Last year at this time I ended a blog post with this:

I wish each of you health and happiness for you and your families as we start off in 2011, and when we look back on it a year from now I hope we will all see it as time well spent.

• We started the year off by getting a new puppy! A two month old Rottweiler named Toby.



• I gave the Scout Sunday sermon at the church I grew up in.
• I was a course participant in Wood Badge course W5-61-11-1



• Toby got bigger.
• Traveled to San Francisco at the beginning of the Summer
• Watched our kids start piano lessons, and take to it like fish to water.
• Toby got bigger.
• I was a camp councilor for our regions’s Junior Camp for 3rd through 5th graders.
• Took my son to Resident Camp in Longs Peak Council. I really enjoyed just being a Scout’s dad instead of the Cubmaster!
• Our family went down to the Philmont Training Center to take a Cubmaster training course.



• I started my second year as Cubmaster for Pack 223, with a great group of boys and volunteers.
• Toby got even bigger.
• I got a new camera, which should result in more photos being shared here as well as on Google+.
• We went back to San Francisco for Thanksgiving, having a wonderful time with my sister and her family.



• At work I got a brand new lab in a brand new R&D building, all ready for fantastic things in the next year!
• Toby got bigger still.
• I finished my Wood Badge ticket in December with a workshop on the physics of the Pinewood Derby.



• Spent Christmas here in Colorado, seeing family and friends for the holidays.

Not to be outdone, ’12 is going to be another year packed with activities.

• Unpacking all the stuff we moved to the fancy new lab
• Travel to Israel with my wife, mother-in-law, and some friends to see the Holy Land.
• I am going to be the Director (in Training) of Junior Camp for our Regional Churches.
• Continue to put on the best Cub Scout program I possibly can for the families of Pack 223.
• Head back to Philmont for the Philmont Leadership Challenge. A week in the backcountry of New Mexico extending the skills I learned in Wood Badge.
• Hopefully the end of 2012 also finds me working closely with the next Cubmaster of our Pack, because my tenure will be up by that coming summer.
• One thing is for sure: the dog will continue to grow.

One of my Wood Badge ticket items is to attend a training course for Cubmasters that goes beyond what is covered in the Position-specific training. The second part of that ticket item is to bring back something I learned and implement it in my pack. It was part of the same quest that brought me to Wood Badge in the first place, I knew there was a lot more to learn.

Previously I had looked through the courses offered within our council, and within the council to our north, but nothing really jumped out at me. So I started looking through the Philmont Training Center website. I knew I wanted to go someday, and my Wood Badge Ticked gave me the perfect excuse. It turns out that Philmont is only a 4 1/2 hour drive from my house, so there really wasn’t any excuse not to go.

After researching the course for a while, I realized this might be a good experience for the whole family. PTC seemed to have an extensive family program, both for spouses and any kids that came along. The more I researched it and asked around, the more I was convinced. After talking to my wife (and she took some convincing) we agreed that it would be a good trip to take. Family time, learning skills to be a better Cubmaster, and cover a Wood Badge Ticket item? Sold.

Strictly for Cubmasters Course

This conference offers everything Cubmasters and prospective Cubmasters ever wanted to know about their responsibilities, including delivering a quality pack program, the charter renewal process, Webelos-to-Scout transition, conducting the pack meeting, practical ideas for ceremonies and keeping the pack program energized.

Our time at the Philmont Training Center did not disappoint. The week is a great combination of spending time together and also letting the everyone try out activities with their peer group. The course I took was exactly what I was looking for, the faculty and classmates became friends that I will share with even now that we have returned to our home units.

There’s way too much to cover, so I’m going break this up into a couple of posts. One on the Strictly for Cubmasters course and what we covered and one on the family program. I’ll link to them here when they post.

I’ve mentioned that we started the God and Me program with the pastor of our church. During days 72-79 of the 100 Days of Scouting we had our 3rd and 4th meetings with the pastor. While the program is open to anyone, this go around we had two Cub Scouts in the class, both in 2nd grade.

The whole process has been a lot of fun, with some great activities to show the scouts what it means to have faith. An added benefit was the chance to spend an hour every week with the pastor, getting to know him as a person rather than the guy who stands up front and talks a lot on Sunday morning. If you read this Mark, I just want to say I don’t think you talk a lot, but you might from an 8 year old’s perspective, OK?

**Whistles and looks around…**

Waits for the lightning strike…

OK.

I know that most religions have their own programs for the religious awards, and most of those have programs for the different ages. The God and Me program is the 1st through 3rd Grade program that is managed by PRAY Publishing. This was well tailored to this age, and I look forward to doing it again next year with my daughter. I am going to try and offer the different levels of the God and Country program within our church whenever there is interest. The different groups are:

• God and Me (1-3 Grade)
• God and Family (4-5 grade)
• God and Church (6-8 Grade)
• God and Life (9-12 Grade)

There is also a God and Service Award for adults, but it is not a class you work through as much as an award to recognize service to youth both within and outside of the church.

