Never try to plan events in June

[DenZero]

At least in recent history, its been our packs tradition to hold its blue and gold banquet in June, so that we can present advancement awards, and the boys have as much time as possible to finish their advancement work (yeah, we like to procrastinate).

 

This year its been quite frustrating. Its scheduled for this Thursday, which was the only day that most of the boys could make it. At the end of the school year, there are many school events. Holding it after school is out doesnt work, as some families take off for vacation the day after school ends. The biggest problem is that Little League baseball playoffs are held the first two weeks of June. The boys dont know when their games will be until the winners and losers of the previous game are determined. We tried to schedule the B&G on the day after the championship. What we didnt count on is that half of the playoff games have been rained out. Im faced with the prospect of half of the pack (the most active half) having baseball games at the same time as the B&G. The only ones who arent playing baseball are the ones receiving consolation awards for not completing advancement.

 

If the pack continues next year, we will try to schedule it earlier in the year when the games are on a determined schedule, and we can try to accommodate as many boys as possible.

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Oh, horsehockey.

 

First, there's a reason most packs schedule Blue and Gold in February: It's a birthday party, for the Boy Scouts of America!

 

Second, consistency matters. When a date bounces year to year, folks tend to take it off their calendars.

 

Third, who is having fun at your B&G? There's a reason folks keep saying KISMIF with the Cub program: Short attention spans.

 

June is a time for daycamp, for a Pack picnic or campfire night, for having the OUTING in SCOUTING.

[gwd-scouter]

I have to agree with John-in-KC here. I have never known a Pack to hold a Blue and Gold Banquet any time other than in February to celebrate the anniversary of Scouting.

 

Since you say it has been your pack's tradition to hold it in June, I imagine you've run into the same problem every year with vacations, baseball, etc. Since you are considering scheduling your B&G earlier, why not move it to February? Boys still work on advancement through the remainder of the school year. Then, you can have an end-of-school pack meeting. We always did that with a celebration of the beginning of summer as our theme. We always had a big turnout for our last pack meeting - perhaps because we had ice cream sundaes at the end!

[DanKroh]

DenZero,

 

While I probably would have said it a little more gently, I agree in principle with John.

 

The B&G is supposed to be a birthday party for scouting, and should take place in February. If you want to have your main advancement ceremony in June, that's one thing, but I don't think you should call it a B&G.

 

Now, the bigger issue seems to me to be the boys not finishing rank advancement until June. Personally, I think that's a bad call. I think if you set the expectation that they should finish by February, they can and will. If you set the expectation that they won't finish until June, then they probably will put it off until then. But if you set the expectation that they finish in February, then those that truly have a hard time finishing will have some time, but will feel that drive to get it done. If a boy misses the deadline in June, there is no wiggle room. He is done and moved onto the next rank.

 

Not to mention, February gives them time to concentrate on electives, and beltloops and other cool awards; while they can work on electives concurrently, it's not as much of a recognition to get the rank badge and 4 arrow points at once as it is to get the rank badge, then the 4 arrow points as they are earned over March-June.

 

Now, we did have an issue this year in our pack with the Tigers not finishing until June, but I think that was because of the change in the rules last year requiring them to get the Bobcat first. Now that we've had that experience, hopefully next year, we can adjust the program and keep the Tigers on track better for Feb.

 

The June pack meeting should be a celebration of the boys graduating to the next rank, and we try to make it a special event because of that. I think having something cool for the last pack meeting of the year is still important, but not a B&G.

[msnowman]

I have to agree with the others - Blue and Gold is Cub Scouting's birthday and (ideally) should be held around February. We went as late as March one year and it just felt...off.

 

It is a reality that maybe not every boy will make rank by Blue and Gold. And That's. O. K. If they are having a good time and "Doing their best" then that's the really important part. We have 2 dens who made rank in February, in time for Blue and Gold. WooHo! Fabulous for them! However, we also have 2 dens who will be receiving their rank Saturday at our Bridging Over campfire. WooHoo! Great for them too. They'll get their beads first, their rank next, followed by their arrow points. Then, they will get to come back up a little later and graduate to their next rank and get their new neckerchiefs.

