greenreddew

My son did this as a prereq for summer camp and his letter was not only published but also became a topic at our town's council meeting. Granted, it was not a nice discussion but still he was excited! It is great when the scouts can get that little bit of a perk in public. We teach the boys that it is not about the public acknowledgement but it is fun when it happens

These massive amounts kill me honestly. There has got to be something else behind who is truly purchasing it. My son did just under $5k last year and is on schedule for this year to hit it. To say my saturdays are full of popcorn is a understatement. He even decided to NOT do door to door in hopes another scout would do it and see just how easy it was.

Thank you as well! It has been nice to go back and forth. It is not about the same question 20 times ( which sometimes yes it is annoying) but also the former CC was very contradicting. We would say one thing and then she said another confusing everyone. Or we would do x and she would come in going no no no it has to be done y. So not only parents became confusesd, but also leaders would get annoyed at the situation and us looking unprofessional so to speak. We are rebuilding the Pack in sense of communications, rules, leadership, etc. Even going over our stuff tonight, many where like 'ummm we dont even follow this!' By all of us sitting down and going thru the bylaws that were created and now me working on a handbook, we are all on the same page and have a combined mindset going into the new year. Clean slate. Clean minds. Clean borders. No misinformation. I LOVE spending my time talking to parents! I agree about it building relationships and bringing them into the volunteer circle. We are a small pack of about 15 boys with recruitment coming up. We are a small town with 2 other packs in the area. ( We all do not play well together... not my end but theirs) so we always have a smaller group. I totally get jealous of large packs but I also love how small we are and able to have a quaint close knit relationship if that makes sense with parents.

See, we have a short 1 page that goes out with our info, leader info and short rules. But we also feel parents need something that how the pack is run, a more details how it works etc. this way they do not have to ask us the same thing a ton of times. My troop has a handbook and it has been very handy in the sense of referencing as needed or when there is a parent that is arguing us on something.

For us ( as we just went through ours) it is about keeping order. Having a protocal to go back to and no more he said she said. It is ' this are the rules. this is how we have decided things are done.' And no more deciding with emotions.

Oh I know you didnt mean it that way. In our pack, FB is our best route. Emails never get answered and many times I get " oh i never read the email" so Facebook and text are our main sources outside of announcements at our meeting. We have our parents come in and sign their boys in. This keeps them from dropping and running. When we do announcements, we repeat things for a good month so it sticks along with sign ups if needed and me reminding when I see them.

Other than the email, that is all I do each meeting. We have a Pack FB group that we post events on. We have parents stay for announcements along with posting them in the group and texting out as we need. I am hoping that with Scoutbook, I will not be able to send out a weekly email like I do for my GS troop with upcoming things, deadlines, and schedule.

Many of our pack parents are not interested in the financials. They just show up to meetings are events. Getting volunteers to help is a topic of another day haha. I am not sure if the bylaws are from another CC or if it is something our CO has asked us to have. It could be a council thing as well. The former CC did not give me ANY training or heads up on the position. Just did a 'tag your it' and poof gone. She was a treasurer last year but then just drop the bomb of her leaving so that left us with another mess we are dealing with. Again, the bylaws we are all talking about tonight. I am hoping we get them all figured out and can begin building a parent handbook. Something both leaders and parents can reference together so everyone is on the same page. I feel like my brain and hands are not communicating lol. The only time the parents are 'informed' on how our pack works, is when the former did a power point presentation and it as a generic one from council. That was it. So we would have to field questions blind as she was never around to or give contradicting information. She would never clue us in on things and when we asked about them, we got a duh look or a dont you know type question. I want to build a better pack. A better relationship between leaders in a whole and also with parents.

The bylaws our pack has are from like 2013. They have not been updated since and we have had things pop up that are not covered in it. Also, we have had things pop up that are IN them but bc parents had no clue on how something is done ( refunds example), they are mad when we show them. So to me, how can we enforce a program if parents do not know the rules unless they are a leader or on the committee. I sent a copy of the bylaws to my leaders in May and again a couple weeks before our big planning night to start going thru and making sense of it. Told them to make notes and see what they think on things, questions, changes, etc. We are hoping to get thru it tonight as we ran out of time last week.

Swag in my world is Special Whatchamacallit Affectionately Given

We just have rows of chairs and the boys seat wherever they sit. We do not make them sit in their dens. If we have a new boy come, I do look to boys in the same den and have them hang out together.

As a Cub Master, you are the heart of the pack true. But that does not have to change who you are. In my time in the pack, I have seen 2 CMs. 1 was in the role JUST to have the position filled. He did not do anything other than wear the uniform. The pack was unorganized and he was no help. Our current CM is a former leader. He is a very outdoorsy type person. He goes to camp every summer with the boys and loves every minute of it. He is involved with the dens and makes it lots of fun. The point being: There is no perfect answer. You do you. If you are a outdoor person, bring that to the pack. Bring your love to different things and experience to the pack. Make it fun. If you are a computer person, dig into those requirements and make fun plans. Science your thing? I think you get my idea

Hello all I did do a search but did not find what I was looking for. I have been with my cub pack for years now and as far as I have been part of the pack, there was NEVER a pack handbook. This always sat wrong with me. The Com. Chair at the time never gave a real reason as to why just that it is how it was done. As the Com Chair, I and along with my other leaders want to put one together. The only reference I have is the one for my Troop I am also part of. We do have Bylaws but they were never shared with the parents unless they were on the committee. Yes, I know, your mind just exploded right? How can we enforce something the parents no nothing about? So I am changing things up. Anyone have ideas WHERE to start? We are working on our outdated Bylaws tonight again. I know once we have those sorted out, it may be easier to start working on a guide/handbook but just looking for ideas or guidance or even other packs that would be willing to share. (I have a parent handbook for my GS troop and have considered piggy backing off that but things are SO different between the organizations.)

Thank you I happened on this place from Google! Hoping to learn, grow, and share!

Hello all! It is so hard to pick what to write about me. I am known around the internet as greenreddew for many many years. Even my car license plate says it. I began my Cub Scouting involvement when my son was a Wolf. I was not really involved as much. Just dropping off and hanging out. The following year, I became Recruitment Committee Member. I handled the back to school nights, sign ups, etc. At one point, I was a 'Den Leader' in the sense we had 1 Lion. So we hopped around and he learned about different things he will get to learn. We made it thru the Lion program this way. Now: I am the Committee Chair for my pack. Mind you, my son is no longer in the Pack. He is in a local Troop that I am also involved in. Next step is becoming the Den Chief... not really leader but the person that overseas it for the Pack and Troop. I am also a leader in another scout organization. Many of the sisters of the brothers are in that troop. I am a mom. I am always around and do it all in that " one hour a week"