meyerc13

My son is so new to his Troop that I haven't figured out yet the complete picture on how they fund the program, so I'll answer in regards to the Pack I've worked with. The Pack serves some of the poorest schools in town, so we only started charging dues last fall and only $12 for the year (on top of the $24 national recharter fee and optional $12 Boys Life). This isn't a significant amount - not even enough to fully cover awards and rank badges, but we felt that people might value Scouting more if they had some money invested in the Pack. Our primary fundraiser was popcorn. As much as I've grumbled about selling it every year, compared to Girl Scout Cookies a lot of money came back to our Pack from the Council - close to 40%. Our Council's vendor, Pecatonica River, does a great job of supplying Tasting Kits for our Popcorn kickoff, signs, etc. There is no risk to our unit (as long as your popcorn kernel pays attention to the important dates!). Plus, the best thing about the Popcorn sale is that a good chunk of the money is what funds our Council. When your unit sells something other than popcorn, remember that you aren't doing your part to fund your Council and its camps. I know some of you will say that you don't use your Council's camps, but remember that if you are using some BSA Council's camps that somebody has to pay to maintain those camps, and if all units had that attitude none of our Council's would have camps. The summer camp fee you pay goes toward Program(staff, food, supplies), not Facilities.(Camp buildings, Ranger to guard and maintain it, camp improvements and maintenance, etc.). Camps are our Council's single largest budget line item, and the popcorn sale is the biggest chunk of our Council's annual budget. Now, with my plug for selling popcorn out of the way, the other Fundraiser our Pack does every year is selling popped popcorn at our Chartered Org's annual Car Show. We sell popcorn for $1/bag and generally pull in a few hundred dollars. It isn't a lot, but it isn't bad for one day's work. We've also dabbled with a few others like selling candy bars, and thought about a brat fry or something similar, but haven't really had the need with a few years of good popcorn sales.

I realize the original post is old, but the way I recommend handling it is similar to blw2. At the beginning of the year. Gather the Den and the parents. Explain that every parent and son team will get the chance to help lead one Adventure. Show them the Leader's Guide, so they know what to expect as far as their level of effort (almost everything is pre-planned, so they don't need to be an expert on a topic). Explain what you are looking for (perhaps help gathering supplies for the Den Meetings, help setting up prior to the meeting, help running games, arranging field trips, bringing snacks, etc. - basically whatever help you feel you need). Remember though, that you are the den leader so ultimately you run the meetings, but use the parents almost like an Assistant Den Leader who can help. Show them the Adventures you have planned for the year, and ask if anyone of them have a particular hobby/skill that lines up with one of the Adventures. If they do, they get first dibs on that Adventure. If not, then you need to have some way to fairly let the parents/sons pick an Adventure to lead. Some leaders I know will do it first come first serve, because we know that people will be reluctant to step forward, and this encourages parents to quickly volunteer. Some leaders have the boys pick a number out of a hat or use a similar random method. It's really up to you, because you know your den best. Once you have the assignments (and hopefully a schedule of when you plan to do each adventure - I'd personally have this before this meeting), then you have a schedule for your Denner assignments. Rotate the cords each month as you start a new Adventure and a new parent/son is helping with that Adventure. One last point - for Webelos and AoL I do it a bit different. I expect the boys to step up more, and need less help from the parents. I also let the boys elect their Patrol Leader/Denner each Adventure, but set a rule that a boy can't serve again until everyone has had at least one chance to step up. The first month when I implemented this for our Webelos, I expected my son to be elected because he had started working on Webelos at the beginning of the summer but none of the other boys had. But then he wasn't elected by his den. Upon reflection, I realized that the den was right - the boy they picked wasn't as prone to goofing around at Scout meetings as my son was. I would never pick my son as the first Denner myself - too much potential for hurt feelings. If you tie it to volunteering to lead Adventures, then everyone understands who will be Denner when, and why. Oh - and if you have more boys than Adventures, use Assistant Denner Cords and rotate Denner and Assistant Denner during the month. Have one boy/parent help with each of the two Meetings, and then have one help with the outing and the other with the monthly Pack Meeting.

