Cub Scouts
Informal Minutes of June 2015 Committee Meeting
I was not appointed as the Committee’s secretary, so I did not take notes with an eye to that thoroughness. Nor was I a participant in each break-out session. With those warnings, I will highlight some of the discussions from the Committee Meeting.
Steve James, the District Chair, opened the meeting and emphasized that District needs to be focused on membership recruiting for August 27, 2015. He said, “We are in All-Hands-On-Deck mode. We need all Packs, Troops, and Crews to be part of the process.” Steve introduced our new District Executive Cornellius “Con” Sullivan. Con rapidly covered the points about our Council-wide Back to School Night that Darin Stendl, Con’s supervisor, had covered at the May Roundtable. Jump to the link for a detailed report. The most important part of the presentation for this report is that the marketing campaign’s call to action for the general public is “Sign up at your local elementary school.” This means that we need personnel at all of our District’s elementary schools.
During his presentation, Con emphasized that we have nearly 43 elementary schools to cover at sign-up night, while we only have 35 chartered units and 18 Cub Scout Packs. There is no way that the Packs can man all of the elementary schools. Con also underlined that there is a Recruiting Rally at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis on the evening of July 16, 2015. (Literature about the campaign is available on the Council website, too.)
In Darin’s earlier presentation he had emphasized that the call to action does not emphasize Cub Scouts. It is a general call to join Scouting. This means that Troops and Crews could receive new members, too.
Con reported that North Star District’s Cub Packs are encouraged to participate in a District-wide Pack Overnight Campout on October 17-18, 2015 (I will need to review my notes to double check dates) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Other weekends and campsites are available if Packs have fewer conflicts, but IMS is being pushed for North Star. IMS is close to home and exciting. Race cars and another race themed aspects will be emphasized through the weekend.
After Con’s presentation, there was a general open discussion of some of the logistics. One issue brought up is that customarily Packs collect the initial dues from new families on sign up night. Council then asks for a check from the Pack to Council to cover the new recruits’ BSA dues. This lead to some surprise and frustration. In addition, there was confusion about how much BSA dues the Pack should collect the first night to be considered a completely “registered scout.” Con did not have the answer at that time. These topics would be addressed in more depth later. For the duration of the meeting, the Committee agreed to take the issue under advisement and focus on the immediate mission of recruiting. At the meeting Con promised to clarify a few of these issues as quickly as possible.
This morning, he emailed me some clarifications. Read the rest of this entry »
Cub Pack Committee
One of the first signs of trouble in the health of a Cub Scout Pack is that Cubmaster is heavily involved with the parents.
The Cubmaster, like his Scoutmaster equivalent, has the primary responsibility for taking care of the boys and coordinating the efforts of the Assistant Cubmasters and Den Leaders. He is the head of the Operations Department of a Cub Scout Pack.
So who takes care of the parents? The Pack Committee Chair. He or she is crucial to allowing the Cubmaster to provide a good program to keep the boys interested. If the Cubmaster is handling most of the phone calls and emails from the parents, the Cubmaster is going to waste his volunteer time that should be spent on the boys.
Successful Packs Will Be Affected by Council’s Marketing
As has been explained in an earlier post, this year’s marketing for fall recruitment will be very different than the past. These changes will affect all packs, regardless of what their past recruiting history has been.
North Star district has been blessed with many Cub Scout packs that have done a very good job of recruiting new Cub Scouts for years. They have been self-reliant. They have grown. They have followed these practices with the blessing of Council and District for years. 
Unfortunately, scouting at all levels has suffered severe losses in the number of Cub Scouts participating. As Council Executive Vice President for District Operations Stroh Bronn explained at our District Committee Workshop on June 11, 2015, National, Council, and District have seen significant losses in just the last 3 to 4 years.
In response to these losses, Council has adopted several best practices used in other councils. One of those has been to return to a 25-year-old practice and recruiting. It is to have all Cub Scout packs have a sign-up night on one unified night. This year August 27, 2015 from 7 PM to 8:30 PM has been selected. New Cubs will receive model rockets and district will hold a launch day on September 12, 2015. Your pack needs to know how the rockets fit into recruitment and how to get the rockets.
This means all Packs need to be part of one coordinated effort, regardless of past practices and successes.
This plan needs a lot of manpower, so we need troops and crews to invest effort, too.
For this plan to work, all Packs, Troops, and Crews need to send representatives to the District Committee Meeting Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 7:00 pm in St Luke’s United Methodist Church, Room W-125 (enter through Entry #4).
July Roundtable Postponed a Week for Holiday
Please note that July’s Roundtable will be on July 9th at the same time and place, not the usual date.
