Concord Pack 380 cub scouts sponsored by Woodside Elementary PFC in Concord, California. This page is only a supplement to the Mount Diablo Silverado Council website where council and district activities are listed for all cub scouts in the Council region.
We have our monthly Pack meeting scheduled for December 12, 2013 at 7pm at the Woodside Elementary School Multi-Use Room. We have a fun filled evening planned for our scouts.
This is our annual Christmas Pack meeting. We are asking each scout to bring two dozen cookies to exchange with the other scouts. The basic idea is that you will be able to exchange cookies with every other scout with cookies to exchange. We are also trying to make arrangements for a few boy scouts to attend the meeting.
Now onto the agenda for the meeting:
Agenda
0. Gathering Activity [make your own neckerchief slide]
1. Opening Flag Ceremony [Tiger Cubs/Bear Cubs]
2. Announcements [Cubmaster Llata]
Den meetings this month (December 18 for 4th/5th and December 19 for 1st/2nd/3rd)
A great time was had by our four Webelos who attended this event! And what an event it was. In addition to earning their Geologist, Outdoorsman, Forester and Naturalist activity pins for Webelos, our scouts had an overall great time camping out with about 200 other Webelos.
The scouts learned to make a meal in a foil, learned about making a campfire, participated in their own skits at the campfire, watched a flag retirement ceremony, got to see a great view of the new Bay Bridge, and learned a lot about nature, rocks and the outdoors.
Way to go scouts!
We had an awesome day distributing door hangers in the neighborhood around Woodside Elementary. Our scouts (and parents too) were tremendous. Below is a photo of our scouts with their leader.
Don't forget that we are meeting at the same place and at the same time next Saturday, November 16, to hopefully pick up lots and lots of food donated by our neighbors. See you next Saturday!
We are meeting this Saturday to do our annual good turn as a Pack to collect food for the local food bank. This first Saturday we will meet to distribute door hangers to the neighborhood around Woodside Elementary School. The next Saturday we will go out to collect the donated food.
What: Scouting for Food When: Saturday, November 9, 2013 at 9am Where: Meet at Woodside Elementary School parking lot
We are assigned a specific area around Woodside Elementary School. The area that we cover has almost 400 homes.
Scouts should wear their Class A uniforms. A light jacket or sweat shirt is advisable for the first part of the morning. Wear comfortable sneakers good for walking. We will do this rain or shine so please come prepared for the weather.
We will provide some pastries/danishes and juice to get us going in the morning.
Just show up! No need to bring anything. This is one of our more important community activites as a pack so we are counting on maximum participation by our scouts.
The food that we collect goes to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. The following are some facts about the food bank and Scouting for Food:
The warehouse can have up to 1.5 million pounds of food at one time on-hand.
They turn over the food five or six times in one year with this amount of food equal to the amount of food that can fill up about 70 train cars.
The food bank serves about 132,000 people each month. This is more than the population of Concord.
The food bank also hands out toys, bicycles and other items for kids.
One of their unusual donations was a very large shipment of M&M peanuts.
Another memorable donation was a very large shipment of stuffed animals.
They have been able to cut back on how much they spend on electricity by installing $700,000 of solar panels on their roof.
They have very large drive-in refrigerators that they keep at about 40 degrees.
They also have a very large freezer that they keep at something like 7 degrees below ze
In 2010, Scouting for Food brought in 165,000 pounds of food. This effort helps the food bank make it through the holidays to help those in need.
As you can see this is a tremendous community activity that is undertaken by scouts each year.
We have our monthly Pack meeting scheduled for October 10, 2013 at 7pm at the Woodside Elementary School Multi-Use Room. We have a fun filled evening planned for our scouts.
Our pack keeps growing! With the addition of Jackson to the ranks of our first year Webelos we are now up to 23 scouts. Jackson, welcome to Pack 380!
The theme for this month is Citizenship. We will have fun with citizenship at the Pack meeting and continue with the theme at our den meetings next week.
Now onto the agenda for the meeting:
Agenda
0. Gathering Activity [make your own historical U.S. flag]
1. Opening Flag Ceremony [Wolf Cubs]
2. Announcements [Cubmaster Llata]
Den Meetings this month (October 16 for 4th/5th and October 17 for 1st/2nd/3rd)
Slightly dampened, but our spirits at our fall pack campout were never higher. We even found the "hidden falls" at Hidden Falls Camp where we camped in the hills above Soquel.
