Blue & Gold DEADLINE

The Blue & Gold is the annual celebration of Scouting in America. Each year our 5th grade den chooses a theme to build our celebration around. This year is...

Super Scouting Sleuthy Spies - aka Cub Scout Investigations (CS)

While the event itself is a little different each year, the purpose is the same -- to come together as a Pack family and bid our Arrow of Light Scouts farewell for this will be the last event they attend as Cub Scouts.

The purpose of the Blue and Gold is to commemorate the organization of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 and to celebrate the birthday of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts organization. The banquet is traditionally held in February because Baden-Powell was born February 22, 1857. The term "Blue and Gold" is the name because those are the official colors of the Cub Scout organization. Blue represents truth and loyalty, and gold represents good cheer, happiness, and helping others.

Your den leaders should be contacting you to verify how many from your family will be attending. The cost is $3 per person with a max of $15 per family though everyone is asked to bring a side and enter a themed desert in our Cake Bake competition. 

Our Blue and Gold will be Friday, February 15, 2018 at 6:30 pm. at the United Methodist Church of Keller's Family Life Center (the gym where we hold Pack meetings).

Another fun component we like to incorporate during dinner is our annual slide show. To make this successful, we need your photos! Please upload any photos you've taken of your scout at den meetings, Pack events, campouts, hikes or Pack meetings HERE! We want them all!!! They LOVE seeing their faces up on the screen!

Please RSVP through the links provided on the e-mail sent through Scoutbook no later than  Monday, February 1.

Remind, Verizon, Texts and Scoutbook

If you're a parent within the Keller Independent School District, you should have received the e-mail notification about the Remind app concerning the fee assessment they were anticipating incurring for sending SMS text messages to patrons on the Verizon Wireless network.

Fortunately for KISD, they likely have a school district plan in place allowing them to continue to send for free. However, as patrons who might be on a Verizon plan, we don't have that luxury to have a "classroom" that isn't a true instructional forum ensuring we remained in that free umbrella.

And although Remind and Verizon have apparently entered into an agreement as of today, I'm unclear if it's only for education institutions K-12 (which we clearly aren't) and, frankly, don't we all have more important things to do than research fee assessments of unnecessary apps?

Therefore, Pack 1910 is no longer going to utilize Remind at this time because Scoutbook already has a feature built in enabling us to use text notifications!  So, in essence, we have our own Remind service, we just need to ensure that our parents put their information in the system to receive those alerts.

Follow THIS plan to input your cellular information into Scoutbook and give leadership permission to send you text alerts. You will still receive the notifications via e-mail for meetings and events as usual, however, this additional text feature will enable us to ensure you are notified of any last minute changes, receive urgent event reminders and, more importantly, is available to ALL Pack leadership and NOT just the owner of our Remind account.

Thank you to Ryan Smith for creating this quick tutorial allowing our parents to make this change on their profile(s).

Parents, please update your information in the system TODAY!

Don't Mess With Texas Art Contest

Did you know that Texans ages 16-34 are the most likely to litter? We need to do all we can to motivate young Texans to keep our environment free from trash. Help Don't mess with Texas and Keep Texas Beautiful teach our future leaders the importance of litter prevention by getting involved in the Don't mess with Texas® K-12 Art Contest!

This contest is a great way to share the Don’t mess with Texas and Keep Texas Beautiful litter prevention messages with our Scouts so that they learn good habits now to last them a lifetime!

Entry deadline is April 18, 2019. There are some pretty cool prizes! I know we have some creative Scouts! Do your best and you may wind up one of the winners!

Winners will be announced May 2019.

Texas students enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade are invited to participate in the Texas Department of Transportation (“TxDOT”) and Keep Texas Beautiful (“KTB”) (collectively “Sponsors”) Don’t mess with Texas® K-12 Art Contest (“Contest”) to create artwork for the 2020 Don’t mess with Texas Calendar. Each entry will promote the Don’t mess with Texas and/or Keep Texas Beautiful litter preventioninitiatives in order to encourage the protection of our Texas roadways and environment. The purpose of the Contest is to inspire our future leaders to refrain from littering, advocate for litter prevention, and keep Texas beautiful. 

