When to have pack meeting?

[Cubmaster Brad]

I am just taking over as Cubmaster for our pack. Our dens meet on the same night at the same place. In the past, our Pack meetings have consisted of giving the boys their awards. I want to change this and make the pack meetings an EVENT! My question is this: Do most of you have your pack meeting on the same night (instead of) your den meeting once a month? Or is it on a different night? As a Den Leader I struggled with getting den time. What works for your packs?

[scoutldr]

Traditionally, den meeting time and location are at the discretion and convenience of the DL. I had den meetings in my kitchen, like my Den Mother did 40 years ago. I don't know when it started that "all dens meet at the same place and time", but it seems to be more and more common. It's neither good nor bad, I guess, as long as it works. Whether to have a den meeting during Pack meeting week is also at the discretion of the DL, but the parents might want a vote too.

 

That being said, we had Pack meetings on the third Wednesday of the month...check your Council calendar to make sure it doesnt' conflict with Roundtables, or other meetings/events that might conflict.

 

Congratulations on wanting to get your Pack on track...a Pack Meeting SHOULD be an EVENT...with songs, skits, awards, cheers, and FUN...Roundtables are an excellent source of ideas, so make sure to take advantage of those.

[mschwartz]

Our pack meetings are on the second Monday of the month (except for December, January, and February - those are the Holiday Party, Pinewood Derby, and Blue & Gold, all of which are held on the weekends). Pack meetings start out with a flag ceremony, then announcements, then awards, then a song or skit, then what we call "Entertainment" which could be almost anything. This year, for instance, we have had a demonstration from one of the local judo schools; a presentation by a scout's uncle who has spent a lot of time in Iraq doing positive things (i.e., rebuilding, helping people, etc.); a yo-yo person; a presentation by the Museum of Science; and a magician. We get very good attendance at the Pack meetings because we make the extra effort (and go to the extra expense) of having that FUN in there. The whole thing lasts about an hour and a half, so is very survivable even by the Tigers.

[DanKroh]

Our pack meetings are held one Friday night a month, usually the third Friday. But our dens meet at different times at the convenience of the each den.

 

My suggestion would be that if you have a schedule that works for all your dens, take one of those times each month for your pack meeting. In reality, most of our dens only meet about twice a month anyway, so as long as your dens are still meeting as dens at least that often, I think you are going well. Plus, try to get some sort of activity that is not a pack or den meeting once a month or so. Plan a pack hike, bowling night, movie night, baseball game, something that the pack can do together that is not a formal meeting and is (preferably) outdoors.

 

As far as the focus of the pack meeting, having outside entertainment on special occasions is good, but I think that should not be the only thing you do at pack meetings. Meetings should also include things that the boys do (games, skits, songs, etc) that keep them moving. Even when you are being entertained, sitting in a chair (or on the floor) for an hour is hard for boys in this age group. Also, give each den a chance to showcase the things that they have done as a den, it will give them a sense of accomplishment and pride in their scouting experience.

 

I've been Cubmaster for about a year now, and I can tell you, you are going to have a blast. Good luck!

[mtm25653]

We don't have pack meetings (hold on). Last summer, when we were planning for our new pack, I came across an article called something like "Stop having pack meetings". The premise of the article was that meetings are boring, so have a celebration or something else, not a meeting.

 

We have our Pack Powwow the last Monday of the month. Our dens meet on different schedules based on the den leaders'convenience, mostly at the church (CO). Our first powwow was outside, with a campfire in the gravel parking lot and a birthday cake to celebrate our new pack. We try to have something different/special at every meeting and we use face-paints for new boys joining the pack and for rank advancements. Next month, we are having a Friends of Scouting presentation for the parents inside while the boys play a game outside, but the rest of the pack meeting will probably be outside. We always have skits and cheers, songs and a game most months. Don't forget den displays for things they've made/field trips.

[ScoutNut]

Our dens meet when/where ever is good for our den leaders. I believe we have dens meeting on Mon, Wed, & Thur evenings & on Sat mornings. Our Pack meets monthly, usually the last Tuesday, but for big events that go later we will switch to a Fri or Sat evening. Usually our dens will not have a den meeting the week of Pack Night, but if they are working on something they want to finish, or doing something special, they might meet that week also.

 

The Pack meeting should be about celebrating the boys accomplishments that month, but we always have something else going on too. April is our Cardboard Box Vehicle Relay Race!

