Den leader John

Thanks again for everyone's input. After spending much time trying to decide if and how to split the den. I ended up not splitting the Den. I did not want to take the chance of losing any scouts, since after repeated tries, I could not get any other parents to be a Den leader. I did have a parents meeting, and split the Den into three groups of five, and required two parents from each group to be ADL. I now have six ADL, and in Den meetings and field trips the boys stay in their own groups, with their ADL. Maybe next year I will be able to split the Den, but for now it makes it easier for me to manage. Our Pack has currently has 33 boys, 9 new Tiger Cubs, 15 wolf cubs and 3 in each of the other dens.

Thanks for everyone's Comments, it definitely gives me some ideas for my Den. I spoke with my ADL, and he didn't like the idea of spliting our two boys up, any more than I did, because they are good friends. I know he would be a DL, if we have no other alternative.

At the beginning of last year I did not know any better. As far as I knew It was not uncommon to have that many in a Den, the CM just kept adding Boys to my Den. I do not know what would have happened if had not become the DL, since as far as I knew no one else wanted to be a DL. Our Pack also has only one Den per rank, with my Den being twice as big as the others. I told the PL that I wanted to split the Den, after I found out about 5 new boys that were being added to my Den(Wolf Den). I have not herd anything about our Pack having a Pack Committee. As far as I know we have a PL, and a Treasurer.

Thanks for everyone's help. I plan on getting the parents togather, before school starts, and let them know about the split. Our School District and pack is spread over a large rural area. It may be easier to split the Den by geographical location. My ADL is a friend of mine and our boys are good friends, but he would a logical choice for a DL, since he is on the other side of the School District from Me. How many activities, and what kind, do you do with the other Dens of the same rank?

I appreciate all the help. I have been looking for a place that I can get answers to my questions. I dont want to cause problems in my Pack, but I know that Cub Scouts is more than I have seen in our Pack. I am planning to get all the training that is available, and I may ruffle some feathers this year. I will let my CM know that I would like to have 6-8 boys in my Den. How should I go about choosing who stays and who goes? It would be nice to keep the boys that have a real interest in Scouts, rather than take the chance of loosing them in another Den. But Is that fair to the other potential Den Leaders?

Thanks for your help. I intend to get the training, but Cub Scouts takes alot of my time already. I didn't get much help last year from the other parents, but this year I am going to make it a requirement for them to be involved. I think the other parents think I get paid to be a Den leader, instead of being just another parent. I want my boy to enjoy Scouts as much as I did, and to have it be what it was meant to be.

Thanks for your reply. I have been looking for a place to get some answers about Cub Scouting. I have the CM son in my Den as well as another DL son. They both have Dens of 3-6 boys. The Pack has 35 Cub Scouts. I have asked to split the Den, but I am under the impression that I will need to find another DL myself. I have many questions, but I wanted to start with the hardest one.

I need help in managing a large Cub Scout Den. I registered my boy for Tiger Cubs last year, and ended being the Den Leader with 16 in my Den. After going to a POW-WOW at the beginning of last year, and reading the Handbook, I knew the Den should be split up. I was able to get one of the other fathers to be an assistant Den Leader, but not a Den Leader. I ended up with 10 boys, at the end of the school year, but I have 5 more that have registered to be in my Den. I expect more will register in the fall, so my den may be bigger than it was, last year. I would like to have 6-8 boys in my Den, but I dont think its right to pick and choose my Den, and most of the boys are good friends. I also dont see any of the other parents wanting to be a den leader. I am planning on having the parents be more involved in the planning of the Den meetings, and maybe split the Den up at the Den meetings, with the assistant Den leader taking half. I want to make Cub Scouts better in my Den and my Pack, and make it more like I remember it being when I was a boy. Any help would be appreciated.