Earth Day!

Everyone on our planet has a duty and an obligation to protect it.  Sometimes a little friendly reminder is in order as well.  We live in a disposable society where everything is single-use, broken then replaced instead of repaired, convenience trumps all... but at what cost?  Earth Day, founded in 1970, is a day where we have that annual reminder to encourage one another to support sustainability, environmental protection and do more

Cub Scouts learn to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle but do we know what that really means?

Reduce -- use less. Buy reusable items so that your trash output is reduced.

Reuse -- find ways to repurpose what you have or let others reuse them -- donating old clothes is a great way to reuse things that still have lots of life in them

Recycle -- whenever possible, find ways to recycle everything you can.  

Conservation is a big part of Scouting and what a better time to focus on that than on Earth Day! 

In fact, Cub Scouts actually has a special award for dens going above and beyond to focus on that very thing -- The Cub Scout World Conservation Award.  Wolves, Bears or Webelos have the opportunity to earn this additional award.  Check out the requirements HERE.

Pack Meeting Tonight

See you guys TONIGHT for our first virtual Pack Meeting. Please be sure to check your e-mail for the log-in link and password.

Have your Scout ready with their Genius Kit Creation (click HERE for the info) so he can show how he has used everyday items in a repurposed manner to help reduce waste!

Take care and we'll see you next week. 

Indoor Scavenger Hunt

Tonight's Pack Meeting will be a great time to reconnect with some familiar faces but there's going to be one component where we need the Scouts to jump in and be ready to show us what they got... we're having an INDOOR SCAVENGER HUNT!

Print out the list and have your Scout gather the items and be ready for a fast and furious game of show-and-tell tonight as we see what everyone's found. 

Click HERE or on the image below to be taken to the download.  May the odds be ever in your favor!  See you soon. 

Scout Saver Tri-Folds SALES ARE ONGOING

We had the intention of distributing our Scout Saver Tri-Folds to each scout at our March Pack meeting but our little viral quarantine put the kibosh on that.  Have no fear, however, we are changing things up, improvising, adapting and will overcome this obstacle.

So, ladies and gents -- I'm pleased to introduce to you - Scout Savers! 

This is our new annual fundraising program that has replaced Camp Cards. This program actually provides a much better return on investment for your buyers and will allow your scouts to earn funds to pay his way through scouting. A Scout is Thrifty.

Along with the 12 coupons printed on the flyer, each Scout Saver trifold has a unique access code printed inside which the buyer can add to an app that will open up THOUSANDS of offers from vendors all over the country along.

You may pick up packs of 10 from April's porch at your convenience.  Scouts do not have to make any one-on-one contact with anyone until after the quarantine is lifted but can easily sell these and do a mailbox/porch drop off for anyone interested. The coupons are good through December 31.  

Again, cost is $10 per tri-fold and the Scout (not the Pack) will net a 50% profit on each sold. Those funds will be earmarked for YOUR SCOUT ONLY to use for his Scouting adventures (registrations, camping gear, camping fees, summer outings, overnights, etc.)

Coupons on the trifold include Dicks ($10 off $50), Costa Vida (BOGO), $5 off Shipley Do-Nuts and others. With take-out mandatory if you want to eat out, what a bargain! 

Help support you son’s scouting AND save some money! Win/Win Porch pick up from April.

We have all of April and May to sell them. I reserved 10 for each Scout to sell which will net each Scout $50 for their account.

 Sell on-line and you can text the access code to your purchasers so that there is no in-person contact.

Virtual Pack Meeting

Save the date for our first virtual Pack Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 14. Please be sure to check your e-mail for the log-in link and password.

Have your Scout ready with their Genius Kit Creation (click HERE for the info) ready to show how they have used everyday items in a repurposed manner to help reduce waste!

Take care and we'll see you next week. 

VIRTUAL Committee / Parent Meeting TOMORROW

PLEASE ATTEND TUESDAY'S COMMITTEE MEETING TO HELP THE PACK MAKE PLANS AND DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR SCOUT'S ACTIVITIES.


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

Parents are encouraged to attend and help enrich and strengthen our Pack. Topics include the elephant in the room as well as plans for our upcoming meetings and events.

RSVP on Scoutbook and then call in on your cell phone or log in on your computer. It will be a ZOOM meeting so download the app now if you haven't already! The link to the meeting agenda will be posted in the Comments field below the event on the ScoutBook calendar. We ask that you please print your own (no wasted paper) and any attachments.

The meeting is at 7pm in the convenience of your own home, TUESDAY, APRIL 7. We will be reviewing the Pack Meeting for agenda for our first Virtual meeting to be held in April, finalizing bridging plans and squaring up our Summer calendar!

