The U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with lots of pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”
Veteran’s Day is a day to remember all those who have served and who are serving our Country. Thanks to all those who served.
In a recent Ask Andy Blog that I came across talked about having a Committee Meeting and a Cub Master meeting.
OK, but what if apack committee chair wants the committee to call a vote to amend the pack’s bylaws so that Den Leaders can attend committee meetings and vote on all pack issues? Can they, as a pack committee, decide this? Does this in any way interfere with BSA policy? (Mike Czyzewicz)
This sort of “vote” is unnecessary, and its intent is not according to the way a Cub Scout pack is structured or run. Had these people paid attention when they took training this would be a non-issue.
Den Leaders have no need to attend pack committee meetings. Den Leaders attend monthly Den Leaders meetings, which are run by the pack’s Cubmaster and pertain to the pack’s yearly program and monthly themes. The Cubmaster, following these meetings, attends the pack committee meetings and informs the committee of the pack’s program initiatives for the current month and plans for upcoming months. Following this, the Cubmaster keeps the Den Leaders informed on how the committee will be supporting their efforts.
In a well-run pack, “voting” is simply not necessary in either of these monthly meetings. There’s simply nothing to “vote” on. The purpose of the pack’s committee is to support the Cubmaster and Den Leaders. It is not to “vote” on the plans they’ve made. Consequently, the idea of “allowing” Den Leaders to “attend committee meetings” is effectively adding to their burden by anticipating yet another meeting for them to go to, when they’re already busy enough! Moreover, there’s absolutely no need for “pack rules” or “pack bylaws.” BSA policies and procedures have already taken care of this. All these people need do is follow the BSA model for how packs are organized and run, all of which is described in detail at training sessions that they all should have already taken and in BSA publications.
Our pack holds only one meeting with Cub Master, Committee Chair, Treasurer, Membership Chair and all Den Leaders. Outside of the meeting, we email a lot between eachother. What do you do as a Pack, Troop, Crew or Ship?
Today, was just a day. Work and getting things done for work. I was so not paying attention to anything Scout related. Good thing my Bear Den Leader sent an email letting me know there was a Den Meeting tonight. Ugh….how in the world did I space that one out.
Elliot had Scout home work that he did not do, which really was up to me to remind him to do. So, that part was my fault. He had a ton of tough math work to do, and that took him about 2 hours to complete. I thought the Scout homework was just something you showed the DL and your done. Nope, it was a show & share type thing. I as a Den Parent SUCK!
I relish the time as a Den Parent, since I just get to sit back and DO NOTHING. I am not the Cub Master, I am not in charge of anything. I just show up and fade back into the Blackberry Farm (surfing on my iPhone). I do get to hang out with the other Den Leaders if there and chat. I watch the other boys to see how they are doing. So, I do check in.
The new Tiger Den and Den Leaders are FANTASTIC! They worked on the Nutrition and Food Pyramid, sang songs and did a skit. Both Den Leaders have their ClassA’s too!
The Webelos were doing an clay art project off in the corner.
Our new Bear Den Leader showed up in his new Class A as well tonight. Man, I so love it when people are in uniform!
Everyone was on fire tonight. Except myself, which led to Elliot not having a good time. He felt out of place and got very fidgety about being there. He did well when our guest speaker talked about being in Vietnam and doing what he had to do over there as a Helicopter Pilot. He is the Grandfather of the Den Leader. He also helped out us out as Tigers. He is an Eagle Scout from Nebraska. Very nice man. One great thing is that he taught the boys the Square Know, Boline & Half Hitch knots. Overall, Elliot did well in that reguard.
But, to me, tonight was about me not getting him prepared. This only signals of how involed I am in his scouting experince. It’s not about MY experince and what I get out of it. Going to all the Boy Scout trainings, Wood Badge, Pow-wow, Webelos Woods does not matter if he cannot do what is required.
I am beating myself up. Yes. However, Elliot and I need to sit down and work and talk about what Scouting is and what the books needs us to do.
So, as a Den Parent, I suck at this moment and time. Scouting is just like School Work. Yes, it’s fun, but doing the requirements is required.
So, today while doing chores my son asked if we could go bike riding and not at school, somewhere else. Now, I had thought that would be great. He normally does not ask for this. The one pitfall about our driveway is that it’s a 300ft decline right into the garage door. It was great when we bought the house, but now, I want a ranch on a cul-da-sac. Hence, we have to GO places to ride bikes and scooter. If I was moving I would not buy this house for that reason.
