Scouting, Volume 68, Number 1, January-February 1980 Page: 72
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tion that meeting. After, each person took
his goodies home.
Kilmon: You've talked about getting out-
siders to help out. That's O.K. But we've
found from our parent surveys that we've
got enough talent right in our pack. For
instance, our blue and gold dinner is
typically a parent show. Uncle Joe will
play the guitar or some kid will play
another musical instrument. Some parent
will get up and perform. And the kids will
say proudly, "That's my dad up there!"
Scouting: How do you handle refreshments
at pack meetings?
Wall: When we have committee meetings
we make assignments to dens of when they
should bring refreshments. We alternate
these jobs. One den might bring the
beverage one month, another, the finger
food, or whatever we're going to eat.
Simmons: We let the den chiefs go get the
food for their dens and then help dis-
tribute it. It saves a lot of traffic to and
from the serving tables.
We don't serve any sweets. We have
bite-size pieces of vegetables like carrots
or cauliflower, and so on. This goes over
very well. We don't even have any dips,
just the vegetables.
Vanderwiel: Each den has a part to play.
One den brings the food for the pack
meeting. Often the food is appropriate to
the theme of the meeting. For instance,
when it was circus time, the den served
popcorn.
Kilmon: We just serve something to drink,
nothing to eat. We use a refreshments
chairman who provides juice which we
72
serve in cups.
Scouting: What do vou do for the summer
months?
Shaw: We meet out of doors or take a trip
somewhere. One of our most successful
meetings was a train trip via Amtrak to
Harper's Ferry, Va. We had 33 boys and
25 adults. At the end we got off the train
and walked to a quaint old restaurant
where we had lunch. Then we walked to
the battleground museum. We always take
color slides of everything we do. We took
lots of shots of this trip so we could show
newcomers next year that we're a pack
that does things.
This trip cost us a good bit of money but
we had budgeted for it. We try to have one
major money-raising event during the
year. The adults run it and it's just for
adults. This year it was a disco party. We
made about $800. Of course, we have
other smaller events to get the kids
involved.
Wall: We meet twice a month during the
summer. We're always going some place
different. We've been swimming at the
local pools, fishing with lots of parents to
help. We've gone on a tour of Union
Station—for some kids that was their first
trip there. We've been to the Washington
Monument Mall and flown kites.
Wheeler: We had a super bike hike. We
sent home written instructions with every
boy. There was no problem getting parents
to come. We all met at a shopping center
nearby. Everybody came, even little kids
on trikes. We rode to a nearby lake. It took
us about 30 minutes. After the bike hike a
lot of parents said, "Now that's Scouting!"
Vanderwiel: We had an outdoor Cub
Olympics—all kinds of athletic events. It
came off very well. But in the middle of
the activity along came a thunderstorm.
We had to think quickly and come up with
a backup plan, and we did. But it taught us
that in any outdoor program you've got to
have an alternative in case the weather
interferes.
Wall: Last year we met at my house. The
families came from downtown D.C. to the
suburbs. Cub Scouts made buddy burners
out of tin cans, and they cooked for their
parents. The families brought salad.
Highlight of the day was the Cub Scout
physical fitness program.
Next year we're going to add on a
Webelos Scout graduation into a troop.
Simmons: We've had a picnic in June, a
rocket derby in July, and a farm visit.
Scouting: What's vour attitude about
wearing uniforms to pack meetings?
Vanderwiel: We insist on kids wearing
them although in some cases when the kid
comes from a sports event and hasn't had
chance to change, we permit him to come
without uniform. And we do have a lot of
competition with sports.
Wheeler: Our boys are very excited about
wearing their uniforms. Yes, we do wear
them to pack meetings.
Kilmon: You can't be iron tight about the
uniform. If you need to bend the rules a
bit, then do it. Remember we're doing this
for the kid.
Scouting: Do you use the nationally sug-
gested themes in Program Helps?
Shaw: Yes, we use them exactly the way
we find them.
Vanderwiel: Basically we stay with the
theme in the Helps.
Simmons: We stick to the suggested theme
90 percent of the time. Sometime we
change them in the summer.
Scouting: Are ceremonies important to
successful pack meetings?
Kilmon: I'm big on ceremonies. We use a
lot of them from Staging Den and Pack
Ceremonies. We have five or six ceremony
boards in our pack. We're keen on candles
and darkness. You can take a candle and
make a ceremony out of it.
Wall: We present the metal Bobcat badge
and pin it to the boy's uniform. It's pinned
upside down and remains that way until
he does his first Good Turn.
It's always nice to have a ceremony of
some type with awards. Our Cubmaster is
usually responsible for organizing the
ceremonies.
Shaw: We try to have at least an impres-
sive closing ceremony to cap the evening.
We like the one where the room is dark
except for one candle and the kids all sing
"Taps." ■
January/February 1980 Scouting
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 68, Number 1, January-February 1980, periodical, January 1980; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353538/m1/72/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.