Sephrina

One of our local parks has a movie night throughout the summer, we can get together for fishing, picnic, and a movie all in one evening.

Our B and G is in March so we are using the when I grow up theme. I'm not sure what the committee is planning, but they have asked for baby pictures from everyone and each den is doing a skit which may or may not fit the theme

Our Cub Scout derby isn't until April followed a few days later by our Girl Scout derby.

My son's wolf den loved playing Uno Attack and Marbles. I have had requests for both to be in our meeting plans again. Karen

Since he's only a Wolf this year, I'm not worried about him earning the pin, there will be more elections. And I'm glad he knows what a person looks like has nothing to do with qualifications. Maybe he will invite them. We live in an area with a large LDS population, so recruiting into community packs is difficult. Karen

I had considered it, especially after reading the requirement for the citizenship pin, but unfortunately, my work schedule didn't allow me enough time to pick him up, get to the polls, get him home, and get to a meeting on time. We did talk about our choices some and he surprised me with his choice in his classes mock election. He was one of 3 out of 30 that voted for Obama. The other thing I found sad, was him saying some of the kids stated they would not vote for Obama because of his race

I believe my son had the requirements completed in a couple of weeks. Of course, it was a condition of joining the pack of his choice. Granted, he could say it to me much better than when his pack leadership tried to retest him (we put an end to that), but he knew it at the time.

I'm not sure how BSA works, but I had a similar situation with GS. In that case, the employer sent the check to council on behalf of our troop. Council then split the amount per our instructions and issued a check to the troop. Maybe your BSA council can do something similar? Karen

If you decide on walking, you will need to be sure of how fast the parade travels. Our local holiday parade tends to move too quickly for our youngest girls to walk. Karen

In the past, my girl scout troop has decorated a flatbed trailer as a sleigh. We use plywood for the sleigh and repaint it to fit with the theme of each years parade. Two years ago, the theme was a miracle on main street and we named our float how the grinch saved meridian. We had a inflatable grinch in the back of the pick-up pulling the trailer and the girls dressed as residents of whoville or as gifts. I don't remember exactly how we decorated the float, but it was good enough for first place in our category. Last year's was a gingerbread theme of some sort, so we decorated the float with paper gingerbread men, peppermint candies, painted ornaments, with a wooden Christmas tree with packages at the back. The first year was better, but the girls did a nice job both years.

I'm in scouting for my daughter and son. They are in because I think it's a great program for them. While I always planned to be involved in some capacity, I ended up being a leader for my daughter because they needed someone. I told her I would stay as long as she stayed or wanted me to stay. Even at 15, she still wants me involved in her troop, but she did jump for joy when I told her I wasn't going to be SUD next year. Now, my Wolf son expects the same thing and again I got involved in a CC capacity because they needed someone, but I am thinking/hoping he won't want me involved as much when he moves to Boy Scouts. Karen

Sandy, My son's pack is down to basically his den and a Webelos 2 den right now, but I'm asking his den leader if they would like to do it. It should be fun. Karen

Welcome Karen. It must be something about the name. I too ended up as a leader because there was no one else. My 15 year daughter's troop just folded this year because many of the girls went on to other activities, but she's continuing in another troop and plans to stay until she gradutates. My now Wolf son expected me to be involved in Cub Scouts with him, so it looks like I have lots of Scout years. He loved his Tiger year. Educate yourself about the program and be willing to accept the differences between the programs and you will do fine. Karen

How do you know when to pull the plug? Karen

At our last pack meeting, we used frisbees for our non-rank, non-bridging awards. We taped the awards to the frisbee, read the awards the boy was receiving and then threw him the frisbee. We also talked about using balloons, but we have one boy with a fear of them. Karen

Girl Scouts is in the middle of a program change. Over the next couple of years they are changing the age levels. The new levels will have Daisies K/1 Brownies 2/3 Juniors 4/5 Cadettes 6/7/8 Seniors 9/10 Ambassadors 11/12 In my area, they recommended the current Daisies remain for a second year, but left the rest up to the individual leaders. Karen

The comment regarding the pocket being for an mp3 player came straight from my local scout shop manager. Karen

Not sure if it would pertain or not, but in GS last year we had some issues raised regarding when we were trying to computerize some registration and health records regarding privacy and hippa laws. Karen

I may not have it exactly right, but she did state something to do with the pocket was so they could carry an mp3. Maybe I heard wrong and she was talking about the pocket on the sleeve. Karen

Per my council shop manager, the button on the back of the right pocket was designed for an ipod or mp3 player. They were also shocked at the USB light and fan they had received labeled as camp gear. Karen

Like I said, I think it was naivety on the part of the cm. I think our de told her what the goal for the pack was and she thought the pack had to do that amount.

You might try having a package of Skittles and reward them with a single Skittle. It's so much that you couldn't reward them several times a day and you are the only one with a wrapper to deal with. My tiger son's teachers the past two years have used them and he is always excited to get them. Karen

I have to say from what I heard...my units FOS last year was directed toward the pack treasury. I have no confirmation of this and it may have been naivety on the part of the CM or lack of participation on the part of pack families, but my understanding is the pack paid a substantial amount relative to their treasury to FOS. Karen

My GS service unit did a science day camp last year. They had a geologist speak one day, and a tv weatherman come in another. I wasn't able to attend, so I don't know if the speakers held the girls' attention. If you have a local hands on science museum, they may have somebody that could come. I know my tiger son always likes the soda and mentos experiment and has been begging me to do a sugar crystal experiment with him. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/ might have some ideas for you.

If the boys are still Tigers next month, they should all have an adult partner going to camp with them. Lay down the rules with the partners. Karen