ScoutNut

How small is small? A single combined Tiger/Wolf/Bear/Webelos den is not a very good idea unless you only have one of each level. The Tiger program is significantly different from the Wolf/Bear programs, which are again very different from the Webelos program. If you have more than one Scout in a level you should have a separate den. If you only have 5 Scouts in your Pack then you should be working on recruitment and growing your Pack to a workable/sustainable size. Work with your Committee Chair to recruit more leaders, and Scouts, and to form dens for each level.

I have to agree that as UC it is not your job to "fix" this boys advancement issue. It is also not your job as UC to "fix" this Troop. You can help/guide, but the "fixing" has to come from them. If, as UC, I received the angry parent phone call, I would have listened, and calmed the parent down. I would have then suggested that the parents get together with the SM, and CC, to discuss the issue, and find out exactly what happened, and why. I would further suggest that if, after that meeting, the parents still felt there were valid reasons why the rank should not have been denied, they should then start the process of filing an appeal with the council advancement committee. As UC, I would have given the CC, and the SM, a heads up that I had received a complaint from the parents. I would have - gently - reminded them of the proper procedure laid out by BSA for when a BOR declines advancement. That would be it. No interviewing BOR members, or actively taking one side over another. I would follow up with the CC at a later date to make sure things were resolved, and to suggest that it might be a good idea to get the committee properly trained, including BOR training, to head off any future problems. I would ask if he would like me to coordinate with the District Training Chair to bring training to them at a time convenient for them. BTW - Former SM, supposedly fully trained, who does not know what to do when advancement is denied? Shady, very, very shady.

I suspect that by "hits" folks mean email inquiries. I think BeAScout is a pretty good site, for what it does. Because by and large, units are not putting any additional information out there beyond the basic Charting Org, and council, it will not be the big advertising, information, billboard BSA envisioned. Also, most folks, no matter how internet, tech, social media, savvy they are, realize that an email to a local council, or even to the unit, thru this site, is basically throwing it down a black hole. What folks are using this site for is to find units that are in a specific location. They can browse their area (or the area they are moving to) and find promising units. They can then go directly to the CO for more information, and/or ask friends about a specific unit. I have often recommended BeAScout to folks who are looking for a unit, or looking to move units. It gives them a pretty good idea of what is out there and where.

What Qwazse said. Find a Committee Chair. Being a one women show is not working. Prioritize. You do not need to worry about a trailer that 1) you have no car capable of hauling, and 2) you will not need until your Troop at least triples in size. Use it as storage if you must, but it does not need insurance or registration if it will not be on the road. >>"We do have some really cool cooking stuff that will never get used unless the trailer goes though."

>>"Isn't the purpose of a troop trailer to haul gear, keep it all in one place and make it easier to move things while making the load lighter for the Scouters?"

I suggest Alps tents thru their Scout program. http://www.scoutdirect.com/ Their tents are nice and the Scout pricing is good.

Power of Attorney has to come from the owner of the vehicle. In your case that should be the Charter Organization that owns the Troop. I would give the Committee Chair, and Charter Organization Rep, the information and let them take it from there with the Charter Org.

In all of the council/district events that I have worked on the youth staff have been treated fairly and respectfully. Certainly there are always those one or two adults you run into who can be overbearing. You then simply make a choice not to use/work with them again. Overall though, the experience is generally a positive one. As a matter of fact, that was one of the draws for my son. He liked working with adults who respected him for the job he was doing. He made some good friends of the Scouters he worked with.

No where does the Guide to Safe Scouting state that "every tiger or cub scout (ages 6-9) shall be accompanied by a parent or guardian on outings". Tigers, yes. It is a prat of the program for an Adult Partner to do everything with their Tiger. However other Cub Scouts (Wolf, Bear, and Webelos) are not required to do the same. In the Guide to Safe Scouting it specifically states that a Cub Scout may attend without parents as long as they are responsible to a specific adult.

ScoutManage Good flexibility, and you can add your own Pack specific awards.

You use the people who can best do the job. I was registered as both a unit leader and a UC. The MAIN criteria to follow is to not assign a UC to a unit he/she is registered with. A UC should be impartial, and that can not happen if you also are a member of the unit.

>>"Our Guide to Safe Scouting, a book of "thou shall nots" dictates that every tiger or cub scout (ages 6-9) shall be accompanied by a parent or guardian on outings."

Denners are not needed in Tiger dens that follow the BSA Tiger program of Shared Leadership. A Tiger Cub Scout is one half of a Tiger/adult Tiger Team. When using Shared Leadership each Tiger Team takes turns planning/running meetings. This gives each Tiger his turn to be in the spotlight, and helps both the Scout and the parent learn a bit about leadership. Denners are great for Wolf thru Webelos dens. As with other aspects of Scouting, their responsibilities should be gradually increased with age. The Denner program is not an award for a Scout to earn. It is a program element. I used denners in my son's Bear and Webelos years. I have never used them with any of my Tiger dens.

Yep, again, overkill. I do not see a need for a printed out Denner Manual at all, much less Denner Training. All that is needed is to - 1) Explain - simply, and concisely - what a denner is/does to the entire den. 2) Have the den vote for a denner. 3) Have a simple denner ceremony and present the elected denner his denner cord. 4) Explain to the denner what you want him to do. 5) Every month, repeat #2-4, taking the names of any old denners out of contention for the election, and having the previous denner transfer his denner cord to the new denner.