Ever since I took over being the Cub Master, I have been thinking of how to get new boys to join. It’s hard to do! Some places just naturally attract Cub Scouts. It’s all about marketing and getting the work out to the parents. Once the word is out, you have to get the interest of the boys. Boys want FUN!
So, when Elliot asked about Biking, I realized that we have not done a Bike Rodeo. A Bike Rodeo would be a perfect Pack event that could hit on several items for all. The boys can have a huge amount of fun, the whole family can join in and requirements can be met for many ranks, badges and patches.
If the Pack stages it right, we can send out flyers to the schools and get a new crop of Tigers for next year. The boys can offically join Cub Scouts in June. Which we can have a Bobcat Ceremony and get them going to Camp and set-up for a great summer activity award of events.
Now, our council has a great Fishing Derby program in the spring. I do not have a problem with it. It is set-up for the Cub Scouts to bring a friend to the Fishing Derby. It is a one-on-one recruitment. The location of the fishing hole for our district is a good 60 minutes away from our meeting place. It is set right in the middle of soccer season with games during fishing time. Most of the boys last year did not go because of that and we did not get anyone joining. The first year was ok. Several boys went, but no one joined. Some boys went the second year too. This is in no way a put-down on a great event. It gets the boys out doing something that they just might not do. It just does not fullfill the main reason of going for us. I will continue to support and advertise it to the pack, because if we do get just one boy, it worked.
My plan is to have a more locally centered event that we can control to our advantage. If we can grow the Tiger population each year, that will allow this Pack to grow and still be around. We were first chartered in 1951 and next year is our 60th Anniversary.
Here is my email to the Den Leaders & Committee today:
On Oct 31, 2010, at 11:09 AM, Adam R. Cox wrote:
Hi there:
Thinking about this for late May. This would be a great Spring Round-up for the Kindergarten Boys in May. June is the first available time that they can join the Pack. Which they can also earn their Bobcat Rank and go to Summer camp & the Summertime Activity Events.
Elliot and I are doing a few things around the house today and he asked to go bike riding somewhere else. So, after choirs we are going out.
So, being that I have Cub Scouts on the brain, I thought he could earn his Beltloop today. (I will buy it..:) )
That made me think that maybe we hold a Bike Rodeo for the Pack and the Bears can put it on in the Spring? It would get them a requirement, Beltloop & Pin. There is also a Bike Rodeo Segment.
Below are links to a Cubscout Rodeo on You Tube, Beltloop/Pin requirements and Bear Requirements.
http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Cub%20Scouts/UniformsAndAwards/sanda/bicycling.aspx
RIDE RIGHT
Do requirement (a) and three other requirements.
Know the rules for bike safety. If your town requires a bicycle license, be sure to get one.
Learn to ride a bike, if you haven’t by now. Show that you can follow a winding course for 60 feet doing sharp left and right turns, a U-turn, and an emergency stop.
Keep your bike in good shape. Identify the parts of a bike that should be checked often.
Change a tire on a bicycle.
Protect your bike from theft. Use a bicycle lock.
Ride a bike for 1 mile without rest. Be sure to obey all traffic rules.
Plan and take a family bike hike.
The Webelos I can also use this as part of their Fitness Pin
Tigers & Wolves:There are several items that can be marked off for rank and as electives.
————————————
Adam Cox
Cubmaster Pack 221 Portland, OR
I did not know that Philmont exsisted until I joined Scouting. All I hear are cool stories and what people got out of it. It’s the Disneyland of Scouting. After I went to Wood Badge, I realized that I need to go to Philmont sooner than later. I have been working on my wife to go. Her main complaint is that “Scouting is not family vacation time.” She has a point.
I had to research and find out how I can get her on board to go. Family Programs! That was the ticket. It will allow her, Elliot & Rachel to take advantage of Philmont and have a great experince. The great thing is that I will have a day off from class and be able to hike with them. The great thing is that Rachel will finish her first year in Girl Scouts and Elliot will be a Webelos I that summer. He will be able to go to Summer Camp and Philmont! Rachel will learn a lot as well. And maybe be able to ride horses!
