It's really only been a couple of weeks since the last newsletter, but a lot has happened since then and we have several important announcements and lots of interesting information to share in this month's newsletter.

What do you get when you divide a gourd's circumference by its diameter?

Scouting for Food

Reporting Hours

If you have not already reported your hours for Scouting For Food, and your Den Leader has not already done it on your behalf, please be sure to report your hours ASAP.  It is extremely important that we track and report hours spent on all service projects.  This information is used by the Pack when we apply for our Journey to Excellence, and used by our Council when applying for grants and funding.  In addition, if tracked in Scoutbook, you will have a record of all of the service hours worked by your Scout during their time in Scouting.  By the time they earn their Eagle Scout award, that number will be truly impressive!  Unfortunately, Reporting Hours is a 2-Step Process, but it is important that both steps must be completed at the conclusion of Scouting for Food.

Step 1: Report the number of people and hours from your family that worked using the following form.  This information is needed for the Pack to report our hours to BSA.

https://forms.gle/JMpbaoLqtXWF8ic26

Step 2: Record the number of hours your Scout(s) worked in Scoutbook.  This is where the Scout's service history will be retained throughout their Scouting career.  Parents can also track their hours if desired.  Please see the Scoutbook Tip at the end of this newsletter for instructions for recording service in Scoutbook.

November Pack Meeting

Wednesday, November 20th @ 6:30 PM

As promised, I have revised the format for the November Pack Meeting to make it more active and fun for the Scouts.  Here is a brief outline of what to expect:

• No chairs will be set out for parents or Scouts.  Instead, at the start of the meeting, Scouts will line up by Den, similar to the way Scouts line up at Summer Camp before meals and for flag ceremonies.  Parents are welcome to set out their own chair, or they are welcome to stand behind the Scouts.
• With the exception of the lack of chairs, the opening will be the same as we have done in previous meetings.
• We are replacing the "Den Updates" with activities.  Once the opening has been completed, Dens will be dismissed to activity stations.  We will have 2 activities, each set up in two stations.  Each Den will have the opportunity to complete both activities.  
• After the activities, we will again line up by Den for any social awards followed by the closing and dismissal.

Help & Supplies Needed

The Scouts may need help from parents while completing the activities.  If at all possible, please stay with your Scout during their rotations. 

This month we will need hot glue guns to create our pinecone turkeys.  If you have one at home, please write your name on it and bring it to the meeting.  The more hot glue guns we have, the faster things will go.

Committee Meeting

We will have a committee meeting directly following the Pack Meeting.  All parents and leaders are invited to attend.  The meeting will be in the Conference Room at Good Shepherd.  We will have a movie playing in the Parish Hall for any Scouts who cannot go home with another parent or adult.

Den Updates

As mentioned above, we will not be doing Den Updates at the Pack Meetings in an effort to keep the Scouts active and engaged.  Instead, this section will become a regular part of our Monthly Newsletters. Below are updates received from Den Leaders as of the sending of this newsletter.  In the future, my goal is to include all Dens here.

Den 9 - Boy Lions

Lion Den 9 officially welcomed two new members to our Den bringing us up to 8 boys!  This month, we completed the I'll Do It Myself Adventure where we talked about all the things that we can do now by ourselves that we couldn't do when we were younger.  Using the potty was a BIG theme with the boys!  We each made a checklist of things we can do by ourselves in the morning and by following our checklist, we won't have to be reminded (over and over and over again!) by our parents to do them before leaving the house.  To stay organized for Cub Scouts, we made hangers to hold our Scout Uniform, hats, important papers and even our hiking bags so that we always know where our things are and can get them ourselves.  We ended our meeting by working on different shoelace tying methods which we will continue to practice at home with our families using two different colored pipe cleaners (not only helps to see right "lace" versus left "lace" but also holds the shape in case our little fingers drop one!) before moving to actual shoe laces.  ROAR! 

Den 7 - Tigers

The Tigers did double duty by having our Den meet at Moe's on the night of our Pack fundraiser.  While at Moe's we learned about healthy eating choices, good table manners,  and the differences between fruits and vegetables.  Before eating, we all took turns singing "Happy Birthday" twice while washing our hands.  By doing all of this, the Scouts earned their "Tiger Bites" belt loop. We are also looking forward to receiving our Bobcat badges at the next Pack Meeting! 

Dens 5 & 6 - Boy & Girl Wolfs

Wolf Den 5 and 6 focused this month on the Council Fire (Duty to Country) adventure. At our den meeting we worked in small groups to practice a flag ceremony and learn how to respectfully fold a flag. We also talked about how our community has changed over time by looking at old and more recent pictures of Penn State and Downtown State College. To finish this adventure and provide service to our community, we participated in Scouting For Food.

Den 4 - Gray's Woods Bears

The Grays Woods Bear Den worked on our Paws in Action adventure.  We learned about the history of our nation's flag and each Bear received a flag to display in their home for one month.  We learned the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance.  We made a list of emergency phone numbers and the list was provided to each Bear so that they could talk with their families about where is the best location at their house to keep emergency phone numbers.  We also discussed who we could reach out to for help if our parent was available and what information we would need to give 911. We will be visiting the State College Police Department on 11/25/19 to talk to them about the skills they use to do their jobs and how we as Bears can keep ourselves safe.  

Den 5 - Webelos

Popcorn Sale

Popcorn Prizes

Popcorn prizes have come and and will be distributed at the December Pack Meeting. 

Popcorn Money

Paying our bill to the Council is the last remaining item we need to complete in order to receive our bonus commission.  Too do that, we need all families to pay for any popcorn they ordered no later than November 20th (our November Pack Meeting).  Payments should be in a sealed envelope with the Scouts name clearly written on the envelope.  If there are multiple Scouts in the family who had popcorn orders, please submit a separate envelop and payment for each Scout.  All checks should be made payable to "BSA Pack 375."  Cash should be flattened, in denomination order and facing the same direction.  Even better would be a check from the Scout's family to cover the cash collected.  

Fundraising

Wednesday, November 20th

-  4:30-7:30 pm -

Marianna's Hoagie Delivery at Good Shepherd Church. Tables will be available if you would like to eat your hoagies before the 6:30pm Pack meeting.

Wednesday, December 18th

Way Fruit Farm fundraiser delivery. More info to come soon!

Tip of the Month

Camping Log

Did you know that you can record a Scout's Camping experiences in Scoutbook?  Not only will it be a great way to remember all of the fun adventures, it will also be valuable information when the Scout progresses through the ranks in Scouts BSA.

Calendar

Here is an updated list of Pack 375 meetings and events for the coming year. Information for Den meetings and events will be coming from your Den Leaders.

Scoutbook Bonus Tip: Instructions for subscribing to the Pack Calendar are listed in the August 2019 Newsletter, Part B.

Pumpkin Pi!

Contact Information

Cubmaster - Joe Zanghi

cubscouts375@gmail.com

(814) 862-9616