Students who create the top 13 winning designs will have their artwork assigned to a month or featured on the cover of the 2020 Don’t mess with Texas calendar. Each will also win a framed winning artwork and a $100 Visa gift card donated by Keep Texas Beautiful. All student winners and their artwork may be showcased on the Don’t mess with Texas and Keep Texas Beautiful websites and social media sites, at the 2019 Keep Texas Beautiful annual conference, in media announcements and through other channels, as appropriate.

Entry form with Official Rules can be found HERE.
Litter fact sheet can be found HERE.


Winners from the 2018 contest which are featured in the 2019 calendar can be found here:

Scout Sunday 2019

Scout Sunday is an observance of the connection between the BSA and its religious-oriented chartering partners.

As part of our commitment to giving back to our Chartered Organization, our units (Troop 1910, Crew 1910, Pack 1910 and Troop 1910) provide volunteers at each of the services held Saturday, 2/16 and Sunday, 2/17 to continually recognize the impact of Scouting within the church body of Keller UMC.

Youth will be greeters/ushers to help recognize and demonstrate our commitment to the Scout Law being Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Cheerful and Reverent.

Participation as a volunteer at our Chartered Organization on Scout Sunday qualifies Scouts to receive the Scout Sunday patch pictured above. Your family needn't be a member of the church for your Scout to participate, just a registered Scout of our Unit.  If you choose to participate in your home church as part of their Scout Sunday services, please communicate that with your den leader.

You will need to officially sign up to volunteer through a link that will be provided on the Scoutbook event so that Ms. Smariga, our Chartered Organization Representative, may track and communicate with volunteers as needed.

For those wanting to participate, full Field Uniform is required.

This year we will also have a special recognition of our Scouts who have earned their religious emblems this year with Mrs. Sheri Tull facilitating the God & Me and God & Family classes for our Unit.

Let's Get Lunar!

We get to experience the first SUPERMOON and total lunar eclipse of 2019 January 20-21. This is known as the Wolf Moon (isn't that a fun fact?!)

According to NASA, a supermoon is exactly what it sounds like -- a moon that appears brighter and larger to the human eye because it is at perigree (the closest point to the Earth in its orbit.)

Another fun fact -- This full moon causes high tides globally.  GLOBALLY?  Amazing how it seems so far away but affects everyone on earth.

A lunar eclipse doesn't black out the moon; it actually creates what's sometimes called a Blood Moon.  The Earth's shadow is completely blocking the sun, but light still makes its way through creating a red cast on the moon's surface.

Do you have a budding astronomer who would like to make a Moon Phase Calendar?  Check out this fun project HERE

The Earth's shadow has three sections -- the Umbra (it's darkest central shadow), the Penumbra (the lighter exterior shadow) and the Antumbra (the space between).

The Penumbral eclipse begins first, eventually increasing in shadow density, then turning into a Penumbral eclipse again as the moon moves through its orbit. The whole thing takes over FIVE HOURS!  Oh my gosh, right?  Call me a chiropractor!

You won't need a telescope to see this one either so long as we have no freak weather systems blowing through and the skies are clear. The Penumbral eclipse begins at 8:30 pm. The total eclipse begins at 10:40 pm and is at its maximum eclipse status at 11:00 pm... and for our crazy party animals who are up reallllllllllly late, it is over at 1:48 am... well past my bedtime.

Calling All Secret Agents!

Your deadline to RSVP for the annual Blue and Gold Banquet is two weeks away!  Be sure to RSVP by the February 1 Deadline by using the links below.


Please RSVP through the form HERE to ensure adequate reserves of the main entree as well as enough supplies for everyone.

February 1 is the deadline.

We will have a BBQ dinner and are requesting sides and drinks.  The sign up form for the pot luck sides is HERE.

The cost is $3 per person with a max of $15 per family (who reside in the same household). You can pay via Payments page HERE. Please note the PayPal processing charges are worked into these amounts so if you choose to pay via PayPal there is about a $0.50 surcharge on each person to cover the costs we are charged.

Cash, check or PayPal.

2019 Pinewood Derby Theme

The theme for the 2019 Pinewood Derby has been selected and it is...

DINOSAURS!