Adult Leadership Training

Have downtime at home? Stay up to date on your Adult Leader Training

To ensure all youth in our Unit receive a safe and high-quality Scouting experience, the Longhorn Council considers it imperative that all registered leaders fully understand the Scouting program by taking advantage of our online courses. Make sure you are up to date on your Youth Protection, Leader Specific Training and Hazardous Weather Training.

Log in today to my.scouting.org and complete training at your leisure.

Boy Scouts of America COVID-19 Response

I know that everyone has been flooded with e-mails from any and every business you've had contact with the last 20 years concerning how they're handling their own response to the corona virus. The BSA has a website dedicated to this. If you'd like to seek out the information, please click HERE. 

Oh, and wash your hands.

Be well.

SCOTD: Soar with STEM projects

Your Scout Challenge of the Day (what better to do on a rainy overcast quarantine day, right?) is to make a paper airplane. Not just any paper airplane, however.  Keep reading.

The Frontiers of Flight Museum have been putting out some great content with STEM ideas. I'm sharing this one from their website. Today we're focusing on the family paper dart aircraft.

The first paper aircraft we will build for your paper plane fleet is called the Paper Dart. This simple design is packed with science! Learn about aerodynamics as you practice your flight skills! Check out the instruction video. Get ready - there's lots of cool science in this activity.

Print a copy of the Paper Aircraft Flight Log for recording your flights.

CHALLENGE: Post videos of your flights on Facebook and Instagram with #FOFMPaperAircraftChallenge on both our and on the Frontiers of Flight Facebook pages.

SCOTD - Life Skills: Let's Get Cooking

One life skill everyone needs is knowing how to cook. In fact, it's a critical component that grows in breadth throughout scouting.  The skills you acquire in the kitchen make you an invaluable resource at the campsite - for youth and adults.

Cooking requires so many areas of the brain.  Scouts are reading the recipe through before starting. Gathering ingredients and supplies which focuses on organization and planning.  They'll be working on math and measurements. You're bonding together which fosters communication. You could even focus on the science and chemistry if you so desire. Cooking also teaches safety with sanitation of self, supplies and no cross-contamination of cutting surfaces or utensils. You can also focus on fire safety (if that applies).

We expect Cub Scouts to become Webelos Scouts and then Boy Scouts who are responsible for taking part in meal preparations in camp every month. If they already know their way around a kitchen, they'll have enough basics to give them confidence when it's time to learn outdoor cookery.

In the Tiger Bites adventure, Tigers learn about good food choices and not-so-good choices. As well as identifying foods that would be good choices and three foods that would not be good choices. They learn by doing about the importance of hand washing before a meal and cleanup after a meal. They'll even talk about the difference between a fruit and a vegetable... finger foods... good manners and more.

In the Running With The Pack adventure, Wolves learn to demonstrate what it means to eat a balanced diet by helping to plan a healthy menu for a meal for your den or family. They'll even make a shopping list of the food used to prepare the meal.

In Bear Picnic Basket, Bears create their own cookbook including recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a nutritious snack.  They'll talk about meal planning, tools, sanitation and safety.  They'll also select and prepare snacks and more.

In the Cast Iron Chef activity, Webelos learn to plan a menu for a balanced meal as well as the often forgot, but oh so important task of determining the budget for the meal. They're even encouraged to shop for the meal components. They learn the possible cooking methods including, but not limited to a camp stove, Dutch oven, box oven, solar oven, open campfire, or charcoal grill. They, too, must demonstrate an understanding of food safety practices while preparing the meal.

So, your challenge is to earn the above adventures if you haven't already, or, just show us your mad cooking skills and post a photo of what you've made!

SCOTD - Emergency Preparedness

Be Prepared is the Boy Scout Motto and there's no time like the present to focus on just that -- being prepared.  We encourage you to work on your Emergency Preparedness award. The requirements can be found HERE. It can be earned every year though the pin is only awarded once.

There are different requirements for each rank. See below:

Cover a family fire plan and drill, and what to do if separated from the family.
Discuss a family emergency plan with the family.
Create, plan, and practice summoning help during an emergency.
Working with a first aid instructor from the American Red Cross, Emergency Care and Safety Institute, or American Heart Association go over some basic first aid they feel is appropriate. Practice how to clean and bandage a cut to your finger and a scrape to your knee.
Join a safe kids program such as McGruff Child Identification, Internet Safety, or Safety at Home.
Show and tell your family household what you have learned about preparing for emergencies.

