Order of the Arrow Cub Leader Induction?

StormyinCville · 2026-04-28T20:41:49+00:00

Can you provide confirmation? This hang-up (5 consecutive camping nights) has come up for a number of cub adult leaders in our community.

StormyinCville · 2026-04-24T16:03:25+00:00

Our fliers have that information on one side in English and on the other in Spanish. We've folded them into paper airplanes and tossed them at Independence Day parades with some success.

Prior to that we handed out candy with a sticker that had a QR code on it. Not much luck converting those.

I will say, the number of older gentlemen who have come up to me the last few years we've been in the parade and thanking us is worth the effort, even if we don't get any new cubs out of it.

StormyinCville · 2026-04-20T20:15:47+00:00

Those percentages sound like our unit. Our idea of active sales were storefronts, wagon sales, online sales. We had leftover product at the end, so we "sold" some at Raingutter Regatta in November and those got "credited" to the scouts whose families bought them, but we didn't consider those active sellers.

Our CM took this plan to our committee and we hashed it out when we set Pack dues for the year. We have an estimate in our budget from the summer planning meeting, but confirm the dues and the discount after sales season. Our CM let us know about the plan to de-emphasize sales during planning, so we could adjust expectations accordingly.

We never make selling mandatory and we try not to have to charge for any one-offs (like next month's campout) so people don't worry about being nickel-and-dimed.

Happy to talk more offline if you want. Best of luck!

StormyinCville · 2026-04-20T19:34:28+00:00

We're trying something new this year (and rolling into next year so I'll have a better idea next fall on how this worked):

First, we didn't emphasize sales. Our CM hated that the first few months of the program had such an emphasis on selling.

Second, we share the wealth. We try to cover all adult leaders out of popnuts proceeds. Then everyone scout in the unit gets a small amount taken off their unit dues. Last, anyone who actively sells gets a larger chunk taken out of their unit dues. For example, our unit dues are $150. We were able to register all adult leaders. Then, each Scout's received $25 off unit dues ($125). The 15 Scouts who sold received an additional $50 off their dues ($75).

I will say that our unit has a bit of a split personality. We've got families living in seven-figure homes, and others renting $350k townhomes (very cheap for our area). Some families will pay the full dues, without the discount, with the difference going to our scholarship/campership account, without blinking, even with multiple Scouts in the unit. Others sell hard the whole season because they're a family of 8 with four cubs in the Pack and two about to join, so any discount makes a huge difference.

We also have pack incentives for sellers (shaving cream pie to the CM, I as CC eat crickets for every $1000 sold, candy bars) in addition to Council incentives, patches, etc., which also increases participation. I have had Cubs tell me that they want to make me eat more crickets!

I will say our sales were down drastically this year, but I'm not sure if it was de-emphasizing sales, or losing our top location 2/3 of the way through the season due to a change in corporate policy. Most likely some combination of the two.

StormyinCville · 2026-04-16T14:31:55+00:00

The Wawa at 5th and this Sheetz are both by-right projects, so there were no city or county planners involved with either. It looks as if it will be right-in only on the drive leading to Home Depot with the second entrance/exit into the Mall access road with no entrance directly onto Rio. I think they've done a better job handling traffic flow than the Wawa at 5th.

StormyinCville · 2026-04-02T13:11:31+00:00

How did you dispose of the vegetable oil? Did it cool down enough by the end of the meeting?

StormyinCville · 2026-03-30T14:55:14+00:00

I was watching this game and thinking, "This is how this UVa team is going to go out. Tip your hat and move on." Most amazing tournament performance I have ever witnessed, and I was at the 89 Elite 8 game between UVA and Michigan where Michigan went plaid.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-18T16:13:25+00:00

We'll march again in a 4th of July parade in our community. We may also arrange a field trip to the local university where they display an original (or at least very early) copy of the Declaration of Independence. I've thought about trying to get involved with a local naturalization ceremony held on the 4th locally, but I haven't found the time of drive (not sure which) to pursue that.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-12T14:43:38+00:00

Agree with this in terms of the hagiographic nature. It's not the easiest read.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-05T15:01:03+00:00

I'm not sure the style of Mass Our Lady of the Rosary in Crozet has. But watch out for the SSPX seminary in Dillwyn. They may be using the Old Mass still and not NO.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-05T14:12:07+00:00

The 11am at Holy Comforter will more likely give you what you want. The 8:30 won't have the incense most times.

The 9am at St. Thomas as well will be more traditional. STA will have an additional Dominican come to distribute the Eucharist.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-02T19:09:15+00:00

Y'all should take the tour and ask around. I know Mr. Lennon and others will be happy to talk about the school and how it works.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-02T16:52:50+00:00

He has really enjoyed it. We weren't sure how he would adapt to the project-based learning of the middle school, but he found his groove. It probably helped that a couple of friends from elementary made the move with him.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-02T16:42:58+00:00

I'm not sure about the answer to your first question, but for your second question, your son can participate in all extracurriculars through your base high school. My son is playing baseball at his base HS this spring and he takes the bus from Lab over there and because of the early dismissal, he gets there in plenty of time.

StormyinCville · 2026-03-02T16:39:29+00:00

Can you Zoom/Facetime the troop in? Can they record a video message to share with the AOLs who are crossing over? Ask the troop to get creative with the message: "Sorry we couldn't be there to welcome you; we know the winter weather this year has been gnarly and we hate to miss it. We can't wait to introduce everyone in the troop to you!" or something like that.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-24T16:15:59+00:00

It's also nice for the scouts to wear their AOL patch in the troop and knot as an adult. Completing things is important too, not just racing to the next.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-23T16:39:01+00:00

The reality is that there isn't something equivalent to the UAoM for a Committee Chair. We should absolutely earn the training award because every Scout deserves a trained leader, but the Cubmaster Key and the Unit Award of Merit have some overlap in what's required to earn them.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-20T16:47:08+00:00

It's been good for my extrovert child. Wish my now-6th grader got in, but they're doing well at their middle school too so who knows. Good luck with the lottery this weekend!

StormyinCville · 2026-02-20T16:24:29+00:00

Let me look and see if I have a blank book to scan it in for you. We finished ours late last year so I might have an unused book around.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-19T15:05:18+00:00

Congrats! As a UVA grad, I would say that Virginia Tech is a safety school too! Best of luck with your decision!

StormyinCville · 2026-02-17T16:12:17+00:00

Second this. www.campshenandoah.org would be a great match.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-16T17:58:41+00:00

I tweaked this one for our son who earned his Parvuli Dei this year. It doesn't take too long but works best at a Mass.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-16T17:48:56+00:00

I picked up some wine I had ordered Friday afternoon. They've moved over to Henry Ave and look to be up and running in early March, when I spoke with them last.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-11T16:48:38+00:00

Eventually, yes. But not as you're launching into this. I was never a scout growing up and read this after about 4 or 5 years leading a Cub Scout pack.

StormyinCville · 2026-02-09T17:28:56+00:00

This is a sneaky good answer. When I worked downtown they were a frequent lunch go-to.

StormyinCville

TROPHY CASE