Finally, we are getting some Webelos Scouts

[gwd-scouter]

Hi all. For those of you that have followed my postings you know the trouble we've had recruiting to our small troop. No pack associated with our CO. Outreach to other Webelos Dens but still they go elsewhere. Still, we keep trying. We are known by many as a great Troop, doing the boy-led thing, but allegiances are hard to break.

 

Last night our guys hosted a Webelos Den and parents for a visit. We have our District's fall camporee coming up, which will involve scout skills competitions, and the PLC made plans to cover basic skills for the next several weeks. Last night's meeting was first aid scenarios. They planned it themselves and carried it out beautifully. Webelos Scouts had a great time and said they can't wait until they cross over. Our adult leaders met with the parents and explained things about our Troop - especially the boy-led part which they were observing. All are eager to become a part of our Troop.

 

Yippee!

[Rythos]

Congrats! While lurking I've followed some of your story and its good to see things taking a good turn for your boys.

 

Ry

[NeilLup]

Great news, gwd.

 

However, I would suggest that you stay in close, friendly touch with the Webelos Den and have your Scouts maybe conduct another activity with them. I suggest that because I would not be surprised if they visit another Troop and like it too.

 

Don't take anything for granted. Keep working on building the relationship.

[gwd-scouter]

You are right, of course. I've been too optimistic in the past when Webelos parents have said their sons were going to join our troop only to find out they went somewhere else.

 

This den has camped with us twice and will camp with us again next month. Two of the Webelos have completed their requirements for AOL. Their den leader wants them to cross over soon and join our Troop. Then the other three, along with the den leader, will follow in the early Spring.

 

We will continue to reach out out and help the Cub Scout Packs/Dens in our area. Not just because it could help to grow our Troop, but because it's the right thing to do.

[DenZero]

Have you been able to provide a den chief to this pack? That would probably help improve your chances, and could be a good source of inside information.

 

[gwd-scouter]

Yes, we've had a Den Chief working there. Will get another this year.

[Apache Bob]

Two thoughts.

Have you asked the Webelos leader about becoming an ASM in your Troop?

Or having him/her become your Webelos to Scout person?

 

[Buffalo Skipper]

Always good to hear about Webelos visiting a boy led troop! I would, like the others here, encourage you not to rest on the laurels of this first visit/meeting with these Webelos. Invite them to you next Court of Honor.

 

This happened to us last year. A small Webelos den came to 2 meetings and attended a planned joint campout. This was great, and the boys were excited about joining. In the meantime, another troop (whose COR had Eagled with our troop 15 years before) "lured" these Webelos to their end of year Court of Honor, where they had a great Power Point on the year's activities (including a trip to Northern Tier and Seabase). We knew these boys were invited, and in fact had our own CoH the same night, but the troop leadership did not want to invite them to ours. I knew then and there that they would go to the other troop, and I was right.

 

This is not to fault the other troop, in fact, kudos to that troop for their persistence and good effort. This is meant to be a reminder that recruiting is not a one time shot--it must be a continuious effort and there must be follow through.

[ASM915]

gwd,

Glad to hear the good news. How close is the Webelos meeting place to you? Could they reschedule their meetings to coinside with yours? Could you hold one meeting a month at their location? Have you started courting the Webelos I den yet?

 

I have been trying to get the SM to involve the local Webelos Den in some of our activities. We are in the same boat as your unit, very small Troop with no CO attached Pack, and former CM drawing the Webelos to his old Troop several miles away. The local Pack is at the UMC. Our Troop meets in the community park in the Scout House, a cynder block building.

 

Two weeks ago, the Webelos II den came to visit. There is talk about them changing their meeting night to Mondays so they can do more with us. The SM and I have talked about moving our meeting to the church from November to April, so we are more visible to the Pack as a whole. The preacher, a former SM from the other side of the state, is more then willing to work with us.

The SM has hinted at seeing if there can be a joint CO (our CO at this time is the VFW), or changing to the UMC if they will allow us to keep our present Troop number. We are the oldest functioning Troop from the original Council before mergers, 87 y/o, and the second oldest Troop in the present Council. I'ld hate to give up the charter and numbers.

