Committee Meeting - November 30

PARENTS WANTED!!!  PLEASE ATTEND MONDAY'S COMMITTEE MEETING TO HELP THE PACK MAKE PLANS AND DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR SON'S SCOUT ACTIVITIES.

The Pack Committee helps ensure that our Cub Scouts are offered fun-filled and meaningful events through the year. 

Parents please attend and help enrich and strengthen our Pack. Topics include upcoming pack meeting plans, assignments for the next month and upcoming large-scale activities.  

We have a few leadership roles we would love to have filled and just by coming to these meetings -- you could help the Pack tremendously!

The meeting is at 7pm at the Hallelujah Center on Monday, November 30.  Finalizing the Christmas Party and planning January's activities as well.  

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled surfing with this important announcement.  Ladies and gentlemen, the THEME for the 2016 Blue & Gold Banquet has been selected...

wait for it.....

wait for it.....

The winner is.... STAR WARS!

For those of you who may be new to the world of Cub Scouts, the Blue & Gold banquet is one of the highlights of the Cub Scout year.  It is a celebration of the anniversary (or "birthday") of Scouting.  Simplified, it's a large-scale Pack meeting with food.  On a broader scope, it's the last meeting our Webelos 2 scouts will ever come to as a Cub Scouts -- we say good by to them, their families and any leaders that are crossing over to Boy Scouts.  We have a friendly themed cake-baking competition (they should be quite interesting this year with this theme for sure!)  We have special guests.  But, the bottom line is... we have fun!  Save the date for Friday, February 19, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.  

*If you are interested in being on the Blue & Gold planning committee, please contact April Driggers.  Our Pack's protocol is that the Webelos 2 den leads the coordination since it is their sons' goodbye celebration but we will need parents in the Webelos 1 and Bear dens to learn the ways of the Force in order to replicate the program in years to come.  

STEM / NOVA Awards

Have you heard about the Cub Scouts Nova awards and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program? It is a BSA initiative to encourage boys’ curiosity in these integral fields of the future.

As part of the Cub Scouts Nova STEM program, boys can earn two different awards. The hope is that the requirements and activities for earning these awards stimulates interest in STEM-related fields and shows how science, technology, engineering and mathematics apply to everyday living and the world around them.

The NOVA Awards program has four Nova awards for Cub Scouts. Each award covers one component of STEM—science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Boys may earn a patch for the first award and a pi pin for each of the remaining three awards.


NOVA Pi Pin The NOVA awards can be earned by working with your parent or adult leader.  

There are four modules for Cub Scouts and Webelos.


Science Everywhere – This sections helps boys discover how science impacts our every day life.




Tech Talk – Boys learn how far-reaching technology is.



Swing – Swing explores engineering and simple machines such as levers.



1-2-3 Go – Cub Scouts discover how and why math is such an integral part of our daily lives.


For a more intense study of STEM topics, Cub Scouts can work on the Supernova award. 

Unlike the Nova award where you as the parent can be the counselor, the Supernova award requires that boys work with a council-approved mentor. 

To learn more about the Nova counselor and Supernova mentor roles, you can review this presentation. Check with your local council on how to become a mentor.

Our Bears and Wolves can earn the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award. Webelos earn the Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova Award. Tigers aren’t eligible for these awards.

FAQs on the STEM/NOVA experience can be found HERE.

Read, Write and Win Amazon Gift Cards!

From Boys' Life website:

Write a one-page report titled “The Best Book I Read This Year” and enter it in the Boys’ Life 2015 “Say Yes to Reading!” contest.


The book can be fiction or nonfiction. But the report has to be in your own words — 500 words tops. Enter in one of these three age categories:

• 8 years old and younger
• 9 and 10 years old
• 11 years old and older

First-place winners in each age category will receive a $100 gift card from Amazon.com. Second-place winners will receive a $75 gift card; third-place winners, a $50 gift card.

Everyone who enters will get a free patch like the one on this page. (And, yes, the patch is a temporary insignia, so it can be worn on the Boy Scout uniform shirt, on the right pocket. Proudly display it there or anywhere!) In coming years, you’ll have the opportunity to earn different patches.

The contest is open to all Boys’ Life readers. Be sure to include your name, address, age and grade in school on the entry.

Send your report, along with a business-size, self-addressed, stamped envelope, to:

Boys’ Life Reading Contest
S306
P.O. Box 152079
Irving, TX 75015-2079

Entries must be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2015 and must include entry information and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Outdoor Code

Outdoor ethics is deeply ingrained in the BSA program. No place is this more important than in the outdoors. Scouting has a long, proud tradition of conservation service to the nation. How do we preserve that tradition? By heeding the challenge in the Outdoor Code:

As an American, I will do my best to

Be clean in my outdoor manners,

Be careful with fire,

Be considerate in the outdoors, and

Be conservation-minded.

