Pack 212 in Louisville, KY which is chartered by megachurch Southeast Christian. They also charter AHG and Boy Scouts. I am not sure of their membership numbers. To give you an idea of their size, last year they sold $64,000 in popcorn. The 2nd highest sales were at $25,000. Unfortunately, they announced the church will not renew their charter in Dec 2013. My friend told me the church elders had voted to close the program years ago and they are just now getting around to it. I heard a rumor last week the church may shut the BSA programs down sooner based on the vote in May.

Not too sure on how they account for their success other than the church's membership is around 30,000. I guess it doesn't matter too much on their management style since they will cease to exist at the end of the year........

SP, if you want more details on their unit, please PM me and I will contact my girlfriend. She has two scout sons (Cub and BS) and an AHG daughter at Southeast.

I have always thought about doing this, but I have been too scared to try it! Currently, we place the activities/volunteer descriptions for the year on several pages and go around the room and solicit volunteers. Unfortunately, I had two parents fail to follow through with their project and as usual, I picked up the slack. I know......I know......I am enabling them, but I don't want the kiddos to suffer because of slacking parents.

We just discussed these issues last night at our Pack Parents Meeting.

Question: Of the 60-80 boys, what percentage are advancing to the next rank each year? Is it 100%? Do you keep boys on the Charter that should be dropped? The reason I am asking is perhaps the attendance is low at Den and Pack meetings is because the boys are no longer active scouts. Do the Den Leaders reach out and call the parents and find out why the scout did not attend the meeting?

That being said, we have good Den and Pack meeting attendance, but we have poor event attendance. Our Pinewood Derby, Raingutter Regatta and Blue and Gold events are the monthly Pack meeting. We will have awards and announcements and then the main event. I know the scouts should receive immediate recognition, but our Pack awards the belt loops, Webelos Activity Pins and other bling at our Pack meetings. Miss a Pack meeting, miss the bling. And, most times, we try to award them with some flair. The scouts and parents know if they miss the meeting, the scout will have to wait until the next Den or Pack meeting to get their awards.

Our Pack meetings are fun. As a Wood Badge ticket item, I have visited other local Pack meetings to see how we can improve our meetings. We are doing a good job. We get the boys up and moving around--Ultimate Frisbee, Halloween obstacle course in the gym, stand up and sing silly songs and laugh at me, etc. We also keep thing moving. In between den awards, we will run a skit or a stunt or run on. They don't know what's coming next. The other Pack meetings I attended the adults got up to the podium and talked and the boys had to sit still and behave. Boring!

As far as our other events, our attendance is low, perhaps around 30%. This includes our COR service conservation project, senior home visit, campouts, indoor trampoline jump, summer pool party, hike with the CM, etc. Last night, we discussed combining the Journey to Excellence event categories (fitness, outdoor, service) in order to decrease the number of events on the calendar. For instance, instead of our December Holiday Party Pack meeting at the school with a potluck and dance performance troop, we discussed visiting a senior home. There we would entertain the seniors and perform den skits, pass out scout awards, sing carols, etc. Or, go to the local food pantry and help fill food boxes. In other words, combine a monthly Pack meeting with a service project.

As far as our campouts go, the best campout is our January lodge event. We have about 50% attendance. This is partly due to the fact it is less than 5 minutes from our homes and we sleep inside a large bunk house. We thought maybe the parents don't camp due to lack of equipment, but we have offered up tents, sleeping pads, cots, etc. and we haven't had any takers. We also had a family ask for a Friday/Saturday campout in order to be at home on Sabbath Sunday. They didn't attend the Friday night or the weekend campout. I think you are either a camper or not. So, instead of scheduling 3 campouts a year, perhaps we should schedule 2--one in September and the other in January.

Unfortunately, we are competing with sports and other activities. So, our Den Leaders have been flexible with meeting nights. One of our dens met on Fridays during football season to help increase attendance. Our Webelos den met on Sunday afternoons, which works well with outdoor daytime activities--hiking, washing a car, patrol style cooking and meal planning, etc.

We have lots of varied activities, so I don't know what the answer is to the event attendance issue.

Obviously, you need to start finding your replacement now. We had to ask our current Cubmaster at least 6 times to take on the position. I finally told him, there wasn't a better parent for the job. He finally got it and took the training and accepted the position. Both the CM and I told the parents last night, we have one more year in our term. We have started the process of finding our replacements as well as other chairs. Are the Pack parents aware you need volunteers? Are the Den parents aware their leader has stepped down? This is why I feel it is important to have Parent Meetings and not Leader Meetings. I told our parents in September, you are a Pack leader whether you wear a tan shirt or not. This is a group effort.

Sarah,

What happened at your leader meeting last night?

As Seattle Pioneer has suggested in another post, your Pack should change the Leader Meetings to Parent Meetings. All the parents are members of the committee and they should be encouraged to attend and provide input and volunteer to help out--especially if you are down to 15 scouts. I assume the CC/CM is running all the events?? At this point, all of your parents need to take on a role within the Pack: Camping Chair, Blue and Gold Chair, Competition Chair (Pinewood, Raingutter Regatta, etc.), Service Projects Chair, Fall Recruitment Chair, Fundraising Chair, etc. Who is in charge of these activities?

Your CC/CM is burned out and done. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to transition his position or to ask for help. It is going to be the responsibility of the remaining parents to pick up the reigns. Rather than make suggestions on how to do things, you should tell him exactly what you are going do and then do it. He doesn't need suggestions, he needs volunteers.

Otherwise, you will lose members and you will need to move to another Pack.

I agree. The bridge should be reserved for those scouts crossing into Boy Scouts. It is a big deal and it signifies the transition into more adventure and responsibility.

Our Pack leaders and AOL parents have this discussion every year as to whether or not they all cross or only those that are committed to Boy Scouts. We had one mom go so far as to talk to the SM about purchasing the troop necker, numerals and epaulettes so her son could cross the bridge and not be singled out. Wise SM told her not to worry about it. When her son finishes up his spring sports and joins the troop mid-summer, the troop will give him a special joining ceremony.

A group of us stopped by Starbucks on the way to University of Scouting. Yep. We depleted the card in no time!

Make it personal and useful.

I love coffee, but I hardly ever go to Starbucks. Too expensive. The committee got me a $15 Starbucks gift card and I was elated with the prospect of extravagance.

On the other hand, I have no idea where I put my district award plaque........

As CC, when forming Tiger dens and/or splitting dens in the fall just after recruitment, I place the scouts according to geography (adjacent neighborhoods), the scout parent's preferences to stay with a friend and the Den Leaders' suggestions. (I am sure I spend more time on it than I should.) I then email the tentative den roster to the scout parents/Den Leaders and ask for suggestions. After a couple of more requests for changes, we settle on the final roster. Somehow it seems to work out smoothly each year, but I see where it could get tricky.

Agree with SP.

The professional scouters state our Council has lots of camperships that go unused each year. So, you should ask your Council as SP suggests.

Campmaster is also likely not aware of the financial position of troop.

My scout son's troop does make parents aware of Council camperships and the troop's scout assistance fund. (Although, the troop's scout assistance fund is generally used for scout outings, insignia, activity t-shirt, etc.) Our SM/CC will take the anonymous parent's request for assistance to the Troop Committee for a decision on whether or not to use troop funds to help the scout. Good luck!