For those of you who made it we had a great time skating this past weekend.  It was a good turnout with about 80 participants, it was cool to see all ages on the ice.  If you did not connect with me to pay your $3 per non-scout for the event please catch up with me at one of our upcoming meetings.

Tonight we have Den meetings.  Some dens will be at WES while others are at different locations.  Your Den leader will have told you already if you are meeting elsewhere.

We have extended the deadline to RSVP for Penn Basketball until Sunday.  Please let me know ASAP if you are interested.  On Monday we will be ordering the tickets.

Due to various reasons we unexpectedly have some extra spots for the Franklin Institute overnight.  Let me know ASAP if you are not on the list but would like to come.

Lastly, John Toates is organizing an extra trip in Feb to the Simeone Foundation Car Museum in Philly (located near the aiport).  The Simeone Foundation Museum (www.simeonemuseum.org) is a world class collection of racing sports cars.  According to the collector, there is nothing clearer on the effects of competition as dramatic and beautiful, as the evolution of the racing sports car.  The primary theme of the collection is the “spirit of competition” and the seven decades of evolution.  The cars are exhibited in realistic settings and the context of the venues where they actually raced.  Although I have never been I have seen it as part of a TV special and it looks like a great place to visit and the timing coincides with the boy’s planning their cars for the Pinewood Derby!

The trip will be on Feb 4th at 10am.  There will be no cost for the boy’s (or anyone under 8) - all others will be $6.  Please RSVP if you are interested in this activity.

Our upcoming schedule is as follows:

1/24 – Den Meeting (7pm @ WES)

2/4 – Simeone Foundation Museum (10am)

2/7 – Pack Meeting – Pinewood Derby Kickoff (7pm @ WES)

2/10 – Franklin Institute overnight

2/17 – Penn Basketball (7pm @ Palestra)

Ok, that is it….  Please RSVP in regards to basketball and the Simeone foundation and let me know if you would like to join the Franklin Institute overnight.

Keith

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Franklin Institute

Happy New Year!

We have a very busy next few months for Cub Scouts.  On top of the boy’s working to their rank advancements for the Blue & Gold Dinner we have ice skating, Penn basketball, and the Franklin Institute overnight.  I have a lot of important information contained in this e-mail - PLEASE read it through very carefully!

Upcoming Schedule

1/10 – Pack Meeting – Skits (7pm @ WES)

1/21 – Ice Skating (6:30pm @ Oaks)

1/24 – Den Meeting (7pm @ WES)

2/7 – Pack Meeting – Pinewood Derby Kickoff (7pm @ WES)

2/10 – Franklin Institute overnight

2/17 – Penn Basketball (7pm @ Palestra)

Ice Skating

As we have done in the past we have rented out a rink for everyone’s enjoyment.  This year we will be at Center Ice in Oaks.  Our ice time is from 6:30-8pm on Jan 12st.  We will likely free skate for the first hour and then organize a broom ball game for the final 30 mins for those who are interested (please bring your own broom if you want to participate).  There will still be room on the ice for those who just want to skate the whole time.  As always siblings and parents are welcome to participate.  There will be a nominal fee ($3) for non-scouts to skate.  There is no charge for scouts or for rentals.  Please RSVP to me with the number of scouts and non-scouts and if possible bring your payment to the pack meeting on the 10^th.

Franklin Institute

We have filled up our 100 spaces and then some.  We are up to 105 people attending which is terrific.  I believe there is still time to get in, but you need to let me know ASAP.  I will be sending out a separate message to all who signed up to confirm and to share information about the trip.

Penn Basketball

We have booked a large group of tickets to the University of Penn basketball game vs. Cornell on Feb 17^th.  The game starts at 7pm and will be at the Palestra.  As always siblings and of course parents are welcome to join us.  Tickets will be $6 for non-scouts.  There is no charge for scouts.  Please RSVP to me with the number of scouts and non-scouts by Jan 16^th so that we can ensure we have enough tickets.

Blue & Gold Dinner

We have the Blue & Gold dinner coming up in late March.  This event only happens with a lot of help from parent volunteers.  Many of the parents that helped in the last couple of years have moved on so we really need a number of you to step in and help out.  We do have a couple of returning parents for continuity but we need your help.  Please let me know if you are willing to help.  We will likely have a brief planning meeting during the Den meeting on Jan 24^th.

Ok, that is it….  Please RSVP in regards to skating and basketball and let me know if you are willing to help with the Blue & Gold Dinner. 

