ScoutNut

Sounds like there is a mutiny afoot against you, the CC, Mr. Maynard. There are no such things in the BSA as a "No Competence Board" or a "No Confidence Board". So there is no way we can answer your questions. I think you should have a little talk with your COR to find out what is going on.

I am not a really big fan of combining 2 Cub levels. The BSA programs are all geared to age appropriate activities and mixing 1 Wolf into a den of Bears could be a problem. The BSA Cub program is set up so that most of the work on level achievements and electives should be done at home with the Cub's family. Unfortunately not all dens are run this way. IMO, a better solution, since you were willing to become the Wolf den leader, would have been to see if you could recruit any of the boys in your son's 2nd grade class into Cubs. If you could not get any more boys to join, then would have been the time to decide if you wanted to go with a den of 1 and hopefully get more to join in the future, or look into different Packs. You are not tied to a specific Pack & can not be "put" into a Pack (or Troop) of your councils choosing. You are free to shop around for a Pack/Troop that you feel is the best fit for your son & family. As for your current Pack - You have been plugging away for 3 years now and obviously are not happy. What about your son(s)? Are they happy with their Pack/Den? Are you willing to continue trying to wake this Pack up? You say you are trained, how about the rest of the Pack leadership? Are they trained? What about your CO? How involved are they? How involved is the COR? If you want to stay and continue to work for change then you should be prepared for an even longer fight. You have 2 dens, you should start there. Make sure that their program is the best it can be. Get your families enthusiastic about the den & about Scouting. Just because the Pack will not participate in Council/District activities (Cub Scout Olympics ?) does not mean that your dens can't. Get your families involved & sign your dens up for any District (not just your District) Cub Fun days. Get your 2 dens to Summer Camp! Day Camp is usually a very cost friendly way to get them involved. Do fun outings with your dens. I believe you have 1 Webelos den. Take Webelos Outdoor Training and take your Webelos den camping. None of these things involve the Pack leadership or the Committee past a signature on a Tour Permit. Pack meetings - If they complain that your dens are doing untraditional flag ceremonies, simply let them know that the boys are having more fun. You can still have the big flags, already posted in front, for the pledge. Do you do the award presentation for your dens? If not, ask if you can do them. If so, ramp it up! Give them patches for all of the fun things you do. Give them the patches in costume! Bug antenna and a giant fly swatter can be used to give out awards earned during summer camp. Have each of your dens create a den yell/cheer & do them after the den receives their recognitions for the month. Create your own award ceremonies. They don't have to be big, expensive & impressive - just fun! Do the Pack meetings often have dead spots? Times between presentations when everyone just sits there and stares at each other while waiting for the CM to get the next thing going? Scouting abhors a vacuum! Go to each Pack meeting prepared with songs, jokes, and audience participations (in theme if possible). Whenever the Pack hits a dead spot, jump in with a sparkler! Get your dens involved. Each month have a parent/Scout pair, or 2, from each den ready with a run-on. Send fliers out to the entire Pack to invite them on your den outings & to Council/District events. Take BALOO training and put together a Pack Family Overnighter. Make sure to go to advertised events, even if it is just you & your sons. Then make a BIG thing at the next Pack meeting recognizing the boys that attended & stressing how much fun they had. This can be like chipping away at a mountain, but eventually, if you can get your den families going, & show the rest of the Pack families that Scouting can actually be fun, eventually, the other Pack leaders will give it a try too! Of course, by that time, your boys could be in the Pack as Den Chiefs or Asst Den Leaders! Sorry for the novella - Hope it helps some!

I really don't see why not. As long as it is worn in the temporary patch position. You can tell the boys about your experiences.

Great pictures OGE!! The boys all look like they are having a lot of fun!

First of all, as Cubmaster, the fiscal responsibility of the Pack is not really your responsibility. It is the responsibility of the Pack's Committee Chair and Treasurer, as is recruiting folks to be co-signers on the Pack's checking account. Typically, if a Pack requires 2 signatures on a check (a good policy), those signatures will be the Treasurer & CC (with the CM being the alternate if the check is being issued to either the Treas. or CC themselves). It is a good idea if the CC, CM & Treas. are all unrelated. The unit Treasurer should be keeping accurate, up to date records. A financial statement of some kind should be presented at every Committee meeting, or at least after every big event. It is a good practice to hand out a financial statement to Pack families at least once a year. Either the first or last Pack meeting of the school year works well. Every Pack differs in how detailed their budget is. Some have everything in writing down to the smallest detail. My Pack does not do a formal, written budget. We look at what we earned last year, what we spent, how much we had left, which activities worked, which didn't, how many boys we had/have, and if we want to add/remove any events. With that info we lay out our calendar for the year & decide on what our popcorn goal per Scout will be. Depending on how we actually do with our popcorn sale, we adjust extra activities as needed during the year.