We will hold a general session for all attendees at 6:30 pm. At the close of general session, Cub and Scout Roundtables will be held.
Training for Chartered Organization Representatives and Representatives-Elect will be held at the same time. (RSVP’s requested for training.) This training is mandatory for a COR to be “Trained.” Our goal in North Star is 100% Trained-COR’s by the completion of this year’s Rechartering Process.
Recruiting Boys by Camping
One of my regular refrains about recruiting is borrowed. “Get ’em in a tent, and you got ’em.” Boys of all ages want to camp.
When I was a Cubmaster, the most common questions the Cubs asked me was “When is the next campout?!” This was not really a question, so much as a barely contained exclamation on bouncing toes. They were fairly ready to explode. When the answer was anything other than “tomorrow” they nearly burst like a balloon, looking completely deflated.
The same excitement exists at 11 years old. By the time they get to 15 or 16, they still love tents and campfires. Now the emphasis is less on being outside where they can run and now about time spent together around the campfire. Stories, gossip, favored games, personal challenges, and complaints of the day become a greater bonding experience.
Knowing that boys want to camp at all ages, even if the reasons for enjoyment change, what can we do to improve our recruitment?
Happy Flag Day
Today is to honor the birth of our flag, as the birthday of its adoption on June 14, 1777. Betsy Ross gets a lot of credit, which may be undeserved. Declaration signer Francis Hopkins should receive more credit. Even so, the more important is that we consider what the flag represents and what military personnel have sacrificed to keep the flag moving forward.
Today we consider flags merely a symbol of the country.
Until the 20th century, they were so much more.
On battlefields for millennia, flags and standards were forms of communication. A general would communicate his location with his personal flag. This allowed runners to know where to find the general to deliver reports and obtain orders.
2015 Cub Scout Recruiting Rally
Image Posted on Updated on
Adventure is Waiting… Launch into Scouting!
Join us at the Council Recruiting Rally at Victory Field
Our council will be conducting a “Picnic in the Park” –Recruiting Rally at Victory Field on Thursday, July 16th. This will be a great opportunity for Scout leaders to get ready for the council-wide Sign Up night on August 27th.
There will be food, prizes and lots of excitement and information sharing. Scout leaders will also be able to:
• Pick up posters, yard signs & all of the other materials needed for the sign up meeting
• Learn about the new online registration for youth membership
• Meet with your district membership team and district executive
• Get details about the rocket launch events and family camping weekends
Cub Scout Recruiting Resources Online
The BSA built a new website in the past year called ScoutingWire. Its primary purpose is to serve as a central clearinghouse for news from the BSA.
One example of these resources that are timely to Scouters’ needs is a page on Cub Scout Recruiting. ScoutingWire has a subpage called “Marketing Hub” where this information can be reviewed in more detail. There is one section for Councils and Districts. There is another section for Packs and Dens.
Bryan on Scouting says, “Our overall goal: Let’s not let one boy miss the chance to be a Cub Scout.” This is just a small example of what ScoutingWire has to offer. Take a look!
Jeff Heck
Saturday’s “Ideal Year of Scouting”
Saturday is the annual training for “Ideal Year of Scouting.” Assistant Director of Field Services Darin Stendl reported at Roundtable last night that this is designed as an “open house.” This means that you can show up at the time that is convenient for you. There will be training sessions all morning and vendor booths available. These vendors will be happy to discuss what opportunities they have your youth.
The event takes place at Golden Burke Scout Service Center from 9 AM to 1 PM this Saturday.
This program is ideal for unit leaders, committee members, and the Patrol Leaders’ Council. Every unit should send a representative!
For more information, see the Crossroads of America Council website.
June Roundtable Agenda
Our June Roundtable will be held, as always, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N Meridian St, 4th Floor, Indianapolis. RSVPs are welcome, but not required.
We plan on introducing our new District Executive Con Sullivan. He will be asked to give a few remarks.
The opening general session will be “Maximizing Council Resources for Your Unit” by District Commissioner Jeff Heck.
We will then break into Cub Roundtables and Scout Roundtables.
Sharla Merrick our Cub Roundtable Commissioner will host a conversation on Cub Recruitment, with a special emphasis on what will be happening in July, August, and September this year.
Jeff Heck will host a conversation about planning high adventure and using fellow district members as resources. We will discuss BSA bases and non-BSA trip ideas, planning cycles, and problems to watch out for.
Please be sure to invite any and all adults from your units. It is very important to get as many membership coordinators from all of our units to participate in Sharla’s discussion. Cub Recruiting this year is going to require Boy Scout Troops’ help, so please have your membership coordinator attend.
– Jeff Heck
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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