Welcome to a new year of scouting in Pack 428! We are excited to start up our pack meetings again on the third Wednesday of each month at Ben Rush Elementary. The upcoming pack meeting on September 21st is our official start to a new year and our Joining Night, where we welcome new families to our program. Please help us get the word out! 95% of our pack is built through word-of-mouth. Invite your friends and let them know how much you love scouting! Feel free to forward them this newsletter or point them to our website: pack428.com. We are welcoming boys and girls in all grades. Many scouts start as Lions in kindergarten, but if you have a friend in a higher grade, he or she is welcome to join. It is never too late to start Cub Scouts!
The first newsletter of the year is always a long one, so please bear with me, as we cover all the important details you need to know. See below for information on Pack meetings, family camp (coming in TWO weeks!), renewing membership, parent involvement and district events.
In this issue:
- First Pack Meeting – September 21 at Ben Rush
- Family Camping at Renton Lions’ Youth Camp – September 23-25
- Pack Committee and Parent Help Needed
- Communications
- October and future events
Wednesday, September 21 from 6:30-8:00pm at Ben Rush Elementary Blacktop Area (behind the school)
Joining Night and our First Pack meeting of the New School Year – Carnival!
Leaders from Pack 428 will be available starting at 6:15 to answer any questions and help new/potential scouts fill out applications. We will present an overview of the program, answer questions and sign up new Scouts. All new families are welcome to attend and then stay for our first pack meeting of the year, our fall carnival.
The fall carnival is hosted by our own Bear Den and begins at 6:30. Thanks Bears!
Forms and Dues
Forms: If you are a returning scout, you only need to fill out a new medical form if there have been changes to your insurance or medical alerts. You can find the form here: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-001_AB.pdf. They are needed for overnight outings only, so if you’ve never filled one out, or have changes to your information, please bring them to your first overnight outing.
Dues: September is the time to pay your annual dues! Dues are $125 per scout and are due at our first pack meeting (or first den meeting if you miss the pack meeting). We still do not have an online payment option, so please bring a check payable to Pack 428. Steve Donahue, our treasurer, will be on-hand to receive your payment. We know the cost of everything is rising. We want scouts to be affordable. Scholarships are available to those who need them. Please contact Steve to apply.
September 23-25 at the Renton Lions Camp (Just Two Weeks away!)
Fall Family Campout!
Our goal as a leadership team is to offer our scouts at least two outdoor camping experiences per year. Our fall campout is at the Renton Lions Camp; our spring campout is in May (usually at Tolt-MacDonald in Carnation). These are in addition to larger district camping opportunities and day camp.
For fall camp this year, we will be camping at the Renton Lion’s Youth Camp along the Cedar River in Renton, Washington. Join your friends for an opportunity to plan skits, take a hike, cook outdoors, play field games, sing songs around the campfire and spend the night under the stars. There will be a group campfire for dens that have a cooking requirement (depending on burn ban) and of course the Bear Den will have a chance to earn their whittling chip so they can start carving soap animals or pointy sticks with their pocket knives. Bring a few bandaids… 😉
We have reserved the entire camp from Friday at 4pm, September 23 to 11am Sunday September 25. Spend one night, stay for the weekend or join us just for the day on Saturday (9:30am to dusk). See the Sign Up Genius for a more detailed schedule and additional information.
If you need a tent or other camping supplies, let us know, as many of our leaders are avid collectors of camping necessities.
Renton Lion’s Youth Camp – 21230 SE 184th St, Maple Valley, WA 98038
Sign Up Genius available from emailed newsletter.
Pack Committee and Parent Involvement
Our pack committee is made up of various parents who have volunteered to give their time and talents to support the pack. We are always in need of more volunteers. We have space for regular and occasional volunteers. Our monthly committee meetings are open to ALL parents and you are encouraged to attend! The schedule can be found on our website: https://pack428.com/leadershipmeetings/.
This year’s Pack Committee:
Cubmaster: Tomas Velazquez
Assistant Cubmaster: Henry Hahn
Assistant Cubmaster: Chris Gray
Committee Chair: Chris Hackmann
Recruiting: Melinda Gray (rotating off – volunteer needed – she will train you!)
Tech Chair: Diogo Haas
Awards: OPEN- Volunteer needed
Communications: Neeta Dhariwal
Treasurer: Steve Donahue
Boys Lion Den: OPEN – Volunteer Needed
Boys Tiger Den: OPEN – Volunteer Needed
Boys Wolf Den: Phil Allen
Boys Bear Den: Amanda Howell, assistant Mark Plesko
Boys Webelo 1: John Weale, assistant Jason Christensen
Boys Webelo 2: Nate Payne
Girls Lion: OPEN – Volunteer Needed
Girls Tiger/Wolf: Lisa Guthrie
Girls Bear/Web I: OPEN – Volunteer Needed
Girls Webelos 2: Gary Catlin, assistant Chris Hackmann
Calendar and Communications
We are always striving to provide timely communication for upcoming events without overburdening your inbox! This year we will continue our monthly newsletter with occasional reminders of upcoming events as needed. We have a Google calendar that is kept up to date, always accessible at our website, pack428.com. There are also instructions on how to subscribe directly to the calendar here: https://pack428.com/events/.
Our private Facebook group is a place where we celebrate events and achievements of the scouts and post more photos. https://www.acebook.com/groups/pack428/
Many thanks to Neeta Dhariwal for taking over the Communications Chair. This will be the last newsletter you see from my email address. Chris H. will be training me to take over the Committee Chair role when his daughter crosses over later this year.
Upcoming Events
Our October pack meeting will bring back our famous raingutter regatta. October 19th at 6:30.
Our October outing will be apple harvesting and cider pressing on October 23rd from 3:30-5:30 at Longacres Orchard in Renton. This is a brand new activity for our pack, and we are excited to try it out! More details to come.
We will attending Winter Camp at Camp Sheppard as a Pack again this year. Dates TBD, but sometime in January or February! Start getting excited for the tubing hill now!
Tentative Pack Calendar 2022-2023
| 9/21 | Pack Meeting – Fall Carnival |
| 9/23-25 | Family Camp at Renton Lions Camp |
| 10/19 | Pack Meeting – Raingutter Regatta |
| 10/23/22 | Apple harvesting and cider press |
| 11/16/22 | Pack Meeting: First Aid Kits |
| Pack Outing: TBD | |
| December | No Pack Meeting |
| — | Cards for Seniors |
| Safe parking program support | |
| 1/18 | Pack Meeting: Science Show |
| 1/20 – 1/22 | Winter Camp (Camp Sheppard) Tentative |
| Everett Silvertips Scout Night | |
| 2/15 | Pack Meeting: Crossover/Blue & Gold Celebration |
| 2/25 or 2/26 | Pack Outing: Sledding at Hyak |
| 3/15 | Pack Meeting: Fluor Engineering Challenge – Tentative |
| Pack Outing: Overnight adventure – Tentative | |
| 4/1 | Pack Outing: Scouting for Food |
| 4/19 | Pack Meeting: Pinewood Derby |
| 4/22 | Pack Outing: Bridle Trails Earth Day Scouting |
| Mariners Scout Night – Date TBD | |
| 5/17 | Pack Meeting: Rocket Building Activity |
| Rocket Launch at 60 Acres TBD | |
| Camping at TBD location | |
| 6/14 | End of Year Celebration |
Cub Scout Pack 428 