I think this is the heart of this debate. If you fill a room full of random Christians (Lutherans, Catholics... whatever) and ask them what they believe, you'll hear a lot of the same things. In fact, I suspect most of them would begin to wonder why their 'religion' is different from the others. If, on the other hand, you take a room full of religious scholars from those same denominations and ask the same sort of question, you'll have a debate about what is different between them. To the scholars, it is as clear as night and day why their interpretation is the correct one, while to the average person all of these minute details don't really matter. For example, my wife states she is ELCA Lutheran. Yet she doesn't believe that she is receiving the actual Body and Blood of Christ when she takes Holy Communion, she believes it is all symbolic. Now, a religious scholar would point out that she can't be Lutheran or Catholic if she doesn't believe that. Yet she believes she is Lutheran. I strongly suspect that if we polled a group of Lutherans and Catholics, that she wouldn't be the only one who believes what she does. I'll tell you what I believe - that most people spend more time picking a church based on two things: 1)The sermons and how good the pastor is at delivering them; 2)The type of music (I really like traditional hymns, my wife really likes contemporary music). I doubt most of them put a whole lot of time into worrying about what makes a Missouri Synod Lutheran different from a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran different from an ELCA Lutheran different from a Catholic...

I struggle with this topic. My Pack serves three economically disadvantaged schools. The sad truth is that, at two of them, so much time is spent on the basics (reading & math) that there isn't enough time for STEM. When Cub Scouts brings in Robotics and Forensics, the kids are at least as excited, if not more, than they are at the prospect of shooting BB Guns and Bow and Arrow (and they are *really* excited about those!). So why do I struggle? Because I too wonder if it belongs in Scouting. Exploring? It would definitely fit there. I know many Scouters who were involved in Exploring programs that tie directly to their careers today. But is Exploring really part of Scouting? Is STEM? I know these are both very important, but I don't think they are part of the core of the program. They don't tie back to the Aims. Yet they do good work. I wonder how much longer before the Boy Scouts of America rebrands BSA to mean something like "Building Strong Adults," at which time Exploring, STEM, and Scouting could be side by side programs that all work toward that goal, but via very different means. Pull the Game Design and indoor merit badges out of the program and focus on only those that relate to Character Development, Citizenship, Fitness, and the Outdoors (which should be an Aim of Scouting, IMHO).

One of my instructors at Philmont is a history teacher who once upon a time was a member of a living history Explorer post, re-enacting Civil War battles. What she did back then would no longer be allowed today. I can understand why we wouldn't want the average Scout firing cannons, but a blanket ban prohibits even trained, certified, older Venturers/Explorers from safely doing an activity. I wonder what some of our ancestors would have said if they see how we overprotect our children today. Some of those ancestors, at the same age as our Boy Scouts, likely fought in the Civil War - firing cannons while enemy cannons were firing at them. But we need to "Think of the Children!!" Part of me worries how long it will be before Rifles, Shotguns, and Archery are banned, quickly to be followed by knives and campfires. I know a large percentage of parents flip out about us allowing Scouts to do these activities, so how long before that vocal group leads to more restrictions and bans?

I'd agree with this based on my experience. Camps are all over the board when it comes to the Archery range. Some are excellent, but some camps do a very poor job of running their archery range. Last summer I attended a Webelos resident camp at a camp that does one session of Webelos and one session of Cubs at the end of their Boy Scout summer camp program. At one point I witnessed all of the range staff out looking for arrows on the range, while some Webelos were back at the firing line waiting for their next turn to shoot. Anyone see the problem with that? Well, I did. When I was a young Boy Scout and CIT at a Cub Scout day camp, I saw this exact situation. I was one of the range staff members out looking for arrows, along with my brother (another CIT) and some Cub Scouts. The Counselor who ran the range decided to come out and help us. I don't know what the parents were doing (definitely weren't paying attention to their Cubs), but one of the Cubs decided he was done waiting and let an arrow fly downrange, where we were. Luckily, being a Cub his strength and aim weren't all that great, so the arrow came slithering by along the ground. We were able to get him to stop before he let a second arrow fly. Needless to say, since that incident, I'm very observant when it comes to the archery range, especially when Cub Scout age kids are involved. Most camps do a good job of leaving someone to watch the firing line, but I had to take the counselors aside at this Webelos camp and explain to them why in the future they might not want to do what they just did. Hopefully they took that talk to heart, because you can only get lucky so many times and eventually someone will get hurt in a situation like that. Edit: This was back before our camps used compound bows for Cub Scouts... with Compound Bows we may not have been as lucky that day.

