Stick with it or start looking for a new pack?

[zippie2223]

I joined at the New Cub Round up last year in October. I joined a pack that was/is on a decline. The year before I joined the CM quit in mid season and two or three dens fell apart or left to join other packs. At the first council meeting the council chose a new CM. Her heart was never really in it. The scouts we recruited at round up (excluding me) never got trained or started meeting for that matter. We had Tigers (my group), Bears, and Webelos 1 at the beginning of this year. Now the CM took ill and her Bear den fell apart and again we had to choose a new CM. He is the Webelo leader and seems very dedicate to rebuilding the pack. My question is should I start looking for a new pack or should I just concentrate on rebuilding from basically the ground up? I already decided to stick with it for another year, but should I have an idea where we are going if this does not work out? If I start looking maybe I won't dedicate myself like I should. Well what do you guys think?

 

BTW We did not have a Blue and Gold banquet, pine wood derby, and no real pack activities. Im in the middle of planning our summertime activities now.

(This message has been edited by zippie2223)

[Eamonn]

This is a tough call.

A few days back you posted that some of the parents and yourself were becoming good friends.I would think that your son feels the same way. He has friends in the pack. If you stick with it for another year leaving is not going to get any easier.

It does sound like you know what the pack ought to be doing and what direction it ought to be heading. All it needs is to do it.

There is something very rewarding in seeing and being part of something that is growing.

Cubmasters are important, but the real hands on stuff is done in the den.

Stick it out build the Den back up. Do what you can to support the Cubmaster. Get your Den Parents to do the same. Have them volunteer to run the events that you missed this year.

Develop a working relationship with your chartered organization and you unit commissioner.

Eamonn

[Balding Eagle]

I was having similar thoughts about switching packs, for various reasons a few months back. There is another very active pack in town but I decided to join the pack where my son attends school since the boys he goes to school with and plays sports with were at that pack.

 

Around the same time, I found this forum. Reading peoples posts enlightened me to the other side of the program, from the Leaders point of view. It when then I realized what the adult leaders did for me when I was a youth. Particularly one adult who without his guidance I may never have earned my Eagle.

 

Anyhow, I could have left and went to the other pack, but I decided to stay and try to make this pack better. Leaving would have benefited, one boy, my son. I hope with my staying a whole pack of boys will benefit in some way.

 

 

[fotoscout]

Good advice from Eamonn!

 

I would however add slightly to it. With just the new CM and yourself doing all the work you may well burnout in short order. Talk to your parents and the other parents in the pack, get a commitment from them! I would do some sole searching if no one else steps up and commits to doing some of the work. Many people will tolerate one year of a bad program , but if you go into two years of a bad program you will most likely lose these scouts forever.

 

Take advantage of District and Council events, the kids will have a great time and it will lighten your load!

 

[SR540Beaver]

Try and stick with it. Go to your district roundtable and make some contacts with district staff and find out who your unit commissioner is. Call a parents meeting and have a heart to heart with them. Someone on your district staff if not your unit commissioner should be happy to attend and speak to them. Tell the parents that you need people to step up tot he plate if they want their son's pack to survive and grow. Explain to them that you don't want them to volunteer out of guilt. You only want voluteers who can and will put their heart into it and will make a committment to "do their best" for one scout year. Tell them up front that they will be expected to get training at the start. I'm betting that if you have enough folks, the district trainer will be willing to come to you and do the training all at once. Everyone can attend the New Leader Essentials and Youth Protection at the same time. The Cubmaster and Committee training is the same and they can attend it together. All of the Den leaders can attend the Den Leader Specific training together. Throw in Baloo training and you are in business. Try to set aside a Saturday for the training and coordinate it with the trainer and the new volunteers. All that is left is to contact the boys and try to get them to come on a regular basis. If you deliver a fun program, that will take care of itself. If your roundtable is like ours, you will be presented each month with program themes and ideas for the coming month. Once you have a dedicated and trained staff (the hard part), the rest will fall into place and sustained growth will be easy. Set up a school night for the new school year and you won't be able to keep the kids away. We signed up 30 boys at the beginning of this school year. Even several Webelos II's joined. We had our work cut out for us to get them their Arrow of Light by crossover time, but we did it.