Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Pack 118!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a fun week off from school.  Now that 2017 is upon us, it's back to school, back to scouts, and back to the fun!!

Keep an eye on your inboxes as the January Cub Scout Courier will be emailed to everyone within the next day or so.  We have a ton of fun stuff coming up in the next couple months so please be marking your calendars with all the important dates!

Happy Fall!

We hope now that all the dens have had a chance to have a few meetings that everyone is having a great time so far in scouts!  We have lots of new boys this year so we're excited to show them what we're all about!  Keep in mind that anyone who still wishes to join, may do so at any point during the year.  Our doors are always open!

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our kickball game a couple weeks ago.  We certainly hope everyone had a good time, even though it was dark!  Our monthly newsletter, the Cub Scout Courier, has been mailed out to everyone.  Please take a moment to look over this newsletter as it will keep you up to date on what's going on with events, fundraising, reminders, etc.  If you'd prefer to receive this newsletter electronically, please email our cubmaster, Amy LaRoche, at 49all80@gmail.com

We recently had our monthly pack committee meeting and it came to our attention that our adult membership is starting to be depleated.  We are putting the plea out to all our families, if you'd like to try serving on our committee, please feel free to visit at our next meeting, which will be held on Friday, November 11 starting at 6:30pm.  Meetings usually last about an hour and a half.  We plan all the pack events, fundraisers, field trips, etc, but we also discuss new ways to keep the program fun and exciting for the boys.  We have some key positions we are trying desperately to fill such as our secretary and treasurer positions as well as our pack trainer position.  If a position sounds too daunting to you, we will always welcome new members to our group to simply participate in idea sharing and discussion.  If you'd like more information about our committee, you can email our committee chair, Melissa Brown, at melissabrownster@gmail.com

Our next pack meeting is our Cake Bake Auction, being held on Tuesday, November 1 at 6:30pm.  (Information is detailed in your Cub Scout Courier) We hope to see everyone there!

Den meeting schedules

We wanted to make everyone aware of a few changes to weekly den meeting schedules and we want to apologize for all the confusion regarding this.  Please see your den's specific page to see the correct den meeting day and time.  

Also, please watch your mailboxes as the October edition of the cub scout courier will be mailed out early this week.  

For all of our new families, welcome to pack 118!  If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Amy LaRoche, our cubmaster at the following email 49ALL80@gmail.com

Registration Continued

Welcome back to scouts, everyone!!

Did you miss our registration dates last week?  Still interested in signing up for cub scouts?  Not a problem!!  We will welcome boys any time of year!  Most of our dens begin meetings this week, so if you'd like to still register, simply come to one of the meetings.  If you'd like more information, you can email our Cubmaster, Amy LaRoche at 49ALL80@gmail.com

It's going to be a great year!!

Cub scout Registration Dates

Happy back to school everyone!

With school back in session it's time to start thinking about Pack 118 Cub Scout fun again!  We will be holding 2 registration nights this year.  The first one will be on Tuesday, September 13 from 6:30-7:30pm behind the school and we will also be at the school's open house on Wednesday, September 14 from 6-7.  

The cost for registration this year is $30 for returning scouts and $45 for boys joining the pack this year.  (the $45 includes a hat and neckerchief that are part of the uniform)

Cub Scouts is open to boys in grades 1-5, with the possibility of opening it up to kindergarten boys in early 2017.  Cub Scouts have a den meeting once per week (see the den specific pages to find out when) and one pack meeting per month.  The cub scout program helps boys learn new, exciting things while fostering citizenship, respect, kindness, duty to others.  We have fun outings, camp outs, our pinewood derby, and other special guests and activities.  

If you have any questions about registration or cub scouts in general, don't hesitate to contact Amy LaRoche at 49ALL80@gmail.com  You can also "like" us on Facebook under Cub Scout Pack 118

We're all looking forward to another fun year!

**Have a boy in 6th grade or older that's interested in scouts?  Check out boy scout troop 118 on Facebook under West Brookfield Boy Scout Troop 118 for more information

Yay Summer!

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!  The weather has been awesome which certainly helps with the outdoor fun!

