Quail Forever!

March 19th & 20th were the beadings of Ken and Andy. They are my Peeps of the Bobwhite Patrol of the Woodbadge Course W1-492-11 in Cascade Pacific Council.  I am very proud of these Bobwhites for many different reasons.  There are a total of 6 Bobwhites within the Patrol.  Russ is slated for June and Barry is slated for April Beading Ceremonies.  The other two Bobwhites are close behind.

Every participant has their own story to write.  I am proud that I got to follow their story.  One great thing is with all the beadings that I get to go to, is to see how other Scout Units hold Arrow of Light and Court of Honor ceremony.  It’s the reflection of how each unit honors their Scouts and Leaders.  Scouting is very fun.  I look forward to having the whole Covey beaded!

Quail Forever!

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Final Pack Meeting of 2010-2011

 

Another year has come to an end…..within the world of Cub scouts.  Now, it’s Summertime Pack Award events! Woot Woot!
Monday was our final Pack meeting and our first Summertime Pack Event.  Yes, I held one right after another.   It’s how I did it last year, and I suspect it will be again next year.  I figure if the boys get hooked right away and end the year right, they could show up for one during the summer.
Our Pack meeting was generally brief and too the point.  Finish up with all the awards that have not been handed out, congratulate the parent volunteers and then stun a Den Leader with a District Award…;)
Crossovers and other special occasions, I bring out the Cub Master Hat.  This was one special occasion.  I needed to signify that as a Pack, we have ended a wonderful year.  Learned and did a lot more.  My two goals were simple.  Provide fun and do more cermony’s.  Next year will be more of the same, but different.

I had found “the Legend of Eagle Mountain” a while back.  I knew that I wanted to use it in the crossover.  I also needed to make a special note to the incoming Webelos II.  I found a nice section of an Arrow of Light crossover and edited it.

To the Webelos II. You’ve come to the final fork in the Cub Scout trail. Your choices are to veer off the path or continue up the trail to the next summit in Boy Scouts.  The Arrow of Light is a significant achievement on the path to becoming an Eagle Scout. It is recognized as such by the Boy Scouts of America. When you become a Boy Scout, you continue to wear the Arrow of Light on your uniform – it is the only honor from Cub Scouts that is recognized by the Boy Scout troop you join.  You are now the Senior Members of Pack 221. Please lead our other Scouts across this bridge and help them crossover to their new ranks with handing out their new books and help change their Scarves.

I needed to make sure that they knew they were special and that they are now role models.

Bike Rodeo:
Man, this was alot of fun.  Troop 221 came and helped us out.  If you would have seen the email’s back and forth between myself and the Scoutmaster, it was funny.  It rained last night and this morning. Think Forrest Gump “Big Rain, Little Rain, Sideways Rain”, plus add in the fact that the playground blacktop was worked on on Sunday to get prepped for paving leaving large cracks and some potholes.  We never thought it would be BLUE SKY with a Full Moon rising (wait, is that a song?).  It was perfect.  Guess it helps that the Scoutmaster is a Weatherman! (Gotta keep him on speed dial!)
The great thing is that many of the Boys and the Scoutmaster came from Pack 221 and they did a Bike Rodeo years a go.  So, I really didn’t have much to worry about.
I did hear that the energy of the Cub Scouts did overwhelm the Troop a bit.  Well, that’s what YOU were like a few years ago…;)
I had not done a Bike Rodeo ever.  I wanted one and Troop 221 delivered.  It’s all about Fun and the Scouts helped the Scouts do that.

Today was another good day to be a Scout.

Oh, and if you happen to have a Tiger Den Leader who tells you that he’s a “Circus Freak” and a member of a Unicycle Club and owns 6 unicycles…this is what happens to you.  He told me, you need a helmet. Gotta set an example!  Oh ok…. (Can’t wait to see what Colorado Cub Master can do to TOP THIS!)

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Advancement 101 #100daysofscouting

Here is one area of Scouting that can really tweak people.  Advancement.   I am not going to get into the parents who say that Bobby Bear or Waldo Webelos has completed this or that and you know that they have not.  If there is a discussion, then they/boy will have to prove it.  A simple talk between myself and the boy will suffice.  A Scout is Honest and a Cubscout will do his best. If the Parents are caught up in it, well they can as Scoutmaster Shawn says “Go Pound Sand.”

What I am after in this post is my philosophy as guided by all BSA Rules, Policy and Regulations.  (As I know it. If I am wrong, please by all means let me know.  I am open to learn.  Which, I did when I posted about the Video Game Beltloop.)

To me, if the Scout does his best and completes the work needed to achive a beltloop, pin, award, patch and rank, then they earn it.  It’s hard to track these things.  We rely upon the Books for the most part.  However there are many other ways to do so.  In my case, I rely upon Den Leaders to keep correct and accurate (as possible) records.  Case in point our Pack uses Packmaster.  One Den Leader uses an Excel spreadsheet, because that is the way he likes to do it.  In the past I have used similar spreadsheet systems.  There are also many iPad/iPod based systems as well.  But, they are generally one scout based and also do not have all the awards that I like to have.
So, why is this so important.  It is the respondsibility of the Adults in the Cubscout Program to keep records.  The boys can’t even find their homework, socks or even sometimes forget their sister on the School Bus…(yes, it’s true.)