$30 - $50 per den meeting sounds like an awful lot for your Pack to be covering, especially if that is covering siblings too. If your den charged den dues, how much would you have to charge per Scout to cover these expenses? Asking for den dues of $100+ per Scout would, for me, cause me to look for a new Pack, FAST. Since your Pack does not allow den dues, and covers all expenses out of Pack fundraising monies, does the Pack have a policy on what it will, and will not, cover? My Pack covers a LOT of things for the families, but except for Pack Family Camping, we do not cover the costs/expenses for non-scout siblings. That is the families responsibility. As far as den meeting costs, in my Pack, dens decide for themselves the amount charged for den dues, if any. We all try to keep the amount for dues down as low as possible. Typically the dues are between $10-25 per Scout, per year. This comes out to between $0.50 to $1 per week. This is usually more than enough to cover any supplies needed for meetings. For den outings, the families attending cover those extra costs themselves as they come up. If the outing is opened up to the entire Pack, the Pack will pay for each Scout, with the family paying for parents and non-scout siblings. Depending on the outing, the family will either pay at the event and turn in a receipt to their den leader to be reimbursed by the Pack, or payment for parents & siblings will be turned in to the event leader who will pay for the entire Pack with a Pack check. If there is any money left from den dues at the end of the school year, the den will usually spend it on a special outing or treat (ie - taking a hike to the local ice cream parlor). BTW - The only "literature" on Pack finances you will find is in your "Cub Scout Leader Book". BSA suggests some things (collecting weekly dues & turning them into the Pack Treasurer), but does not mandate it.

No, sorry, there is no master BSA shopping list of all possible awards. Most units use a homemade spreadsheet of some kind. Another possible way to go is with a Unit Management program of some sort. There are a number of them out there that will generate shopping lists based on what the boys have earned. My Pack is currently looking into using one of these. Some I have found are - PackMaster & Scoutmate (CD based) - ScoutManage & Scouttrack (internet based).

Yes, you are correct Fred. Packs do not have the authority to create a unique Pack hat or Necker.

Most of the Packs that I know, especially those that have a private school as CO, do not require BSA Cub pants. Like our Pack, the boys simply use their school pants. They are the same color, with double knees & sturdy construction. Why pay for another pair? Families spend enough on school uniform pants as the boy grow.

Every MBC is required to be registered with the BSA (fill out Adult Volunteer Application). Every BSA registered adult volunteer is NOT a MBC. A potential MBC should complete a BSA Merit Badge Counselor Application - http://www.scouting.org/forms/34405.pdf The BSA Adult Application should be submitted to your council along with the MBC Application for approval. Both are required because then all background checks are covered & it makes it easier for ScoutNet to sort out all position 42's in a council/district to provide a listing.

Some awards that can be earned by an adult Scouter - Emergency Preparedness Award BSA Physical Fitness Award Leave No Trace Awareness Award Interpreter Strip Mile Swim BSA Earned by entire praticipating unit, including adult leaders - 50-Miler Award Historic Trails Award BSA Ready & Prepared Award Qualification Training Awards - Snorkeling BSA Scuba BSA Kayaking BSA Not really an award, more like a job training/certification BSA Lifeguard Campmaster Lifesaving or Meritorious Action Awards - Honor Medal With Crossed Palms Honor Medal Heroism Award Medal of Merit National Certificate of Merit Local Council Certificate of Merit Adult Religious Emblems Young American Award - Service award for College students 19-25 years old (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

My Pack purchases each Cub their new necker for graduation in May. The fall Tigers receive theirs in September. We neither purchase, nor require the families to purchase, the hat for each level. It is up to the boy & his family if they want it. My son could never keep track of his hat so we never bothered buying him more than 1.

"(i.e. does an Eagle Scout really need to go to BALOO?)" Short answer - YES Boy Scout camping is VERY different from Cub Scout camping. Camping as a youth participant is VERY different from being the adult responsible for putting together everything involved in a Pack Family Overnighter.