I have tried to gwet the Troop to supply Den Chiefs to the Pack for several years to no avail. All of a sudden the Troop wants to supply DC's to the W II's den who my son has been working with as DC, and have him step back to the Wolf or Bear den, probably a good move with his special needs.

I'm still having problems with the SM wanting to work with the Webelos I den and invite them to activities also. He feels the priority is the Webelos II den, 6-8 boys. We need to be building bridges and relationships with the Webelos I den now, not later. They have 12-15 boys in their den.

[gwd-scouter]

More Webelos coming! Have been contacted by the Den Leader of a Webelos Den in another Pack. We have reached out to this Pack too for several years, but their Webelos Dens have not been very strong in the past. This year they have seven boys getting ready to cross over. They are coming to our planning meeting for an upcoming campout and are going to camp with us in a couple of weeks (along with the other Webelos Den I mentioned above).

 

After that, I got a call from a Den Leader from yet a third Webelos Den in another different Pack who wants to bring his boys (about 10) to visit our Troop. Said he heard great things about us and wants to check it out.

 

Our heads are spinning. Kudos to the boys in our Troop that asked the other night just exactly what we would do if we suddenly tripled the size of our troop. Comments from our boys such as: How many patrols will we make? We should probably appoint patrol leaders and troop guides to help out all those new Scouts. We will have to check our equipment and make sure we have what we'll need for such a large troop. One interesting viewpoint was - so many new Scouts will mess up the great thing we have going now. We all get along and work so well together.

 

Kahits mentions in another thread about being a small troop and finally getting some good recruiting going. Many of you folks are used to receiving a large number of cross over Scouts. Having had such a small troop for so long, gaining a large group of Webelos could be both a blessing and a curse for our Troop, but we will make it work.

 

 

[ElyriaLeader]

Like some others have said before...dont get lazy now...it wouldn't hurt to take the webelos leader that will cross to your troop with his son and put him to work as your liason to the cubs, he has all these contacts with other webelos leaders from attending training and roundtables (hopefully) let him use those contacts to start cultivating relationships with other packs, starting with the webelo I's, the more they see of your troop and interact with you the more "like home" feeling they will have for your troop. Sure some will go elsewhere, but if the boys are exposed to activities with your troop on a regular basis at campouts, joint activities...cookouts...you name it, they will mesh into your group almost seamlessly.

(This message has been edited by ElyriaLeader)

[gwd-scouter]

Last night's meeting we had a visit from 3 Webelos Dens. Two fifth grade and one fourth grade. We have the commitment of one of the fifth grade Dens (6 Scouts) to cross over to our Troop in February. Three of the boys are receiving the AOL at the end of this month and we've been invited to their ceremony. This particular den has camped with us a couple of times already and visited before. Great boys and their leaders/parents will be a welcome asset to our Troop.

 

The other fifth grade Webelos Den came from another Pack. First time we've met them and they do plan to visit other troops before making a decision. They will be camping with us this weekend at our District Camporee.

 

The fourth grade den is from the same Pack as the first mentioned fifth grade Webelos. They came to give us a look and plan to do more with us next year when the boys are in fifth grade.

 

I have to say our guys were overwhelmed last night. Seventeen Webelos were there, four of whom are currently fourth graders. Even though overwhelmed, I was very proud of our guys and how they handled themselves and the Webelos. The sounds of fun ringing out in the evening as they played outside was marvelous. We, the adults, spent time with the leaders and parents talking about Boy Scouting and answering their questions. We received very positive feedback from them.

 

So, we have six coming in February and the possibility of seven more. Our guys are already talking about making up patrols and changes in leadership. Looking ahead to 2009!

 

 

[gwd-scouter]

Our District camporee is this weekend. Because of health reasons I don't spend the nights anymore, but I hang out during the day. Friday night our guys set up and talked about the Webelos coming Saturday morning. They decided that a couple of our older guys would hang around the campsite during the day's competitions to help greet the Webelos and parents and help them set up their tents, etc. Other guys would go on to represent our Troop in the competitions.