Thanks for pointing this out. I really like the Incident Review sheets. I was at a Webelos camp last year during a thunderstorm and the camp staff told us to shelter in our tents. Having something like this to show them actual incident data proving this is a bad idea would have helped. As a Pack Trainer and Roundtable Commissioner I intend to use these to train the leaders I serve.

Again, I would argue are we better off now? My son took Cooking Merit Badge at summer camp this year. I asked what he cooked and he is telling me things like Grilled Cheese sandwiches. I asked which meals he cooked, breakfast, lunch, or dinner? He told me they did the cooking during the afternoon slot for his merit badge class. I remember when I took Cooking Merit badge at summer camp in the late mid to late 80's. We cooked our meals instead of going to the dining hall for those meals. I don't remember everything we cooked, but I know for a fact that on family night we cooked an entire Chicken for dinner - I know this because it took longer than expected and took away time we could have spent with our families. I seem to recall another meal was spaghetti with meat sauce. While some merit badge counselor at camp may have signed off on my son's Cooking merit badge, I don't believe he learned how to cook. Something is very wrong when more emphasis is placed on the paperwork and theory than on the actual doing. Since it's an important outdoor skill, I know I'll be challenging him on future family campouts to take the lead on our meal preparation and cooking.

Our camps have Campmasters for weekends in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, but I haven't seen them used for Summer Camp. We also have something called "Camp Engineers" (I think that's the name they use), which is for skilled volunteers (Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, etc.). Occasionally I've seen retirees volunteer at summer camp, they generally find a role for them but it may not be a paid position.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I actually agree with Stosh. As a Lutheran and a Scout, I've struggled with religion and Scouting for several years. I was baptized in what would now be an ELCA church (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), and confirmed in a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) church. From K-12 I attended Missouri Synod Lutheran Schools. I became an Eagle Scout in the Troop chartered by that LCMS church. I was married by an ELCA pastor, my son was baptized ELCA, my daughter was baptized Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), I almost joined a Wisconsin Synod church but didn't because they believe their members shouldn't join the Boy Scouts of America because saying the Scout Oath with others who aren't in the Wisconsin Synod is a sin (they consider it praying with someone who doesn't believe). So I went back to the Missouri Synod, where I remained until this year, when my church decided to drop their support for a Boy Scout Troop and Pack they've chartered for over 60 years. Now I'm a Lutheran who is searching for a new Church home, the last two I thought were a fit turned out not to be because of their views on Scouting. Sadly, that's just one Lutheran's journey through the various 'synods' of the Lutheran Church. When I was in college, I was switching to a new Missouri Synod church and during the new member classes the discussion of synods came up. The pastor explained that we had three major synods not because of divisions, but because originally there were thousands of synods, and through mergers we are left with three big ones (as well as many smaller ones most of us have never heard of). So I asked, 'Why can't we all just get along? Don't we all believe that Jesus saved us?" He told me that yes, we all believe that, but it's the details that keep us apart. I replied, "If we all agree on the main point, shouldn't that be enough?" Most of us in the USA would probably look at the Middle East and scoff at the fighting between Jews and Muslims, or even between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. We might say, "Why can't they all just get along? It's only religion. Aren't we supposed to love one another? Isn't killing a sin?" I think what Stosh is trying to say is that we aren't much (if any) better than the people fighting over religion in the Middle East. When three different Lutheran Synods can't agree on whether taking Holy Communion with other Lutherans will result in one of them being eternally d@mned, then we shouldn't be throwing the first stone at our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. Sadly, as Scouts you'd think we can remember that being friendly, kind, and courteous is as important as being reverent. I think the point made earlier in this thread is that as a Chaplain's Aide, the job isn't to evangelize but to be supportive of other Scouts in their personal religious journeys. It's sad to see the division that has come up on this topic here amongst fellow Scouters. I hope and pray that the next generation(s) of Scouts will be the leaders in their communities at bringing all faiths together to focus on what we have in common, and spend less time focusing on what drives us apart.

