ScoutNut

We rotate the job among all of the dens, except Tiger. That way each den gets to "host" 2 Pack meetings. Hosting includes coming early/staying later to set and clean up, greeting, planning and running gathering activities, bringing snacks, and doing the opening and closing flag ceremonies.

How did you manage to get Webelos crossing over in September? That is really early unless they all started kindergarten early and are older than the rest of the 5th graders. Were they all 10.5 with their AOL when they crossed in September? Or, were they all 11 years old when they crossed over? Scouts do not learn a skill once and then never use it again. Or at least they should not be doing that. Repetition, and using what they have learned, is a good thing. Have these boys help teach the new boys the skills they have already learned.

Your Troop should not be wearing the BSA uniform to police the grounds and help with parking unless the Troop has gotten approval from their Council's Executive Board to do so.

3 points toward the 10. You might not want to allocate achievement requirements to rank or elective just now. Wait until your son is nearer to completing all of the rank requirements. That way he can pick and choose which achievements he wants to use for what.

Holey Moley Batman! >>"Blue Jeans with sweat pants under. T-Shirt, Sweat Shirt, and jacket. Gloves. Ball cap (if any)"

This was posted on another Cub Scout Forum site - http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/523-006_web.pdf It is a Scoutreach syllabus "designed for leaders who do not have the adult assistance to break a pack up into dens for each rank".

If you read thru the National OA site as you said, then you should hve found OA's "real purpose". THE PURPOSE OF THE ORDER OF THE ARROW As Scoutings National Honor Society, our purpose is to: Recognize those who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives and through that recognition cause others to conduct themselves in a way that warrants similar recognition. Promote camping, responsible outdoor adventure, and environmental stewardship as essential components of every Scouts experience, in the unit, year-round, and in summer camp. Develop leaders with the willingness, character, spirit and ability to advance the activities of their units, our Brotherhood, Scouting, and ultimately our nation. Crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others. I think that states it rather well. If you looked thru the OA site then you should have also noticed that adults are NOT elected into OA. Adults are nominated to the council/lodge based on what they can do FOR the Lodge and the boys in it. >>"Whats the benefit?"

I agree with the other posters. This person is doing to much and as a result is doing nothing well. Talk to the CM/DL, & find out what is going on with them. Tell him/her how the Pack/den is being affected. Find out which job (CM or DL) they would prefer to do. It is YOUR job as CC to recruit new leaders as needed. Recruit an Assistant Den Leader for the den and either a new CM or a new DL.

Utilize the facilities at your disposal. What is available to you in the camp/park that you will be at? Can you schedule something with camp staff? What is available in the nearby surrounding area? Will you be camping in tents, or cabins? Is there an open area to use for sports, rocket shoots, or a kite fly? Do you have the transport and equipment to do a Raingutter? Do some Belt Loops. For songs, skits, and cheers, I would bring BSA and Internet resources with and give the groups time to plan their own.

I do not think we have ever had to turn away folks who wanted to take Wood Badge. On the other hand, we have canceled the course (at least once that I know of) because not enough people have registered. Look at neighboring councils. I am sure if you try, you can find a Wood Badge to attend.

Continue your volunteering with the Special Olympics. Contact your local hospital to see if you can volunteer to work with disabled youth thru them. Contact your local March of Dimes. Check into summer camps for the disabled to see if you are old enough to be a camp staffer. Contact your local Lighthouse for the Blind. Contact local Big Brothers / Big Sisters. Contact local Easter Seals. Organize a Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign. Do an Internet search for programs for disabled/special needs youth in your area. You can start here - http://www.volunteermatch.org/about/ Find what you are interested in, and volunteer.

If you don't feel that you could get enough interest in a single Venturing Crew that specialized in understanding/working with the disabled to make it viable, how on earth do you figure to get an entire new Scouting type corporation off the ground? You need to re-think this thing entirely.

BSA feels (and rightly so in my opinion) that you can not teach/staff a course if you have no idea what that course is about. BSA has decided that the best way to learn about a course is to actually take it. "New" Wood Badge is entirely different from "Old" Wood Badge. You are not being persecuted, or penalized. Take the new course. You will learn a lot of new things.

You are a brand new Pack that does not even have everyone registered yet, your CO nailed down, and have not even started den meetings. Now is NOT the time to worry about Scout Accounts, and how much one boy (your son) has sold vs another boy. You need to get the Pack off the ground first.

The only people required at each and every den meeting are - Den leaders Scouts Unless you are a Tiger Cub den then the Tiger Adult Partner (usually a parent) is required to be there also.

Even if your BALOO training took 4.5 hours simply to go over Tour Permits (totally amazing), the other 3.5 hours should have been more productive. If not, the required materials that are given to BALOO participants cover most of the questions of the opening poster, which is why he was referred (back) to (his) the training.

You had a Pack Leaders meeting yesterday. Were you (new CC) and your husband (CM) in attendance? If your husband (CM) was there, why did he not give any input into the upcoming Pack meeting? If he was not there, well, he can't have input if he is not present. As to when you officially start as CC - Once you turn in your volunteer application with CC listed as your position, you can be considered as officially registered in that position. Usually councils will not immediately update the unit roster and will wait until recharter time to put you on the charter as the new CC. However, once your application is in, you can start whenever your Unit decides they want you to start. You (new CC), the old CC, and your Charter Organization Representative (COR), need to get together to talk about the transition. I personally, think I would push for starting now (especially with all of the problems on your committee), with the old CC helping and mentoring in a kind of assistant CC position. Everyone needs to get TRAINED!

