Tall Tales, Shavings and Chips, Take Care of the Planet and Pinewood

Well the blog has taken a bit of a vacation, but the boys have been busy in its absence. Ben's family led us through Tall Tales and a great birthday party too! Then they took us through Shaving and Chips, and the boys did a great job listening to Ben's Dad on this important and serious subject. They earned their wood 'chit' certificate, which they will need to use a knife at the spring campout. The next Wednesday Samuel's family led the boys through the Take Care of Your Planet achievement and each boy got a recycled grocery bag. Last Saturday was the Pinewood Derby, and our Den sported many fine fine vehicles! Congrats to Lyle for winning the Den, and Colin for taking a trophy in the all-Pack division. Mr. Osborne was not ashamed to drag out his hot pink racer in the open division (but maybe he should have been). During the Derby the boys ran a concession stand, where they learned about responsibility with money and completed their Saving Well, Spending Well achievement. Nice job boys!

Our next Den meeting will be 4/22 where Troy's family will lead us through Sports. Then it's the spring campout at the Firelands May 2 and 3 (see the pack website for details on this, space is limited--www.pack3384.net). Then Jamie's family will lead us through Family Outdoor Adventure on Saturday 5/9. We will be set for achievements, but stay tuned (we might add a date or 2 for electives).

Lock In and Games

The weather was not very cooperative in January-and we had 2 den meetings snowed out. However, many of the boys attended the lockin at the Akron General Wellness Center and had loads of fun. There was rock climbing, swimming, and a wild dodgeball game that left most of the Dads pretty sore.

We finally got back together as a Den 2/11, where Josh's family led us through the Games achievement. All the boys had a great time and appreciated the snack. Lyle's Dad talked to them a bit about muscles, which together with the Lockin finished up our Building Muscles achievement.

We are doing well racking up the achievements toward the Bear Patch. It will be a busy Spring with lots of fun activities. This week we have the Blue and Gold Banquet on Wed 2/18 at 7 PM in the middle school cafeteria. Then on Saturday 2/21 we head to Ben's house for a birthday party and the Tall Tales achievment. Check out the schedule below for the rest of our year-and remember the boys can work on electives for Arrow Points with their families.

Date Achievement Family
9/24 Maps Grant's
10/22 Wildlife Grant's
11/12 What’s Cooking Alex’s
12/10 Be Prepared Alex’s
1/14 Building Muscles Lyle'
2/11 Games Josh's
2/18 Blue and Gold Banquet Pack
2/21 Tall Tales Ben's

2/25 Information Please Lyle's
3/11 Shaving and Chips Ben's
3/25 Take Care of the Planet Samuel's
3/28 Pinewood Derby Middle school cafeteria
4/22 Sports Troy's
5/2 Campout at Oberlin Pack
5/9 Outdoor Adventure Jamie's
5/20

Bears Visit Copley Fire Station

Last night, Mr. Ezzie led us on an exciting tour of the Copley Fire Station. The boys got to see where firemen train, eat, sleep, and keep in shape. We also got a tour of all the vehicles and equipment, and each boy took home a hat, pencil, eraser, sticker and coloring book!

Next Wed (12/17/08) will be our pack meeting at 7 PM in the Middle School Cafeteria. This is a special one because Dr. David Ellis from NASA will be there to talk to the boys. Also-there is a special gift from the pack for each boy. Please try to make it-and remember there is a prize to the boy with the best presentation of his uniform.

Save the date: January 17 there will be a pack event at the Akron Health and Wellness Center. We will have the place to ourselves that evening-for swimming, basketball, and movies. Siblings are welcome at $12 and cub scouts will be $6.

May 1-3 will be the spring campout, and we will be traveling a little west this year. We will head out in the morning and stay over 1 night. Sorry-this campground does not allow siblings.

Cooking with the Bears!

This week we were hosted by Alex's family, who showed the boys the proper way to prepare food. All the boys got a chef's hat and apron, then they learned how to measure ingredients, wash their hands and vegetables properly, chop vegetables, and make a wrap sandwich. Everybody sat down to a feast including chips, dip, pizza, soup, candy, coffeecake, and cookies! I saw more than one Dad loosening their belt on the way out the door. Thanks so much to Alex and his family for hosting this fun and educational achievement.

Next Wed (11/19/08) we will have our pack meeting at the Middle school cafeteria (7PM). This month is our cookie bake off! Boys should prepare cookies to be judged (as much on their own as is safe). Here are the categories:

Decorated Cut-Out cookies
Giant Cookies (12-inch limit)
Bar Cookies
Traditional Round Cookies
Anything goes

EVERYTHING USED IN/ON THE COOKIES MUST BE EDIBLE.

Prizes (gift cards) awarded in each category, as well as an overall "Best in Show".

Since our normal Den meeting time falls the day before Thanksgiving, our next Den meeting will be Dec 10 at Arrowhead (630 PM).