In our pack, which isn’t chartered by a specific religious organization, there is a wide range of faiths represented. I know we have Protestant and Catholic scouts, Jewish and Hindu scouts, some that don’t have a home church, and a few I doubt have ever been inside a church. Every rank in Cub Scouts has a faith component, and recognizing those that have earned their religious award provides another opportunity to point out to all the scouts and parents that part of the character building is looking around and looking within to help build and strengthen their faith, no matter where that faith lies.

I think our pack could do a better job teaching the faith part of the program, and I would like to see us celebrate the differences (dare I say diversity?) that make us a great organization.

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Thirteen days is a big spread to cover all at once, but the last two weeks has had one unifying theme: my Wood Badge course, W5-61-11-1.

I have started, deleted, and re-started a blog post about my Wood Badge experience three times now.

When asked about whether Wood Badge is worth the time and expense of attending, a common response is “It will change your life”. It was a bit of a frustrating response, really. How do you know it would change my life? What if I was already the type of person it changed you into? Without knowing me, how can you say it will change my life?

Guess what- it is changing my life.

The best way I can describe Wood Badge is this:

The position-specific training offered by BSA will teach you how to do the scouting program. Wood Badge will help you discover why you do the scouting program, then challenge you to apply it to everything in your life.

One problem I’ve come across when trying to write about the course is that I don’t want to cover too much. Wood Badge should be experienced without too much prior knowledge about the specifics. Plus, I think the course is different for everyone, even different for two participants in the same course. So if you are looking for a play by play of the whole weekend, you’ll have to find it elsewhere.

So why did this course have such an impact? I was wondering about this during the first weekend. The class material was what I expected, covering things like the stages of team development or leadership behaviors. It was material I had seen before in other training in the corporate world, but it was different this time. I was having a blast and everything clicked. I didn’t really understand why. Somewhere in the middle of the second day it made sense: when you take those tools and couple them with the values that built the scouting movement, you have something truly powerful. It removes the abstractness of the tools without a direction and replaces it with an internal road map that resonates with what drives you.

The people make the course. The dedication of the staff was apparent from day one and the members of my patrol will be counted as friends until the day I die. The members of Troop 1 in W5-61-11-1 are a collection of different talents and experiences with which I am proud to be associated. All of the people associated with our course are true believers in scouting. They are the kinds of people that are involved not just because their kid is in scouts but those that have drank the kool-aide and want to deliver the promise of scouting to as many of our youth as possible.

The Patrol Project

Each patrol is assigned a project to present during the second weekend. The only requirement is that it is relevant to all levels scouting (Cubs, Boy Scouts, Varsity, and Venturing). Every patrol took it on differently, covering everything from recruiting and retention to flag etiquette and outdoor safety. The presentations were as unique as the personalities in the patrols. Our patrol researched and presented resources to help scout leaders with special needs scouts. There is a ton of really great information out there!

What about that whole ticket thing?

The Wood Badge “ticket” finds it’s origin in the workings of the British Army in the era of Lord Robert Baden-Powell. During that time, the Army would ship you off to which ever part of the British Empire they needed you, but when your service was finished you had to pay for passage home. As a result, as the soldier’s term was nearing completion, they would seek postings closer and closer to home to minimize their personal cost. This process was called “Working your Ticket” and is where Wood Badge gets the phrase.

For Wood Badge, the ticket is a five part agreement between you and your Troop Guide. This agreement puts into action the things you were taught during the course. Within the next 18 months, you work on things that will help you fulfill your own vision for things that are important to you.

My ticket:

• Conduct a “Science and Engineering of the Pinewood Derby” class: work with the Webelos with my pack to earn the Scientist or Engineer Activity Badge, then use their help to conduct a station-based event on the Science and Engineering of Pinewood for other packs within the District, focusing on smaller and lower income packs.
• Attend the Philmont Training Center’s “Strictly for Cubmasters” course: attend the course with my family and bring back ideas and implement them within my own pack.
• Develop a sustainable Den Chief Program with the local Troops: develop a relationship with the local troops to bring in Den Chiefs, including a time line for Den Leaders to request help and for training and recognition for the Den Chiefs.
• Develop a “Parent Handbook” for the Pack: Draft a booklet (approved by the Pack Committee) to hand out at Join Night and other recruiting events that would explain some of the most common questions about our pack and Cub Scouting in general.
• Join the District Cub Scout Roundtable Staff: Assist Valley District’s CS Roundtable Commissioner and teach a minimum of five Cub Scout specific breakout sessions.

So is it worth the time and expense to attend? It was for me, and I suspect it would be for most. Will it change your life? I suspect so, no matter where you are now. If nothing else it will challenge you to be better. A better Scouter, a better employee/boss, a better parent and a better spouse.

Anyone looking to attend, here is my advice: attend with an open mind and be ready to have fun with it. If you go in with your arms crossed expecting it to be a terrible experience, I suspect it will be. If you realize the great people you are surrounded with and the fun you are about to have, I suspect that is what you’ll find.

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There is a phrase used in scouting circles to describe the physique of Scouters called the “Scoutmaster’s build”. Not really a compliment. I myself have not exactly been on the fitness train for a while now.

