Growing and Evolving Pack Programs

[SeattlePioneer]

I've been Unit Commissioner for a pack since 2004, when I helped rebuild a pack that had collapsed after the "Cubmaster Who Does Everything" left.

 

We rebuilt that pack program pretty much from scratch. The program we created then is still repeated now in a lot of ways, but the program has grown and improved over the years.

 

For several years, none of the Cub Scouts attended day camp. I solicited the excellent Day Camp Director to come in and make a presentation promoting day camp along with several Cub Scouts he brought with him. That caused regular day camp attendance by most of the boys in the pack ever since.

 

This year a parent began promoting the Cub Scout Resident camp, an excellent program that offer three nights and four days of Cub Scouting. Nineteen Cub Scouts will be attending the resident camp this year.

 

So what are your experiences with how your Cub Scout program changes and grows over time? Who tends to come up with the ideas and how are they sold and received by parents?

[Polaris]

I have started to classify our parents into two groups: Indoor and Do Everything parents. The Do Everything parents will show up at anything you put on the schedule--bowling, day hikes, camping, resident camp, swim parties, etc. They are more adventurous. The Do Everything parents will consider driving hours for some great family fun. Out of 45 members, we have about 8 Do Everything families. The Indoor parents are much more selective. They mainly stick with the Pack meetings for entertainment. They don't like to plan anything. They want to show up and go home. Camping requires a lot of planning. That's out.

 

As we just wrapped up our yearly planning meeting, we decided we need to cater more to our Indoor parents to increase event participation. For example, instead of a 2 hour day hike in a forest 45 minutes away, we scheduled a one hour hike 20 minutes away. We plan to advertise it as a "stroller friendly" walk on a paved trail. We offer a wide variety of programming, but it's the usual Do Everythings that routinely take advantage of the activities. We will now plan more basic events to involve more families, evaluate our progress and add more complex activities as needed to keep our Do Everythings satisfied.

[SeattlePioneer]

I have to admit that in planning the program for my pack, I planned all our activities to be local. My theory is that Cub Scouts can have a cracking good time with local activities and it's expensive and just not necessary to do a lot of driving to have a good program.

 

Of course dens, and Webelos Dens in particular, can plan more adventurous activities if they wish, and I'd like to see Webelos Dens do just that --- the boys are ready for more adventurous activities.

 

My impression is that most parents are happy not to be doing more driving. And there are lots of things to do --- I don't see that as compromising the quality of the program.

[fred8033]

IMHO, pack program quality is fully a reflection (i.e. symptom) of the volunteers. Great volunteers can quickly create a great pack program. Same as bad or no volunteers can quickly crash a good program. That's the problem with cub scouts.

 

So when you talk about "growing and evolving" the pack program, the only thing you can really do is grow and develop the volunteer base. From there, everything takes care of itself.

 

[Polaris]

I like the idea of more adventurous activities at the Webelos level. Or, perhaps we can offer one adventurous Pack event per year knowing the attendance will be low. ??

 

Some of the issues in Pack planning is recycled local activities for families that have been with the group for 3-4 years. A Do Everything at our Pack planning meeting mentioned part of the fun is getting there.

 

I believe a large part of the issue is the Indoor parents don't get scouting. I had one parent ask me if there are bugs around on a campout. How do you answer the question to convince her to come out? I am pretty sure she wanted me to say "nope, no bugs ever." It is much easier to parent by computer than getting in the car and taking a "hike." The Do Everythings are the best supporters of the program. It seems like the Do Everythings grew up with exposure to the outdoors. They aren't intimidated.

 

So, you are right. We'll try to keep it simple, keep it cheap, keep it local, and maybe they will come.

[Basementdweller]

I stepped down as CM in June. The new CM had a bunch of big ideas....Planetarium at $6 per head, Baseball game at $10 a head, Bowling at $6 a head, Picnic at $5 a head.........

 

 

Well, parents complained about the cost and attendance has been poor. The summer program I planned was generally free activities......We fish, hike and take advantage of the Park rangers and various clubs around town.

 

At the Committee Meeting I spoke and let them know my thoughts. A family of 4 at the ball game is a $100 proposition and most simply could not afford it.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Basement,

 

Like you I'm not big on paying people to entertain Cub Scouts. If you have buckets of money I suppose that's fine, but my bias runs towards a thrifty program where we entertain ourselves.

 

We did spend a couple of buckets of money on our pack campout in early June, but that was mostly spent on food and on activities presented by parents, which included making den flags, candles and nice wooden boxes for Scout souvenirs.

 

As far as attending sporting events, I'm personally negative on pro sports. My bias would be for a Den to visit a Cub Scout's Little League game, roast hot dogs or marshmallows and to cheer for the Cub Scout's team.

 

After the game I'd be sure to invite the team members and coach to join the pack when the season is over.

 

I haven't done that yet, but I'd like to.

 

Cub Scouts mostly would like to take in a pro sports game. If a parent wanted to organize that, I'd make no objection. But so far no one has and we haven't done that as an activity.

 

Anyone care to describe how they make watching sports an activity for their Pack or Troop?

[Jeffrey H]

"Anyone care to describe how they make watching sports an activity for their Pack or Troop?"

 

Our July summer event is attending and enjoying a pro minor-league baseball game in our area. It's a scout night sleepover event and popular with our Pack. The event is cheap - $5.00 for the game, $10 if sleeping over. I'm not a fan of scheduling too many sports for our Pack outings, but we do include about two a year as part of our program mix and these are done during the late Spring or Summer months.

[ScoutNut]

You don't have to spend "buckets" to have a good Pack program, or even a fun Pack campout.

 

For Pack campouts we camp at local State/County parks that have group sites for youth organizations at very reduced prices. There are also lots of local resources to take advantage of. We hike, visit nature centers, fish, bike, have Ranger led activities, and even visit local Scouting museums. We charge $5 per family, with the Pack picking up the rest of the cost. Bulk stores are great for low cost food shopping.

 

Our Pack attends two professional sporting events each year. Both are with "minor/feeder" leagues so tickets are quite a bit lower. We also utilize group ticket pricing which cuts the cost even more. The Pack pays for a bus so that no one has to drive and spend money on gas and parking.

 

As one poster mentioned, Pack programs, like Pack volunteers, are cyclical, and Packs have a greater turnover of leaders than Troops. What one group does, might not be carried over completely, or at all, by the next two, three, four groups of new leaders, and new families.

 

All current leaders can do is to try to set a good, fun, level of programming, and hope that it becomes a Pack "tradition" that is carried on.