Bears Visit Nature Realm

On Wed, 10/22/08, the Bear Den visited the Nature Realm on Smith Road in Akron. The boys got a tour of the building and a short hike led by a Metro Parks naturalist, where they learned about birds, bees, and bucks rubbing trees. Everybody who attended got a buckeye as a souvenir. Many of the boys stayed after to join the hiking club with Mr. Ahearn, where they hiked 1.3 miles in the park.

Announcements-

The Ezzie family will host our next Den meeting on Nov 12 at their house. It sounds like a load of fun-here is the description and directions:

We would like the boys to join us at our house from 6 pm - 7:30pm. Parents and siblings are also welcome to stay. Here is what we are planning.
*Boys will prepare an appetizer of veggies , make their own wrap sandwich and create or finish some type of dessert or snack

*Boys will learn about food safety, basic cooking skills, washing your hands, etc.

We will also have some soup and sandwiches, snacks etc for parents and siblings.

Our address is1581 S. Hametown Rd, Copley 330-666-0831

from Arrowhead School:

West on Copley Road through the Circlecontinue on Copley Road.South Hametown crosses Copley RoadLeft on South Hametown all the way down the street , look for mailbox #1581,just past our mailbox is an asphalt drive on Left.Turn Left on asphalt driveway (if you go straight -can't there are railroad tracks and if you go right you will be on Paxton Road)As you go Left on the asphalt driveway, go up the hill and follow the road.We are the LAST HOUSE on the LEFT.
Please come in the house from the Garage--- which will be open.
ThanksBryan and Judy Ezzie

Also, I will be sending along an email from Mr. Lejano to check on popcorn sale progress.

Thanks for the great turnout, and thanks to the Osborne family for setting up a great activity!

No Den Meeting 10/8/08

Hello-
The Cub Scout leaders met last night and made some plans that I want to pass along:

1) The Bear Den WILL NOT MEET Oct 8 (next Wed). (See below for why)
2) We will next meet with the whole pack Oct 15 at 7PM at the Copley Middle School cafeteria. Pack meetings tend to take 1-1.5 hours. Families are invited. Please make sure your scout is wearing his uniform, with the shirt tucked in.
3) At the pack meeting new scouts can fill out an application form. We also need the $40 dues fee if you have not yet paid-and you can bring that to the pack meeting.
4) On Oct 22, we will meet at the Naturealm at 4PM. After the presentation to the Bears Den, the whole pack will join us at 530 for a short hike. If your scout is not yet part of the hiking club-this will be his initiation. If he already participates, this will count toward his 5 miles to earn a hiking staff. Because we are doing these 2 events on the 22nd, we decided to cancel the Den meeting on the 8th (#1 above).
5) Popcorn for show and sell will be available for pickup at Mr. Lejano's house this Sat (10/4) after 1PM. I will send out directions to Mr. Lejano's house in a subsequent email
6) Several of you asked about this year's Pinewood Derby-it will be held in March.

That's all for now-don't hesitate to email me (londraville@gmail.com) or call (330-990-1310) if you have questions.

-Rich Londraville

First Meeting of Bear Den

Welcome to the Pack 3384 Bear Den blog! We had our first den meeting 9/24/08 and welcomed 3 new Bears-Alex, Ayman, and Nathaniel. That brings the den to 11 scouts-maybe the most in the pack. We began the meeting by welcoming the new scouts into the pack and helping them earn their Bobcat badge (parents-don't forget to go over the Child Protection Exercises with your son on p. 21 of the Bobcat Trail in the Bear handbook. If you need a uniform, you can get one at the scout store, which is 1601 S. Main St. in Akron, 330-773-4078).

After that Mr. Osborne led the boys through the map elective and Dr. Londraville talked to the parents. Finally the boys got to play with some dry ice (picture above).

Some important reminders:

This Saturday 9/27/08 from 10-2 the scouts are invited to the Bath Nature Preserve Open House. Dr. Londraville will be shocking fish in the stream at 12 noon, and there are many other activities for the scouts. Directions here http://www3.uakron.edu/biology/fieldstation/

Oct 22 is our 'Sharing the World with Wildlife' Achievement with the Osbornes at the Naturealm in Akron. We will meet at the Naturealm at 4 PM (975 Treaty Line Rd, Akron - (330) 865-8065). We know this is early, but it was the only time they had. If you can't make it, let us know and we might be able to make arrangements to pick up your son at school.

Dues for the year are $40, which includes the book and neckerchief. If you are going to the store for the uniform and want to pick up the book and neckerchief yourself, the fee is only $30.

We will pick up popcorn at Mr. Lejano's house Oct. 4. More details to follow.

Our next den meeting will be at the pack meeting, which is 10/15 at 7 PM at the Copley Middle School.

Our tentative schedule for the year is:

Oct 22 Sharing the World with Wildlife Grant's family(4 PM).

Nov 12 What's Cooking Alex's family

Dec 10 Be Prepared Alex's family

Jan 28 Tall Tales Ben's family

Feb 11 Games Josh's family
March 11 Shaving and Chips Ben's family
March 25 Take Care of the Planet Samuel's family

April 22 Sports Troy's family

We will fill in more and I will post and updated list as available.

You can contact me anytime at londraville@gmail.com