 

When boys make rank may vary by unit, but Blue and Gold really should be held at least near to the birthday it is intended to celebrate.

 

YMMV

YiS

Michelle

 

[GKlose]

My kids have belonged to three out of the four packs in our town, and in every case, the B&G has been treated as an end-of-year awards ceremony (and pack activity is suspended until the following fall). The banquets have been anywhere from late March to mid May.

 

I haven't liked this at all, but it is next to impossible for an outsider to make a change to "the way things have always been done", and the general attitude of "crank kids through the program to get them their patches."

[Pack212Scouter]

Our Pack has ammended the B&G to an awards banquet. The biggest reason is that with PWD event in January/February, a Campout in March for Scout-O-Rama, and sports starting back up in April there is no way we can get families to a banquet twice in two months in there. At the end of the traditional B&G I am told that almost 80% of the families were blowing it off. Hardly worth it. We now forgo the traditional B&G and do a end of year awards Banquet called a "Blue & Gold" in mid April. Attendance at this event is now OVER 80% instead of under 80%. Is this the way that the Cub Scouting banquet was concieved in the 1943? Not really. Am I entirely happy about this change, not necessarily. But then very little in Cub Scouting is the same as 1943, and even less about our lives is the same. The key is that it works for us, where a traditional Blue & Gold did not. You must do what works best for your pack. If something doesn't work, and you've tried ways to make it work, maybe how it is done needs to be rethought. For our Pack it was turning it into a "graduation." For yours it may be returning it to it's origins.(This message has been edited by pack212scouter)

[DenZero]

It is probably easier to get good attendance in February, as baseball hasnt really got going yet, and not as many boys participate in basketball, and fewer still in hockey. The large pack that is our recruiting rival holds their B&G in Feb., but doesnt give out awards or badges there, they have a barbecue in May where badges are awarded. May attendance isnt as good because of sports conflicts, but it works better than June, when we have these baseball playoffs that frustrate parents by not knowing the schedule until the day before the game.

 

I think the cubmasters before me were just lucky in finding a date that worked for most people, and the playoff schedule didnt keep getting changed as often. We are a small dysfunctional pack, and dont really want to put on two banquets. Anyway, we are going to try to have it earlier next year and avoid the exasperating baseball playoffs.

 

If the pack ever gets big enough again, maybe we can try going by the book.

 

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Couple of comments:

 

1) Badges should be given as they are earned!! Advancement and recognition are Methods of all the programs in Scouting. Nothing will kill a young boys interest as fast as the fact that he sees what he's doing as homework!

 

Every month, every Pack meeting, give the badges to the boys. Many units make a sole exception for B&G though.

 

2) If you give a good program, they will come. If you are the CM, concentrate on two tasks: Having the best, most jam-packed, fun-filled Pack meeting imaginable... this is a time to see big smiles on their faces. Then, work with your Den Leaders (you are the go-to guy on Program), to ensure what they do dovetails with the monthly themes, helps the kids have fun at weekly Den meetings, and helps the kids have fun at monthly Pack meetings.

 

It's June! A wiener and marshmallow roast at a local campfire goes over really, really well for 8-10 year olds. A pool party coupled with a wiener and marshmallow roast goes over even better. If needed, keep the party going for several hours, so families can plug-in/punch-out as they need to!

 

 

[Karen_216]

we too have our Pinewood in Feb. so we have the B&G in March. This also allows boys more time to work on ranks.

I really dont' believe our pack would get much attendance w/o the badges and the whole arrow of light cermemony. We do have entertainment. It's also difficult to keep planning so many ceremonies every month. Badge of rank- move up-graduation, etc. W/o combining a few.

My pack has also had it's move-ups and graduation too early- I'm proposing at our planning mtg moving it to when it should be (end of May or even at our June campout).The Webelos II can still cross over at B&G.