The COR is the only person in a unit who can be double registered in that unit. So, it is possible for the Charter Org Rep (COR) and the Committee Chairman (CC) to be the same person, but it is not necessary.

The only thing that I could find in writing is on the Adult Application - "No one may register in more than one position in the same unit, except the chartered organization representative (who can multiple only as the committee chairman (CC) or a committee member (MC))." That said, being a Scoutmaster and a Crew advisor is a LOT of work. May I ask - why are you "spinning" off a Venturing Crew from your Troop? What will their area of emphasis be? Will you require the boys to attend both Troop & Crew meetings, or are they transferring from the Troop into the Crew? If the purpose is for high adventure, why not simply form a Venture Patrol within the Troop? (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Ahhhh - A Brand new Wolf Cub!! I know he will have fun & learn a lot! Good luck!

The Join Cub Scouting site that Fred posted is a good one. Under "Find a Pack", if you enter your zip code it will not only give you the info for your local BSA Council, it will list the Packs in your area by town. It shows the Pack number and the name of the Pack's Charter Organization (owner). You can then contact the organizations to get contact info on the Cubmaster of their Pack. The Pack info listed might not be completely up to date. If you do not see anything for your town, you could also contact your local Council office and ask for contact info for your area. Many Packs do not run regular den and Pack meetings over the summer months. However they should still be active with various outings & activities each month. My Pack held a Fishing Derby & Pack Family Campout in June. July is Council Summer Camp & a minor league baseball game. August is Council Day Camp & our Pack Rocket Shoot Picnic. If a prospective Pack shuts down completely & does nothing over the summer, cross it off your list and keep on looking! How old is your son? What grade will he be in this fall?

You can check your Scout Shop. They might have something for the individual ranks that you can use. BSA does have candy/craft molds with the Eagle, Universal & Cub Scout emblems. They also have cookie cutters of the Cub Scout Wolf head, the Fleur-de-lis, & an eagle. If your Scout Shop does not carry these you can purchase them from - http://www.scoutstuff.org/

Yes - Once they have earned their "Whittlin' Chip". Many folks wait until the Bear year to earn their Whittlin' Chip because it is a part of Shavings & Chips in the Bear Handbook, but it can be earned by any Cub level except Tiger.

Most people associate a BOR with advancement. With the entire focus on making sure the Scout measures up. What seems to get lost in the fervor of re-testing & making the Scout terrified he will "fail", is the fact that the BOR should also be reviewing the TROOP. From BSA Supplemental Training - Board of Review Training - "The board of review is a chance for the troop committee or other adults in the community to get a sense of how the troop is doing and to permit them to offer support where needed. It gives three to six other sets of ears to hear how a Scout is doing, how he feels about the troop and his role in it, how he is advancing, and whether he is striving to live up to Scouting's ideals." If a BOR discovers that a Scout did not really do a whole lot in his POR, but it was still approved by his SM, that is a TROOP problem, a SM problem. The Scout can be counseled to take a more active role in his NEXT POR. The BOR should then take the SM to task for the problems that were discovered & help to make sure they are not repeated.

In Mel4Scouts defense - His post was almost SEVEN YEARS ago & he has not posted since. While copyright laws still apply, the movie was not as readily available then. BTW - purchasing it from another individual (ebay, etc) is not exactly correct either. Have you ever seen the caution "Not Available for Resale"? A Scout is also Friendly & Courteous.

Current Cub Scout Roundtable Guides should be available in your local Scout Shop. Of course you could also attend your monthly District Roundtables! (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

It is not always possible to have a Boy Scout Den Chief for each & every Cub Day Camp Den. Actually, I would think it is fairly rare. For our District Day Camp we have the requisite number of adults for the number of youth in each Den. The few Boy Scouts we manage to have are part of the youth staff and are working stations. Except for archery, all of our stations are fairly close together. It takes just minutes to get from one to another. We allow a bit of extra time to accommodate boys who must head back inside for a quick potty break, but, by the time you got the boys attention to tell a joke or sing a song, they would already be at the station checking it out.(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Another issue I am wondering about with Scoutmate & Pack/Troopmaster is, are they compatable with both Mac computers and the new Vista OS? I do not think there should be a problem with the online based programs in these areas.

Great feedback guys! Gunny, you said that you really like ScoutTrack. What exactly is it you really like about it?