As an American I will do my best to

Be clean in my outdoor manners

• I will treat the outdoors as a heritage.
• I will take care of it for myself and others.
• I will keep my trash and garbage out of lakes, streams, fields, woods, and roadways.

Be careful with fire

• I will prevent wildfire.
• I will build my fires only where they are appropriate.
• When I have finished using a fire, I will make sure it is cold out.
• I will leave a clean fire ring, or remove all evidence of my fire.

Be considerate in the outdoors

• I will treat public and private property with respect.
• I will use low-impact methods of hiking and camping.

Be conservation minded

• I will learn how to practice good conservation of soil, waters, forests, minerals, grasslands, wildlife, and energy.
• I will urge others to do the same.

Christmas Party Plans

It's hard to believe but it's time to start thinking about CHRISTMAS already!  But hey...

So we've gotta do what we've gotta do!


As usual we have a fantastic evening planned for all our families.  We are having a Christmas Pack Pizza Party!  

Oh yes, we said pizza!  You heard that right!  There will be pizza for everyone!  NO rushing to try to eat before the Pack Meeting.  There will be food and drinks and dessert right there!

We are asking that families with last names that start with A-L to please bring bring a 2 liter of something or a gallon of something to share with everyone.  

If your last name starts with M-Z to please bring a dessert to share with everyone. 

The pack will have pizza, plates, paper goods and, of course, all the entertainment.

So, save the date for the our December Pack Meeting.  Tuesday, December 8.

• We will pass out popcorn sales winner prizes
• We will pass out boxes for the January Cubanopolis
• We will collect any outstanding funds for recharter, popcorn or t-shirt orders
• T-shirt orders will be due at December's Pack meeting.  Thank you for your patience on this.

One thing we DO have a GREAT NEED For is for YOUR PHOTOS!!!! If you can e-mail, provide them via flash drive, share them in the cloud, e-mail them one by one.  We would love to have your best snapshots to play during our slide show and it's always better when we get enough submissions to make complete den... so think of field trips, pack meetings, camping.... rockets, anything!  Send me your pictures!  Thanks so much!

  

Community Service

Pack 1910 has partnered with Community Storehouse ("CS") to help make the Christmas meals a little better and the shopping less of a burden for families in need.  As such, we are taking collections for holiday food baskets for our last community service project of 2015. Donations will be collected at or before our DECEMBER 8 PACK MEETING and taken the next day to CS.

We would like to encourage our Scouts to step it up a notch at home and do whatever extra chores around the house that they can between now and the December Pack meeting.  This will enable them to earn a little extra spending money which they could then use to purchase items to donate themselves and really take ownership of this service project.  It takes a village and everyone doing their part during the holidays to make it all work.  

Another idea that others have done is they have taken their wagon, Scout in uniform and had printed list in hand to show neighbors and TELL THEM what you are are seeking -- I would bet that most (but not all) will likely clear out their pantry for this cause.  People love the opportunity not only to help Cub Scouts but also their fellow man.  

The needed items for the Community Store are:

• Cereal
• Cake mix & frosting 
• Cookie or muffin mixes 
• Stove Top Stuffing 
• Instant Potatoes 
• Hamburger Helper or Tuna Helper 
• Soup 
• Canned Vegetables 
• Cans of Fruit 
• Gravy Mix 
• Broth 
• Canned Sweet Potatoes 
• Canned Pumpkin 
• Cranberry Sauce 
• Evaporated Milk 
• Peanut Butter 
• 2 lbs bags of Rice 
• Dried Beans 
• Pudding Mix 
• Boxed Jell-O 
• Mac N Cheese 
• Cornbread Mix 
• Ramen Noodles
• $10 food gift cards for turkeys/chickens

If you're feeling extra generous, I can tell you, too, that they are AAAAAAAAAAAALWAYS in need of bread, peanut butter and jelly.

If you would like to have a printable list to take to the grocery store.  Click HERE to be taken to a printable .pdf of the holiday list. Or, if you would like to have a printable list of snack foods they always need to feed the kids on the weekend, you can find that here. Whatever you can do, just DO because the kids in our community are counting on us!

So thank you, families of Pack 1910 for your generosity and love.  When we can come together for the greater good of the community, it just warms my heart.

DONATIONS WILL BE COLLECTED BEFORE OR AT THE PACK MEETING, TUESDAY DECEMBER 8.

Pack Meeting TOMORROW

Don't forget TOMORROW, at 6:30 Tuesday, November 10 is the November Pack meeting at the Bear Creek Park fire pit.  

Park in the parking lot by the sand volleyball court and go over the bridge to the opposite side of the creek.  The fire pit is near the running trail.  Assistant Cubmaster, Christopher Mahanna will be our fireman for the evening.