Highlights of our campout in addition to the torrent of rain included salamanders, banana slugs, indoor games, knot tying, hamburgers and hotdogs, scavenger hunt, campfire program, wild mushrooms, pinecone bird feeders, leave no trace, forts, redwood trees, hiking, and the hidden falls.
The following is a short slide show of the activities from the campout.
We have our monthly pack meeting scheduled for this Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 7pm at the Woodside Elementary School Multi-Use Room.
For returning scouts and new scouts who have been able to purchase your uniforms, please come prepared looking your sharpest in your Cub Scout uniforms. For parents of returning scouts or new scouts that have already filled out application forms but haven't paid the pack fee, we would like to collect the annual pack fee of $80 at the meeting. Checks can be made out to "Pack 380."
For new families that still have not made up their mind about joining scouting, please come and check us out. We will have the full range of activities at this meeting from advancement and badge award ceremonies for a couple of our returning scouts, other awards for several scouts, a game or two, announcements about upcoming events, and even some treats. Pack leader will be on-hand to answer questions.
The following are the dens in our pack:
First Graders - Tiger Cubs, Den 1 - Den Leader TBD
Second Graders - Wolf Cubs, Den 3 - Chris Llata is Den Leader
Third Graders - Bear Cubs, Den 4 - Alicia Lang is Den Leader
Fourth Graders - First Year Webleos, Den 5 - James Lang is Den Leader
Fifth Graders, Second Year Webelos, Den 2 - Casey Emoto is Den Leader
The following is the planned agenda for the meeting:
Agenda 0. Gathering Activity 1. Opening Flag Ceremony (First Year Webelos) 2. Announcements (Cubmaster Llata)
First Den Meetings on September 18 and 19
September 20-22 Pack Campout
Popcorn Sales Event
Several Webelo Events
3. Advancement (Erik Michel) and Webelo Badge Award (Jordan Keener) 4. Awards (Awards Chair)
Summertime Pack Award
Other Awards
5. Games (Led by Bear and Wolf Cubs) 6. Raffle (Bear and Wolf Cubs) 7. Closing Flag Ceremony (Second Year Webelos and Tiger Cubs)
We have scheduled a Pack hike in Tilden Park. This will be our first event of the year after Information Day - maybe a chance to meet new scouts joining Pack 380 or interested in checking us out. Also, if your scouts have friends who might be interested in scouting, this might be a good way to learn more about scouting as our leaders plan on attending this event.
Meet at the Little Farm at 2pm. Pack a light snack and water. We will spend some time with the animals and then go on a hike. You can bring lettuce or celery only to feed the animals.
We brought the 2012-13 year for Pack 380 to a close with an awesome campout at Camp Tamarancho in Marin County. The weekend was filled with hiking, fishing, flag ceremonies, tacos, orange bomb dessert, hand-made ice cream, a B-17 motor, orienteering, map reading, waffle dogs, the Pack 380 swing, fort making, creek exploring, campfire skits and repeat-after-me songs, and wild life that included a fox, a snake, a deer, salamanders and other assorted creatures.
One of the highlights was the ice cream that the scouts made on their own with a lot of shaking and jumping. Take a small ziploc bag and fill it with half and half cream, vanilla extract, sugar and frozen berries and seal it well. Place the bag inside another larger bag and fill the larger bag with ice and rock salt (or as the box says, "ice cream salt"). Last step is to shake and shake until the mixture hardens into ice cream. As some of the scouts said, "this is the best ice cream that I've ever had and I made it myself!"
Another highlight were the waffle dogs made by our Master of the Grill, Mr. Christy. Imagine if you will a corn dog, but inside the dog is a breakfast sausage and the outside is breading from waffle mix. Now imagine making this over heat in a cast iron waffle maker as below.
These dogs were absolutely incredible!
Another big hit was the fishing at the lake that was on the campgrounds. The fish were not biting much but the scouts got plenty of time to practice their casting. On the first day, the best was could do was to catch a canoe. The second day Xander came through for us and caught a fish.
Another activity on the second day was a two to three mile hike. The highlight was tracking down the location of a B-17 9-cylinder motor that is the only remaining item from a B-17 that crashed on the site in the 1940s. The motor is located on the Redwood Trail next to a totem pole.
