Exploring how our troop uses a 1-night campout to introduce cubs to the boy scouting program.
Transcript:
For the past several years our troop has held what we call a “Webelos Invitational”. This event is a one-night camping trip for second-year webelos to introduce them to the Boy Scouting program.
Not only does it introduce the boys and their parents to our leader, it gives them all a real taste of the program.
The campout is at one of our local venues, about 10 minutes away from our troop’s meeting place.
We meet on Friday evening in the parking lot of the venue and the Boy Scouts in attendance take charge of the Webelos, like their own patrol.
The older boys march them with gear to the camping location and help them set up tents.
Being they are still in the cub program, the cubs sleep in tents with their parent, which is in a separated area from our Boy Scouts, and there is a third area for our adult leaders.
For this trip we invite the senior boys, and if they have one, their den chief. These boys, usually 4-6 boys, run the program for the cubs. It usually includes a short hike, and some instruction needed for Arrow of Light. The larger portions of time are set aside for the troop’s methods of cooking and afterwards cleaning,
It gives the boys a realistic impression of a camping trip with our troop.
While the boys are engaged, the parents meet with a couple of our leaders who go through the history of the troop, how it all works, and the expectations from the scouts and adults to make the troop run effectively. We also prepare a nice menu for the adults as a teaser to entice new parents to join our ranks.
The brainchild of all of this was one of our Assistant Scoutmasters, who seeing a deficiency in the connection to local pack crafted this program as part of his Woodbadge ticket.
In the 3-4 years we have run it, it had worked out very well.
The new parents get to see how things run in a more-or-less ideal environment and the boys get a true taste of the Boy Scouting program.
It also meets some of the joining requirements for Arrow of Light.
One of the other benefits to this trip is that it gives me and the other leaders advanced intel on how the new boys behave, and the interaction between all the parents.
At the end of the weekend, the parents, cubs and leaders have a shared connection, which hopefully leads to the cubs choosing our troop over other troops when they cross over in the fall. But this is what works for us.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together. I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this was the Webelos Invitational.
