Commissioner Minute from June13, 2019 - Keep Reaching for the Stars

Now is the twilight of our Scouting year. We will rest and prepare for what is ahead.  As our Scouts transition to the next rank and prepare to head to camp, it is time to reflect on a job well done.

What did we do?  We explained the rules and needs of the program. We demonstrated good Scouting by living the oath and law.  We guided them through challenges, successes and the occasional setback. We enabled them to do their best.

Were there mistakes?  Sure, but as we assess we will see the bigger truths that are exposed.  We did so much good. We brought more families, including young women as well as young men, into the program. We continued to grow our youth in the scouting tradition. We inspired and helped each other to grow as adults and as Scouters.  In short, we made a difference.

We only need to look among us for inspiration and affirmation of our faith in making that difference.  One of our own in the Council, Mike Haas (the Spring 2019 Wood Badge Course Director and mentor to so many), points us to the parable of “The Starfish Story” by Loren Eiseley.  The story recounts a tale of man encountering a youth picking up dying starfish stranded along a beach, and hurling them into the sea. The man notes there are here are too many starfish washed up to make a difference.  When the man tells the boy why he cannot save them all, the boy picks up another starfish and throws it back, replying, “I made a difference for that one”.

We would all do well to listen to Mike. To me, Mike is the Johnny Appleseed of good turns.  He has planted many seeds to help nourish all our good deeds in the future. He trusts that we in turn do the same for others. 

As we contemplate all we have done, we can begin to plan for what is next.  With those plans we will do much good. We will take scouts outdoors. We will teach them to lead.  We will teach them to be trustworthy and to be kind.  We will teach them to help others and themselves. We will teach them to make a difference.

During the approaching nighttime of our Scouting year let’s take the time to dream of what can be for Scouting. Picture all of us standing on a beach doing our best to make a difference. Remember the starfish and plan great Cub Scouting programs. When the new year dawns, we will go out together and turn those plans into events that have an impact.

I will leave us with this thought: the greatest DJ of all time, Casey Kasem, finished his radio programs with the inspirational directive to “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”  Let’s do that one better, and keep our feet on the beach and keep reaching for our “starfish”.

Commissioner Minute from April 11, 2019 - The Flag

So, think about the flag.

It’s not just the red, the white, or the blue.
It’s not just the stars, the stripes, or any color or hue.
It’s not just the symbol of our rights, our freedom or our land.
It’s not just a cloth, or thread; but something more deep and more grand.

So, think about the flag.

It’s the weave of Scouts who work together to do good for all.

It’s the weave of neighbors, standing straight, proud and tall.
It’s the weave of community that cares and leaves no one behind.

It’s the weave of a country that’s true, fair and kind.

So, think about others.

When you honor the flag, you honor your father and mother.

When you honor the flag, you honor yourselves and one another.
When you honor the flag, we become sisters and brothers.
When you honor the flag, duty to country becomes your duty to others.

February Cub Chat - 2019 Cub Scout Camping

The clock is ticking on Winter and while  Summer might feel half a year away NOW is the perfect time to be planning your camping events for the coming year.  Packs are booking their camping experiences and they are quickly gobbling up spaces at Council owned summer camps, BALOO approved camp grounds and even spaces to camp out on the Potomac Nationals baseball outfield. Snooze too long on Spring, Summer or Fall camping opportunities and you might find your Pack without a place to snooze.  Don't get left out on camping in 2019 and start your planning now so you can get in all the camping fun that can be had by leading your Pack to:

• Family Camping
• Pack Overnight Camping
• Den Camping
• Day Camping
• Cub Resident Camping
• Webelos Camping

For all the info on camping resources in Powhatand district head here for all the details: https://www.ncacbsa.org/powhatan/2018/09/12/cub-scout-camping-resources-resources/

All 2019 opportunities can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XMrAsDf9CWUUMahJVdtsMXEemuFXWuLN

TONGUE TIED? SING TO TIE THE MOST IMPORTANT SCOUTING KNOTS

Every month Powhatan Cub Leader Roundtable Commissioners mention that as Cub Scouts/Scouters we should SING!  When we can’t sing WELL, we sing LOUD.  We should also be singing PROUD.  But why?

As adults we don’t always like to sing, but it’s a very important thing to do (especially with youth and even more so with our Scouts).  Over the years many of us have become self-conscious and may even have anxiety about singing in a group, let alone leading a song at a Scouting event. The “why” of not wanting to sing is probably different for each of us.  We don’t think we are good at it.  We can’t carry a tune. We don’t like to. We just don’t want to.

Singing with our Scouts in important.  Here are just a few reasons:

• It changes the mood of the event.   Adults can do something silly to inject fun or shift you into reverence for a closing prayer. It’s your ticket to great transitions. It offers variety for the program and allows you to control the pace/mood of the event.
• Singing Reduces Stress. Scientist have proven that singing reduces stress in adults and children. It not only has psychological value, but physiologically impacts the body too.  Creating an environment that reduces stress is needed in the world we live in. Scouting should take Scouts out of the everyday life, make them comfortable and then empower them to pursue their dreams
• We Learn from Singing. Singing can connect us to ideas, concepts or just facts.  We can learn about onomatopoeia from Pop Goes the Weasel.  But want to teach your Scouts about the Sun?  Songs like “Why does the Sun Shine?” by They Might Be Giants can teach us things like “The Sun is a mass of incandescent gas...” that is “about 93 million miles away…” and it is “a huge atom smashing machine”.  What can you learn from song? 
• It’s FUN.  Most of us would be reluctant to think back and say “I enjoyed camp, but I hated the singing”.  It is a large part of why we go see live music. Sure sometimes we are there for the artistry of the musicians, but more often we are just there at the show to sing-a-long so that we can “take the Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry” with Don McLean or make sure we “Don’t Stop believin’, Hold on to that feelin'” with Journey.
• It is a bonding experience.  Singing is for everyone. Scouts, Siblings, Parents AND Leaders.  It’s memorable when everyone gets silly together singing the Shark Song or An Old Austrian. No one will forget the time Grumpy Old Mr. Rockwell waddled like a duck while he “wiggle waggled, wiggle waggled to and fro”.  Create those memories. 