The orienteering featured four check-in points in total. The first point was the A-frame at one of the other camp sites. The second point was at the rifle range with the reward being water which hit the spot given the mid-day sun. At the third stop at the climbing wall were the "gummie" worms that were quite gooey again due to the mid-day heat. The final stop was the fishing hole where appropriately the reward was goldfish crackers.
The evening campfire program came together due to the leadership of our girl scout, Bonnie. In addition, several of the parents chipped in provide guidance to our scouts. The most memorable moment might have been the "tipping" of our cubmaster.
We wrapped up the final morning with a lesson on Leave No Trace. Using what they learned in the lesson, our scouts did a great job in sweeping our site to make sure that we were going to leave it in even better condition than how we found the place. Way to go scouts!
If anyone has ideas for the campout for next year, let us know!
Our scouts had a great time at Scout Day with the A's! Here's a little slide show to show some of the festivities. In addition to our Pack 380 scouts, we also had the following packs and troops represented in our group: Troop 317 (Buddy's new Boy Scout troop), Troop 484, Troop 370, Pack 444 (Owen's buddy), and Girl Scout Troop 31941.
The day started with games, crafts and other activities prior to the parade. After the parade, the scouts watched the A's come back to win a thrilling game and enjoyed snow cones, hamburgers, hot dogs, frozen lemonades, pizzas, churros, peanuts, garlic fries and other baseball food.
Thanks to Sam's mom for getting the ball rolling for our Pack to attend this fun event!
We have our monthly pack meeting scheduled for this Thursday, May 16, at 7pm at the Woodside Multi-Use Room.
Please come prepared looking your sharpest in your Cub Scout uniforms as the main activity for the meeting will be advancement of all scouts including a bridging ceremony for our two fifth grade Webelos to Boy Scouting.
We will also have a treat at the end of the meeting to celebrate the advancement of all scouts. Way to go scouts!
The following is the planned agenda for the meeting:
Agenda
0. Gathering Activity
1. Opening Flag Ceremony (Webelos)
2. Announcements, including Friends of Scouting
3. Awards
4. Bridging Ceremonies for Buddy and Patrick to Troop 317
We had great weather to plant trees with City of Concord staff and officials to commemorate the city's status as Tree City USA as presented by the Arbor Day Foundation. The city has been so designated now for 32 years now, including 31 consecutive years, the longest existing duration of any city in the Bay Area. Quite a nice accomplishment!
Six scouts along with siblings and parents made it to this event to represent Pack 380. Way to go scouts!
Our very own Cubmaster Llata is the "Tree Guy" for the City and he wanted to make sure that all of you get the chance to help green our fine city.
Concord's Arbor Day Celebration will be held Saturday, April 20 at Ygnacio Valley Park in association with Earth Day. The ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. with a tree planting. The public is invited to attend.
We have our monthly pack meeting scheduled for this Thursday at 7pm at the Woodside Multi-Use Room.
In the original schedule, our theme was Cooking, but we've improvised to make the meeting about preparing a snack or a healthy after school treat so even though we won't be cooking please come prepared with an appetite as you'll get to try your hand at making fruit salad and GORP. What is GORP? Well, be sure to come to the meeting to find out!
The following is the planned agenda for the meeting:
Agenda
0. Gathering Activity
1. Opening Flag Ceremony (Tiger Cubs)
2. Announcements and Awards
3. Food Pyramid, Healthy Snacks, and Hiking Snacks
Scouts, start your engines! Are you ready for a little racing?
Each Pack 380 scout is invited to enter one car into our annual Pinewood Derby race.
Each car must pass inspection by the official inspection committee
before it will be allowed to compete. Upon weigh-in the cars will be numbered
and held by the pinewood derby committee until the official race. Once a car passes inspection and is
entered into the race, only race committee members are allowed to touch it.
Inspection
will take place at the Pinewood Derby Weigh-In on Thursday, March 14, 2013 in
the Woodside classroom E-3 anytime between 6pm-8pm.
We will take pictures of the cars that will be used for the driver's licenses that will be granted to each scout that enters a car.
Following
are the inspection points
1. The car weight shall not exceed 5.0 ounces. The
official race scale shall be considered final.
2. The overall length of the car shall not exceed 7
inches.
3. The overall width of the car shall not exceed 2
¾ inches.
4. The car must have 1 ¾” clearance between the
wheels.
5. The car must have 3/8” clearance underneath the
body so it does not rub on the track.
6. The wood provided in the kit must be used. The
block may be shaped any way that is desired.