I'd like to say that I'm surprised, but I'm not. In fact, had you attended my Roundtables last year, you probably wouldn't have learned too much in this regard either. However, this coming year will be a different story because I took a week of my summer and went to the Philmont Training Center. There I took the Effective Roundtables course, so now I've been educated on everything I've been doing wrong over the past year, and know what I'm supposed to be doing to do it the right way. If I were you, I'd highly encourage my Roundtable Commissioner to attend that course next summer (along with his or her family). I have a lot of great Scouting memories from over the years, but this one was truly the best. It also ranked at the top as far as a family vacation - right up there with a week we spent on the beach at Galveston a few years back. Sadly, that won't help you this year so perhaps a more direct approach would work. Find your Roundtable Commissioner and explain that as a new Cubmaster, you need to share ideas with more experienced Cubmasters. Ask if you can facilitate a Cubmaster breakout session for Roundtable. Now, this probably means you'll be added to 'Roundtable Staff,' and ideally this would involve some planning and coordination on your part each month... but since you'll be busy Cubmastering, even if you keep it really simple it would still probably have immense value for your fellow Cubmasters. Here's what I would do if the Roundtable Commissioner is willing to have you help: Look over the 2016-2017 Pack Meeting Plans. Understand that since you don't know when in the month that a Pack will hold their Pack Meeting, for the September Roundtable you really should be discussing the October Pack Meeting Plan. So always work one month in advance. Put this down on paper to create a schedule of the Roundtable date and theme that will be discussed on that date. Work with your District Executive to get the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of the Pack Committee Chairs and Cubmasters. Start by calling all of the Cubmasters and explain that going forward you are going to have a Cubmaster breakout at Roundtable. Tell them that it will only be successful if they attend. Ask them if you can count on their support. All they need to do is show up and bring some ideas for next month's Pack Meeting Theme (email them the schedule you created above), bonus points if they bring something to show and tell. Next call all of the Committee Chairs. Let them know you've already talked to the Cubmasters and again explain how important it is that their unit send a Cubmaster (or Assistant) to Roundtable each month. Also, since that Pack delegate will be busy learning Cubmastering... they might want to send an alternate to Roundtable to learn the other stuff from the Roundtable Commissioner. That's really all you need to do. Longer term, if you can bring something for show and tell each month you'll have something in case nobody else does. But to start I'd wait and see what the other Cubmasters bring, and focus my efforts on getting them there. Even if none of you prepare in advanace, by just having 5-10 Cubmasters in the room you can brainstorm together using the Pack Meeting Plan as a conversation starter. Be careful... while this will certainly help you become a better Cubmaster, when the District Commissioner and/or District Executives see what an awesome job you are doing getting Cubmasters to Roundtable, you might find yourself in a Commissioner role. ;-)

Great stuff so far... some of the posts jogged my memory of what I looked for with my son's search for a Troop: First, I definitely noted if the table was staffed by only Adults, or adults plus boys. One reason I'd like to eliminate some of the basic demographics is so that they Troops don't spend their whole hour answering the same 4-5 questions.. I'd rather they talk about their program, and by taking some of these questions and putting the answers on paper the boys will have more time to visit tables and see for themselves how the Troops are represented. One Troop, when I asked them about meetings told me how they boys meet twice a month, and the adults meet twice a month. Let's just say I avoided that Troop. Eagledad mentioned the new Scout program, another question I asked was whether they used a new Scout patrol, or whether new Scouts were incorporated into existing patrols.