I am hoping to take the “Strictly for Cubmaster” class or the “Tiger Cubs to Webelos” class. There are others that look interesting as well.
Are you going to Philmont? When & what class? It would be fun if we all could meet up for the same week! I will let you know what I decide. Needing to figure out Elliot’s Summer Camp before we go. That would decide a lot.
The weekend of Oct 15-17th was the Jamboree on the Air/Jamboree on the Internet (JOTA/JOTI) . In an earlier post I had talked about having our Pack participate. I had contacted several people within the Council to help pull this off. However, due to people going to the National Jamboree and their schedules I could not get that support. I looked into several other options and none really panned out. As the date got closer and closer, I realized that cramming all the things the Pack was doing it was getting less and less realistic. Mainly it was Popcorn selling time.
I will be putting this back onto the docket for next year and see about getting support again either from the Council or the local Ham Radio Club that I found that actually meets where we used to have our Pack Committee meetings.
What I also realized from this is that, I cannot drive everything. This is a holdover from my planning session for the Pack. We as a unit were not completely firing on all cylinders on this subject. With the start of the August Committee meetings, things got tighter and duties assigned to other people. We still have a long way to go, meaning getting through this year and planning 2011-2012.
There are still a few events that I want to do and so far people want to do them as well. I know now that I cannot cram everything together. It would burn out the parents just getting the boys there.
So, next year, we will have more of a shot at doing JOTA/JOTI. Maybe I can get the Webelos Woods & JOTA/JOTI thing together? We also have a Fall Harvest Festival for Cub Scouts at a resident camp the same weekend. Who knows.
The Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner sent a note the other day asking for who would be interested in help teaching at this year’s Pow-wow. I had already signed up, but still interested. I really want to go this year and then teach next year.
Through playing email tag back and forth, it came to pass that I would teach “Recognition” class. This is the class that helps Pack show appreciation to those volunteers who are parents, den leaders, committee members, grandparents or other related people within the pack.
This is right up my alley since I am huge into making sure people get the recognition they deserve.
I now have my in with Pow-wow and hopefully I can come back for years and teach many other classes.
If you have been through Wood Badge, you know that the end result is to become a better leader for the boys, your unit and others within Scouting. While surfing Scouting.org within the Den & Pack Meeting section. I happened upon the pdf file of “How Do I Rate as an Effective Leader?“ While the Scout Oath & Law, Cub Scout Promise & Law of the Pack along with Venturing Oath & Code are very worthwhile creeds that allow those within the programs to guide them, there needs to be a checklist for Scout Leaders.
Scout Leaders within each program do follow those creeds along with all the BSA Policy & Guidelines. However, we need to check in with ourselves on how we are doing. Within Wood Badge, there is a 360 review that the participant hands out to their unit or peers.
The above listed check list is very good in making sure you as an Adult Scouter are doing your job. The Leader Knots that can be earned and nominated for are also a good check list. They can be the result of being a good Adult Leader, but this one goes further.
The three of the twenty-three that really stand out to me are:
#17:I appreciate and understand the thinking of today’s young people. #20: I put the boys first #23:Where I am weak in some of these area, I resolve to do my best to correct them.
Both #17 & #20 are almost the same. As the Cub Master, I need to keep topics, games and themes interesting for Webelos II to Tigers. That is a hard task. As the Tiger Den Leader it was easy to keep their focus on one thing since it was just them. With ages from 6 to 11 it’s a bit harder.
My weakness are several items. First is, I EMAIL A LOT! I also can get hyper-focused on an issue/topic or hobby and loose focus on it and other items. The email habit is one that I struggle a lot with. If you ask any of the Den Leaders or Pack Committee they will agree 10000000%. The great thing is that since our Pack Committee and Den Leaders are up to speed and doing what they need to and not having me do it all, emails have slowed way down. I now just let them do what they want to do with very little input.
Hyper-focus: Been this way my entire life. I suspect it’s my ADD/ADHD or whatever label you want to put on it. I think totally different from others and I can loose interest in things pretty fast. However, with Scouting I keep getting more training and learning a lot more about it. Because of this and Wood Badge, I have found how to keep learning on my original Wood Badge Ticket.
Take a look at the PDF and see how you are doing. Are you effective?
Tonight was a great night. It started off a bit shaky and I was nervous. I always get nervous about how things go before a Pack Meeting. Must be the pre-show jitters. Guess if I do not get them I should be worried.
