Cub Scout Pack Relations

Arrow of Light Scouts crossing over from a Cub Scout pack are a troop’s most natural source of new scouts. Most of them will join some troop. Whether it’s ours depends on whether they already know our scouts and scouters by the time they choose. This playbook covers building that relationship with local packs year-round, and bringing the Arrow of Light den into the troop.

The Membership Coordinator owns this relationship on the adult side, working closely with the Scoutmaster and the troop’s Den Chiefs.

Start with National’s guide

Scouting America’s Arrow of Light-to-Scouts Transition guide is the plan we follow. It covers the troop’s responsibilities and lays out a month-by-month schedule, from August through the new scouts’ first summer camp, with who’s responsible for each step. Read the whole thing every August, before the Arrow of Light year begins. This page only covers how Troop 1607 carries it out.

Arrow of Light-to-Scouts Transition (Scouting America)

Our Packs

Pack 162 is our primary partner pack. We can also draw from Pack 15.

Year-Round Relationship

National’s plan covers the Arrow of Light year. The relationship with a pack should start well before that, so younger Cub Scouts and their families know the troop long before it’s their turn to choose.

• Know the pack’s leaders. Keep current contact info for the Cubmaster, Committee Chair, and each year’s Arrow of Light Den Leader. Leaders turn over, so check at the start of every program year.
• Get their calendar. Ask for the pack’s calendar ahead of the troop’s annual planning, so the troop can avoid conflicts and put the joint events from National’s plan on our calendar.
• Supply Den Chiefs beyond Arrow of Light. Serve younger dens too when we have scouts available.
• Offer help. The troop can run a flag ceremony, help at a Pinewood Derby or pack campout, or teach a skill for an adventure. The Chaplain Aide can present the religious emblems programs.
• Invite them in. Invite the Dens to troop events throughout the year, such as service projects, camping trips, and troop meetings.

Carrying Out the Plan

Troop Visits

• Put each den visit on the troop calendar through the Scribe, and have the PLC plan an activity the Cub Scouts can take part in.
• Pair each visiting Cub Scout with a troop scout who greets them and stays with them.
• The Membership Coordinator records every Arrow of Light family directly in the recruiting CRM, which we use in place of National’s tracking form.
• Share the troop calendar with families as the troop’s activities for the upcoming year.
• In the parent orientation, cover our costs and financial aid and summer camp along with National’s talking points.

Troop Visits for Arrow of Light Scouts (Scouting America)

Joint Campout

Arrow of Light Scouts are required to camp, and can do it with a troop, so a joint campout helps the den as much as it helps us.

Crossover

Bring scouts in uniform. Being welcomed by scouts they already know is what a crossing-over Scout will remember.

Have these ready for each crossing-over Scout, obtained from the Advancement Coordinator:

• Troop 1607 neckerchief
• Troop 1607 patch
• Southbury patch
• Green shoulder loops

Arrow of Light Crossover (Scouting America)

After Crossover

National’s plan continues through the new scouts’ first summer camp. For Troop 1607:

• Point families to Becoming a Scout, follow up with any who haven’t registered within a couple of weeks, and hand them off to New Member Onboarding.
• The Committee Chair and Scoutmaster ask new parents how they’d like to help. See The Parent’s Role.
• If a troop scout, such as a Den Chief, was the main reason a family joined, make sure they get the Recruiter Strip.