Summer camp has begun for some of our campers, and already we're getting some interesting feedback.  If you have yet to attend day camp, which at this point is most of you, please leave plenty of time for the drop off/pick up.  Granted, it's only their second week with this procedure, so maybe by week 5 they'll have it figured out, but right now, I'm being told that it's a nightmare of a process.  Allow yourself plenty of time when getting to camp and when arriving in the afternoon to pick up.  

MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER YOUR MED FORMS when attending day camp!!

We can't wait to hear about all the fun so make sure you keep us posted!

For any of you parents that will be attending, make sure you do your online Youth Protection Training.  If you need to do it still, here's the link:  https://my.scouting.org/  Print out your certificate at the end and bring it to camp with you.  Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Family Camp out/Graduation

Friday, June 10 at 6pm-Sunday, June 12 at 10am

Graduation is Saturday, June 11 at 7pm

Treasure Valley Scout Reservation

Below is our camp out food list.  As people sign up for things, this page will be updated so check back often.  

FOOD LIST--

Dave Chaplin--3 packages of hot dogs (needed by noon Sat)

Jason Kupfer--3 packages of hot dogs (needed by noon Sat)

Jaiden Butler--48 hot dog rolls (needed by noon Sat), 2 bags of shredded lettuce (needed by 4pm Sat)

Wyatt Fay--2 bags of frozen mixed vegetables, 2 containers of sour cream, 1 bag of potatoes (needed by 4pm Sat)

Hunter Sherman--100 paper plates (needed by noon Sat)

Rhyan Bray--1 bottle of ketchup (needed by noon Sat)

Nick Cunningham--1 bottle of mustard, 1 small bottle of relish (needed by noon Sat), 24 lunch sized bags of cool ranch doritos (by 4pm Sat)

Ayden Stevens--100 plastic cups (needed by noon Sat), 2 packages of bacon (needed by 4pm sat)

Eric Snay--5 lbs ground beef, 2 yellow onions, 6 tomatoes (needed by 4pm Sat)

Cody Brown--2 packages of fresh mushrooms, 2 packages of sliced, cut butternut squash (needed by 4pm Sat)

Jacob Belanger--5 lbs of ground beef, 4 packets of beef stew mix, 24 lunch sized bags of regular doritos (needed by 4pm Sat)
Isaac Gravel--3 bags of potato chips (needed by noon Sat)
Kristofer McDaniel--3 jars of mild salsa, 3 cans of sliced olives (needed by 4pm Sat)

Brady & Owen Ryan--1 package napkins, 2 boxes of instant hot cocoa mix (needed by noon Sat)
Matt Carney--2 packages of taco cheese, 2 packs of bacon (needed by 4pm Sat)

HERES WHAT WE STILL NEED

2 bags of taco cheese (needed by 4pm Sat)

2 packages of bacon (by 4pm Sat)

4 boxes frozen breakfast sausage (by 4pm Sat)

2 boxes of instant cocoa mix (by 4pm Sat)

WHAT TO BRING TO THE CAMP OUT

*Your family's food item

*sleeping bag & Pillow

*air mattress (if you want one)

*extra sets of clothes

*raingear (poncho, raincoat, etc)

*toothbrush, toothpaste

*flashlight

*s'mores stuff if you want s'mores

*waterbottle filled with water

*light jacket/sweatshirt

*bug spray & sunscreen

*scout uniform

*recreation items (football, frisbee, fishing poles, etc)

*wear comfy shoes, preferably sneakers or hiking shoes.  No flipflops, sandals, crocs, etc. 

We do not need tents, as the Valley has their summer camp tents up.  These are canvas tents that do not zipper shut and they are on wooden platforms. However, if you'd like to bring your own, you certainly may.  If you do not bring an air mattress or some type of ground mat, you will be sleeping on the wooden platforms which are basically just decking.  Not super comfortable!

Memorial Day Parade

It's hard to believe it's that time of year again, but the Memorial Day Parade is just around the corner!  The West Brookfield Parade will take place on Monday, May 30 starting at 9am.  Anyone who is marching with the cub scouts should arrive at the Elementary School between 8:30 and 8:45am  IN FULL UNIFORM please!!  Wear comfy shoes, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle.  The parade lasts roughly 2 hours and finishes up at the American Legion (next to NB Savings Bank).  The Legion usually provides refreshments for the parade participants following the completion of the ceremonies.  We'd like to get as many scouts as we possibly can to march with us, as in years past we've lost a lot of scouts who'd rather march with the sports groups.  Let's show West Brookfield that we're proud to be Cub Scouts!!