Thanks for posting that. It's really interesting to see the old and the new side by side. It's also very sad. I think if you polled Scouts and Scouters, the vast majority would say the old requirements are the better ones. What's even sadder is counting the number of 'explain' and 'discuss' requirements, not to mention all of the paper shuffling requirements (written plan, duty roster, prepare a list...). I personally love lists, but I don't see how all of these things make you a better camper.

For several years now, our District has been holding a 'Meet the Boy Scout Troops' night, inviting Troops to setup a table to pitch their Troop, and inviting Webelos and their leaders to come and visit the Troops' tables. The goal is to increase our crossover rate from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. As my son and I visited Troops, I tended to focus my questions on the practical (day, time place, etc.) , while his questions were generally more to do with the Program and culture of the Troop. We have that same event coming up this fall, and I'd like to get the Troops to supply some answers up front that could go into a hand-out for the Webelos and other prospective new Boy Scouts. So I'm curious, if you were 'shopping' for a Troop, what questions would you ask? I'll get started with a few: Who is your Chartered Organization?If the CO is a religious institution, do most of the Troop members practice that religion? What day of the week do you meet?When does the meeting start and end? Where do you meet? What is the contact info for the CC, SM, and Webelos coordinator? What Troop events are open to Webelos? How many boys are currently members of the Troop? How many of those boys are regularly attending meetings? Did your unit participate in Journey to Excellence last year? If so, what level did you achieve? What fundraising does the unit do? Are there opportunities for the boys to offset some of the costs of summer camp and other activities? OK, I think that covers the high level demographics... now what questions can I ask to figure out whether the Troop is really using the Patrol method, whether they really are boy led, what the culture of the Troop is like, and whether the program will be a match for a given boy's interests (i.e. hiking, biking, canoeing, camping, etc.). What would you ask if you were a boy (or parent) looking for a Troop?

First off, welcome to the forum! 60-70 kids, wow! I wish you luck. The Pack I was Cubmaster for was half that size and it kept me busy. As a Roundtable Commissioner, my first duty is to invite you to attend Roundtable. There you should find local Cubmasters and other Cub Scout leaders who are there to share ideas and learn from each other. One great resource which surprisingly few Cubmasters know about is the Pack Meeting Plans: http://www.scouting.org/Home/CubScouts/Leaders/CubmasterResources/PackMeetingPlans.aspx These give you a theme, games, songs, and lots of useful material. As they explain on that page, you can do these in any order, and you can pull from any of the three years of meeting plans that are currently on the site. If you've taken your Cubmaster basic training, you'll notice one part of the agenda is missing - 'The Program.' So that's the part where you need to come up with something. What exactly is, 'The Program'? (I think that needs some monumental background music, don't you think? Tum Tum Tum Tum TAAAHH.... Sorry, did I mention I'm a Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner... we like to have fun!) Well, this is what the BSA tells us about 'THE PROGRAM': The BSA ideal is for each den (and with 70 kids, you must have a lot of them), to get up in front and really show off what they've done that month. In the interests of time, that may not always be feasible with so many Cubs, so you might rotate in a few dens each month. It sounds like you are looking for 'activities that involve the entire audience,' and there is nothing wrong with that... but remember that it should include the entire audience, including moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, siblings... the Pack Meeting is for everyone. It could also be a 'featured event.' What's a 'featured event?' Well, let's look at some ideas: Calendar based - What month is it? What's the major holiday (if any) that month? How can we incorporate that into our Pack Meeting? October - Halloween Party. Setup stations with Halloween themed games and have the audience go around and visit each station. November - Thanksgiving. There are a bunch of fun Thanksgiving themed songs (my favorite is The Turkey Parade by Jean Warren), plus crafts. December - Holiday Gift Exchange. Have each child bring a wrapped $3-$7 gift. Challenge each family to also bring a second wrapped $3-$7 gift (emphasize more 0-3 year old gifts, and more girl gifts). Pick some fun method to distribute gifts and everyone leaves with one. Whatever extra gifts were brought are donated to a local shelter. February - Valentines Day - Cake Walk... Have prizes for the best Super Hero cake, the best Scout theme, etc. Theme Based - Check out the theme for the month and base your special event on that. If the Pack Meeting Plan theme is Treasure Hunters, have a Scavenger hunt. If it is 'To the Rescue' invite the fire department, EMTs, or Coast Guard. If it is 'Strike up the Band' have a local children's singer come in. A variation on this is tying it to the point of the Scout Law for that month. For example - Cheerful could be a Clown or Juggler. Brave could be the local K9 unit. Other things I've tried: While Martial Arts isn't allowed under the Guide to Safe Scouting, since my son is a black belt I know that his school offers a great stranger danger class. We invited one of their chief instructors to our Pack meeting and he taught the kids what to do if a stranger tries to grab them (it involves a certain way of yanking your arm away which actually works very well... as a four year old my son was able to escape no matter how tightly I gripped his arm). The actual technique only takes a few minutes to learn, but he builds up to it with a lot of explanation on how he expects his students to behave (standing at attention, acknowledging commands with a loud 'Yes Sir!", etc.), followed by an explanation of what stranger danger is, why you shouldn't be the 'boy who cried wolf, etc. Wildlife educators - In our area we have a great 'snake guy' who is involved in Scouting. There are also groups who rescue raptors, owls, and other wildlife. They can often bring in some animals and teach the kids about respecting wild animals. There are really so many ideas you can try... but I'd start with the Pack Meeting Plans and see where the inspiration takes you. You should also check out Baloo's Bugle, there are lots of great ideas in there every month, and there are years worth of back issues too!

