Scouting, Volume 69, Number 2, March-April 1981 Page: 30
58, E1-E24, [34] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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i
(Left) Cubs get a chance to
practice being good
citizens as they mark a
sample ballot for their
candidates in a recent state
election. (Below) Baking,
eating Jewish Hanukkah
cookies make learning
another's faith easy to
swallow.
The other factor that contributes to a
den's success is obviously program. What
do you do with a group of rambunctious
boys for an hour or so every week?
In Den 1, the answer is that you keep
them busy with activities they enjoy. And
you mix it up, on the theory that variety is
the spice of Cub Scouting.
What this means is that over a month
there might be two meetings indoors to
work on projects for Cub Scouting's theme
of the month, with perhaps a basketball
game on the court beside the Williams
house to break the routine; an outing such
as a hike into the nearby hills, and maybe
an afternoon of work on advancement
projects in the boys' Cub Scout books.
For a sample of a month's activity, let's
look at what Den 1 did last October when
the theme was "Cub Scout Citizen,"
focusing on the presidential election. That
month happened to have five den meeting
days for Den 1.
Den Meeting 1—In preparation for Oc-
tober's theme, Mrs. Williams had
previously assigned the boys to make
get-out-the-vote posters at home for later
display in neighborhood stores and busi-
ness places to remind adults to vote. (Ex-
perienced den leaders call it getting
"bounce" from the den to the home.) Boys
who had already finished their posters
brought them in to show and tell. Major
activity at the meeting was a discussion of
the what, why, and how of the election
process.
Den Meeting 2—In a departure from
theme activity, the den went to the West
Virginia University campus in Charleston
to videotape den activities under the di-
rection of their Cubmaster, Robert J.
30
Graham, who is director of learning re-
sources at the university. The tape was
later shown during the Buckskin Council's
Mountaineer District training sessions for
new den leaders to demonstrate how a
good den operates.
Den Meeting 3—"It was beautiful that
day," Mrs. Williams said, "so we hiked
about a half-mile up the road and then up
a trail to look at the signs of fall." Having
grown up close to nature in a small West
Virginia town, she was prepared to point
out the buds that foretell spring growth on
the trees and to predict the coming
winter's weather from the bands on woolly
bear caterpillars. "We don't just walk on a
hike," Mrs. Williams said, "we look for
things. And the boys just love to be
outside."
Den Meeting 4—The den visited the Kan-
awha County Courthouse where County
Clerk Margaret D. (Peggy) Miller demon-
strated the county's new computerized
punch-card system of voting.
Den Meeting 5—Chief activity was a mock
election using sample ballots from the
county's real election five days later. (Den
l's Cub Scouts, incidentally, were no
better than the pollsters in predicting
winners. Their vote for President was
Reagan, 4, Carter, 4; independent John
Anderson, 1, and Libertarian Ed Clark, 1.
They did vote, 6-3, to re-elect Democratic
Gov. John D. Rockefeller, a winner, but
backed a loser. Democrat John G. Hutch-
inson, for Congress by 9-1.)
Indoor den meetings are held in the
recreation room of Mrs. Williams's com-
fortable home on Charleston's southeast
side where rugged, wooded hills hug the
backdoors of all the houses. The meetings
begin 15 minutes after dismissal time at
the Kanawha City Elementary School,
which all den members attend. Since the
Cub Scouts wear their uniforms to school
on den meeting days, they arrive prompt-
ly, spilling out of parents' cars and the
school bus.
While they are gathering, the denner
collects the weekly dues of 50 cents (half
for the den, half for the pack), and the
boys play a quiet game, sing a song or two,
or compete in dual contests such as arm
wrestling on the blue shag rug. "Last year
we met in the gym at the Church of the
Good Shepherd, and (continued on page 42)
March/April 1981 Scouting
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 69, Number 2, March-April 1981, periodical, March 1981; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353561/m1/30/: accessed April 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.