The Warren Memorial Day takes place on Sunday, May 29.  If any of our boys, especially those from Warren, want to march in that parade, please let Amy or Ryan know ASAP so it can be arranged.  The parade there begins at 1pm.  

If anyone has questions, please contact us!

Treasure Hunt!!

Everybody mark your calendars for Saturday, May 14!!  We will be holding a geocaching treasure hunt pack meeting all over West Brookfield!  We will start at 3pm with an instructional session on how to use the equipment and even try a few practice finds around the common.   What is geocaching, you ask?  Geocaching is essentially a treasure hunt, but you use a handhld GPS device and a set of longitude/latitude coordinates to lead you to the treasure, or cache (typically a type of Tuppeware container).  We will be hiding some caches around the town and giving every group a GPS to use to find these caches.  Each cache will contain some surprises, but also a puzzle piece.  Once you collect all the puzzle pieces, you'll have the very last, very special, set of coordinates where a very secret prize awaits!  Parents will be very much needed for this event, as we will need adults to drive the boys from one location to the next.  Trust us when we say that geocaching is addictive and SO MUCH FUN!!

We are asking that boys wear their pack 118 t-shirts (the new ones, preferably) and their hat.  While hiding the caches, we found that the ticks are already horrible this year (we pulled off 6 total) so bug spray will be necessary, as will sunblock (because we all know it will be hot and sunny that day--at least that's what we're hoping for!)  Feel free to bring bottles of water and small snacks, as we're not really sure how long this event will last.  

If you'd like more information about geocaching, feel free to visit www.geocaching.com.  For those families wishing to do so, there are tons of geocaching GPS apps that you can download to your phone if you want to help with the search.  However, we are asking that the kids be able to do most of the navigating.  

Happy April Vacation!

Happy April Vacation, everyone!  While it may be time to take a break from your schoolwork, it's the perfect time for extra cub scout fun!  Join us for the following...

Tuesday, April 19 @ 6:30pm

State Police Academy

(follow New Braintree road into New Braintree.  You will see the academy on your left hand side.  Look for the big golf ball type thing in the sky.)
Please wear uniforms!!  We will be getting a VIP tour of the academy.  Please park out front and wait for everyone to arrive.  This is also when all camp registration forms are due to Amy!

Friday, April 22 from 9am-3pm

WB Elementary School

This is our annual day of service for the elementary school.  We will be doing a variety of service projects that Mrs. Mucha has asked that we do.  If you can come even just for an hour, please do!  If you did not participate in our Scouting for Food, this will be one way for you to receive your first rocker patch! Please wear your class B t-shirts and hat.  Bring a water bottle.  We will provide lunch for those that are there around lunch time.  We will welcome any rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows, and clippers.  You might want to bring garden gloves as well.  

Saturday, April 23 @ 2pm

West Brookfield Town Hall

This is our Arrow of Light den's crossover ceremony.  These 6 boys have been working very hard to complete all their requirements needed to cross from cub scouts into boy scouts.  Please join us as we say goodbye and wish them well.  

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Ryan at evannpd@gmail.com

Scouting For Food Routes

As promised, here is the list of the Scouting for Food routes.  Please remember that all bags and flyers need to be passed out to as many homes on your route as possible by this Saturday, April 2.  If you have any questions or concerns about your route, please email Ryan at evannpd@gmail.com.  

Jacob B--North Main St
Roman B--Pleasant St
Cody & Caleb B--Longhill Road
Talon C--Madden Road & Shea Road
Nick C--Wickaboag Valley Road
Wyatt F--Center of Town
Isaac G--New Braintree road
Keegan J--Central Street
Gage L--West St
Nathan M--Ware St
Kristofer M--Maple St & Winter St
Gabe M--Woods Rd
Nick O--Sheldon Drive and your end of New Braintree road
Dennis P--Bemis Rd
Eric S--Pierce Road
Dylan S--Lake Street & Cottage St.
Ayden S--Birch St
Morgen & Jacob S--Wigwam Rd
Richie T--Foster Hill Road
Max K--Chapman Ave & Char-Mil drive (just up the street on the opposite side of the Boy Scout meeting Hall)

Our out of town boys can collect in their own town or we can assign you a WB route.  Just let Ryan know if you need one!

