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 20th 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. Although many scouts start as Lions in kindergarten, just as many or more join in higher grades. So, if you have a friend who is interested, 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 September 30), renewing membership, parent involvement and district events.
In this issue:
- First Pack Meeting – September 20 at Ben Rush
- Family Camping at Renton Lions’ Youth Camp – September 30-October 1
- Pack Committee and Parent Involvement
- Communications
- New Parents Corner
- October and future events (Scout night with the Kraken!)
Wednesday, September 20 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 and families. This year we will have a welcome table set up to take questions and give an overview of the program. 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: To “do our best” with risk management, we are requesting medical forms from all scouts this year. We will make every effort to have these forms on hand at any scout outing and for sure at all overnight outings. Please find the forms here: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-001_AB.pdf.
Dues: September is the time to pay your annual dues! Dues are $125per scout and are due at our first pack meeting (or first den meeting if you miss the pack meeting). Or, you can even pay now! We prefer that you pay via Zelle, if at all possible: pack428treasurer@gmail.com. Please include your scouts’ name and rank (or grade). Or, you may bring a check payable to Pack 428.
Did you know that most of our dues go to BSA National and the local council? We pay $120 per scout to BSA. Fortunately, we are still able to keep annual dues as low as possible thanks to the generosity of our many volunteers who participate in corporate matching. Most of our income comes from these corporate matching programs, which enable us to provide books, neckerchiefs and slides to the scouts, as well as offer camping, monthly pack meetings, pinewood derby cars and subsidize many outings. Our pack is run and sustained by parent volunteers. We encourage you to get involved. More information about Microsoft and Google’s matching programs will be in the October newsletter. At this time we are in desperate need of a treasurer. This would be a great opportunity to get involved! Please email me if you are interested, miriam_schmidt@hotmail.com
Although we keep our dues as low as possible, we know that they are still a significant financial commitment. We want scouts to be affordable. Scholarships are available to those who need them.
September 30-October 1 at the Renton Lions Camp
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 Saturday at10am, September 30 to 11am Sunday October 1. Spend the night or join us just for the day on Saturday. 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 the pack has lots of loaner supplies.
Renton Lion’s Youth Camp – 21230 SE 184th St, Maple Valley, WA 98038
The Sign Up is in the newsletter emailed to you, or on our Facebook page.
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, and we expect every family unit to give at least 5-10 hours per year to help sustain our pack. We have several open positions below, and there are also opportunities to help lead events (a one-time commitment).
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/. Our next meeting is Wednesday, September 27 at 7:30pm, via Skype.
This year’s Pack Committee:
Cubmaster: Tomás Velázquez
Assistant Cubmaster: OPEN – Volunteer Needed
Committee Chair: Miriam Schmidt
Recruiting: Bhavika Shah
Events Planning: Kristin Dickson
Awards: Mark Plesko
Communications: OPEN- Volunteer needed
Treasurer: OPEN- Volunteer needed – We are in desperate need of a treasurer. Steve and Miriam are trying to hold it together, but it is not sustainable. Please help!
Lion Den: OPEN – Volunteer Needed
Tiger Den: Sommer Harrison
Wolf Den: Rachna Dixit
Bear Den: Phil Allen
Webelo 1: Amanda Howell, assistant Mark Plesko
Webelo 2: John Weale, assistant Jason Christensen
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/
We will also be experimenting with using Scoutbook more for communication this year, so you may get emails from different sources. Please be patient with us.
We are currently without a communications chair. This person is responsible for the newsletter and maintaining the website. I, Miriam, do not have the capacity to take this on in addition to my committee chair duties. What that means is that communication may be a bit more haphazard and less timely (and less pretty!). We are doing our best. If you are able to help the pack out by serving as our communications chair (a 3-4 hour commitment per month), please let me know.
New Parents Corner
New parents – we will have a welcome table at our first pack meeting with information for you and to answer any questions you have. Our website and the district website are great sources of information, and especially this national site, which gives an overview of the scouting program: Cub Scouts | Boy Scouts of America (scouting.org). At Pack 428, we will have a monthly pack meeting, which is all scouts (and families welcome). There is also a monthly den meeting, where scouts will work together on the requirements for their rank, which are called adventures. There are some adventures that must be completed at home each year, and your den leader will explain these to you and how to mark them as completed. The scout handbook is very thorough and will also help explain the program, so be sure to take a look once your scout receives theirs.
Your den leader is your first stop for any scouting questions. They are here to help!
Uniforms! Scouts are expected to wear their formal uniforms (called Class A uniforms) to all pack and den meetings (once you have a chance to get them). You can buy them online, but I recommend a stop to the Trading Post in Seattle, who will help you get set up with what you need: Trading Post – Chief Seattle Council (seattlebsa.org).
Welcome to the pack!
Upcoming Events and District-Led Events
Our October pack meeting will be learning about tying knots, as well as a uniform inspection and awards. October 18th at 6:30.
Our October outing will be apple harvesting and cider pressing on October 28, which was a big hit last year, and counts as a service event for the scouts. Details are being determined. Save the date!
Special Announcement! The Kraken are sponsoring a Scout Night on March 30th with special discount tickets. We aren’t able to reserve seating together as a pack, but you are welcome to attend on your own with your family (or friends from scouts). Ticket price includes a patch, as well as a small donation to the local district scout council. Here is the link to purchase tickets: https://offer.fevo.com/seattle-kraken-vs-dallas-stars-9jbvdpt-137001c
District Events: Our local BSA council also hosts many day and overnight activities, as well as keeps good tabs on scouting events in the area (e.g. the Huskees are having a Scout Day on September 9). We do our best to let you know about these events that you can sign up for on your own, but it is very challenging. Registered scouts should receive email newsletters from the district as well, but I also recommend regularly checking the district site: Home – Chief Seattle Council (seattlebsa.org).
Cub Scout Pack 428 