I think that The Cub Scout Leader Book sums up the Denner/Asst Denner positions well enough - "In Wolf, Bear, and Webelos Scout dens, the den leader works with an assistant den leader (another adult) and, potentially, a den chief (a Boy Scout). The den may also elect a denner and an assistant denner, boy members of the den, to work with the den leader and den chief." "The denner is a den member selected to be a boy leader for a short period of timeanywhere from one week to several months. It is a good practice for the den leader to rotate the position of denner throughout the den so that all boys have the opportunity to experience the leadership position. The den leader and den chief determine his responsibilities, which might include helping to set up and clean up the den meeting place; helping with games, ceremonies, tricks, and puzzles; leading a song; or acting as den cheerleader. The denner should be given meaningful responsibilities and recognition to help him learn how to be a leader. The denner wears a shoulder cord on the left shoulder. Some dens also have assistant denners who assist the denner and may move up to the denner position after his rotation." Why is more information than this needed?

Lots of work done with it. However, I feel it is way over the top. Especially for 2nd grade Wolf Cubs. A Denner is not a Boy Scout Patrol Leader, not even close. Almost 3 hours of training, really? For every boy in the den?

>>"Pack Family Camping at Council activities does NOT count toward the limit of two outings per year.">"Family camp-outs may include one family or a group of families from the same unit."

As SF stated, the requirement is simply to visit a camp. I think the idea is for them to see the facilities/activities that they will be getting to use/do when they are Boy Scouts. Something to spur a bit of interest in the next program level.

I suggest looking a bit more closely at the BSA National website. If you back up one level at the link OGE provided to Cub Uniforms and Awards you will find other links. If you look up a bit on the page you will see a big blue tab with the words Award Central in white.

>>"Do you have any registered merit badge counselors within your unit?? *Asks sweetly while batting eyelashes *sighs.. I don't have ONE."

You are talking 1st grade TIGERS here. Save some of the more involved stuff (like Emergency Prep) for when they are older and can understand it a bit better. Awards don't keep boys active. Having FUN does. There are a lot of FUN Tiger Electives that will keep your Tiger Teams (Tiger and their Adult Partner) busy, and involved thru the end of the school year. Are there any Pack activities (derbies, picnics, etc) coming up that the Tigers need to plan/get ready for? How about any council/district Cub Fun days coming up? Please do not start the boys, and more especially their parents, thinking that everything they do MUST require an award of some kind.

I suggest asking at your local Roundtable.

Has any council, other than Horizon's, mentioned this at all? Mine has not. I can't find any mention of this on the BSA National website either.

blw2 - Have you had a sit down planning meeting with the den leader? If not, I recommend that you do that ASAP. Have you awarded the Tiger Badge yet? If not then there is still time to plan activities that cover some of the requirements. Figure out which requirements are needed by the most boys. For example if only 1 boy out of your den has gone to a sporting event to complete requirement 3G, then work on a plan for that. What sports do the boys in the den play? Are they on any teams? You can have one of the boys who is on a team teach the others the rules of the game. Then have the den attend one of his games and cheer him on. Go see one of their school teams play. Go see a local high school game. Go bowling! 2F/5G - Print off copies of a map of your neighborhood. Staple them onto pieces of stiff cardboard. Go on a map hike around your neighborhood, learning directions, how to read street signs, marking off significant places as you get to them (meeting place/church/police station/park/school/Freddies house/etc). If the Tiger Badge has been awarded, now is a great time to have fun with Electives. E7) Make homemade kazoos, rain sticks, drums, rattles, etc, and create your own den band. E12) Make Mother's and Father's Day cards (or simply Happy Spring cards) and deliver them to your local Nursing Home. E17) Print off directions for various kinds of paper airplanes and have a "Fly Off" to see which work the best. E17) Make home made kites and have a Kite Fly. E20-21) Make Tiger Cub puppets, do a skit with them on the fun things Tiger Cubs do, and present it at one of your upcoming Pack meetings (maybe one where the graduating kindergarteners are invited to attend). E30) Plant seeds in clear plastic cups between the cup and wet wadded up paper towels or newspaper stuffed inside. Pick a variety of veggie and edible flower seeds. Have the Tiger Teams report on how they are growing. Maybe bring them in to display at the end of year Pack meeting. E32) Make bird feeders out of pine cones, peanut butter, and bird seed. Hang them in trees around your meeting place. E33) Armed with plastic bags do a hike around your neighborhood (5G) picking up litter as you go. E35) Pick a new game (relay/chase/tag/balloon toss/ etc) every week and go outside and have FUN! With good weather you can get lots of elective points out of this! E22) Have an end of year picnic. E25) Have each Tiger Team bring a snack to share that they have made together. E29) Have a talk about sunscreen before the picnic. E37) Hold the picnic near a bike trail and do a short bike hike. E35) Play games and have FUN! Keep in mind that every activity they do does NOT have to be done with Scouting in everyone's mind as the sole purpose of doing it. Especially at the Tiger level, Scout stuff gets done as a happy side product of simply HAVING FUN, and doing things that they do every day. If you want to get the Tiger Teams into the swing of signing off in their Handbooks, make it a rule that they bring their Handbooks with them to all meetings and activities. At the end of every Tiger meeting/activity have them bring out their Handbooks and tell them what they just did and have them sign off on the items in their book. Then do a R_O_U_N_D of applause, or some other silly/fun applause, to celebrate what they accomplished.

>>"I have a problem with understanding ScoutNut's thinking of Troop MB being few and far between. If you aren't doing rank advancement, what else do you do?"