clydesdale115

Several of the posts are right on - In CS, you can't work on requirements for more than one rank at a time. IOW, you wouldn't count something you did when you were a Wolf toward one of your Bear requirements. Likewise, you wouldn't count something you did before joining Scouts toward a requirement. Belt Loops and Pins are not rank-specific and do not have an actual timeline to follow.

Thank you all for your replies - I knew I'd hear voices of reason here! SP - amen to the idea of opening with a prayer! fgoodwin and scoutnut - I believe our UC might be of some help in settling things a bit - I will suggest that. The CO (church) just signs off each year. The COR talks a big game, but he has been unreliable. Lisabob, you are right - I suspect this WILL make the us vs. them get even worse. We could end up with some strong Pack leaders who really do want what's best for the boys, but what will we have done to those who will be voted out? And what if the vote doesn't go the way you hope - can you support the CC (or whomever) if they "retain their title"? So how do you get rid (for lack of a better term) of an ineffectual leader? Is it akin to a corporate vote-of-no-confidence? Or can the pack committee members just tell the COR they want new leaders? Do you just go to that person and suggest they step down? Or are you stuck with a leader until they decide to move on? My husband represents our den at the committee meetings (he is DL, I'm ADL). I stopped attending several months ago - too stressful for me :-) But of course I've had several contact me to make sure I come to the January meeting so I can vote! I absolutely LOVE our den - we've had them all since Tigers and now we're knocking on the door of Webelos! It's too bad we aren't much of a pack, just a bunch of assorted dens.

Hey - Try www.enchantedlearning.com I love going there for great worksheets (gathering activites, etc.), crafts, lesson plans. They have several pages on "music" - all about instruments, composers, how to make instruments like rainsticks, etc. It's a website you could spend a lot of time wandering around :-) Pick a theme, any theme ....

Scouting friends - After reading a separate post about elections for Troop positions (SPL, etc.), I have a similar query: What's your thought on holding "elections" for pack leader positions (CC, CM, Treasurer, etc)? Our Pack has been struggling for the past year - leadership is really divided. Lots of "us against them" sort of thing. We have some very strong den leaders (and a couple of weak ones too), but the tension at committee meetings is as thick as pea soup! From what I can tell, the idea behind having elections comes from basically an effort to rid our Pack of the current CC. After yet another "he said/she said" committee meeting, someone made a motion that we hold elections for all positions at the January leaders meeting. How does this sit with you? Not sure how it jives with BSA intentions for leader "s"election, but there are a lot of ill feelings in the Pack right now. Maybe we do need a clean slate... (Wish I could just stick with my den and nothing else!) P.S. Our COR comes to maybe one committee meeting a year, talks loudly and proudly, then disappears :-)

GopherJudy - The Suffolk County patch looks terrific! Several of our boys have dads in the Air Force here in GA so that'll be right up our alley - that's just what I was hoping for! Over the next few weeks, we're going to make sure we do 4 of the 7 requirements for our boys to earn that patch. Thank you for sharing! I hope your Council gets several other requests as a result of your post ~.~ Any others? I like the idea of the Junior Ranger program. In fact, I picked up some info at our last Pack campout, but we haven't started the requirements yet. This is great - thank you all! Also, I highly recommend the Lewis and Clark shoulder patches and Peace Medal from Grand Teton Council. It was a great program with level-appropriate requirements (and a lot of fun, at that!). Hope they are still offering it. We did it in September. It's worth the effort. We hung the Peace Medals around our boys' necks at the Pack meeting - they were beaming! I don't think we're trying to do too much - just trying to keep a bunch of Scouting over-achievers fired up - and having a great time doing it! clydesdale115

Thank you everyone! Wonderful ideas! As for the "Support Our Military" patch, Ft. Benning Army Base in GA has a walking/ hiking tour Cubs and Boy Scouts can take on-base that will earn them a patch through that Council. The boys stop and learn about monuments, history, important battles, etc. We're going to do that when we are Webelos! Thanks again... clydesdale115

Besides rank requirements and electives, my husband and I enjoy finding "unusual" awards our Cubs (now Bears) can earn. Since they were Tigers, our den boys have earned their LNT, World Cons Award, Crime Prev, Emerg Prep. Award, U.S. Heritage Award. Plus they love belt loops and pins. Last year we earned our "Scouting the Internet" patch (March was "Computer" month). This year we spent September (Western Round-up theme) earning our Lewis and Clark Peace Medal from the Grand Teton Council BSA. Do any of you know of other "unusual" awards we could incorporate into our den activities? I'm looking for programs that have 4 or 5 requirements to complete to earn a patch or something similar. I know it's not about AWARDS, but these are the kinds of things that keep our boys fired up. They appreciate being recognized and it adds a fun and new element to our meetings! Besides, they've all finished their Bear rank requirements already (2 summer camps helped a lot!). We still have plenty of arrow points planned, but does your council have anything unique we might try to complete? We are in Georgia, so it can't be anything like "hike a portion of the Sante Fe Trail" :-) But our boys do love a challenge! P.S. I'm new posting on the forum, but I've been reading all your great posts for about a year now! I finally got around to registering myself - let the fun begin! clydesdale115