AnnLaurelB Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Hi; my name is Laurel, and I'm just finishing up my first year as Cubmaster of my son's Pack. I was his Tiger leader last year simply because no other 1st graders signed up when we did. Then about 3/4 of the way through our Tiger year, the then-Cubmaster had to ...step down. The Committee asked me if I'd fill in, and I've been doing it ever since. I said that I'd do it as long as I'm having fun, and so far, I am! I find myself peppering a distant friend about Cub Scout stuff (she was her son's Den leader from Tiger through Webs and he just bridged in Feb). I'm happy to find a forum for discussion about Scout leader stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwntheNight Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Welcome to the virtual camp fire! Grab a chair, bring your coffee and pepper away! Glad to hear you stepped up as CM, I just took over as CM for our pack and am loving every minute of it! This forum has a lot of insight and I'm glad I found it. It has made things easier, knowing that somebody out there has probably seen the same things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnLaurelB Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 Thanks! We've had a pretty fun year; I'm really enjoying the Cubmaster role. I tell the parents that I'm the Tour Guide/Ring Master/Cruise Director. :0) We're really in a bind right now with our Committee; I joined specifically to post about it and see if anyone has any suggestions! I'll put that up separately... Thanks again for the welcome. I look forward to throwing a few logs on the fire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattlePioneer Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Hello Laurel, Do you have plans for a pack recruiting night this spring? Are you satisfied with your pack plans for spring and summer activities? Are your den leaders, committee chair and pack committee doing their jobs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pchadbo Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Welcome to the campfire. If you are looking for help you might want to be aware that we have some interesting personalities here that are always willing to put in thier $0.02. For more information look here: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=300728 other than that grab a cuppa pull up a chair and enjoy the virtual campfire where the bugs ain't and the Scouts are all above average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnLaurelB Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 @ Pchadbo-- It's been too long a day to look up "interesting personalities" right now, but maybe tomorrow with a strong cup of coffee on hand...I'll take a look at that. :0) @ SeattleP-- Good questions. 1) Our Scout Exec is working on getting me a date for a recruiting night; the elementary principal (new gal) is a very odd duck. But yes, it's in the works! A recruiting night, after all, is how my son and I came to Cub Scouting to begin with! 2) Our Committee is rather (read: exceedingly) hands-OFF; I have planned EVERY activity since taking over as CM. We have had an AWESOME year, iidssm, DESPITE my having to pull Committee teeth. Our spring calendar is chock-full, and ALL Scouts will be earning rank (except for the one kid who JUST joined). I have also submitted a summer activity calendar (no Den or Pack meetings per se, but an outing about every 2 weeks). 3) We have never, EVER been fully staffed. I'm the Cubmaster, but also the Wolf leader (my son's Den). Every parent "just can't commit" to more than showing up. They DO show up and help, but they WON'T register. I am doing fine with planning 3 Wolf meetings and 1 Pack meeting a month. But I wish my son had a separate Den leader. The Bears have no leader; the two parents (both of whom refuse to "be" the leader) are limping their boys through the Bear book. The Webelos are doing fine, and actually have a leader who doesn't wear another hat. Our Committee Chair has left; she's the Children's minister and is retiring. The men on the Committee only let their names be put on there to get the Charter. They're really not interested in doing any actual legwork. None of them have Scouts in the program. As I said, I'm in a bind. It's about a one-woman show right now, and we're having a lot of fun, but if we grow (and I hope we do!) I don't know how much longer I can keep it up. I'd like to JUST be the Cubmaster or JUST the Wolf (soon Bear) leader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattlePioneer Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Hello Ann Laurel, Sounds like you have a Pack Of Artful Dodgers! Unfortunately, they are probably highly skilled at that art by this time. Your real hope is among the new parents you recruit this spring. New parents usually have the greatest enthusiasm for the program they have chosen to join, they expect that their help will be needed (because you TELL them that), and they haven't developed the artful dodging skills of your current parents. Just as an example, I had a Bear Cub join a couple of weeks ago. He attended our parent meeting at the end of the month because I asked him to. We needed a parent to be our daycamp co-ordinator and help with registration and such, which involves getting the required number of adult volunteers to assist with the program. He agreed to take on that job when he was ask to do so by our ScoutParent Co-Ordinator and myself as Cubmaster. He attended our planning meeting for the daycamp tonight and will be taking an oar in planning our "Scouts At Sea" themed day camp. He will be at our Daycamp Kickoff at Roundtable next week for pack Daycamp Coordinators. And he'll be helping to promote and organize our day camp signup at out pack meeting April 18th. He hasn't attended day camp, so I'm arranging for some Order of the Arrow Boy Scouts to come to our pack meeting to help promote this activity. This isn't really unusual if you ask people new to your program to help with something within the first couple of weeks after they join. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnLaurelB Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 Oh, they're artful, alright! :0) They're a nice bunch of folks, just really busy, and as you say, really good at getting out of "Hey, could you _____?" I do have high hopes for a recruiting night, soon! I'm going to be honest and say, "Cub Scouting is a FAMILY activity! We WILL need your input!" Someone said BSA does not stand for BabySitters of America. I don't think I have many parents like THAT (but a couple), but they simply don't want to be RESPONSIBLE for stuff. They'll show up--just say when and where. And they'll stay. And help clean up. But they don't want their NAME on a roster. I am going to have to change my tactics. :0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now