Create a checklist to keep your home safe.
Discuss a family emergency plan with the family.
Create, plan, and practice summoning help during an emergency.
Learn emergency skills and care for choking, wounds, nosebleeds, falls, and animal bites. The emergency skills should include responses for fire safety, poisoning, water accidents, substance abuse, and more.
Join a safe kids program such as the McGruff Child Identification program. Put on a training program for your family or den on stranger awareness, Internet safety, or safety at home.
Make a presentation to your family on what you have learned about preparing for emergencies.

 

Create, plan, and practice summoning help during an emergency.
Learn how to shut off utilities to your home in an emergency.
Learn simple rescue techniques.
Learn emergency skills and care for choking, wounds, nosebleeds, falls, and animal bites. The emergency skills should include responses for fire safety, poisoning, water accidents, substance abuse, and more.
Put together a family emergency kit for use in the home.
Organize a safe kids program such as the McGruff Child Identification program. Put on a training program for your family or den on stranger awareness, Internet safety, or safety at home.
Make a small display or give a presentation for your family or den on what you have learned about preparing for emergencies.

 

Learn rescue techniques.
Build a family emergency kit, with an adult family member participating in the project.
Take a first-aid course.
Learn to survive extreme weather situations.
Learn about stranger awareness, Internet safety, or safety at home.
Give a presentation to your den on preparing for emergencies.

SCOTD - Genius Challenge

Today's Corona Cub Challenge is to gather random items for a REPURPOSING CHALLENGE!

Your challenge is to take a plastic grocery bag and go on an all-out treasure hunt through your house to find items that you can repurpose into something creative!  Look at the bottom of your toy box, in the junk drawer, garage, recycle bin...

Once you've gathered your treasures, let a parent or guardian inspect them to ensure they are not something critical to the functionality of your home...

Take those items, combine them, cut them, glue them, screw them together, tape them, paint them.... Make them into anything to do with... Scouts... you could make a camp site, a recycled cub scout, something representative of Leave No Trace... really the sky is the limit! 

I can’t wait to see what amazing and GENIUS inventions our Cub Scouts will come up with!
We will have your den tables set up at the April Pack meeting to display. Bring your creation and use the appropriate den level table to display your work. This is a lot of fun for everyone!

SUGGESTED ITEMS FOR YOUR DESIGN

• clean pill bottles with labels removed
• empty cereal boxes
• 2 liter bottles
• popsicle sticks
• string
• pipe cleaners
• paper plates
• CD
• buttons
• golf tees
• nails
• wire coat hangers
• straws
• paper clips
• empty toilet paper rolls
• plastic lids
• empty, rinsed cans of all sizes
• bandana
• dowel
• washers
• egg cartons
• tacks
• wheels
• styrofoam
• foam packing peanuts
• balloons
• empty cartons
• rubber bands

Retiring the Colors with USS Constitution

Hey everyone, head over to our Facebook page to follow the link to the USS Constitution's page. At 12 CST daily they are doing virtual tours on Facebook Live and tonight at 5:45 CST they will do the evening flag retirement.

We will have a watch party together!  So, set your phone reminders to log in and join us.  They will answer questions live during both.

If you have a Scout who needs "participation in a flag ceremony" we are in the middle of unchartered waters where we will completely follow our mantra of "DO YOUR BEST" and so, for now, if THIS is what we can do to see that they are apart of a flag ceremony, then we will take it! Therefore, make plans to join us at 5:45 CST through the Facebook Live streaming of the flag retirement.

Jump on Facebook Live tonight at 5:45 pm and watch the soldiers of the USS Constitution do their evening flag ceremony live. If you want to join for the live tour of the ship, it's at 12:00 noon (1 EST) on their facebook page.

Their direct Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ussconstitutionofficial

From their post:

By special request during today’s virtual tour, we will be going live again tonight for evening colors at 6:45 p.m. ET (545 CST) this is the ceremony where we fire our gun (cannon) play taps and lower the National Ensign (American flag) for the evening. Join us and let us know if you have a question we haven’t answered yet.

SCOTD - Start Cub Scout Bingo!

Your Cub Scout Challenge of the Day is to start working on a BINGO!  You can download the picture HERE.  (Be sure you print to full page and not just size). Let's you in action, too? Have your parents share photos of your completions and activities on our page.  Keep this on your fridge so you can check off an activity often!  

SCOTD - Knot A Problem!

Knot-tying has long been a part of the Scouting program — for good reasons. It promotes discipline and focus, and it teaches useful skills that can be used immediately. Most people can tie just one knot (the “overhand”); many Scouts know more than a dozen. So, what a better time than NOW to practice on those knots that are not only useful, but that are also a requirement once you get to Wolf and above.