Keith

You are getting this because you signed up to attend the rock climbing activity this weekend (Dec 10^th).  We will be climbing at Vertical Extreme in Downingtown. Our session will start at 9:30am and the gym will be reserved just for us until 12noon.  I believe you can stay as long as you want after 12noon.

Click on the link to get the waiver that you need to sign and bring with you for each climber >>   Risk Waiver

I will pay for the cub scouts but will need $15 for each non-cub scout who is climbing.

I have included directions below.

If I remember correctly it is heated but not like a house so dress in some layers if it is cold outside, I expect most boys will end up climbing in pants and a t-shirt but at least have a sweatshirt or something in case.  

Lastly, if you are an adult and plan to climb please confirm with me via e-mail, I just want to make sure that I pay for the right number of people. 

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Keith

Directions

Take 202 South to Route 30 Bypass (not business 30). Go west on 30 Bypass passed the Route 100 exit to the Downingtown Business 30 exit. At light make a left onto Lancaster Avenue. Go to first light and make left on Quarry Road. At the second light, make right on to Boot Road. At next light make a right on Chestnut Street, go up and over the railroad bridge. Vertical Extreme’s entrance is the first driveway on the right, immediately on the other side of the bridge. The entrance is a hard right. If you went as far as Acorn Lane you went too far.

If you have not already, please let me know today if you plan on coming to the Rock Climbing event on the 10th.  I need to give the climbing gym a final number tomorrow.

In regards to the Franklin Institute we have filled 70 of our 100 slots.  Please let me know if you would like to reserve a spot

Keith

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday and were able to enjoy some time off from work and school.  We have a couple more meetings and one activity before the end of the year.

11/29 – Den Meeting – WES @ 7pm

12/10 – Rock Climbing – Downingtown – 9:30-12pm

12/13 – Den Meeting – WES @ 7pm

Rock climbing will be at Vertical Extreme in Downingtown.  We have rented out the facility so that it will only be Pack 284 climbing which will guarantee everyone as much climbing time as the boys want.  The facility will provide climbing harnesses to all participants as well as a group of instructors to give the boys a quick primer on climbing.  As usual the pack will pay for the boys but you are responsible for siblings or adults who want to join and climb.  Please let me know ASAP if you are interested.  We will be collecting at this Tuesday’s den meeting.  Please let me know no later than Thursday, Dec 1^st if you would like to attend.  The cost for non-scouts will be $15 per person (if you are climbing).

I’m also still collecting RSVP’s for the Franklin Institute overnight in February.  We have roughly half the spots filled so far.  The trip is the night of Feb 10^th. Reservations are required for this event and the pack has to pay up front whether we use all of our reserved spots or not.  This will be a great trip so I expect it to fill up.  Please let me know if you are interested.

Keith

Some quick reminders:

Pack meeting tonight – 7-8pm @ WES

Fort Mifflin RSVP’s are due tonight. Please let me know if you are interested and bring payment to the meeting.

The final popcorn pick is also tonight from 7-8:15pm (415 South Waterloo Rd).

Keith

Ed (Popcorn Kernel) would like to thank everyone for their help and support with the popcorn sale this year!  We again sold close to $20,000 in popcorn and raised over $7,000 for the pack to fund our activities for the year.  In addition, we raised a significant amount of money to help support other local scouts

Popcorn Pick-up:

The Toates’, have kindly let the scouts use their garage to warehouse the popcorn.  Now we need to distribute the popcorn and get it out of their garage.  We have arranged the following two dates to pick-up your popcorn orders.

The popcorn can be picked up at: 415 South Waterloo Rd. 

The pick-up dates are: 

1) Sunday, November, 13th from 1:00- 4:00pm. *** Preferred date****

2) Tuesday, November 15th from 7-8:15pm (This will be during our regular Tuesday meeting).

If you haven’t paid, please bring cash and checks to settle up. Also, your original forms will be returned to you.  Prizes have been ordered and will be distributed as soon as they arrive.

In addition please remember to let me know about your interest in the Fort Mifflin trip on the 19th as well as the Franklin Institute overnight in Feb. 

Keith

What a difference a week makes.  One weekend we have 4-5 inches of snow and the next we are outside playing soccer/baseball in shorts and t-shirt.  I hope that everyone’s lives have returned to normal from all the power outages in the area.