We have plans laid out a month before and they get edited by the Pack Committee as needed. No problem there. I am glad for it. Keeps me on my toes and not winging it day of.
I get onsite, start setting up and the boys have all the bouncy balls out of the closet and throwing them everywhere. We are supposed to have a game as the gathering activity, but it’s not happening soon enough. Hence, my nervousness.
During this time several things happened. Since I am the Cub Master everyone basically gravitates to me for questions. Tonight I had a new family join the Pack, their son is a Wolf! Just what we needed too! I started right off by welcoming him and speaking directly to the new Wolf Cub. Good thing that I brought the Class B shirts since I gave him one right there so he would fit in. Second item was I got to met another new Webelos Scout and his parents. We had been talking via email. Finally, one of my new Co- Tiger Den Leaders showed up and IN UNIFORM! Knots and ALL! He had a new knot that I had not seen too. It was the Heroism Knot. Very cool. He jumped right in and was helping out, working with the boys.
To calm the boys down and start to get their attention, one would think that the fingers would go up and maybe a shout or two. I have even seen people clap to get attention. Nope, I have resigned myself to play the Native American Flute. It is a calming soothing tone that helps people relax. Slowly the boys got into the circle and realized we were starting.
The pack meeting went on as normal with a few annoucements, activity/game and awards. The program that I had setup was for the Fire Station & Engine 18 to come give a safety talk. Which, right on time they showed up. They were very nice and gave their normal safety talk. They even handed out Smoke Alarms to all the parents! They were also able to help hand out the Bobcat Rank Badges to the boys along with Segements and the Mother/Dad Pins.
The great thing about this pack meeting is that I began to realize that the Pack is now complete. There is a Den Leader for each den and sometimes two. I no longer have to worry about finding Den Leaders. Dads and Moms have stepped up. I realize that parents really do care about their kids and will step outside the box of their normal everyday life and have fun. I realized again, that I can have fun and do something that I would not be able to do in my normal life. I can play the Native American Flute. I can relax now…..for a moment. I can just be a Cub Master. Which now means, I can work on making the Pack Meeting a whole more fun.
Each meeting is completely different and I learn a lot from it. On to November….Need to figure something fun to do…..SKITS! HHMMM…
This past week has been busy with real work, not Scouting. The only Scout related item that I did was to play my Native American Flute at a Wolf Den of my friends Pack. Different district too!
However, today the Boy Scouts “Be Prepared” motto worked.
This past week my Mother-in-Law fell and broke her hip and led to other medical issues that basically has her in the hospital for a long time. So, my wife has been there everyday. The rest of us have been doing what we can to make life easier. That’s not the fail part.
I took off today from work do clean the house and run errands. I needed a haircut and made an appointment that I started the failure. The kids take the bus home each day if not in aftercare. We have told my Son to make sure that his sister is on the bus after one incident of not being on the bus.
Today, I was off doing my errands, the wife at the hospital and the kids on the bus coming home. HOME where WE WERE NOT AT!
Upon realizing that the parents were not home, Elliot realized that it was not safe for them to be there. So, he gathered up his sister, gave her the Light Saber and he the Ninja Sword and took off to his friend Sam’s house. The swords were protection from the Wolves that have been in our neighborhood.
Sam’s Mom called my wife, wife called me and I realized the massive error! I am such a bad Dad. I knew that they were safe, but there was the moment knowing that no one knew where they were. I grew up as a latch-key kid, but that was the 70s & 80′s.
I got to Sam’s house and got them safely home. Sam’s mom told me the story about how they walked up with the swords. I was amazed. I asked both kids why they did what they did.
Elliot replied “It’s what Boy Scouts do. No one was home and I had to do something. Right? So, I got the swords because of the wolves and went to Sam’s house.”
Not only was he concerned about his and Rachel’s safety at the house, but also knew about the Wolves. I was also very proud of Rachel since she listened to her brother.
My wife and I never really talked about going to Sam’s house or what to do if we were not home. We talk about Youth Protection related items, but not this. Apparently something within Cub Scouts sunk into him and he used it when an emergency presented itself. Not bad…..I guess he does listen.
Just one of those moments when you realize that your kids know to do something right when something isn’t right.
1st Lt Leslie C. Cox USMC.
