unit recharters in January, for those new Scouts and Scouters registering in September, they would have 4 months until recharter so would pay a registration fee of $3.40 for that period. They would then pay $10 for an entire year for the January recharter

Repetition at every den meeting and getting their Tiger Partners involved in working with them at home (that IS what they should be doing after all). I print up index cards with the Promise and Law so they have them easily available at home to put on the fridge on practice.

Talking to the mother (and father) should have happened last year. It is good that your husband will finally be doing that tomorrow. He needs to ask her for any and all information they have on their son''s condition. Explain that his behaviors are becoming a threat to his safety and the safety of others. They have been dealing with this for 7 years now and should know that ADHD kids need a LOT of structure and varied activities. Let them know that the Pack can work together WITH them to help their son be successful in Scouts but the key is that they must help. Sitting back and doing nothing while their son endangers himself and others is not working. They need to come up with a more hands on approach. You might also have some info on hand to give them about any Special Needs Packs in your District. Part of the problem might be the time and setup of your Pack program. If he is on meds, they are most likely out of his system by evening. Some have a tendency to create nasty mood swings when the kids are coming down off them. With so much going on around him, he might be overstimulated and physically not able to sit quietly for an extended length of time. When dealing with ADHD it works best to break things up into small segments. 5 min of sitting - 5 min of up and active - 5 min of singing - etc. Here is some information from BSA on dealing with ADHD Scouts - http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/pdf/ADHDTips.doc

"We have one Troop in the District that for some reason has started wearing the orange loops on the shirts of the older Scouts. I''''m not sure what that''''s all about?" I suppose it is possible that their CO chartered a Varsity Team, but more likely the Troop formed a Venture Patrol for their older Scouts and decided the Varsity loops would look good and set the boys apart. Don''t you just love it!

"I have made arraingements to go to another Pack." "I will get my boys to their AOL in about two months." Since you are going to another Pack, and obviously taking your den with you (except the CM''s son perhaps?), why rush the boys thru their AOL? Why not let them get to know the boys and enjoy the program of their new Pack?

On My Honor (by Harry Bartelt) On my honor I''ll do my best To do my duty to God. On my honor I''ll do my best To serve my country as I may. On my honor I''ll do my best To do my Good Turn each day To keep my body strengthened To keep my mind awakened To follow paths of righteousness On my honor I''ll do my best MP3 with Burl Ives singing - http://www.scoutsongs.com/mp3/OnMyHonor.mp3 Sheet music in 4-part harmony - http://www.scouting.org/relationships/05-961/onmyhonor.pdf Hope this helps!

"Our pack and troop have different numbers so is a little confusing for people I dont knwow at my OA lodge." Why would anyone be confused? Are you wearing all of your patches at the same time too? Pack numbers and Troop numbers, ACM position patch and Troop Committee Member position patch, both red and blue shoulder loops? That is not an appropriate way to wear your uniform. Even only wearing 1 red and 1 blue shoulder loop is not appropriate. As a matter of fact, I find it down right tacky. You wear the uniform for the position/unit you are representing. If you are working with your Pack, or on a Cub Scout outing, you wear your Cub Scout insignia and loops. If you are representing your Troop or Boy Scouts you wear your Boy Scout insignia and loops. When at an OA meeting, the Boy Scout version is acceptable because OA is a part of the Boy Scout program, not the Cub Scout program. Two shirts would be easiest (1 for CS - 1 for BS), but if that is not practical then I have heard that velcro works very well for patches.

According to BSA, ALL volunteer applications are good for only ONE year, and need to be renewed annually. On the Merit Badge Counselor Information sheet (#34405) (which should be attached to the adult volunteer application when annually applying to be a Merit Badge Counselor), the MBC agrees, among other things, to : "Renew my registration annually if I plan to continue as a merit badge counselor." This is done to protect the the youth in the program and to make sure that records are kept up to date as to who is counseling what merit badge so the boys can have a good program. With that in mind I have no problem if it inconveniences me a bit.

