2013 Scout Day with the A's

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!

May 16 Pack Meeting

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

5. Advancement Ceremonies for Other Cub Scouts

6.  Game/Treat

7. Closing Flag Ceremony (Bear Cubs)

2013 Arbor Day Tree Planting

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!

Arbor Day 2013 with City of Concord

Come plant a tree with the City of Concord!

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.

For more information check out this link.

 



April 11 Pack Meeting

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

4. Game

5. Closing Flag Ceremony (Wolf Cubs)

2013 Pack 380 Pinewood Derby

Pack 380 Pinewood Derby

Friday, March 15, 2013

6pm to 9pm in Woodside MUR

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.

Checkout slideshows from last two Pinewood Derbies:

http://concordpack380.blogspot.com/2012/03/2012-pinewood-derby.html

http://concordpack380.blogspot.com/2011/03/2011-pinewood-derby-car-races.html

2013 Blue & Gold Dinner a Success!!

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.