We have something called Bay Jammer in our Council: http://www.baylakesbsa.org/event/2016-bay-jammer/1893192 I know it is open to all types of venturing-age BSA units (Sea Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing, Exploring) plus Girl Scouts. I'm not sure if Civil Air Patrol and/or other non-BSA/GSUSA Scouting units would be invited/welcomed or not, that would be a good question for the event organizers.

This is not universal. Our Cub Scout Resident camp requires a 4:1 ratio of Cubs to adults, and for our Pack most parents attend, but we always have 1-2 boys who are there without a parent or other adult. The only exception is new Tiger Cubs who are starting 1st grade in the fall - they *must* be there with their 'adult partner."

I'm glad you like my idea. I know how I, as a Commissioner, would handle this situation, but part of me is nervous making the suggestion because I know that some Scouters are very opinionated about uniforms. I'd like to think that all Commissioners would be able to approach a uniform inspection in a friendly manner, but I know that isn't likely the case. You may want to speak to your Unit Commissioner and/or District Commissioner first, and outline what you are trying to do, and stress that you want this to be a friendly competition between the boys and adults, and you don't want any of the boys in the other dens to leave feeling bad about 'doing their best' with their uniform (since this is Cub Scouting, not the military). If your UC can't handle that, then perhaps the DC can send you a UC who can - at least for the uniform inspection. The goal here is to get the leaders and other dens to dress as sharply as it sounds like your den is already doing. We don't need perfection or even full uniforms, but they should wear as much of the uniform as they have with pride. I'd rather see a tucked in shirt than a Scout with neckerchief, pants, and socks but the shirt untucked or otherwise looking sloppy. Tucking in his uniform is something that every boy can do, buying $25+ Scout pants isn't always an option for every boy. In either case, though, for Cub Scouts we want to stress what they are doing right, and perhaps suggest any opportunities for them to do better with whatever part of the uniform that they have - not stress every little thing that they are doing wrong. It's all in the tone, and hopefully you have a good UC who can set the right tone.