"Providing an outside Tiger den leader is pack suicide" As a 10 year Tiger Leader I respectfully disagree. Getting one of your experienced parents, perhaps the ex-Webelos leader from last year, to be Tiger Den Leader might work well. You would give the new Tiger parents the time to get used to Scouting, your Pack and the program. Then when the den leader had a chance to get to know the parents he could ask the ones he felt would do the best job, in a face-to-face request, to take over as den leaders. It could be starting with the Wolf year or even as soon as March or April. One question though, if you have only 1 group time/place for your meetings (tues 6-7pm), and none of the Tiger parents can make the meeting because they are busy, how do you plan to have a Tiger den even WITH a leader? Tigers is NOT a stop and drop deal. Have you explained the Tiger concepts of Tiger Partner and Shared Leadership?

"Even with all your stats you keep quoting the point is among 1st world countries the BSA is still in the minority" It must be that there new math. 155 National Scout Organizations 95 are open to boys and girls in some or in all programme sections Yup, it must be that there new math that says 61% is a minority!

I realize that some seem to like to argue just for the mere sake of arguing. However, I believe the current argument started, not necessarialy with someone bashing AHG, BSA or GSUSA, (although some of that has happened), but because of a question of the definition of "diversity". Onehour claims that AHG is a "diverse" organization. Others have stated that because of the way it is organized it is not "diverse". THAT is the whole question here, although some have wrapped it up in a lot of off track retoric and name calling. Perhaps this might help - From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary - "diversity" - 1 : the condition of being diverse : VARIETY; especially : the inclusion of diverse people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization 2 : an instance of being diverse "diverse" - 1 : differing from one another : UNLIKE 2 : composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities synonym see DIFFERENT From MSN Encarta Dictionary - "diversity" - 1. variety: a variety of something such as opinion, color, or style 2. social inclusiveness: ethnic variety, as well as socioeconomic and gender variety, in a group, society, or institution "diverse" - 1. consisting of different things: made up of many differing parts 2. differing from each other: very different or distinct from one another 3. socially inclusive: composed of many ethnic, as well as socioeconomic and gender, groups From these definitions, I think it is fair to say that while AHG are diverse, or different, from GSUSA and even BSA, that both GSUSA and BSA have much more diversity, or variety, of religions and ethnic backgrounds, in their organizations. That is not to say that one is better than the other. They are simply diverse - different.

As has been mentioned here a few times, the Den Leader AND the Advacnement Chair should BOTH be "keeping track" of the awards a Cub earns. Weather or not the AC (or the Den Leader) keeps some sort of permanent record is up to the Pack and the person involved. The Totem beads are a bit different because they are ment to be IMMEDIATE recognitions given out by the Den Leader in a Den meeting, or where ever, as soon as they are earned. Many Packs give them out at Pack meetings with the rest of the awards. In that case you are back to BOTH DL AND AC "keeping track" of the beads as well as all of the other awards. Would you like to clue us in now as to what this "slight" disagreement is that does not sound so very slight?

My husband and I have always been active with our Cub Pack. I am in my 10th year as the Tiger Den Leader. Our son was a Den Chief for his entire Boy Scout career. "His" boys are now in the Troop and also serving as Den Chiefs with the Pack. When my son turned 18, in Feb '07, he registered with the Pack as an Asst Den Leader. Husband is Asst CM and we also do popcorn, advancement, and BALOO. We staff Cub Day Camp & Cub Summer Camp and are on District Cub training staff. There are quite a few folks we know who are still working with BSA even though their sons have aged out some time back. Some of the aged out sons get pulled into it to! What can I say - It is a great program. It keeps us busy and we love it!

Dens only meet ONCE a month? Does that include the Pack meeting or does the Pack meeting bring it up to 2X? That is not a lot of time to work with the boys. Why do you meet so seldom? As for the hat issue - I would not recommend Tigers thru Wolves all wearing the same hat. It is a part of the BSA uniform and as such should not be changed. A Tiger Wearing a Wolf level hat IS changing the uniform. A better solution is to let each family decide weather or not they want to purchase the hat for their Cub's level.(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

We have used this ventriloquist and he is VERY good. The kids loved him because he brings them into his act. http://www.whatsupchuck.com/index.html