Cubmaster-Fred

BW, I also do not think that this is having a defeatest attitude. Like my wife, Cubbing Carol, stated, we utilize the resourses we have in his area. The newspaper and the radio station. We have good success because it is about local happenings and the people of this town enjoy reading about thier boys. If council were to get involved then the items would not be fresh and probably wouldn't make it into the local paper. All the small towns in the area have thier own paper and I don't think council would be willing to contact all of the papers on a regular basis. Heck we can't even get them to produce scouting for food flyers for us. They stated they would have no problem doing the flyers if we were from Amarillo. This seems to be thier big concern, the immediate area around the council HQ. With our PR the boys get not only pictures of thier service projects in the paper, but also when they atain rank and most other events the Pack does. I feel that the grass roots PR is the way to go. If Council were to help us in the same way, or even have a PR person, I too would give it a go. So don't call it defeatest if all of us in the smaller communities utlize what we have and don't pressure people above us to change what they are doing. Like you stated they are there for us and if they cannot help me then I shall help myself. YIS CMF

I agree with Bob and Foto that it should not count for several reasons. According to page 7 of the Tiger Cub handbook: Take a Field trip, or Go See It, with the entire den. Page 18: The den activities and Go See IT outings are intended to be completed with the den. The point about his Adult Partner being Akela is valid except that they should only be signing off on the family activites and electives. The den Leader must verify the participation in the den activities. The program is done like this because at the outings the den leader is supposed to incorperate the 10 purposes of scouting, 12 core values (character connections). This is just another reason why it should be done as a den. But remember we have to be flexible and ensure the boys have fun, fun, fun!!!!!!!! CMF

Couldn't agree more. The problem is in some areas people just don't care about veterans and what they sacrificed. Being a Veteran myself I agree and am ashamed of the way some people look at and treat veterans. This morning the boys in my Pack (pack 450)put out the amercian flags at the local cemetery on all the Veterans graves. Our cemetery has graves from all wars since and including the Civil War. The boys love it and learn from it. Every one of them asks several questions over the course of the event and I feel they come away better citizens for it. We do this on Veterans Day and Memorial day. We try to instill some patriotism in the boys and it is working. The Veterans love it too, especially since they now feel that this is another way to passs on the legacy of what they have given. The boys have also decided that they are going to have a small fund raiser at the end of the month and donate the preceeds to the local Veterans Memorial that is being built. CMF

BW I have been following both of these threads for days now and still I can not get over how you rant over and over about how everyone is not following the BSA program. I cannot believe that you basically are saying you have never deviated from the "program". Not every rule BSA has is black and white, many rules are open to interpretation. Remember not all people follow the same path, but the destination is what counts. So long as you don't do anything immoral, illegal or unethical and stay within the "guidelines" of the program then no one is being hurt. Remember what works for you might not work for someone else. CMF

As UNC said you register them as an Assistant Den Leader, it is not specific on which den they assist with. The more important fact about all this is that you will have 2 trained leaders in the Tiger Den to assist the parents with the shared leadership. And yes, Tigers are Cub Scouts!!!!! CMF

First off, I agree with everyone on the fact that yes Tiger Cub dens use shared leadership with the Adult Partners. But there is also nothing that says you cannot have an Assistant Den Leader for the Tiger Cubs. I have one again this year. What this does is ensure that you have more than 1 trained leader helping the Adult partners follow the program. As some would say training is vital to a good program. CMF

mallway, Take a deep breath cause all is not hopeless. First of all get yourself the Webelos Leaders Guide, this will help you more than you realize. The other important thing I can tell you is plan, plan, plan!!!!!! I just finished showing my Webelos Leader last month on how to best run teh program and her and the boys are having a blast. Remember you do not have to do everything at the meetings. Save the fun stuff for the meeting and the not so fun stuff you can give them to work on at home. Using the Fitness Badge as an example, I would invite someone to talk to the boys about drugs, alcohol and smoking and then have the boys go home and discuss it with thier parents. I also would design and have them give their family members a small questionaire or ask them several questions. Get copies of the Take a stand against drugs booklet from your scout store and have them read it at home and then discuss it at the meeting. As for the fun stuff and running around, try incorperating a belt loop into the meetings. There is the Physical Fitness belt loop that could go along with the Fitness Badge. I guess what I am saying is that you just need to keep it fun and the boys won't mind doing the boring stuff. Also remember that it does not have to all be done at your meetings. I hope this helps! CMF

ASM59, According to the Webelos leaders Book, all activity badge requirements are approved by the Webelos Leader or designee. Yes I agree some items are completed at home, but in my Pack the boys know they have to bring proof of thier completed work to the Webelos meeting. This could be as simple as a note stating that the boy has completed a requirement. My Webelos Leader has been told to use common sense and to keep the parents involved. What I will tell you is that on any requirement that the boy is to make something, you should definitely have him bring it to the meetings to be approved. Also if he goes somewhere, say the radio station, have someone at the radio station provide the proof that he completed the requirement. Remember, Cub Scouts advancement approval is designed to slowly get the boy accustomed to the way Boy Scouts earn thier merit badges. It progressively takes the approval away from the parents. I hope this helps, but always remember that Scouting is supposed to be fun. CMF

scoutldr, I think someones wires got crossed. The Tiger Cub Adult Partner only has to fill out the bottom of the boy application, even on this form the ssn is optional. The only time an Adult Partner has to fill out a leaders application is when the adult is not the legal guardian of the boy in question. I think you should get him to fill out the boys appication and this way the boy and his father are not missing out on one of the most exciting years in scouting history. The 75th Anniversary. YIS CMF