I have attached a modified schedule for the rest of the year.  We moved some items around a bit in order to make some different events work out.  The schedule is pretty solid through February.  We will lock in March -> May in the coming months.

For this month we have:

Sun 11/13 – Popcorn Pick-up (details to follow)

Tues 11/15 – Pack Meeting @ WES

Sat 11/19 – Fort Mifflin @ 10am

Tues 11/29 – Den Meeting @ WES

On Saturday Nov 19th we will be visiting Fort Mifflin.  Fort Mifflin is located near the airport and easy to get to.  We have arranged for a special program for the pack which will start at 10am and continue until 4pm (or as long as you choose to stay).  When we arrive we will be met by our own personal Uniformed Interpretive Guide.  We will get to march into the Fort to participate in the Fort Mifflin flag raising ceremony.  We will then be given a tour of the entire Fort and then a uniform and weapons demonstration (including a cannon demonstration).  We also expect some additional activities including a scavenger hunt.  I would encourage you to bring a bag lunch and have a picnic if the weather is nice.  More information can be found at http://fortmifflin.us.  As always, all family members are invited.  The scouts will be covered by the pack, other family members are $10 per person.  Please RSVP no later than the 15^th so I can coordinate with the staff at the fort (the sooner the better).

Thinking ahead, we have booked our trip to the Franklin Institute for the night of Feb 10^th.  Reservations are required for this event and the pack has to pay up front whether we use all of our reserved spots or not.  As of this time we have reserved 100 spots.  These will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.  I can likely get more if needed but the longer we wait to try the harder it will be.  This will be a great trip so I expect it to fill up.  More details will come soon but if you are interested in reserving a spot let me know.

Let me know about Fort Mifflin and look for an e-mail soon in regards to popcorn pickup.

Keith

Our next two meetings are Den Meetings at Wayne Elementary.  They are on Oct 11^th and Oct 25^th from 7-8pm.

In between we have our trip(s) to Hawk Mountain (http://www.hawkmountain.org/).  Hawk Mountain is located in Kempton, PA which is about 80 mins from Wayne. 

Founded in 1934, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is the world’s first refuge for birds of prey and an international center for raptor conservation.  The 2,600-acre mountaintop preserve offers incredible scenic overlooks, eight miles of trail, a Visitor Center, native plant garden, and more.  If you look at the website you can see the birds that are spotted each day during the fall migration which is taking place right now.  Along with many different hawks you will see mention of bald eagles, osprey, golden eagles, falcons, etc…

We are targeting our visit to coincide with a 2pm showing of their fascinating Raptor’s Up Close! Program which offers the chance to see a live hawk, falcon or owl, and to learn what puts these winged predators at the top of nature’s food chain.  We then intend a short walk to the South Lookout and a longer ¾ mile hike to the North Lookout where the majority of the sightings and watching takes place.  Although we will not formally do so as a group there are many other great hikes that you can do during our visit.

We are arranging two trips to try and help everyone work around sports and other commitments.  We will have a Saturday trip for which you should plan on leaving the Wayne area at about 12noon so you can be there and ready for the 2pm program and then repeat that on Sunday.  As usual, admission for the scouts will be covered by the pack – siblings (6-12) will be $3 and adults $7 (I’m still working on a group rate so this might change. 

I would suggest brining a small backpack with water and binoculars if you have them.  If not, they do rent binoculars in the visitor center for a nominal fee.

Please let me know by Sunday night which trip you would like to attend along with how many people will be participating.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Keith

A quick reminder that we have a Den meeting tonight at WES unless your Den leader has told you otherwise.  The meeting will start at 7pm with some quick announcements and then we will disperse to Den specific activities.

Popcorn

Store sales have gone fantastically.  We have sold at Wawa, the Vitamin Store, Walmart, and in and around Wayne.  These sales have gotten us a great start but now we need everyone to visit their neighbors, friends, relatives, etc… and make a final push over the next couple of weeks.  This is our only fundraiser of the year so it is very important that everyone chips in and does their part so that we can subsidize all of our activities.  We will have more order forms at WES tonight.

Dues

If you have not yet registered your son and/or paid your dues please try to do so tonight at WES.  Bob Higgins or I will be happy to work with you tonight to get the paperwork taken care of and give you your son’s handbook for the year in return.

Hawk Mountain

We have had a good response on Hawk Mountain and will be running two trips as planned.  I am still adding people to the list so if you haven’t responded yet and would like to go please let me know tonight or send me an e-mail ASAP.

Keith