Thank you everyone!  Please do your best to give out all of your bags!!

Scouting For Food

The April Cub Scout Couriers have been sent to everyone via email.  We will have some paper copies with us at scout meetings for the next week or so in case you'd like a hard copy and don't want to print it.  

Boys will be receiving some information regarding our upcoming Scouting for Food mission.  The Sharing Cupboard (the local food pantry that serves both West Brookfield and Warren) is desperately trying to fill their shelves for the spring so we're holding a food drive to help them out.  Boys will each receive 20 paper bags (35 for families with 2 or more scouts), flyers for each bag, an information sheet, and an assigned route.  The principle is pretty simple.  Boys staple flyers to the bags and then boys and parents drop off bags to houses on their route (in most cases their own neighborhood) by Saturday, April 2.  Then, on Saturday, April 9, families will go back to the homes they dropped bags off to and pick up the bags that are hopefully full of donated food.  We will meet on Saturday the 9th between 11am and 12 noon at the Congregational Church which houses the Sharing cupboard to drop off all of our donations.  

Things to note...

--There should be no need to enter any homes for any reason.  Bags can be left right outside the door and will be left at the end of the driveway for pick up.  

--Boys should wear their uniforms when dropping bags off and when picking them up again. 

--If boys want to work together, that's great!  We do ask that if boys buddy up, that both routes get covered. 

--Boys from towns other than WB will not be assigned a route.  They may choose to deliver bags in their own neighborhood and then follow the pick up procedures on the 9th, or we can assign a street not yet covered in West Brookfield.  Just because boys are from out of town doesn't mean we don't want them to participate.  We certainly do!

--By midweek, all boys and their routes will be listed here on the blog.

--If you have a problem with drop off, pick up, your route, etc, please contact Ryan at evannpd@gmail.com

We want to thank everyone in advance for all the help that will be involved in this.  This is the first time we are trying this Scouting for Food in this manner, so we're going to do our best to make this work.  We will certainly be open to ideas for next year on how to improve!

Congratulations!

Many congratulations to all of our scouts for a terrific pinewood derby!  The cars looked fantastic and we certainly hope all the boys are proud of what they accomplished-trophy or not.  A huge thank you to Kelly and the bear den for putting on an awesome carnival!   A lot of hard work, time, and creativity was put in over many weeks of planning and we all certainly appreciate the efforts of the boys who had to run the games.  All that being said, we can't thank everyone enough for all your help during and after the derby.  A huge thanks to all the leaders who helped out with setting up, cleaning up, running the derby, etc.  A huge thanks to all the boy scout and high school volunteers.  A huge thanks to the parents who ran concessions, cleaned up the cafeteria, and who didn't complain (too much!) about us going way over on time.  We have the best pack around, and this is why!!  

Pinewood Derby!!!

Is this what your son's pinewood derby car looks like?  If so, it's seriously time to get started!

Remember that we will have our pinewood derby check in/inspection night on Friday, March 18th from 6pm-7:30pm in the West Brookfield Cafeteria.  Our races will be held on Saturday, March 19th starting at 3pm.  If you cannot make the check in on Friday (and remember that you can come up anytime for 5-10 minutes just to check the car in) you must be at the derby by 2:30 on Saturday so the car may be checked in.  Cars cannot race with their den once the racing has started.  

Our bear den is getting super excited because they will be putting on a carnival for everyone during our derby!  They've spent months planning and making games, deciding on prizes, and choosing activities, so make sure you check it out!  We will also have some light refreshments available for sale (to benefit our campership fund).  We'll have popcorn, snocones, water, and various baked goods.  If anyone would like to bring some baked goods, please feel free to do so!

Please remember that all cars must follow the specifications that are listed on our "pinewood derby rules" page on this blog.  We WILL NOT race any cars that have wet paint or glue so do not wait until the last minute!!

Fundraiser

The cubmaster's living room is full of cardboard boxes and that can only mean 1 thing--our camp fundraiser has come in!!  If you participated in selling, Amy will have your product on Tuesday at the school.  Please head to the cafeteria at some point to pick up your items.  Be sure to look over your order carefully for any errors and let Amy know ASAP if something isn't right.  

