A couple of notes for tomorrow.

We will start promptly at 7pm..try to be on time as I am not sure if we will be moving around in the building.
We will meet at the 2nd floor of Bower Hall. It is on the far right of the attached map. Parking is in the Kuncl Lot and you get to that right off of Eagle road (on the right hand side coming from King of Prussia road). You will turn into the road to parking between 2 white pillars.

My cell phone is 610-772-3314

Have the boys in uniform and please stress manners with them before hand.

Thanks and see you tomorrow!
Charlie

VFMA Map, Click Here –> CampusMap

A pretty interesting meeting tonight. We learned all about Tall tales and folklore (and in the process, earned achievement 4). The boys learned about folklore across the country and split into pairs to talk about their favorite tall tales and to make up their own tall tale character. I think Charlie Lihota had the most inventive one in line with what regional folklore is like: Night Hunter — A shark that can come out of the water at night, grow legs, and goes on land to feed on people. I tried to make the connection between the New Jersey Devils and the Pine Barren folklore of the Jersey Devil. But Willy Marx — loyal Flyer fan that he is — shouted me down so vigorously that I think the point was lost.

Don’t forget to use the holiday down time to get some of the requirements out of the way. Feb is around the corner.

Best
Charlie

A little crazy tonight, but we had a good time.
We had presentations of progress beads, belt loops and all of our new scouts now have their Bobcat badge (thanks to Michael Lanzone for the help and teaching).

Parents of recent Bobcats: the Scout store downtown was out of badges, so I will pick them up for the next pack meetings. I did give them a little cub scout coin and badge card as keepsakes. Please remember: you need to complete the 8th part of hte badge at the front of the book. This is the section where you need to speak with your child about safety and how to interact/protect themselves with adults.

Tonight as a den we learned about communications and “Jot it Down” — Achievements 17 b/e/f and 18 g/h

Note: send me a note if you do 17a (watch tv with your child and talk about the show) and then they will be done with 17. With that, if they have been to all of the den meetings they will have completed the SELF section. No worries if not, we have more SELF achievement den meetings coming up.

The kids learned about important of communication, ways of communicating, listening (hard one), and modes of communications (newspaper, email, websites, letters, etc). We all participated in creating a post to our pack website about what we learned:

http://www.pack284.com

Finally, get an email to Keith if you are interested in the Brandywine Battlefield outing on the 20th.

Best
Charlie

Learning about communications in our den: websites, email, newspapers, talking….

Communicating is….

Good for your mind, explains your thinking, useful, done with pictures, helpful, specific, exchanging ideas, takes at least two people, different languages, listening, EXCITING  and FUN!!

The badges they received tonight are temporary and not part of the advancement plan — just a reward to keep them inspired and motivated. If they want to wear them on their uniform it is placed on the right pocket — I recommend buying a plastic badge holder at the scout store as they will get these types of temporary badges from time to time.

Bennett received his Bobcat badge – for the new folks, please try and get through the bobcat requirements at the first part of the book. If you don’t get to it we will dedicate some time with our den chief, Michael, at the next meeting.

Finally there were some questions as to progress toward rank, a summary is here: http://www.pack284.com/for-parents/advancement-plan/ but I recommend you review the book with your son.

Best,
Charlie

We had a great turnout last night and I have to say the boys were exceptional (esp given how big we have gotten).

Besides the intros, we worked on Achievement 14 (Ride RIght — Bicycles). If you could acknowledge that your son has taken a family bike ride, then we will have completed this requirement. I also handed out a safety sheet, quiz and answer sheet. It is extra, but if your son returns the quiz next den meeting I’ll make sure they get a small patch or similar.
Requirements are in the book or here at the website: http://www.pack284.com/ranks/bear-requirements/bear-scout-achievements-list/

Your son should have also received his “class b” shirt for use on our den outings (and perhaps the corn maze since they recommend clothes that can get dirty). ALso – be sure to respond to Keith by tomorrow if you want to attend.

We actually have 4 new boys this year: Jack Coleman joined last night (we’ll get his parents on the email as soon as I have it). For the new parents, we’ll use email to communicate achievements. Please email me as your son accomplishes items in the book. I’ll give you a sense of what we’ll accomplish in the den meetings (I’ll send int he next few weeks). Scouts is a family activity and there is a family section for the Bear badge…that is good place to start. The goal is to wrap up the bear badge by Feb … but not to rush as we want to make sure the boys retain the knowledge and have a natural progression through the year (i.e. not to do the whole thing in a couple of weekends).

Also feel free to look at the electives section in the back of the book or the beltloops (see requirements here: http://www.boyscouttrail.com/cub-scouts/acad-sports.asp. We won’t award the electives (arrows) until after the Bear rank is achieved but there are some good rainy-day activities to be done and counted (just email me).

Finally, the 4 newest boys need to get their bobcat rank first. This can be easily accomplished this weekend even. Requirements are at the front of the book or here on our site: http://www.pack284.com/ranks/bobcat-requirements/

Best
Charlie

PS – A big thank you to Michael, our Den Chief.

Just a quick hello from me. I hope you and the boys had a great summer and are geared up for school and our new Scout year. We’re in the midst of planning so look for an email in the next week or two on the kick off meetings and schedule.

The Links are in London but there may be a couple of new boys this year to help fill in the ranks.

The uniform for the Bear Cub Scout is the official blue Cub Scout shirt (same as last year), Bear neckerchief, and slide. The official Bear cap and blue web belt with a Cub Scout buckle are optional. I’m also going to order some class B shirts for our den outings…if you could send me the youth sizes for your child, it is much appreciated. The Bear Handbook will be handed out as part of your registration at the kickoff/registration meeting.

As always, check the website for requirements if you want to get an idea of what Bear Rank is all about:

http://www.pack284.com/ranks/bear-requirements/ (overview)

http://www.pack284.com/ranks/bear-requirements/bear-scout-achievements-list/ (achievement reqs)

I’m also soliciting input for the website – what you’d like to see more or less of.

thanks and I look forward to another great year with your sons!

Charlie