Scouting, Volume 38, Number 2, February 1950 Page: 30
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WORKING WITH THE PACK
There was a time when the Troop gave a boy
his first Scouting experience. But that time
has passed. Today there are almost as many Cub
Scouts as there are Boy Scouts (730,000 Cub
Scouts, 1,000,000 Boy Scouts and Explorers in
Troops). This means that most boys come into
Scouting through the doors of a Den and Pack.
Which leads to the point that you are very much
interested in this Cub Scout business, and that
you want to know what to do to help Cub Scout-
ing help your Troop.
Ordinarily there is no reason for you to read
the contents of the Cub Scouting section, but this
time there is an exception. The article on page
21 is about you, and one which you will certainly
want to study. In fact, this is a good place to stop
and turn back to page 21, and read that page care-
fully befoYe resuming here.
* * *
Now, let's look at the whole business from
the standpoint of the Scoutmaster. Just what are
your responsibilities and opportunities in this bus-
iness of Troop-Pack relationships? You have three
major ones: (1) providing good Den Chiefs to
ihe Pack or Packs from which come most of your
Scouts, (2) working out with the Pack leaders a
good graduation plan, (3) effectively using parents
whose interest has been developed by Cub Scout-
ing.
Den Chiefs
The Den Chief position is important to the
Troop for two major reasons: (1) it serves as a
"training farm" for your future Patrol Leaders,
and (2), the Den Chiefs are your Ambassadors of
Good Will, your sure-fire recruiters. (In fact, they
not only lead Cub Scouts into your Troop be-
cause of their own enthusiasm for it, but they also
do much to make those boys better Scouts, by
training them in teamwork and other good Scout-
ing traits as members of the Cub Den.)
Yes, the Den Chief is one of your important
Troop officers. He should be so recognized, in
every possible way. Present his shoulder cord in
a Troop ceremony, as you would Patrol Leader
bars; present his Den Chief's warrant to him in
front of the Troop and use the occasion to show
how the Troop counts on him. Include him in
Junior Staff meetings occasionally; call on him for
reports on his Den leadership.
Build him up and he will help build your Troop
as well as the Pack.
Recruiting From the Pack
Just as Den Chiefs are the "training farm" for
future Patrol Leader positions, so is the Pack the
"training farm" for the Troop. If Pack-Troop re-
lationships are what they should be you can
expect to have practically all your recruits come
from that source. If you are working closely with
the Pack officers, you know about these boys long
before they reach their eleventh birthday and they
know about your Troop. They have learned about
it through the enthusiasm of their Den Chief, and
have visited the Troop with their dads as they
worked on their Webelos rank. When the time
comes for them to graduate, you and selected
Scouts attend a Pack meeting to receive them. It's
a sure-fire way of recruiting.
Using Cub Scout Parents
One of the phenomenal things about Cub Scout-
ing has been the way parents respond to calls for
service. Not only do they faithfully attend the
monthly Pack meetings, but they enthusiastically
accept Pack leadership responsibilities. It's a com-
monplace experience in Cub Scouting for a Pack
of forty or fifty boys to have a dozen or so
mothers and fathers actively serving as leaders.
What a pity it would be to lose these parents when
their son graduates into your Troop.
There are ways to use these parents and main-
tain their interest. There are jobs for dads, as
Assistant Scoutmasters, Patrol Dads or Commit-
tee men.
Mothers, working in the Mothers' Club can
make camp or Troop meeting room equipment,
provide refreshments, raise funds for the Troop's
camping needs, etc.
Yes, Cub Scouting, with its colorful program
and its genius in the use of parents, has earned
a place of respect in the Scouting family. The
wise Scoutmaster will make himself familiar with
this program and will take steps to see that his
Troop has a good working relationship with a
Pack.
30
SCOUTING MAGAZINE
BOY SCOUT SECTION
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 38, Number 2, February 1950, periodical, February 1950; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth313161/m1/32/?q=%221777%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.