Sing LOUD and PROUD and tie your Pack together with singing for fun.

Commissioner Minute from November 8, 2018 - Thanksgiving for Servant Leaders

Please join me in giving thanks for the Cub Scout Leader.

Anyone who has ever been trained as a Cub Scout leader by Roger Claff has heard the expression “If it’s not for the Scouts, it’s for the birds”.  Egos, events, and the outside world are set aside for a while so we can focus on the Scouts and the Scouts alone. That’s why we are here... to serve the Scouts so that they can learn a shared set of values. If we could convey those values alone and home we would, but it’s hard to go it alone and still get the message across.


The message is the twelve points of the law and the Scout Oath.  The message to grow into people who make moral and ethical decisions.  The message is to lead and to serve others.

I want to pull back the curtain for just a minute and talk about a lesson that is taught on the older youth side of the Boy Scouts of America program. It’s hinted at in Cub Leader materials, but I’ve yet to encounter it in the Cub Leader materials as fully realized as you do in the Boy Scout Handbook Fifth Edition. In a section on “Leading Others” it has a subsection call “Servant Leadership” (page 41), in which it defines servant leadership as:

...the best leader is a servant, not a boss.  A servant leader listens and persuades instead of telling  people what to do. He recognizes the challenges his followers face instead of having unrealistic expectations.  He gives other people credit for the groups success instead of hogging the spotlight.

This is you to each of the Scouts you serve. You enable fun by working tirelessly to plan events they want to come to.  You enable adventure by listening to the Scouts when they say “Mount Vernon is cool” and “We should do more stuff like this” and then spend hours/days searching the internet for stuff that is just like Mount Vernon.  You enable dreams by spending some of your own money (or better yet dues) so they can learn to make a robot, build a rocket or go to camp to learn to canoe. You give them the world by taking them to the fire station, a TV station, the Pentagon or on a campout.

Cub leaders are by their very nature servant leaders. You are living the lessons of Scouting by serving your Scouts month after month. Lord Baden-Powell called Scouting “Fun with a Purpose” and while they may not remember your name in 30 years, they will remember the fun you lead.  

Your service means everything to the Cub Scouts. And for that we give thanks.



By David Rockwell

Commissioner Minute from August 9th Roundtable - By Dave Rockwell

You hold in your hand a knot.

Why a knot?

Scouts and parents are coming to your pack.  Many are returning.  Some are new.  All are expecting to meet friendly, energetic leaders in crisp tan shirts. They are expecting those leaders will open up the world of scouting to them through the “Do Your Best” attitude, “expert” knowledge of scouting, and Pizzazz.  They are picturing those leaders as a mix of rugged outdoors enthusiast, the coolest teacher ever and parent of the year.  They are there to meet YOU!

Not sure you fit that bill?  You do.

You stepped up when it counted.  You planned a quality program just for them.  You are going to lose sleep helping the pack raise money, preparing to take them camping or just figuring out how to make the craft specified in the requirements for this month’s adventure.  You are busy learning how to retire a flag, planning a trip to Mount Vernon and preparing for the Pinewood Derby.  You will lead scouts and parents through the many time honored traditions of scouting and ask for very little (or nothing) in return.  You are the knot that holds the experience of scouting together just as a woggle holds a scout’s neckerchief together completing their uniform.

As a Cubmaster, I made a woggle for every Scout in the Pack.  It gave them a handy neckerchief slide.  It was also a symbol.  It was a symbol of the leaders past and present that had planned to make scouting and our pack awesome for them. An unending circle of leaders and parents who will look after them and the scouts to come.  A knot to hold it all together made by someone who was looking out for them before they even met that leader.

When you leave our roundtable circle tonight, take this woggle with you.  Think on it.  How do you make your pack and scouting special?  You are part of that unending circle of special leaders.  If you look close you will see you are knot your average Cub Scout leader.

******

Want a woggle to think on? Come by our September 13th Roundtable and pick one up.  Hope to see you there.

April Cub Chat - Cub Leader Conundrums

Recruiting and training leaders are the two hardest parts of running a pack.  The gambit of reasons they don't get involved or trained runs from being afraid they aren't good enough to represent the ideals of Scouting to "I'm too busy". At the end of the day we still need to turn these reasons into action and get people on the registered and trained side of the "Do Your Best" ideal.

We won't claim to have all the answers, but if you join us this Thursday at 8 PM we can explore with you how to convert some of the no's into a "Yes" or "I will do my best".  We hope to see you Thursday night. Roundtable is held at 8 PM the second Thursday of each month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) - 2727 Centreville Rd, Oak Hill, VA 20171-3509.

Check back here after Thursday night for handouts and more.  Join us and the copies are on us.