Best Day for Den/Pack Meetings

[SeattlePioneer]

So.... what do you find or think are the best days of the week to schedule den or pack meetings?

[Daped01]

There are too many variables to give one honest answer IMO. We host our Pack meetings on a sunday evening (supposed to be tonight for us, but weather caused us to cancel) Den meetings are every other Thursday. With other activities in our community going on, and varying schedules you really have to feel it out

[resqman]

Depends on when space is available at your sponsor. I scheduled den meetings on the same day of the week as the Pack meetings so it would be easy to remember. Held den meetings every week there was not a Pack meeting. Some dens meet less often. Initially the den meet at the sponsor but then other group meetings complained about noise in the hallway. My scouts did not make noise in the hallway but not all youth groups were as well managed. I felt it was easier to meet at my house. That way I didn't have to transport supplies. Seems it was Tuesday or Wednesday.

[qwazse]

Never heard of a den meeting on a Friday.

Our CO building use dictates the schedule. So, afternoons are out because the daycare is running.

Troop and crew have Monday nights, which is sometimes the CO board meeting night as well.

That leaves Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, of which one of those is the monthly Pack meeting.

Leaders' schedule is the main determinant.

[Daped01]

 

Depends on when space is available at your sponsor. I scheduled den meetings on the same day of the week as the Pack meetings so it would be easy to remember. Held den meetings every week there was not a Pack meeting. Some dens meet less often. Initially the den meet at the sponsor but then other group meetings complained about noise in the hallway. My scouts did not make noise in the hallway but not all youth groups were as well managed. I felt it was easier to meet at my house. That way I didn't have to transport supplies. Seems it was Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

 

That's an interesting idea. I might bring something like this up to our committee for next year with the new program coming in. from what I've read so far, they are saying 3 meetings = 1 adventure, we can do 1 adventure and a pack meeting all in one month.

[SSScout]

"It Depends" Here'bouts, Dens meet at the convenience of the Den, whatever consensus the DL can collect, basement rec rooms, CO class room,, back of a Hardware store, I've even known the local Starbucks to host a Tiger meeting (adult partners love that!). Pack meetings are SUPPOSED to be hosted by the CO, but that might not happen if the CO is a "paper" CO (Friends of XYZ, etc.), in which case they might rent the local school AP room. I know an active Troop that is CO'd by the American Legion, meets and stores gear in the Episcopal Church. Works for them.

When? Packs seem to gravitate to Friday evenings. It's only once a month, yes? Dens once a week is encouraged, my Webelos Den was wednesday right after school, in a local home, within walking distance of the school. Some Dens count the special trips ("go see it") as their meeting, which is certainly ok. Troops , I see any evening of the week EXCEPT Friday. No Troops meet on Friday, to my ken . Leaves Friday evening free for going camping early, I guess.

[fred johnson]

In our area, most troops meet on Monday evenings and most packs meet on Tuesdays. But, when I say "most", I mean about 50% or more. There is great variety.

 

More important than the day of the week is consistency. IMHO, it's incredibly important to choose a night and stick with it. Changing nights causes trouble.

[NJCubScouter]

I think it's a matter of local custom and availability of facilities. I see someone above said they have pack meetings on Sunday evenings, and I have seen others say the same thing in this forum, but for whatever reason, I don't think any packs in my area would have regular meetings on the weekend. (My son's old pack would not anyway, because the meetings were held in a public school.) That pack met on Fridays. The dens met (usually at someone's house but sometimes in the school) on a weekday whenever the parents decided - sometimes right after school, sometimes in the evenings. Tuesdays through Thursdays seemed to be the most popular.

[DenLeaderScouter]

Our den meets on Sunday afternoon twice a month because most of the boys have sports during the week. I didn’t consider a Friday evening meeting because I would hate that time. Our Pack meets on Tuesday evening. I think most of the Bear and Webelos dens in my Pack meet on Sunday due to sports.

 

[scoutldr]

At the convenience of the volunteer leaders. They are donating their time (and usually money). They get to pick.

[chrisg478]

My units (Pack & Troop) are blessed to have their own building to meet in so it is up to each Den Leader what works best for them. This year the Troop meets on Mondays, Bears on Tuesday, Tigers and Wolves on Wed,, Webelos on Thursday. Pack meeting is on the last Wednesday of the month with no den meetings that week. I know units in our area that meet on weekends, Friday nights, or just about any other combination you can think of. The "best" night is the one where you can get most of the boys to attend.

[koolaidman]

Tuesdays are best. I vote Tuesdays!

 

Seriously though, in our school district, each level of school has a designated night of the week for extracurricular activities.

For example, Mondays are for elementary schools, Wednesdays for Middle Schools, Thursdays for High Schools.

 

So in a perfect world, I'd take that into account, then meeting space available dates, when the DL can lead meetings vs when a majority of parents can show up. Then Pack meetings. Which, if you do the math right, leads us to Tuesday....

[Sidney Porter]

We use to have den meetings on Saturday afternoons. We only had 2 den meetings per week but we would schedule them for 2 hours at a time. The afternoon allowed us to plan outside activities in the winter w/o worrying about it being too dark. At the time we made a big effort to not turn it into school we found being outside helped with this. The majority of our meetings were outside. The longer 2 hour meeting also allowed us to plan multiple activites during the meeting. The afternoon worked because the ones that were in sports would have practice during the week and games were in the morning on Sat.

[blw2]

Friday

 

Our pack has historically met on Friday evening.

Den's are up to the DL and the Den to figure out.

When my son's Tiger Dl picked Friday, I was seriously against it at first since in theory that means 2-3 den meetings + 1 pack meeting = every Friday devoted to scouts.

In reality, it's not quite that bad as there are holiday conflicts etc... when we don't meet.

Friday works out great....

not many conflicts with sports or other interests

no homework worries

no bed time worries

no getting home from work worries