Rt has been pushing ceremonies, ceremonies, make everything a ceremony. Only problem is kids not involved in that moment drift off and get bored.

[Gold Winger]

Color me simple but I'm confused about what the date of the B&G has to do with working on advancement. A Cub can work on a rank until the day he ceases to be eligible for that rank, usually when school ends and he moves up a year. Then again, some say the grade doesn't change until September. That's a semantics. The big point is that having a dinner in March doesn't mean that Junior can't work on the Bear badge until school lets out. To do otherwise is cheating the boys.

[meschen]

OP is correct never plan a Pack meeting in June. June is for summertime events. The final regular Pack meeting should be in mid-to-late May.

 

But everyone who thinks that ranks must be presented at a single impresive B&G ceremony are incorrect. Although it is an admirable goal, there is no requirement to hand out rank badges at the Blue and Gold meeting. Except for the Arrow of Light, we handed out rank badges at every monthly Pack meeting from December to May. It takes 5 minutes to do a meaningful rank ceremony (no this doesn't multiply by the boys who earn the rank). We have one boy who might earn his rank after the mid-May Pack meeting, so well possibly have his award handed out at the July Pack BBQ this year.

 

[Pack212Scouter]

GW is quite right. We like to make a big deal out of awards at an annual banquet, but that does not mean they can't continue to work on their rank if hey are not done. They do not advance in rank until the end of the school year at earliest. It also does not mean that they don't "earn" their rank when they finish it, they just don't get a huge ceremony until then. Why you ask? The program isn't designed that way you say. Well, that is all very true. Unfortunatly with a Pack our size, if we did advancement cerimonies every Pack meeting there would be no Pack meetings from December until May, just advancements. We do awards and advancements, but the big fancy cerimony hold off until the end of the year.

 

Also, due to the extreme drop off in weekly attendence from May on, we are looking at ending our official meeting year at the end of April. Not something that I like, but our attendence at meetings in May drops from an average of 120 boys to an average or 20-30. Most dens suddenly wind up with one or two boys attending. So this coming year we will be trying it a little different with an event or two in May and no meetings.(This message has been edited by pack212scouter)

[CalicoPenn]

The primary purpose of a Pack Meeting is to recognize the work the Cubs have done since the last Pack Meeting. With the exception of a Pinewood Derby night (or raingutter regatta, or space derby), awards should be given out at every pack meeting - even for big packs. I look at skits, etc. as cutting into awards time - not the other way around - if you need to take 15 minutes to give out awards when you only planned 10, simply cut the 5 minutes from something else - maybe you skip a silly song or two that month.

 

There doesn't need to be a big ceremony for every award. For most badges, just call up all the lads that earned it that last month (ie. "We had a bunch of Cubs earn their Bear badge this past month - when I call your name, come on up - Billy, Den 1; Johnny, Den 3", etc.) When they've all lined up, the Cubmaster goes down the line, shakes their hand, hands them their badges, and sends them on their way. Save the big ceremonies for things like Tiger and Bobcat, and for the Arrow of Light Award (which should have an important ceremony to drive home the point that this is Cub Scoutings highest award).

 

If you're waiting months to hand out the badges, you're missing a big part of the methods.

[rjscout]

AOL is the ultimate goal of Cub Scouts, but I think that the Webelos, Bear and Wolf rank advancement is just as important as Tiger and Bobcat. The beads and arrow points can be moved to a Den meeting if you are running low on time.

 

We don't do awards on PWD night, but we will do the Rank Awards on any other Pack night. We like to make a fuss over the World Conservation, LNT and Outdoor Activity Awards, too. Our last official Pack meeting of the year is at the end of May and the Fishing Derby is quite popular. Not everyone makes it, but we do have a pretty good crowd.

 

This is our first year of doing Summer activities other than just Summer Camp, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out. We try to have at least one non-summer camp activity for each summer month. We are planning a geocache/nature hunt and Capture the Flag day in the woods in August. I am looking forward to that almost as much as my going to Cub World Adventure camp in two weeks.