 

[genewick4]

Our Pack meets every Tuesday with the pack meetings being the 1st tuesday of every month, I have a large pack (75 boys) and these meetings are the only way I have a captive audience once a month to pass on schedule changes, etc., the meetings only last a hour and that gets burned up quick handing out belt loops and beads.Advancements are always a big deal. The boys enjoy getting a little bit of the spot light light in front of everbody. We always have cookies and bug juice at the end. I have also noticed that my den leaders like the pack meetings because it gives them a break for a week. Hope this helps

[ScoutNut]

Wow, with 75 boys and all of the dens have their den meetings at the same time & place?

 

What kind of area do you use that allows for all of those meetings without being rather cramped?

 

 

 

[Cubmaster Brad]

Thanks for all the fast replies! That gives me a lot to think about. My DL's wanted to keep den meetings on the same night and same place. We decided that would offer consistancy, ease for the parents with siblings in different dens, and access to the chartered organizations building. We do a lot of outings as a pack and these are sometimes on den meeting night. I was worried that doing the pack meeting instead of the den meeting would not allow the boys time to complete their requirements.

 

Do you think 4 den meetings plus 1 pack meeting each month is too much?

[genewick4]

Our CO runs a pre-school so they let us use several of thier class rooms. Five meetings a month seems like alot, I live in Florida so there is a year round competition with baseball, basket ball and soccer, one night a week is tough for some families with every thing else going on. Try to incorperate your Pack meetings into outside events; if we camp we use that overnight campfire as a pack meeting, we awarded the Tigers thier badges around the camp fire and they loved it.

 

As to the issue of time to complete requirements, we stress that scouting is a family activity and the parents should be working on the handbook activities at home, some get the message and some don't

[ScoutNut]

I think 5 meetings a month is really pushing it.

 

If you hold your Pack & Den meetings at the same place, day, & time, in order to have 4 Den & 1 Pack meetings every month you would need to double up one week. One of your meeting nights would have to be both a Den meeting AND a Pack meeting. If you held your Den meetings from 6PM to 7PM, then held your Pack meeting from 7PM to 8:30PM, your boys would be there for 2.5 hours AT LEAST. Your Leaders would have to get there between 4 & 5PM (& how often could they get off work early to do that) to give themselves time to get set up for their Den meeting & also get things set up for the Pack meeting. This would add another possible 2 hours to the Leaders (& their kids) time there, with no time for dinner.

 

That's way to long, & hectic, a time frame.

 

Our Pack's Dens average 4 meetings a month, 3 Den & 1 Pack. Sometimes that can be more, like this month with 5 Saturdays, I had 4 Tiger meetings. Sometimes it can be less, next Saturday is Easter weekend so I canceled our Tiger meeting. That leaves us only 2 Den meetings in April.

 

As for not having enough time to finish requirements, from Tiger thru Bear Cub Scouts, most of the requirements are supposed to be done at home, with the family & not in the Den meetings. Actually, Tigers are split, with 1/3 to be done at home, but all of them can be completed at home & signed off by the Tiger Partner if necessary. Webelos Cub Scouts are more leader/boy driven because requirements are no longer strictly family based, most are done together as a Den. However, Webelos Dens usually use their local resources & add various outings to supplement their Den meetings.

 

The boys have until the end of the school year to complete their current rank award, & can even, in some circumstances, have a bit longer. The only times I have seen a boy NOT achieve his rank award, is when his parents just never would find the time to work with him.

 

 

[Cubmaster-Fred]

Our Pack has the pack meeting on the 4th monday of every month, except the 3 summer months. The dens are on thier own to decide for themselves.

 

The way we work it is that the new tiger den each year has to work themselves into the schedule. This gives us consistency in meetings. My wife is the Webelos leader and they have been meeting at the same time on the same day for 4 years now. It really works.

 

PS: Pack meetings are as much fun as you make them.

[Novice_Cubmaster]

Hi Brad,

 

Probably the two big things to look at are the local school calendar and when roundup usually happens.

 

Our pack doesn't meet on school holidays/days off, since its likely the scouts & their families may be out of town.

 

Our local school system has a lot of Mondays and Wednesdays off - for normal holidays, teacher work days, unneeded snow days, early release days, etc..

 

As for roundup, we like to get the 1st pack meeting in as soon as possible after roundup - that way we can welcome the new families & leaders (plus get them "up to speed" with the usual Q&A) before they start having den meetings. This can be tricky, as district controls the roundup schedule (although the only function they really perform is collecting the money).

 

So, for our pack, it turns out that the 1st Thursday of the month works out the best. Although Spring Break got us this year.

 

NC