Hoop-de-doo!

The Scouts hit the hardwood at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena! Stephen Ponder hit a big 3-pointer with our outing to an ASU Basketball game. The Scouts were recognized on the court during half time (they got a real thrill seeing themselves on the jumbo-tron) and got high fives from the players after their BIG win! This is what family fun is all about!

No Den Meetings for 2 Weeks! Next Den Meeting Jan. 4

We are on Christmas Vacation! No Den Meetings for the next two weeks.

We will, however, meet on Monday, January 4 at our normal time: 6:30pm at the church. On that day, we will probably do a little bit of preliminary work on our Pinewood Derby cars. We'll have some basic outlines for the boys to choose from and they can use those to prep their cars for step two: an initial cut. Chuck Canode has graciously offered to use his band saw to make the initial cut one Saturday afternoon in January. We'll probably try to stagger things so that Scouts can show up between a certain period of time and Chuck will make the cut. The boy can then sand, paint, and prep the car for the big race. Of course, if your Scout has a handy dad feel free to start working on the cars any time.

The Pinewood Derby is on Saturday, January 23 in the afternoon.

An "Ice" Evening Out

Harlan and I were so impressed with all of the Scouts at Polar Ice! Conner looked like a pro, Matthew is most likely to be a speed skater in the Olympics, Tristan deserves an award for perseverance, Owen and Micah were incredible for their first time out and those who had done it before, Daniel, Connor, Tucker, and Cayman all did their best to stay up on two feet! Congrats to everybody for earning their Ice Skating Belt Loops! The Scouts will receive them at the December Pack Meeting--which is THIS Monday!

Pinewood Derby Cars At Pack Meeting!!!!

One of Santa's helpers will be at this Monday's Pack Meeting (on December 14 at 7:00pm) handing out the Scout's Pinewood Derby Cars. (Preparing the cars is quite a project, so they need to be handed out this month). The Derby is on Saturday, January 23. The Pack buys each boy one car. Extra cars can be purchased for about $5. We are going to try and set up a "woodworking" workshop one afternoon with one of the more "handy" dads leading the workshop.

Parade of Lights

We had four Scouts from Bear Den 11 march in the Chandler Parade of Lights: Tucker, Conner, Matthew, and Daniel! It was a cool night in every sense of the word. Harlan and I were proud to march with such fine boys!

Ice Skating Tonight! No uniforms!

Dress warm and comfortable. No need for uniforms tonight. See you at 5:45!

Polar Ice on Wednesday + Other News/Announcements

Item 1:

There is no Den Meeting tonight! Instead, we will gather at Polar Ice Gilbert this Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 5:45 pm to earn our Ice Skating Belt Loops! Details for Polar Ice night are on the blog: www.awesomeden11.blogspot.com. My cell phone number is 480-250-7149 in case you need to call me.

From the Bear Den I've got the following Scouts RSVP'd: Matthew, Tucker, Daniel, Connor N., Owen, and Cayman. Please let me know if this is not correct!

Item 2:

Don't forget to e-mail Jennifer Stork by this Wednesday, Dec. 9 to let her know if your family will be attending the ASU Basketball Game on Sat., Dec. 19 at 4:30pm.

Item 3:

We have a Pack Meeting on Monday, Dec. 14. I'm trying to work it out so that the Scouts receive their Pinewood Derby cars at the meeting (the Pack buys the cars, so they just need to show up to receive the car).

Thanks!!!

Pledge Patch Is In Shirt Pocket

During last night's Den Meeting, we stuck the patch for participating in the Pack Flag Ceremony inside each Scout's uniform pocket. You may want to pull that out and put it somewhere safe. FYI, we are investigating options for purchasing patch vests that are much cooler than the official BSA red vests. We'll keep you posted on that effort.

Thank You Cards Complete Requirement 18e

We ended our Den Meeting by making Thank You/Christmas cards for wounded soldiers. We'll send the cards to the troops via the Salvation Army. I'm sure the cards will put a smile on the faces of some real American heroes!

ALSO, by writing these thank you cards, your Scout has completed requirement 18e! So you may sign as Akela on page 143.

Warning: The rest of this blog gets a bit technical. If you have questions refer to pages 24-25 and 180-181 of the Bear Handbook or call or e-mail Tim, Harlan, or Jennifer.

