1. Pack Meeting Sparkle Presented By: Staci Thomas

2. Plan... Planning is your most important step for a fun and exciting Pack Meeting.

3. Planning Steps: Identify your theme – follow National’s theme or create your own. Share this theme with your den leaders a month in advance so they can coordinate their meetings around the same theme Check with your leaders for sharing time – do they have a skit to perform, a song to share, or just a story?

4. Identify what awards are to be handed out. Is there time for a guest speaker? Come up with a Cubmaster minute Interactive stories Cheers And more....

5. Guests and Speakers Stick with your theme for example: ~ One November the theme was Citizenship so I invited the Registar for Chesterfield County to our Pack Meeting. ~ October is Fire Safety Awareness month so we had the local fire station bring out a truck and talk about safety. ~ Have the local Police come out to talk about Bike Safety ~ Have Luck Stone come in and share information regarding rocks ~ Invite Tandy Leather to visit (they will charge if you allow the kids to do any leatherwork approx. $2 per scout) You don’t have to have a special guest every meeting but mix it up so that every meeting isn’t the same ole thing....

6. Have fun with the theme Dress up in a character. My oldest son’s Cubmaster did this and the kids loved it. He dressed as Dr. Seuss, Abe Lincoln, and many more. Be creative Know your audience – choose things you know the boys enjoy Brainstorm with your committee for ideas- you don’t have to do it alone!

7. Where to get ideas? Baloo’s Bugle is great! They have a almost monthly newsletter that goes along with National’s themes and has lots of great ideas for games, stories, etc. Usscouts.org/bbugle.asp Monthly Roundtable meetings always has great ideas for your Pack and Den meetings Scouting Magazine Google – I have many times googled a theme for ideas or just general ideas to keep things exciting.

8. Putting it all Together Who is your guest and what will they be doing – if there will be a interactive activity with the scouts you may want to slot this for last. Have your den leaders present all den related awards – advancement beads/belt loops. This way you are keeping things moving and also gives each den the opportunity to share what all they worked on or visited that month. As Cubmaster I only handed out rank awards, summertime pack awards, popcorn awards, etc.

9. Sample Pack Meeting Agenda ~ Opening (alternate your dens to do flags) ~ Brief discussion of theme – allow boys to share what they have learned ~ Announcements ~ Awards/sharing By Den then Pack awards ~ Skit by Den 4 ~ Reminders ~ Guest Speaker (if no speaker do a interactive story) ~ Closing (Cubmaster Minute)

10. Where is Your Home Divide the audience into two groups and have them respond to the following key words: Home: "Home on the Range" United States: "This Land is your Land" Be it ever so humble, there's no place like HOME. No matter where in the UNITED STATES you may roam. You may travel all over the UNITED STATES, But your HOME state with you always rates. Some choose to roam while others stay, Always in their HOME state 'til their dying day. No matter in what part of the UNITED STATES your HOME state may be, There's one thing everyone says you see, And everybody I'm sure will remember that. HOME is where you hang your hat! --Bay Area Council Pow Wow, 1994

11. Cubmaster Minute Leading the Way Alice, Golden Empire Council Robert Baden-Powell knew that “No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way.” Let’s each make sure that OUR tracks lead others in the right pathway – towards being a good citizen!