The United States is pretty big, and while I've traveled thousands and thousands of miles I've only seen less than 1/3 of it. Most of my experience with Scout camps is from Wisconsin, but we have a lot of them. I'm sure camps in other parts of the country are very different (less forests, less lakes, etc.). Most of the camps in Wisconsin are as you describe, a lake, surrounded by forested land. Campsites are cut out of the forest, as are small 'program' areas. Most camps have Archery, BB Guns, Nature areas, Scoutcraft areas, trails... Boy Scout camps will also add things like ATV and Mountain Bike Trails, rock walls, etc. Being forested, it isn't uncommon for you to spend most of your time at camp in the shade of the trees. The campsite where your tents are setup will see some sunlight, as will the waterfront, but for many of our camps the rest of the camp only gets sunlight filtered down through the trees. Not all camps have lakes. One of our Council's camps is on a river. Some camps have swimming pools. Most camps try to mix up merit badge classes with open programming (to do fun stuff like ATVs, archery, etc.). Some camps have dining halls, some camps have Patrol Cooking. Some units choose not to participate in a 'summer camp program' and camp on their own either at a BSA facility or at some other location (private land, National/State/County parks and forests). Philmont was a very different experience for me. It's very dry, very high altitude. While there are trees, they aren't the towering trees of northern Wisconsin. However, there are lots of mountains, which we don't have in Wisconsin. Philmont is huge - over 200 square miles, which is an enormous amount of land to be owned or controlled by one, non-governmental entity. To put it in perspective, Philmont is probably 70 times the size of our largest Scout camps in Wisconsin, and almost fifteen times the size of our largest State Park in Wisconsin. Philmont is all about hiking. While at Philmont I visited their archery/rifle ranges. Since Philmont is the premier Scout camp, I thought their ranges would be the best around. I was shocked to see that their ranges were nowhere near as nice as the ranges at my Council's camps. The reason is that Scouts who go to Philmont don't really use the ranges. The ranges are only there for Training Center participants and the occasional Scout who needs to come off the trail early due to injury.

The Latin Scot - you might be able to use this as an opportunity to educate the entire Pack about wearing the uniform correctly. Contact your Unit Commissioner and ask if he can do a Uniform Inspection for your Pack. Hopefully your Unit Commissioner understands that (From the Commissioner Fieldbook): He is supposed to do it in a "friendly [...] manner" It is supposed to be "a high-morale event" It is supposed to help "develop unit pride" Explain to the UC that you know that some of your leaders have issues with their uniform, and you'd like to use some gentle ribbing to educate them, but also to give the boys more pride in their own wearing of the uniform. Ask if he can be extra tough on the leaders' inspection. I would send a copy of the Cub Scout or Webelos Uniform Inspection Sheet home with the boys in advance, and let them get ready and practice for the Uniform Inspection. Maybe do a pre-inspection the week before the Pack meeting. When the week of the Pack Meeting comes around, have the Dens line up, and then have the UC announce that all registered leaders - Cubmaster, Den Leaders, and Committee Members, should also fall in for inspection. Now, here is where you employ some showmanship. Before the UC starts his inspection, ask the UC for permission to speak... and issue a challenge to the Leaders - ask the dens to get together and pick the den they think is the best uniformed, and put their score up against the leaders' score. If your Pack is anything like most I've seen, some portion (possibly large) of the Committee will be out of uniform. You're probably also going to have plenty of adult leaders who aren't wearing neckerchiefs, pants, socks, etc. Hopefully your best dressed den (having prepared in advance) will be in better shape than the adults. Since 20 points is for general appearance (and most adults won't have the good posture of a sharply dressed Cub Scout standing at attention)... I'm sure that the Den can beat the adults if you compare the average score of each. Edit: By the way - if your boys need copies of their Membership Cards, these can be printed by your unit Key 3 out of my.scouting.org. The Commissioner can also print replacement cards.