But no longer. I decided on day 37 that I had waited long enough, and found myself a new Crossfit gym. I belonged to one while I was going to school in Ft. Collins, and really liked it. As I spent less and less time up north, I didn’t get to the gym very often. Well, now I found a new gym that is less than a mile from work and has a lunchtime workout. I went for a visit, and then came back every day for the rest of the week.

It is great to be moving again!

So I’m not sure that joining a gym really fits the requirements of “doing something for scouting”, but it will help me as I continue to work with scouts of all ages. As the Cub Scouts become Boy Scouts and head out on more challenging adventures, I want to be there with them. Not holding them back, but helping them out.

Besides, being a Cubmaster can be tiring work sometimes:

Over days 37-39 I also:

• Worked with my son on his last outstanding homework for the Wolf badge
• Listened to lots of scouting related podcasts
• Caught up with all the 100 Days of Scouting blog postings
• Traded emails with the District staff that were asking about our spring recruiting

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How did people run packs before e-mail? For that matter, how did they do it before text messages, cell phones, the internet, and social media?

Case in point: a few days ago I got an e-mail (on my phone) from one of our Den Leaders. It said “I think the Tiger Picnic is scheduled for the same day as the Elementary School’s Carnival Night”. So I looked up the number for the school office (on the internet via my phone) and gave them a call. After confirming that they were indeed scheduled for the same night, I looked at the pack calendar (still on my phone) and figured a week later was Memorial Day weekend so that was out. But a week earlier didn’t seem to have any conflicts.

So I called my Assistant Cubmaster (who was responsible for reserving the city park where we are having the picnic) and left him a voicemail saying that we were changing the date by a week. A couple of minutes later I got a text message from him that he got my message while he was at the city desk filling out the paperwork to reserve the park. Just in the nick of time!

So long story (sort of) short, all this wonderful technology helped fix a pack problem within minutes all while I was driving down the highway at 80 miles an hour. No, not really. I was in the lab at work. But imagine how much more problematic that would have been without these technologies.

If I waited one more day I could just write this as a weekly update. But then again, 14 2/7 weeks of scouting doesn’t sound nearly as cool as 100 days. I have been crazy swamped with work and scout related things. I haven’t had a chance to put it down here. Lets see if I can remember what I did for the last four days…

Today was another day full of scouting activities. The difference was that this time I got to spend it with my family instead of trying to wrangle an entire pack. Our district had their Cub Scout Winter Adventure, where the day was filled with Cub Scouts going sledding, ice fishing, navigating an obstacle course, and throwing tomahawks. It was fantastic fun!

Each of the stations was run by a Boy Scout Troop, and all of them did a great job! They worked well with the Cub Scouts and put together a fun and safe program. We started with a flag ceremony and a song, then everyone was free to visit the stations at their own pace. After the opening ceremony, the kids wanted to head off to the sledding hill. It was a little shorter than I expected, but as you can see there was lots of fun to be had:

After a gazillion trips up the sledding hill, we headed over to the ice fishing, where everyone was sucessful in catching a fish. It was my son’s first fish, and he was very excited:

My daughter was the only smart one, and did her ice fishing in a shelter:

After that we were off to the obstacle course, which included a zip line!

I was glad to see the course included some pioneering, getting across a monkey bridge in snow boots can’t be easy!

And tomahawk throwing just before lunch:

After lunch we revisited the sledding hill and obstacle course, and by mid-afternoon the kids were pretty wiped out. You could tell from the subtle details like laying in the snow for five minutes after each station on the course. All in all we had a fantastic day.

Late in the afternoon we decided to call it a day and work our way back to town. We missed out in the closing ceremony, but by the look of the parking lot, we were certainly not the only ones.

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This afternoon I was sent to the Principal’s office. One of our Assistant Cubmasters and I met with the Principal and Head Custodian for the elementary school where most of the boys in our pack attend. The topic was a potential spring service project at the school (not anything like the topics when I was sent to the principal when I was actually in elementary school!).

I outlined what I had in mind (spreading mulch in bare areas and trash clean up), they suggested some additional things (finding a way to keep the pea gravel off the basketball courts) and we agreed on a date (May 7th). The custodian is going to arrange for the school district to provide the mulch, we are going to have the parents provide the wheelbarrows, brooms, and hand tools, and suddenly we have a spring service project!

After a few minutes of talking about other ways our pack can help the school, we wrapped things up and were headed out. On the way out the door the Principal said to me “it is sure nice to have a meeting where someone is just offering to help out, and doesn’t want anything in return”. Absolutely. That’s what a service project is for, just to show how a little team effort can make a big difference in our community.

This is day 21 of 100. Three weeks into the project. 21% done, 79% to go. Things are moving quickly, that’s for sure!

With all the things that have to be done as Cubmaster, it is easy to miss the things that need to be done as a parent of a scout. So today, while the kids had the day off for a teacher work day, we reviewed the Wolf Handbook to see where he was at for the achievements and electives for this year. After verifying a few dates, I sent an email to his den leader with what was completed to date.