That being the case, it was one of my Wood Badge ticket items to help create a process of record keeping.  Hence, I had the Pack buy and I rolled out Packmaster.  Hence, I am somewhat of a Packmaster Nerd for our Pack….ok, Den.  Tonight (Sunday) I was going through what Elliot had done in the past several months updating what I knew he had done for work within the Pack and Den.  I was also updating all the info about what the boys who attended the Pioneer District Cuboree this last weekend.

Now, I had thought when I wrote the last blog post and even talking to the Adults and sending an update that I had gotten it all.  Nope.  I only focused on the Bears, since I told the Den Leaders that I would be the Packmaster master for them.  All they had to do is update me as to what the boys have done in the den.   Now, as I plodded through Elliot’s record, I realized several things.

Under the electives:
All boys did Sales part A.  Participate in a fundraising program within the Council and keep reords. DONE

20: Sports: AL Archery. Bingo! (Do that every Summercamp and just did again at Cub-o-ree.) DONE

24: American Indian Life: In school Elliot’s class is studying NA History and they are making a blanket based upon a local tribe.  In talking to his teacher (who is very cool) I got to know more about what he is doing.  I even told her that I play the Native American Flute.  Guess, whose coming to class?  BINGO. DONE A,B,C (Two other boys are in his class)

25: Let’s Go Camping: We basically did this as a Den/Pack and by himself.  A, C,D,E,G.  Still need Leave No Trace.   Two boys did the Scout’s Own. One at Summercamp and Elliot at Cuboree. BAM!

Now, I am tad hazy on other electives or things he has done, so I emailed the Den Leaders asking for updates.  (I keep all my email, and I think that I got it all.) Now, with Packmaster you can send out a record to each parent.  I did this asking them to update me for additions/deletions and errors.  Never know what the family has done and not told us.

My overall point in Advancement is….it happens all around us.  Advancement does not happen during a Den/Pack Meeting or Outing or Summer Camp or Cuborees.  It happens in the home, on vacation, in the school or where ever.  It’s up to us as Akela’s and Parents to figure out if it counts.  Ask your Den Leader, Cubmaster or any Scouting person and they hopefully will be able to help you out.  If not, start googling for Scout sites.  The more research you do, the more cool Scout items you will find that you and your son can work on together.

FYI: Here is what Elliot_Record looks like as it stands today.  The only dumb thing is that I cannot get Packmaster to register via PDF that he has 1 Gold and 7 Silver Arrow Points.  Ugh…

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Woodbadge Beading 3/29/10

I finally completed my ticket on March 12th with the Pack Meeting’s award ceremony section where the boys earned their Leave No Trace patch.  It was the last item on my ticket. (See link for full five items on my ticket)

While my Woodbadge experince in of itself was incredible and I learned so much while at camp, I learned much more afterwards.  The goal of Woodbadge is to give tools and knowledge to the participants so they can create the best possible program and experince for all.

I had been looking forward to the beading ceremony for along time, even before I left Woodbadge.  However, I knew that I needed to go through and complete all my items.   Some were very easy to do.  Others took the cubscouts and den leaders to complete tasks so I could mark a completion.

Through this process, I caught myself several times only wanting to get the cubscouts through the ticket item so I could get my scarf.  Was that what I was after?  No.  My underlying goal was to create fun for them.  I also realized that if had fun, they did too.  “The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.” & “The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.” are two quotes from Baden-Powell.  Upon reflecting upon these two quotes over the past several months, I realize that I would accomplish both BP and my goals.  Then everyone would benefit.


I am doing it for the boys.  I am doing for Elliot so he can gain understanding and knowledge.  Elliot has now gone farther than I have in Scouts at his age.

Every person needs a mentor at any stage in life.  This is mine within the Scouting world.  Randy was a Cub Master for seven years.  It is just amazing to what you can learn by just listening to others.  I have changed many things on how I run pack meetings, what I want to do for the program and how I think the pack should run.

I did not know Kent before Woodbadge.  However, I know now that he along with the other Beaver Patrol members will always have a bond.

I was asked during the beading if I had any words I wanted to say about what Woodbadge ment to me personally.   While not verbatim, I stated that my scouting experince stopped in 1976 at the Wolf rank.  I resumed when Elliot started as a Tiger in 2008.  I realized that I needed to make a difference within his life and stepped up to the plate for both Tiger Den Leader and also Cub Master.  I did the latter since our pack was going into transition because the old Cub Master would be moving onto a Troop this year with his son.  I did it so the Pack could grow.  Because of this step I am helping the pack grow and get into what it needs to be to make the boys experince the best possible.  I also did it because of several people within my life.  One of them is Dewey Hansen and for those who he helped change their lives for just being there.

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