I can't wait to see a picture, that flag sounds awesome! You've already mentioned den flags at the Arrow of Light level (and why not start the Scouting Adventure when they start Webelos?), but unfortunately other than that den flags aren't really a part of the new advancement system (and with the intensity of the new advancement requirements, most den meetings are fully given over toward working through the Adventures required for advancement). However, it makes a great project to do in those first few weeks of the school year, before your Pack holds its Fall Recruitment night. That's a great time of the year to do some non-advancement team building, and Den Flags are a perfect way to build team spirit. For the Tigers (most of whom join after Fall Recruitment), there is the Good Knights elective Adventure in which the boys make a Den Shield, this could easily serve as their Den Flag.

As a Cub Scout leader - I've found that 6-8 boys makes for a healthy den. I've had dens with 3-4 boys, but when one boy stops coming because of soccer and another moves out of town, now you've lost half the group. If you recruit another 2-3 boys, the new boys outnumber the original crew, and you are starting from scratch in building a group identity. Maybe one of the original boys doesn't like the dynamics of the new group, and he leaves and now you are down to 3-4 again... another stops coming because of basketball... and the vicious cycle continues. I've had dens with 10-12 boys, and the best word I have to describe it is: chaotic. It's hard to keep a group of 10-12 boys on task - even for an adult den leader. We've had larger dens drive away some people who either: a)don't like the chaos; b)can't handle the noise levels; or c)don't feel like they are getting enough individual attention. From my experience, a healthy den is 6-8 boys. At that size you are big enough to handle 1-2 boys leaving and not lose the group identity. At that size the level of chaos is kept in check. At that size, there are enough boys that they have fun, and most of the boys can make a more personal connection with at least one other boy with similar interests and personality. From my perspective, Patrols of 6-8 work probably for many of the same reasons as dens of 6-8 - It's an easy size for a Patrol Leader and his Assistant to control (only another 4-6 boys besides them), the group is big enough that they can have an identity and not lose it if they lose 25-33% of their patrol members, and at that size they can have fun.

Excellent post SSScout! While you'll get many opinions and pieces of useful advice on these forums, ultimately the conversation should be happening within the unit. Pose the question to the boys - Does a Chaplain's Aide need to modify how he prays to suit the needs of the unit? Why or why not? Let them hash it out and you'll come up with a much better answer than anything you'd find here - because it will be the answer best suited to your unit.

Welcome! It sounds like your Pack is lucky to have you volunteer for this role. It also sounds like your mom is worthy of the Silver Beaver (with 30 years in as a leader, I'm surprised she was never selected before!!). I would suggest also nominating her for the District Award of Merit. We had one Scouter receive both this year - they are handled by separate committees, and neither knew the other was approving him. Scouting needs more families like yours. I'm looking forward to more discussion down in the Cub Scouting section of the forum, so I'll see you there.

Why should this cost the BSA a thing? I've pointed this out before, but the BSA is horrible, absolutely horrible, at taking advantage of the skills that Scouters bring. I work in IT for a company at the top of the Fortune 500. I know several other Eagle Scouts in my department, which is only one small part of our IT operation. I know people in marketing, training, and almost every other career who are Scouters. Yet almost no part of the BSA takes advantage of the skills that these volunteers bring. It isn't happening at the national level, virtually never at the Council level, only occasionally at the District level, and perhaps slightly more often at a unit level. These are the same Scouters who don't hesitate to pay their hard earned money to teach at Scout Colleges and Philmont! If the BSA put out a call for writers, and said "Hey, we need an expert on outdoor cooking (or camping, hiking, backpacking, trees, mammals, etc.) to write a book that the BSA will publish," I'm sure that many people would step up not because they expect to be paid, but just for the chance to be published and help out the BSA. It makes me wonder how merit badge booklets are written... is there some behind the scenes process reaching out to a select group of Scouters to write them? Is it a... dare I say it.... Committee? Or does the BSA contract out the work? If it isn't an open call for experts and writers, I suspect that while we have some good merit badge books, that unfortunately we probably don't have the best Scouter possible writing them (since the odds are likely low that they are finding the single best person in the BSA on any given topic without a public process to find/select them).