I'm a big fan of excel spreadsheets. That way I can customize it to what I want. I would not recommend Cub Scout accounts for a brand new Pack.

From the BSA Board of Review Training - The Eagle Palm Board of Review Like the Eagle Scout board of review, the Eagle Palm board of review is an opportunity for you to learn. Listen carefully to what is being said. The Scout before you will have accomplished much and will be approaching his 18th birthday. You should encourage the Scout to remain connected to the troop in a visible way. You should not be discouraged if a high school student is less able to devote his spare time to Scouting. Thus you may find that this Scout's activity with the troop is less than you would desire. However, you should be able to tell if a Scout is living up to the ideals of Scouting outside the troop as well as inside it. Again, always conclude these boards of review with words of encouragement. Eagle Palm boards of review are opportunities for you to have a give-and-take discussion with the very best in Scouting. Enjoy it. Possible Questions * How do you plan on contributing to the troop now? * What are your goals for the troop? * What are your personal goals? * Will your Scouting experience help you? * How do you fulfill your duty to country? To God?

Tiger, Wolf and Bear Cub Scouts are only allowed to participate in Pack Overnighters (no den camping). That means that your campout must include the entire Pack, including any Webelos not attending Webelos Woods. Also, as Eagle92 mentioned, in order for a Pack to be able to take it's Scouts on a Pack campout, the person in charge of said campout MUST have taken Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) training. Without a BALOO trained leader in charge of the campout your council will NOT approve a Local Tour Permit. The materials you will receive at your BALOO training cover activites to do on your campout, including how to do a campfire. You will also get planning helps, sample agendas, a packing list, and lots more.

While the council might like using you as a "point of contact" with the Pack because you are in the council offices a lot, the fact of the matter is that you have no control over anything to do with the Pack. The person your council should be contacting on these matters is the Cubmaster (CM), and/or the Pack Committee Chair (CC) directly. Your council has contact info for both of them in their records. Your council also needs to speak with the folks working in their Trading Post and insist they collect the Advancement Report form before selling rank awards. No form - no awards. All rank awards (Bobcat, Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, Arrow of Light (AOL)) need to be listed on the Advancement Report form by Scout. For info on any other advancement type awards (Tiger Trax beads, arrow points, Webelos Activity Badges, Compass badge/points, etc) the Cubmaster (CM) should contact your Council Trading Post (or the Council Registrar since the Trading Post seems not to be doing their job correctly). Different councils require different things. My council only requires rank awards and Webelos Activity Badges to be listed on the Advancement Report. They will NOT sell them to you with out the signed form. Since the Cubmaster (CM) does not have access to the internet to print a copy of the form, the Committee Chair (CC) seems to be out of the picture, and the Pack does not seem to have an Advancement Chair, the Cubmaster (CM), or you, can pick up a large handful of these forms at your local Council Trading Post. I would suggest, if you want to help the Cubmaster (CM) out, have him contact your council himself. Trying to get correct information second hand, especially from someone who does not seem to understand it either, is not a good idea. He should go right to the source (your council) for correct information, and any questions. I would also suggest you convince him to take Cubmaster training. A side note - Many of the problems with recording Cub Scout advancement stem from the fact that Cub Scout advancement is not required. A Cub Scout does not have to earn the Wolf Rank Award in order to become a Bear and earn the Bear Rank Award. Earning Rank Awards are basically optional, with movement to the next Cub level automatic as of June 1st of every year. As a result some councils do not enter Cub Awards into ScoutNet (or require filled out Advancement Reports). The ONLY Cub Scout award that could possibly impact a Scout would be Arrow of Light (AOL). If a Scout is going for Eagle, the Eagle Application asks about earning AOL and when he crossed to a Troop. Incorrect dates (or none) for AOL in the system have the potential to mess up a Scout's advancement information down the road.

You still use the Advancement Report with Internet Advancement. The report is populated with the advancement info you enter online. The report is generated, you print it out, get it signed, turn it in to your council to purchase advancement awards. Of course if your council does not require paperwork in order to purchase restricted awards then you might never have a need for the report. However, it is still available to you in Internet Advancement.

The Advancement Report for Webelos is the same one that is used for Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout Troops, Varsity Teams, Venturing Crews, and Sea Scout Ships. It is the same one that you should be using for your Troop. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34403.pdf For Cub Scout Advancement, the form needs to be signed by a registered member of the Cub Scout Pack. Why would your council contact the SM of a Boy Scout Troop for Cub Scout information? Why is your council Scout Shop selling rank awards without the Advancement Report? Why is your council just questioning this now? If you know the CC of the Cub Scout Pack give him/her a heads up about this problem. They need to fix this ASAP.

There is no such designation in BSA of Webelos II. The requirement for AOL states to be active in your Webelos den. There is no mention of I or II.

Another good skit for Tigers that incorporates everyone, Tigers, Adult Partners, and any sibling who is interested, is - A Gathering of Nuts. This is very adaptable. There are a lot of possible parts that are fun to do. You, as den leader, are the one who sets it up and does all of the talking. Everyone else simply plays their part on the stage (trees waving, rabbits hopping, sun shining, brook babbling, bees buzzing, etc).