Irregardless of what anyone thinks, they cannot make you pay for anything other than the prorated registration for the period up to your recharter. This is directly from council registrar. CMF

Frustrated, I might be missing something but as far as I know the only mandatory fee to be collected at signup time is the registration fee. If your charter is still in effect the new members are covered under the insurance without paying the $1.00. At our signups we charge the $10.00 registration fee and that is all. We collect the insurance fee at recharter time along with the new registration fee. Boy's Life has never been nor should it ever be mandatory!!!! It should also not be mandatory for the boys to purchase a PWD car. I think you should talk to someone about this situation because as far as I know it is wrong, and the situation should be corrected!!!! CMF

wolf66 The requirements for the summer time pack award state you must plan and conduct one pack activity for each of the 3 months. I would consider this an activity so long as it was more than just the boys showing up. What do you all do during your roundup? If it involves games and activities to help attract new scouts than I would say yes that it counts. CMF

Welcome aboard! I see you have gotten the Texas greeting from my better half (cubbin carol). Me personally am from New York. Anyway, welcome and good luck. CMF

Thanks M, On the Cub Scout activity award could you tell me where you found the information? I also tried the link and it would not load. Council said they would like to know where to get it. CMF

Tracy, The 75th Anniversary Award does have requirements but they will be released later this year. The award runs from Jan 05 thru Dec 05. I also was interested in this, wanted toget a head start but all I could find out is the information listed above. As for the Outdoor award I too would be interested to know if anyone else has heard about it. CMF

Eamonn, Yes, the patch and all other belongings finally dried out. But on those days when memories come back I can still smell "More Rain" on my uniform. CMF

sam I proudly wear my 77 Jamboreee patch on my uniform and wear it with pride. You should continue to wear it and not worry about other people splitting hairs. As for memories I have many from that week. But I think it should be "More Rain" state park. It seems it did nothing but rain in 77. cmf

Has anyone else encountered and overzealous DE? The DE for my Pack always asks for everyones e-mail address at roundtables and tells them that is so she can send all leaders copies of flyers and other important news. This is fine but the problem I have is she also uses them to recruit my leaders to perform functions for my pack. The latest example is that she called my Bear Leader and asked him if he would be my Pack's Popcorn Kernel. My unit has already designated a person for this. When I confront her about this type of thing she basically gives me the I'm sorry speech and after a while does it again. Help me!!!!!!!! CMF

CE, As for the cub program going overboard, I disagree. There are 3 different Den Leader Knots but each level is truly a different task. Running a Tiger Cub den is a whole lot different than running a Webelos Den. I agree that Boy Scouts should seperate the leaders positions and "knot" "tie" them all into one award. CMF

Eric, The temporary patch and the progress towards rank can be worn at the same time. As for the other patches, they are temporary so I don't see that it would hurt, but I don't know the official answer. CMF

Laurie, I am a cubmaster here in Texas and my opinion is that as long as the program stays fun and you have boys attending there can never be too much. I plan a full year and have the same problem. I have the few boys and families that are there for everything we do, but the rest seem to show up here and there. I feel that as long as the rest are showing up here and there, I will continue to plan events. CMF

I am the Cubmaster in my pack and have 5 registered den leaders. Me and the Den Leaders do most of the planning, organizing and running of the pack. It is just hard to find volunteers. In response to Sctldr I just say that not all units run by a small group of people, are in for just the numbers. I have to say I run a quality program and we are having fun while we do it. CMF

Beaver: Of course we have football, but do you also know that the only reason Texas doesn't fall into the Gulf of Mexico is because Oklahoma inhales!!!! *you gotta love the OK-TX jokes. CMF

Don't be discouraged, if you remember that it is for the boys then you will make it. 15 months ago I assumed the role of Cubmaster in Pack 450 and had only 2 other leaders to help me. Since it was for the boys I dove in head first. For 8 months I was not only the Cubmaster but also the Wolf den leader. Once people saw the fun the boys were having, many boys who had not been seen in awhile, returned. I also insured that the local paper printed pictures of everything we did. I ensured that we did service projects along with our fun. I now have 9 leaders and 5 committe members. I also signed up 11 Tiger Cubs during spring recruiting without much effort. You must always remmeber it is for the boys and give the boys that are coming a great program. Everything else will take care of itself in time. This of course is my story and yours probably differs in ways. All the advice given here is good. You must decide if you are willing to give it all. CMF

thanks, I guess they just haven't released much information yet. But you have tripled my knowledge so far. Once again thanks.