 

What a marvelous day it was yesterday. It rained Friday night and was cold and windy Saturday morning and some of the Webelos did not come. But in the end we hosted 12 Scouts and their leaders/parents.

 

A couple of the Webelos were working on their outdoorsman pin and wanted to help with the cooking and clean up for dinner. And so they did. They all loved the Dorito casserole our guys planned for dinner. The adults were treated to one of our favorites - sausage and rice with onions, peppers, rice, broccoli and corn. A marvelous one pot meal.

 

Our Scouts helped the Webelos practice their skits for the campfire. I had to leave before the campfire but the plan was for our OA Chapter to run it. Older son is the advisor and younger son is very active, also on the Council dance team. They and other OA members were going to dress in pageant regalia. Three would canoe across the lake, younger son in the middle holding a torch used to light the campfire. Then they would do a short dance pageant followed by skits.

 

I hope it went well. I can only imagine that those Webelos visiting us would think it very cool that one of our Scouts was the "Indian" that lit the fire.

 

The parents were very impressed with the conduct of our Boy Scouts - how they did things on their own. The most frequent question we were asked was along the lines of how in the world we got our guys to learn to do everything for themselves. They were especially impressed with the dinner the boys prepared and the clean up process after.

 

Oh yes, a marvelous weekend and a fantastic demonstration of Boy Scouting to our prospective new Scouts and families.

 

I'll be heading back out there shortly this morning to have breakfast and attend Sunday service and awards. We may not win any of the competition awards, but I couldn't be more proud of our Scouts.

 

 

[baschram645]

GWD Congratulations! Contact the Cubmaster and Den leader about having the OA ceremonies team putting on an AOL and Cross over ceremony. It has worked great here. The pack leaders still talk about this years ceremony we held and want to do the same for next years ceremony. We all ready have the date set and the team booked.

[gwd-scouter]

Last night we had a visit by yet another Webelos Den (the fourth this fall). Nine boys and their parents/leaders. Fantastic! The Den Leader called me only last week and asked if they could come. Our guys were preparing for our campout this weekend, so they broke into patrols, split up the Webelos and went off to plan menus. Our adults met with the parents and leaders of the Webelos Den to talk about our Troop. It went very very well. We talked about our boy-led Troop and tried to give them a clear understanding of the differences between Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting. They seemed to like what they heard.

 

On the drive home older son said that something happened while I was talking with the adults. I was explaining the boy-led thing and that our older Scouts train the younger Scouts when our SPL came into the back of the room with our the new PL. I had my back to them so didn't see or hear them. Older son said he couldn't hear what they were saying either, but it was obvious SPL was explaining something to the PL. The parents noticed that.

 

We had extended an invitation for them to join us for the day during our upcoming campout. I explained that while we would love for them to stay for the weekend, the cold weather may be too much for the Webelos. If they have a miserable time the boys may decide they don't want to be Boy Scouts. Ultimately, it was their choice. We are going to our Council camp and it is a fairly long drive, so most opted out of coming for the day. One father for sure is bringing his son for the whole weekend, and possibly another will be coming. They both camp with their families in the winter and say they are prepared for it.

 

The Den Leader asked if we are having any other outdoor activities that the Webelos can do in order to complete their Arrow of Light requirement and finish up requirements for the outdoorsman and forester pins. We will work with them to plan a daytime activity in January for that purpose. Yes, we've been burned on this before - planning activities and helping a Webelos Den only to have them join other troops. Have to keep on trying though.

 

I talked about how we've always been a small troop, but over the past few years we've been acting like a large troop in preparation for the time when we would attract crossover Webelos. I mentioned that we had another Webelos Den crossing over in March and how we will use the new scout patrol method for a few months. The den leader asked, so if you get those six Scouts from the other Pack and then our nine join you too, what will that do to your Troop. I said we would become the perfect size for a Boy Scout troop - it's what we've been working towards. The folks seemed to like that.

 

In the end, I figure they will (and should) visit other Troops. I believe we made a good impression and will put together the activity for them in January. It would be wonderful if some or all of these Webelos joined us. Best of all, the word is finally out about our Troop. Folks are coming to visit, some ultimately to join.