Don’t stop your Cub Scout program for summer. Summer is when boys have the most free time on their hands, and it is when they need something like Cub Scouts the most.
“But won’t our boys and leaders be out of town on vacation during the summer?” Usually they will only be gone for a couple of weeks at most during the summer. Of course, you may need to pool your leadership resources on some weeks as some of your leaders are gone, but your Pack boys and parents will be glad that your are still doing cool stuff during summer break.
Our Pack started having an active summer program two summers ago, and it has worked out great for us. It has helped us with Cub retention over the summer and has been a big boost for May recruiting.
It is a lot easier to keep your scouts coming to your scouting program in the fall if you haven’t stopped for a three-month break. They are more likely to drop out in the fall if they haven’t done anything with your Pack since last May.
Having an active summer can help with May recruiting as a lot of parents in May are looking for something for their kids to do during the summer. Cub Scouts is a great thing for boys to be doing during the summer.
Having an active summer program can qualify your boys to earn the National Summertime Pack Award (Link) and can help them earn the Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award (Link).
This link is to a good article from the May 2002 Scouting magazine on the benefits of having an active summer program. Link
Cub Scouting in the summer is great. If your Pack hasn’t started, now is the time to start.
This blog post brings up a good point. Not having an active pack in the summer is almost as bad as not having an active troop in the summer.
stevejb68
http://melrosetroop68.org/blog.html