How to Run a Good Pack Meeting

Although I concentrate on Boy Scouts rather than Cubs I have been both a Den Leader and Cubmaster. This time of year I attend one or two Pack Meetings to welcome new Scouts as they cross the bridge from Webelos. At the risk of being curmudgeonly I offer these observations. The Pack Meetings I attend are almost always too long. One Hour, or better 45 minutes, is the ideal. Of this time allow a maximum of 20- 30 minutes maximum for speaking, awards, etc. Of this allow only one ‘business’ element (adult awards, Friends of Scouting, etc.). Don’t expect the Cubs to sit quietly with their parents. Let them sit right down front with their buddies and talk right to them.

Expect and require that they focus on the proceedings and they will so long as what is being said or done is designed to interest them. If, at any time, the meeting has devolved into Cubs and their siblings running amok and constant pleas for order from the rostrum something is out of balance. In my experience it happens when the Cubmaster is talking to parents rather than Cubs. The Cubs understand, better than anyone else, when a Pack Meeting is for them or their parents. When it is focused on their parents the Cubs lose interest and look for excitement elsewhere. A Blue and Gold Banquet gets 30 minutes more than a “normal” Pack Meeting. That means serving, eating and cleaning up in 30 minutes – a real challenge but not an impossibility.

Present awards with uniformity, brevity, and appropriate solemnity (in other words not too solemnly or glibly).

While the Den Leaders can help with the presentation the Cubmaster is in charge.

Again, this is a meeting for the Cubs.

Parents and siblings are there to observe. Keep it relevant, snappy, engaging and on time.