Scouting, Volume 38, Number 10, December 1950 Page: 11

                                
MAKING IT HAPPEN
#> NOTHING LEFT TO DO?
Once in awhile we come across a Cubmaster who
thinks it isn't necessary to have a monthly Pack
Leaders' meeting, if he is using the themes sug-
gested in Scouting Magazine. This type of Cub-
master seems to think that inasmuch as the pro-
gram is all there in the magazine, it will pretty
much happen by itself.
Unfortunately, that isn't the way Cub Scouting
works. There is a great deal left to be done by the
Cubmaster and other leaders.
DEN MEETING PLANS
If you will look over the Den meeting outlines
for the "Rivers of America" theme, you will quickly
see that few Dens will be able to use all the items.
Therefore, it is necessary to go through the sug-
gested outlines and determine which things the
Den Mothers of your Pack will use.
As you go over the suggested Den meeting mate-
rial, each Den Mother should have before her a
copy of the Weekly Den Meeting Program and Re-
port Sheet, Cat. No. 4215. As leaders agree on each
program item, be sure they write them down. Take
time to actually demonstrate the games, crafts,
songs, etc. The final result should be that each Den
Mother has complete programs for four Den meet-
ings.
IDEAS COMMITTEE
If your Pack operates under the Ideas Committee
plan, a member of your Pack staff and several
parents will have come to your monthly Pack
Leaders' meeting prepared with suggestions and
program helps for next month's theme. This will
give your Den Mothers a basis for some freedom of
choice in activities. Don't forget, however, that
there is no reason why meetings of all of your
Dens cannot be the same in a given Week. This
often simplifies the task of gathering supplies.
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Just as the Den meeting should be planned care-
fully, so should there be a definite plan for provid-
ing necessary supplies and equipment. It is far
more efficient for one or two members of your
Pack Committee to gather this material than it is
for all Den Mothers to go out and purchase their
own.
For example, the Den meeting plans in this issue
of Scouting Magazine suggest that cardboard show-
boat decorations be made. Let the Den Mothers in-
dicate whether they have cardboard. If not, a mem-
ber of the committee can purchase it. Other items
needed in order to carry out the "Rivers of Amer-
ica" Den meetings are showcard paints, wrapping
paper, crayons, small wood.
PACK MEETING PLAN
A whale of a lot must be done between the point
where you read about the Pack meeting in Scout-
ing Magazine, and finally see it happening in the
Pack. No matter how good the plan may sound, it's
enthusiastic people who make it succeed.
Just take time out for a moment and read the
item on the "Rivers Pack Meeting" for this
month on page 14. Each time you come across an
item which will require someone's help, underline
it. Then come back to this article.
All right, did you underline the things to be done?
If so, you discovered that in the very first para-
graph was the problem of decorating your Pack
meeting room. Many of the decorations will be
made by the boys in their Den meetings, but it
will take dads to actually decorate the room. Ap-
point a committee to take over that job.
You probably also underlined the miscellaneous
properties and sound effects which it would be nice
to have. For example, there is a bell, whistle, a
record player, and river or carnival music. There is
another piece of your job which can be broken off
and handed to someone.
As soon as you get down to the items on the pre-
opening of your Pack meeting, you begin to think
of exhibits; so you will want someone to work with
Den Mothers in the laying out of exhibits and take
general charge of the exhibit portion of the meet-
ing. Then you will want a dad or two to work with
the Assistant Cubmaster on the separate meeting
of the boys. You will need the treasurer, Pack
Committee Chairman and the Den Mothers in the
Parents' meeting with you.
PLENTY TO DO
Yes, there is plenty to do even though you re-
ceive outlines for four Den meetings and a general
plan for a Pack meeting each month. Really all the
material in Scouting Magazine can do for you is to
organize the jobs into convenient pieces. It remains
for you to divide the responsibility, coach your Den
Mothers in the games and activities, and procure
the necessary equipment and materials.
♦
CUB SCOUT SECTION
DECEMBER, 1950
11