suzisk8

Seattlepioneer, It was a position in the committee members positions that my Cubmaster had. I was passionate about recruiting because when my son wanted to sign up for scouts, the Pack associated with his school did not return calls and it was tough to get a hold of anyone. When I finally got a hold of someone and went to a Pack meeting, I wasn't greeted and I was treated like an outsider. I finally found this Pack after searching on the internet. It was tough to get a hold of them, but I was able to get through. My son's Tiger year was tough because I was very ill. Then I decided to get on board because I did not want a parent to go through what I went through. What I do is do the usual Spring and Fall recruiting. I also set up a table at our fundraisers, this time at our Garage Sale. I make the flyers for the events to bring in the public. When my son sets up his popcorn table, we also set up a little recruiting table. This works, he signed up a scout last year. I usually set up old Pinewood cars, Raingutter Regatta boats, birdhouses. I made a little stand with patches one could earn. The good news is that this year we have an awesome District Exec. and he is letting the Packs that are go getters with recruiting choose their schools! Of course this has turned into now Den Leader for my son's Den and probably Pack Trainer too. Our Pack is a small and growing Pack and everyone wears many hats!(This message has been edited by suzisk8)

Hi Everyone, My name is Susan and I live in Carson City, NV. I have been Membership and Public Relations Chair for Pack 837 for about a year now and I am taking over my son's den as Bear Den Leader. I formerly coached ice skating for about 15 years before I got sick and had to quit, so I am used to kids and boys because I also taught beginner hockey. I have always loved scouting. I remember when I used to look through my brother's old Cub Scout books and I would set up camp in the backyard. I was excited when I was a Brownie and then crushed because none of the girls wanted to go up to Girl Scouts. This summer we are going to both day camp and family camp and looking forward to so much fun this year! For me I have taken BALOO, and every online training there is. I am considering Wood Badge, but right now my health is still a concern. I am better, but still not up to par yet. I am learning so much by reading on these forums. Thanks for having me here!

Our Pack was sponsored by the local Elks Lodge and oh boy, did they ever drink up a storm! They eventually made up a story that some of our boys vandalized the bathroom and we couldn't meet there anymore and we changed charters. I just don't see the point in those types of organizations anymore. When I first moved here I joined a political party women's club, and I was the youngest there, and I was in my late 30's! It seems like I can do more online with my voice than in person sometimes. Plus I am so busy with my son's Pack and I am now the Bear Den Leader this year! Yikes! I wouldn't have time to join any other organization, lol.

Our Pack leadership recently went through CPR training and I couldn't believe the changes that occurred since I got my Health Care provider three years ago (I let it lapse, I have been ill, not in the nursing program yet). That night my fiance came across this cool YouTube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxjxfB4zNk

I wish it was more like the Techchip. In fact, when I have my boys do the Cyberchip, they will also do the Techchip too because my son loves to play with my smartphone and there are other parents in the pack who do not have smartphones and I do not want them to feel bad. IMHO, it is a fail because it should combine internet safety AND proper usage of phones and situations. Which would be good for the older boys because when they get into college, boy those professors want the cell phones off!(recent experience, I am back in school).

I am trying to find the discontinued Cub Scout Motto patch that looked like a scroll. I should have bought it when I saw it, but I said, oh, I will get it later. Suddenly it was discontinued. Normally my Scout shop is awesome and comes through, I was able to find a 2010 Bobcat badge and a 2010 ribbon that my Cubmaster ran out of. This time she couldn't find it. When I looked on Ebay, I can't find it. The patch has gone off the face of the planet. The Tiger and Boy Scout ones are still available on scoutstuff.org. Here is a link of the type of patch it is, this is the Tiger one. I hope someone can help me. http://www.scoutstuff.org/tiger-cub-motto-emblem.html I would like to sew this on my son's patch blanket. Thanks so much!

Tech Savvy, I am surprised that they didn't push STEM in this article. Heck, with my Pack, I am doing all the techie stuff and I still have a couple of new Cub parents who do not have internet access or an email address and it is blowing my techie mind. I agree about being old school about some aspects of scouting, but a good example is Bear elective #3 Radio. The first part the book wants the scout to build a crystal radio. I can find those kits just fine on scoutstuff.org. The second section the book says to construct a transistor radio. Um, I had a transistor radio when I was a kid and I Googled it and there are NO kits available. The only reason why I want to do this elective with my Bears this next year is because of JOTA/JOTI. I have seen some parts of the Tiger, Wolf and now Bear books that do need updates because of the increasing technology of today. We need to keep our very tech savvy kids engaged and interested and if it means bringing a smart phone or iPad into the field, so be it. Because then what happens, they don't need the device because they have the real thing in front of them. Have faith in kids, they don't need gadgets all the time.