7. The wheels may not be cut, drilled, beveled or rounded.
You may remove the seams and imperfections from the wheels. The wheels
supplied with the kit may be replaced with BSA official wheels.
8. The axles may be polished. The axles supplied
with the kit may be replaced with BSA official axles.
9. Only dry lubricants such as graphite or powdered
teflon "white lube" will be allowed for lubricating the wheels.
10. Wheel bearings, washers or bushings are
prohibited.
11. The car must not ride on any type of springs.
12. The car must be freewheeling, with no starting
devices.
13. No loose material of any kind may be used.
14. Details such as the steering wheel, driver, decals, painting, and
interior detail are permissible as long as these details do not exceed the
maximum length, width, and weight specifications.
15. Cars will be held over night by the race marshall until race day.
At the
Pinewood Derby…
•If a car leaves its lane, at his sole discretion,
the track chairman may inspect the track and, if a track fault is found which
probably caused the initial violation, the track chairman may order the race to
be rerun after the track is repaired.
•If, during a race, no car reaches the finish line
on the track, the car which went the farthest in its lane shall be declared as
the heat winner.
Top three
fastest cars will win trophies.
Best
looking car, as determined by a vote, will win a trophy.
The
slowest car that passes the finish line will win a trophy. (aka “Turtle Race”
Winner)
Also, we will award medals to the top finisher in each den that is not a trophy winner.
Finally, we will once again award a Spirit of Scouting Award to the scout who best exemplifies the spirit of scouting.
Open Class Race - We are also going to host an open class race. This race is open to all non-scouts and even scouts who want to enter a second car. A separate trophy will be presented to the winner of the open class race. This race will take place after the scout race.
The Blue and Gold Dinner hosted by Pack 380 for scouts and families was a great success! The scouts opened the evening with gathering activities consisting of making bear claw necklaces, making glow in the dark arrow head neckerchief slides and a dot-to-dot drawing featuring 928 dots. Did anyone finish their drawing? Watch the video below for the answer.
The Blue and Gold Dinner is a birthday celebration of the scouting program in the U.S. Scouting's history goes back to the turn of the 20th century to a British Army officer, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell. He organized and led patrols of English boys that played games, went on hikes and learned about pioneering.
In 1908, he published his Scouting for Boys and scouting began to grow. At about the same time, a similar concept of scouting was taking place in America among some boys' groups. However, Boy Scouts as we know it today did not come about until an American businessman named William D. Boyce got lost in the fog during a business trip to England.
A young boy aided Boyce to his destination through the fog. This boy refused the tip Boyce offered to him and courteously explained that he was a Scout and could not accept payment for a Good Turn. Intrigued, the publisher questioned the boy about Scouting and later visited Baden-Powell as well.
Upon his return to America, Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. The Cub Scouts was organized 20 years later in 1930. The rest is history as they say.
The evening program started with "Cub Scouting is..." by the Bear Cubs. Although, the Bear Cubs were a couple boys down to illness, a couple of scouts pulled double duty and the show went on. Way to go Scouts!
After Cubmaster Llata provided the background on Blue and Gold Dinner, the Webelos took to the stage with their skit called "The Story of Cub Scout Colors" also a boy down. Luckily they were able to recruit a Bear Cub to fill in at the last minute. A few adjustments had to be made to the special head gear (no, not the kind associated with teeth) and Webelos put on a show with all the showmanship they could muster (one scout in particular showed a knack for improvising his lines like a seasoned stage performer - watch the video).
The big award for the evening was the Tiger Cubs being awarded their Bobcat Badges! Check out the video for the presentations!
Then it was time for dinner! Lines were formed. Servers took their stations. Cubmaster Llata read off announcements while the pack started dinner. More than one attendee's answer to the question about the best part of the evening was "The Food!"
After dinner and before the games and crafts stations started, the Wolf Cubs led the entire Pack in the "Blue and Gold Skit to Music" song.
After the raffle and cake, the evening was concluded with the "Cub Scout Taps" song led by the Tiger Cubs:
Sun of Gold.
Sky of Blue.
Both are gone
From our sight;
Day is through.
Do your best,
Then to rest.
Peace to you.
...until next year's Blue and Gold Dinner!
If you are interested in helping with the planning for 2014, we are seeking one or two parents to chair the planning for the 2014 Blue and Gold Dinner. Please contact Cubmaster Llata if you would like to help lead this very important event.