A word of safety before our event -- please do not allow any children to run near the fire.  Along the same lines, our fireman will be the only on responsible for putting **anything** in or removing anything from the fire until the flag retirement ceremony.  Parents, we would like you present beside them as they place their flag parts into the pit (safety first).    

We have a 50% chance of rain.  Which means, we also have a 50% change of NO rain. Please watch your e-mail.  If we have to reschedule due to rain, you will be notified both on the blog and through your e-mail.  Announcements regarding postponement will be made no later than 5pm.  The temperature looks good, however.  The low is only 66. That certainly beats the 30 degree temps and teen-level wind chill that we've had for the last two years!!  We are certainly hoping the odds are in our favor!

This isn't just an average campfire, this will be a flag retirement ceremony which we will attempt to make sure that ALL scouts get a part to play.  Webelos I and II need to be sure you let your den leaders know ASAP if you'll be present so they can reserve speaking lines for you.  

WHAT TO BRING:  Scouts should be sure to bring a HEADLAMP if you have one (to keep your hands free for reading), water bottles, a chair and maybe a blanket... you may need it!  

Our event will commence at 6:30 sharp.  Once the service has ended, we invite pack members and their families over for some hot chocolate and a light snack.  Thank you to our Webelos I, Attel family, for coordinating this.  Please see Monica Attel during set-up to offer assistance.

If you have yet to pick up your popcorn, it will be in April's car.  I am working on fixing errors on two orders.  I will have everything else there.

Congrats to our Webelos 2

Last month our Webelos 2 den camped overnight with Troop 1910 as part of their Arrow of Light requirements while the rest of our pack was enjoying the festivities with the Fall Festival and Haunted Hay Ride.  While there, they participated in an event called SCORE-O. 

SCORE-O an orienteering event held as a timed race where you have to navigate with your map and compass to find waypoints on a map (that you don't receive until an hour before the timer starts) each of which have different point values depending on their degree of difficulty in accessing them. 


Out of the 18 Webelos teams, Den 3 scored in 10th place.  Even more impressive is that they scored higher than 73 of the Boy Scout teams! WHOA!

Thank you again to Mr. Harmon for leading them!

Recharter

It’s time again to recharter our Pack with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).  As part of this process, each Scout and leader must register for the upcoming year.  Those that joined in September, should have already paid for this year's fees with your registration payment.

The $75 annual dues payment to Pack 1910 is made up of three components: 

1) National Dues – this fee is paid directly to the Boy Scouts of America and registers your Cub Scout for the period January through December.

• The National Dues are $25.50 ($24 registration fee plus $1.50 for accident insurance) per Cub Scout.  

• The Pack pays the national dues and insurance ($25.50) for each registered leader.

2) Boys’ Life Fee – Boy's Life is the monthly magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. It’s a great read that reinforces Scouting and the good family values that are part of our program. While registration for Boys’ Life is optional, we feel that the content is so important and relevant, we choose to make this part of your registration payment.  Therefore, this $12 fee has been incorporated into the dues as well. For more information, visit: www.boyslife.org  Boy's Life is $1 per month, so $12 annually.

3) Pack Fee – Pack 1910 charges an annual Pack Fee to help cover the cost of running the pack.  This includes leadership registration, training, advancement, facility fees and program costs. The fee is set each year by the Pack Committee. The annual Pack Fee is $37.50 per scout.  At the very basic level, this covers the handbook for each boy ($13), rank badges ($2 ea), mother's pins ($1.40), Webelos activity badges ($38 for all 20), all core adventure loops for each rank ($10 per rank), pinewood derby car ($4), rain gutter regatta kit ($5.50), the Pack 1910 unit patches ($6) and the Pack 1910 brag vest patch ($2) as well as all segment patches for participation ($0.40 ea) and all of the materials associated with monthly Pack meetings.  As you can see, there is well over $55 of tangible goods each scout receives annually just for doing what they do! This doesn't even cover the other costs... just what our BOYS receive.

These three components make the annual fee of $75.00 per year for each Cub Scout.  

However, as I'm sure you can realize, the $37.50 Pack Fee does not even begin cover the annual expenses associated with each boy in the Pack.  Thus, we rely heavily on fundraising to ensure an awesome program for our youth.  This is done by way of our annual popcorn sale.  Thank you to all of those families that participated!  You have raised about $1,500 for our pack!  We simply couldn't do this without you!

Each current family should have received an e-mail today regarding recharter.  There are several options to make your payment:  cash, check, credit card or PayPal.    

We need all dues for 2016 paid by November 15.  

Remember, the fun things we do at the Pack meetings, the prizes, awards, rank insignia, handbooks, patches and all that the pack provides is funded only by dues and fundraisers.  We budget and rely on that commitment from every family each year. 

Thank you for your assistance with the great fall paper chase!  I appreciate everyone's prompt attention to this matter.  If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours in Scouting,
April Driggers
Committee Chair
Pack 1910