With our Spring campout in Glen Rose where we will be hiking at Dinosaur Valley State Park and our summer District Day Camp with a dinosaur theme, it just seemed appropriate to tie it all in with our Pinewood Derby!

We will be distributing cars at the Blue & Gold Banquet in February so start brainstorming NOW with your Scout for what he wants his car to be!  For those dads that have an extra super competitive spirit, we will have an OPEN (also called an "outlaw") class for you and any siblings wanting to enter a car.

Get your creative ideas flowing now!  Lions will be given a pre-cut car to sand, paint, and decorate.  Tigers, Wolves, Bears and Webelos will be given a regular kit to cut, sand, weight and paint.

Rules packets will be posted soon.  There are height/length/weight requirements all cars must follow in order to race for awards.  We will have two workshop dates scheduled for those who may need pointers and/or access to power tools.  Be watching Scoutbook for those dates. 

NOVA Awards

We wanted to make sure you were familiar with some of the optional programs available through the BSA... specifically, the Cub Scout Nova Awards which is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program. Nova Awards are the Boy Scouts of America initiative to encourage curiosity in these integral fields of the future.

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

Nova Pi Pin

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

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. (Please note only Wolf, Bear, Webelos or AOL are eligible.)



Science: Science Everywhere – This sections helps scouts discover how science impacts our everyday life.





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







Engineering: Swing - explores engineering and simple machines such as levers.






Math:  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 the parent can be the counselor, the Supernova award requires that boys work with a council-approved mentor.

Do you work in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematical career and think you'd like to serve for our Unit as a Nova counselor for the youth seeking this award? You simply need to complete an adult membership application. However, to be a Supernova mentor, you must complete THIS application as well. All Nova counselors and Supernova mentors must have current BSA Youth Protection training and certification appropriate for the programs being administered.

To learn more about the Nova counselor and Supernova mentor roles, you can review materials HERE.

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

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

Cake Boss!

Are you and your Scout ready to take home the title of CAKE BOSS?!  Dust the flour off those aprons and start your planning now!

Each year at the Blue and Gold Banquet, we have a cake-bake competition where we ask as many Scouts as wish to participate, to create a THEMED dessert (obviously, in line with our Blue and Gold theme -- secret agent, mission impossible, super sleuth, etc.) to bring for voting (and EATING) the night of our banquet.

Our entries are the evening's dessert but not until the voting has been completed.

Be brainstorming of what you'd like to have for your scout's entry this year and see if YOU can take home the title of CAKE BOSS 2019!

Make sure you and your family have RSVP'd for the banquet, signed up for a side dish and made payment to either your den leader, our treasurer or through the Payments page on this website (PayPal).

Blue & Gold 2019

The Blue and Gold Banquet is next month! It's the annual celebration of the birth of Scouting in America as well as a themed party and chance for us to bid our Arrow of Light Scouts farewell as they leave our Unit to begin their journey in Boy Scouts!

This year's theme is Top Secret Agent!

Pack 1910's Blue & Gold Banquet is Friday, February 15, 2019 at 6:30 pm at the United Methodist Church of Keller's Family Life Center (the gym where we hold Pack meetings).

Your entire family is invited.  Full field uniform is required of Scouts.

We will have fun opportunities for your Scouts to have fun making code names, taking pictures at the photo booth and participating in the spy obstacle course. Oh, and don't forget the cake bake/dessert competition after our pot luck dinner!

Please RSVP through the form HERE to ensure adequate reserves of the main entree as well as enough supplies for everyone.

February 1 is the deadline.

We will have a BBQ dinner and are requesting sides and drinks.  The sign up form for the pot luck sides is HERE.

The cost is $3 per person with a max of $15 per family (who reside in the same household). You can pay via Payments page HERE. Please note the PayPal processing charges are worked into these amounts so if you choose to pay via PayPal there is about a $0.50 surcharge on each person to cover the costs we are charged.

It's important for every den to be represented in the planning and execution of this event so that YOUR son's den is well-versed in the planning and prep for when it's his turn!  We will need 8-10 people to help with the obstacle course, cake table, etc. You needn't be a registered committee member to help!

Pack Meeting Tomorrow

A quick reminder that TOMORROW NIGHT is our January Pack Meeting! We hope to see you all there.