We've gotten word that the Mohegan Council website has gone live with online camp registration.  Information will be going out to all families this weekend regarding how to sign up for camp and other general camp information.  

The pinewood derby is quickly approaching!!  Make sure to start your cars very soon.  We absolutely cannot race any cars with wet paint or glue, so starting the night before isn't a good idea!  We will have some extra cars on Tuesday for anyone who'd like to purchase a second car.  This will be the last Tuesday that cars will be available.  ($4 each)

A Few Reminders

Just a few reminders for everyone...

Tonight, February 12, is the Monster Jam event for those families that purchased tickets.  We just found out earlier this week that there will be a scout clinic starting at 5:15pm.  The boys will be able to talk to the drivers of the trucks and ask questions.  This will last until about 6pm at which time everyone will be able to find their seats.  Anyone attending the clinic should go in using door 16.  Boys should be in uniform since this is a scout event.  If not uniforms, then new pack 118 t-shirts.  

Everyone should have received a pinewood derby car.  Our race will be held on March 19 at WBES.  More details were provided in your Cub Scout Courier which was mailed earlier this week.  Please note that every car must follow the rules posted on this blog on our "pinewood derby rules" page.  Cars that don't follow these rules will not be eligible to win prizes.  We have a few extra cars left if anyone would like to purchase one to make.  We do have a sibling race as well as an adult race.  Extra cars are $4 each.  

Don't forget that our camp fundraiser (selling nuts, candy, snacks, etc) is currently in full swing.  ALL money and order forms are due to Amy NO LATER THAN Tuesday, February 23.  If you haven't started selling yet and you want to, please contact Amy at 49ALL80@gmail.com  Scouts will receive a 50% profit of anything they sell to put toward summer camp.  

Our Blue and Gold Banquet was awesome! A huge thank you to everyone who joined in our celebration!  Have a happy vacation week, everyone!

Don't forget that our Blue and Gold Banquet is coming up super fast on February 6!  Everyone should have gotten this invitation in the mail along with 5 tickets.  These 5 tickets have been allotted to each family so that we can keep track of how many people we will have attending (due to the fact that the Town Hall can only  hold so many people due to fire codes).  If you need more than 5 tickets, you MUST email Ryan at evannpd@charter.net to request extras.  Extras will be given out on a first come, first served basis.  Any family not needing all 5 tickets should please return any extras to Ryan or Amy no later than February 2 so that they may be redistributed.  We hope everyone is looking forward to a fun night to celebrate our 70th year of scouting!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all our scouts on a job well done!  Everyone's boats looked great and everyone did a fantastic job racing!  We certainly  hope everyone had a great time!  Here are a couple pictures, but check out our photo gallery page or our Facebook page to see more!

Monster Jam Update

Because we had so many boys missing this past Tuesday due to the snow, we have extended our ticket payment deadline until this Tuesday, January 19.  We have sold about half of our allotted tickets, so if you're interested please see Amy ASAP to secure your spots.  Tickets are $12 each and will not be reserved until payment has been turned in.  

Also don't forget that Tuesday is our Raingutter Regatta starting at 6:30pm.  Every boy should have received a kit that they should build before Tuesday.  Please do not wait until the last minute to build your boat as any glue or paint needs time to dry before we race it.  

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at evannpd@charter.net

Extra Fun Available!

Happy New Year everyone!

We wanted to pass along some great news!  We have an opportunity to offer everyone an extra event available only to scouts and their families!  On Friday, February 12, the DCU Center in Worcester is hosting Monster Jam (which is monster trucks, for those of you curious) and they are offering a special scout ticket price.  This is an extra event for the pack, so if you want to go, great, but if you'd rather not, that's fine too.  Here's the info...

Monster Jam 2016

DCU Center, Worcester

Friday, February 12 at 7:30pm

Tickets cost $12 each

We will be reserving 50 seats, so tickets will be on a first pay first served basis.  There will be an "order form" on the bottom of the upcoming Cub Scout Couriers (to be mailed Monday) so you can fill that in and return that with payment to Amy LaRoche, NO LATER THAN JANUARY 18!!

Your tickets will not be officially yours until payment has been made. (Checks can be made out to Pack 118) If you have any questions, please email Amy at 49ALL80@gmail.com