If your Scout has already finished his Bear Rank, or if you do not plan on using Achievement 18 to earn your Bear Rank, you may sign on page on page 143 as an elective. After finishing the Bear Rank, every extra requirement (not every Achievement, but every additional requirement with those Achievements) counts as an elective. Each ten electives earns your Scout an arrow point that may be sewn onto their uniform. Have fun working on the requirements and Achievements!

Christmas Break is a great time to knock out those Achievements!

Progress Toward Rank Ceremony

We awarded the boys their Progress Toward Rank badges and beads tonight! The goal is that each Scout will earn his Bear Rank by the end of January so that he can receive his Bear patch at the Blue and Gold Banquet in February! There is still plenty of time to complete the required 12 Achievements! Don't panic (yet)!

Remember, we completed Achievement 5, Sharing Your World With Wildlife, in its entirety by completing requirements 5a, 5b, 5c and 5e. So if your Scout met Myrtle the Turtle, he has completed Achievement 5. We also completed requirements 16b, and 16c at a Den Meeting. By completing 16a (which is simply practicing some exercises) your Scout can complete Achievement 16. In addition, we completed requirements 3f, 7a, 7b, and 7f in Den Meetings. The rest of those Achievements are easy to complete at home!

Your job as Akela is to sign off on each requirement and then once your Scout has finished an Achievement in its entirety to sign off again on the entire Achievement (this is the yellowish colored box with Cub Scout Leader Baloo next to it). Still have questions? Call or e-mail Tim or Harlan or Jennifer!

Mark Your Calendar: Polar Ice on Dec. 9!

We are going to earn our Ice Skating Belt Loops on Wednesday, December 9, at the Polar Ice in Gilbert!! This means we are canceling the December 7 Den Meeting. Instead, we will gather at Polar Ice on Wednesday, December 9.

WHERE is Polar Ice Gilbert?

Polar Ice Gilbert

2305 E. Knox Road

Gilbert, AZ 85296

The facility is just off Greenfield Road, between Ray Road and Warner Road.

WHAT will we do and WHEN will we do it?

Our evening will begin at 5:45pm.

We will receive a tour of the facility, including an up close look at the Zamboni and the enormous chillers. We will also get to see a short video about how they make the ice.

We will then be able to get our skates and hit the ice. We'll talk about safe ice skating tips/rules before we start skating. The evening will also include cookies and hot chocolate. We will probably start skating around 6:30 and you'll be able to skate as long as you like until the facility closes at 9:30. (Or, you can leave whenever you get tired!).

WHY would we do this?

Every Scout who joins us and tries to do their best out on the ice will earn their ice skating belt loop.

WHO is invited?

The entire family! The Den will cover the cost of each Scout, which includes skate rental, ice time, the tour, and cookies and hot chocolate. Each adult and child who wishes to skate and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate will have to pay $7.50 (that fee includes skate rental, ice time, and the cookies and cocoa). Adults and children who do not wish to eat or skate attend for free.

Please RSVP to Tim Keller (tkeller@ij.org) no later than Monday, December 7 with the total number of people who will need skates and snacks.

If you have any questions or need to get hold of me the night of the event, my cell phone number is 480-250-7149.

This should be fun!!!!!

Micah: Our Hero

I was asked at the last minute to find a boy to read a poem, "Our Parents Are Heroes," at tonight's Pack Meeting and Micah was brave enough to tackle the challenge. He and I worked on the poem a couple of times before he was called on to do his duty. And he did great! Three Cheers for Micah! And tons of Gobbles to our awesome Parent Heroes!!!

I Pledge Allegiance . . .

At the next Den Meeting, which is next Monday, Nov. 30, at 6:30 pm, each Scout will receive a special patch for participating in the Flag Ceremony at tonight's Pack Meeting.

Our Scouts received A LOT of compliments from our Pack Leadership about how well they performed the ceremony! One of the leaders said that it was the best flag ceremony all year long. Harlan and I are very proud of them. Because we did not get to do the flag closing ceremony, Phillip said that he would assign us the flag ceremony at another Pack Meeting. We'll get our chance!

INFO for NEXT DEN MEETING:

We will be awarding the Scouts' Progress Toward Rank Beads at the Nov. 30 Den Meeting. Harlan and I are working on putting together a fun and memorable "awards" ceremony.

We also hope to touch base with all of the parents for 5 or 10 minutes. This will be a great time to ask Harlan and I questions. During this time, we'll have our Scouts make a Christmas Card for soldiers who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And please help your Scout to remember to bring their Bear Handbook. We promise we will catch up on signing the books this time!