SCOUTING SMOKE SIGNALS

Recently Cub Scout Den Leader Tara Yarian called me and made an appointment to bring her Cub Pack to the office to learn about journalism. So on Monday night, November 11, 2002, Cub Scout Pack 3313, from Weiser Park Elementary School met with me at THE WAYNEDALE NEWS office. Here I gave a presentation on journalism and how our paper was put together and what it takes to bring the area news to our readers. Cubmaster Kevin Shadle informed me that he had 38 registered boys in four dens. He said that they meet every Monday night at 6:30pm at St. Luke Lutheran Church if any of our readers would be interested in having their boys join.

After the presentation I asked for questions from the group. The boys were a little reluctant at first but once the ice was broken there were quite a few questions to be answered. I offered to answer or find the answer to any questions any of them had. This group was a little different from some that have been in to learn about newspapering; not one of them asked me how old I am. They were a kind group so I treated them with bags of candy donated by Chester Gwozdz, from American Legion Post #241. It’s to be handed out during Scouting activities courtesy of the post. NEW CUBMASTER/LEADER CUB SCOUT PACK 3044

Portage Creek Camp Association wishes to welcome recently re-chartered Cub Pack 3044 Cubmaster Randy Brooks and Den Leader DeWayne Powell. As soon as everything is completely organized and up and running we’ll publish a complete list of the leaders as well as the names of the Cub Scouts themselves. Anyone with children between the ages of 7 and 10 that wish to join Cub Pack 3044, please contact Randy at 478-1808. The Pack meets at the Waynedale Scout Cabin at the corner of Lower Huntington Road and Ardmore Avenue. Call Randy for the date and time.

 

MAKE SURE YOUR LEADERS ARE TRAINED PROPERLY.

(Taken from “This I Believe” by Chris Mathes, Scout Executive)

Increasing the percentage of unit leaders with adequate training is one of the goals for district volunteers. Unit leaders may be trained in several different ways. No one method will do. As you plan training for the entire district, be prepared to use a variety of training approaches. Talk with your district executive about the training methods used in your district. The BSA normal training methods are described in detail in LEADERSHIP TRAINING PLANS, PROCEDURES, AND MATERIALS. It is an excellent resource and includes descriptions of specific training sessions for Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, and Explorer Leaders. Get a copy if you have major responsibilities for training. The following additional guidelines are important for training leaders in rural areas. The more sparsely populated and the lower the income and formal education of the area, the more important these ideas will be.

To the above I will add: Train your unit committee as well. There are books available for this purpose. Make sure that each and every member of your committee has a copy and give them a job to do, and there are plenty of jobs to go around. I suggest you get each member a copy of either BOY SCOUT TROOP COMMITTEE GUIDE or CUB SCOUT COMMITTEE GUIDE depending of course on your unit. The main idea is to distribute the jobs among the members and not let any one person do all the work or set themselves up as King or Queen of the group. Each group needs a leader, sure, but not a dictator. I’ve seen more members quit because of one or two persons ‘taking over’ and not letting everyone contribute something to the cause. Read the book and lead accordingly.

 

BSA TAPS

Kevin Bingley

Assistant Scoutmaster -Troop 82

Assistant Advisor – Venture Crew 2282

Colombia City, Indiana