Find some rope in the garage or attic or see about running to Ace Hardware and getting some rope samples. You don't need much. If it's a nylon rope, learn how to properly cauterize a nylon rope.  If it's textile rope, learn to whip the ends properly with some dental floss.

Knots aren't just for the outdoors. Think of ways you tie knots every day: your shoes... a package... a necktie

One fabulous resource is at Animated Knots.  Click HERE to open their website. It's an amazing resource.

Of course, YouTube is definitely an easy resource for this type of instruction as well and the videos can be slowed down considerably to allow you and your Scout to follow along.  Then, there's Boy's Life... here are a few good resources below.


Sheet Bend



Bowline



TAUT-LINE HITCH
To create an adjustable loop that stays in place, use the taut-line hitch. This is the knot to use for staking out the guy lines of your tent.


CLOVE HITCH
The clove hitch is a versatile knot that is often used in Scouting activities, including servings as the start or finish to many lashings.


SQUARE KNOT
The square knot can be used to join two ropes together. Generally, it works best with two ropes of the same diameter, and should not be used to hold a heavy load.


So, get to it!  Share a video or post a picture of what you've done!

SCOTD - Scout Challenge Of The Day

Let your Scouts learn how to set up their tents in the comfort of your own home and hold an INDOOR CAMPOUT!  What a great way to "camp" with allllllll the creature comforts of home.  

Put up those tents and post a picture on our Facebook page!  

SCOTD - Take a Virtual Field Trip

Today I thought you might like a link of several cool places to visit virtually.  Check it out HERE.

Or, visit some of the biggest cities virtually. HERE is one of the largest collection of 360 degree panoramic photographs!

SCOTD - The Texas Badge (Part 3)

Our Scout Challenge of The Day ---- Finish work on The Texas Badge requirements.

To continue to focus on our Texas Badge requirements, let's focus on STATE CULTURE

• Read a story about any Texas subject (fiction or non-fiction). 
• Tell what you learned from the story. 
• You could have them write the title and author HERE and record what they learned on the back. (This is optional, but would be good to reinforce what they've learned)
• Find out about the Indians who lived near your community at any time. 
• Tell about some of their history and customs. 
• HERE is a phenomenal resource for that.

If you have already done any of these requirements for another Cub Scout or Webelos Scout award, you must do something different for the Texas Badge. For example, if you visited a historical place for another Cub Scout or Webelos Scout award, you should visit a different historical place for the Texas Badge. 

Once your son has completed all of the requirements for the Texas Badge, complete PAGE ONE ONLY the application HERE and turn it into your den leader to validate the completion of the criteria for earning the badge.

SCOTD - The Texas Badge (Part 2)

Our Scout Challenge of The Day ---- Continue to work on The Texas Badge requirements.

To continue to focus on our Texas Badge requirements, let's focus on our STATE HISTORY today.

“Six flags over Texas” is the slogan used to describe the six nations that have had sovereignty over some or all of the current territory of the U.S. state of Texas:

Spain (1519–1685; 1690–1821)
France (1685–1690)
Mexico (1821–1836)
The Republic of Texas (1836–1845)
The Confederate States of America (1861–1865)
The United States of America (1845–1861; 1865–present)

The image below shows the six flags flying over the Texas State History Museum, in Austin.

• Draw the six flags of Texas.  HERE is a blank flag template to print. But please know that the flags they draw can be any size they want.
• Tell something important that happened when Texas was under each flag.
• HERE is a fantastic resource to use.
• Name a famous Texas. Tell why that person is famous, and what you like or dislike about him or her. There are a TON of these to choose from like... Stephen F. Austin or Davy Crockett (Try HERE or HERE for more ideas).
• Need a place for them to write all those fun facts down?  Print THIS HERE.
• Visit a historical place in Texas. Tell about the important events, which happened there.
• One to visit in Keller is the Mt. Gilead Cemetery located at the bend in the road (1351 Bancroft Road). It's a registered historical site. Troop 1910 helps out every Memorial Day with a flag retirement ceremony there. I encourage you to attend. HERE is the "About" page from their website.

SCOTD - The Texas Badge (Part 1)

Our Scout Challenge of The Day ---- Work on The Texas Badge requirements.

The Texas Badge is an extra badge that the boys can earn and wear as temporary insignia. In other words, it's a temporary patch that is usually hanging from the button or inserted into a plastic sleeve that is hanging from that button so that you may proudly display said awesome patch that they want to wear as part of their record of awesomeness!

How awesome that you can EARN AN AWARD just for learning some amazing things about our awesome state.


Today we'll focus on the STATE SYMBOLS

Name the State bird (printable here)
State flower (printable here)
State motto - Friendship
Sing or recite the words of "Texas, Our Texas"(printable HERE)