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.