Invite another den to my den meeting?

[Its Me]

I am a Bear den leader with about 7 active scouts. Within our pack there is another bear den of about 2-3 boys. My den is fairly strong, meeting two-three times a month as a den. The other den I am told is not as strong. Should I invite this other den to join in an up coming den meeting? If yes how should I approach the other leader. Whom I don't know.

 

As side note there is a kid and dad in the other den that my boy and I both know and enjoy their company.

 

 

 

[EagleInKY]

It sounds like a great idea. You just want to make sure you approach it the right way. The den leader could see it as a power plan. I find it strange that you don't know another den leader in your pack that has the same age group, but I guess that's another story.

 

I'd first talk to the CM and see if there's anything you need to know. If the other den is struggling, the den leader may be burnt out and looking for relief.

 

Also, to alleviate some of the "power play" concerns, you could approach it as a "merger" and become "co-den leaders". We've done that several times in our packs.

[OneHour]

My suggestion is to approach the Cubmaster with your idea. When I was a Cubmaster, I kept a pulse on each of the 14 Dens that we had. If one was floundering, I would follow up with the den leader to see how the Pack can help, up to and including merging dens to keep the boys interested. One year, I approached a "suffering" den (down to 3 boys) about merging with another den (6 boys strong). The boys in that den voted to stay as they are and recruited a couple more of their friends and three of the dads stepped up to take on the leadership role. At Arrow-of-Light, that once fledging den was one of our strongest den, graduating 6 boys into boy scout.

 

So, allow your cubmaster to work out a solution with the den leader.

 

Cheers,

 

1Hour

[SemperParatus]

What is your motivation for inviting them?

 

To show the other den leader how to do it right and the boys what fun they may be missing? Or, just to have a get together and some fun?

 

When I was in cubs, the other comparable rank den leaders and I always planned little outings once or twice a year just for our dens. The boys usually new each other from school or sports and we always had a good time. Maybe consider a joint fun outing, to take some of the perception away that this is some attempt to 'fix' his den or model den activity. Have fun and get to know them first, then worry about how their den is operating.

 

 

[anarchist]

Just guessin' here, but it sounds like you are 'offering' to merge the dens ? yes?

 

I agree that you should talk with the CM and the other DL...so you don't step on toes...but some times there is a 'critical mass' factor and small den/patrols have trouble surviving without the 'right' number of scouts.

Den of 2 or 3 boys have a harder time with games and activities, camping when they become WEBELOS will be more difficult and a merged Den of say 10 while big is still managable...particularly if the other Den leader comes along to help out.

[Its Me]

My den meetings aren't as polished as I would like so it isn't to demonstrate superior den skills. The other (real) story is that our pack doesn't have committee meetings. Actually we had one leader's meeting last year and the one meeting this year. I was at Wood Badge for this year's meeting so it will be another year before we have another.

 

I suspect that this leader is all alone and feels abandon. Since the pack has no leaders meeting, no training chair she has no guidance or support. I am only presuming this since our cubmaster has little contact with me and I assume all are treated this way.

 

Maybe I should hold a Bears only den leaders meeting.

 

 

[ScoutNut]

Only 1 committee meeting per year?

 

How do you find out what is going on? How do you decide what is going to be going on at each monthly Pack meeting? Do you even have monthly Pack meetings? How do you decide about or put together Pack-wide activites?

 

Sounds like you need to contact your Unit Commissioner & have him give your CC & CM some help.

 

As far as the other Bear Den - Give the other leader a call and ask if there is anything you can do to help them. Semper's idea of a group outing is a great way to start. That way the boys & leaders can get to know each other.

 

 

[lynncc]

let me preface this with I have no experience. Our PACK has 2 active cubs. 4-5 once baseball is over. Anyway another Pack in our district invites us to do fun things with them. Like their pinewood derby and they had a bike outing or bike course (we were unable to do the bike thing cause of scheduling) our 2 boys both camee in third in their rank. Had lots of fun.

 

I think inviting them to join you for some fun activities even on a den level is a great idea. You don't need to merge the groups just share some time together.

 

Call the leader and talk about going on special outings together and suggest getting together for one den meeting prior so the boys can all meet and get to know each other. If things work out maybe do this once a month like a pack meeting but for dens. Work on a bigger project together. Things like that. Sounds like it could be fun.

 

lynn

[fotoscout]

There is a lot that will go on here. If you merge you may have 10 boys! Thats a lot to handle. Then what happens next year, do you lose some or gain some?

 

The two dens probably dont meet on the same day at the same time. If the meeting day, time and location change you may ultimately lose someone from the other den.

 

Then there is the other den leader, how does he feel about this?

 

Its admirable to want to help the other den. I am sure that you can do some things to help them without merging. Talk it over with the other den leader before you take any action.

 

[Its Me]

I think lynncc, described it best. I would keep the dens seperate but try to get more interaction between the two dens. Who knows she could look at the way I run my den and go "jeez I can do better".

 

If I were Cubmaster (did I really just say that) I would assist the den leaders in developing their dens I don't believe this is presently occuring.

 

Should this den not make it, I certainly would like the boy and family whom I already know to join my den. If I didn't know anyone in the other den I am not certain I would be as interested to help. In fact I know I wouldn't. I am helping really the only way I can. My primary duty is to keep my den strong. I have no time left to serve as a training chair or other pack level duty.

 

With limited additional effort I can expand my den meeting to include another den. Both dens may benefit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Joni4TA]

Wait, back up a minute..

 

Its Me, you mean to tell me your Pack doesn't have monthly Committee Meetings? What about Pack Meetings? If not, it's no wonder why you wouldn't know the other den leader very well. Holy smokes, that's just not right.

 

That's not the way it's supposed to be so I bet something can be done about this situation that would benefit the entire pack, especially the other den and leader. How many dens are in your pack? How many boys total? I am just shocked, so forgive all my questions.... somewhere along the line people have definitely been forgotten, perhaps your entire Pack has been forgotten. Maybe it's time to make some noise!

 

The squeaky wheel always gets the grease...

[Its Me]

We have monthly pack meetings and awards are given out. The pack functions regardless of the fact that the leaders don't meet.

 

The pack is really run by a single family and not by a collection of individuals. I am ok with this, and as the age of this family's youngest is the same as my boy, I don't fear a change will happen during my tenure. However there are a few concerns I have. One is that new leaders are on their own. As I described above. Two, once this family's last scout crosses over, there will be a large void in the leadership positions.

 

 

[ASM1]

We invite other Packs to our Den meetings. Do not hesitate to invite everyone you can to explore Scouting.

 

ASM1