Pack Meeting Tonight!

There is a Pack Meeting tonight!! 7:00pm-8:00pm at First Baptist Church. See you tonight!

What A Kick!

"Best Den Meeting Ever." That was how one parent described our totally awesome, high flying, fast-paced, action-packed Kickball Belt Loop Night!! With the possible exception of convenient "forgetfulness" as to where they were standing in line to kick the ball, there was great sportsmanship all around. I heard teammates cheering each other on and encouraging one another. I saw kids trying their hardest. And I saw kids learning new skills and the "rules" of a new game. We also appreciate the parents being easy on the amateur coaches running the games. We love our Scouts! And we had so much fun, that we think that we'll do a Flag Football Belt Loop night on May 3, same time, same place. How does that sound?!

CANCELLED: Camp Raymond

Pack Leadership has cancelled the Camp Raymond camping trip due to inclement weather. So don't drive to Camp Raymond this weekend!!

At Monday's Den Meeting, we talked about trying to pull together a small camping trip with just the two dens, but after checking with Pack Leadership that won't be feasible. There are strict requirements for pulling permits from the Grand Council Canyon and there are certain training requirements that are necessary to lead such an outing, especially if there is water nearby. None of the Den Leaders have gone through the required trainings at this time.

So you'll all have some extra time this weekend! Enjoy it!

Kickball Belt Loop on Monday, April 19!!

On Monday, April 19 we are going to earn our Kickball Belt Loops! We will not be meeting at the church. Instead, we will meet at the Green Belt near the Keller house (which is very close to the church). We will meet at our normal time, 6:30pm to 7:30pm. No uniforms!

From the Church: head North on Arizona Ave. past Queen Creek. Make your first left on Canary. If you see Ryan or hit Germann you've gone too far. The Green belt will be straight ahead. Make a right on Oregon and then a left on Goldfinch and park any where you want on Goldfinch. Our house will be open for emergency bathroom breaks. I'll bring over some water for the kids and adults.

Sorry for getting these details out so late! We hope to see everybody there!

Bear Den 11: The Den With More Stuff!

WHOA! The Bears in Den 11 totally rock. They blew our tour guide, Blanca, away with their outstanding behavior, attentive listening, and great questions. We also got to meet a new Justin, who we hope felt welcome and that he will decide to call Den 11 home. We were shown where Good Morning Arizona is produced, we saw the conference room where the News Directors decide what is going to make the news, we met meteorologist Royal Norman (where Justin C. accurately predicted tomorrow weather and Tucker astonished Royal with his computer knowledge), we got to watch Patti Kirkpatrick and Royal do a live broadcast from the viewing area, we saw a 3TV satellite truck up close, AND we got to see the 3TV garden--where the Garden Guy works his agricultural magic! Wow, 3TV REALLY is the place with more stuff!!!

Friday's TV Station Tour Details

Tour Date: Friday, April 16, 2010 (that is THIS Friday)
Tour Time: Please arrive before 5:00pm. The tour will begin promptly at 5:00.
Tour Address: 5555 N. 7th Avenue, Phoenix, 85013. Between Missouri and Bethany Home Rd.
Tour Contact: Blanca Esparza-Pap

I've got Conner H., Connor N., Daniel, Tucker, Justin, and Cayman RSVP'd. I've got Micah as a hopeful. I haven't heard from Matthew or Tristan. We'll also be joined by a possible new den member (another Justin). He is currently in a Bear Den, but it is not working well. We'll do our best to make him feel welcome on Friday!

3TV Tour is THIS Friday, April 16!!

I'll send out location details mid-week. Tour starts right at 5:00pm! I still have room for one more Bear Scout in my minivan if somebody needs a ride!

No Den Meetings on Monday, April 12

Just a reminder that we're taking Monday, April 12 off!

How To Win A Prize

Tonight the boys earned their Whittling Chip Cards. With parental permission, each Scout may now carry a pocketknife to Den and Pack meetings as well as Cub Scout hikes and campouts. It would be great if parents would re-emphasize the pocketknife safety rules, the knives are not toys guidelines, and the pocket knife pledge (on pp. 147, 150-51 in the Bear Handbook).

I forgot to mention this to the Scouts, BUT I will give a prize to every Scout who brings me a soap carving at the May 3 Den Meeting. That gives each Scout a month to complete their carving (see pp. 149-50 in Bear Handbook). Some Scouts have already completed this requirement. They can just bring in their original carving to get the prize or they can do another one. Parents, I know this goes without saying, but please supervise your Scout closely while they are working on their carving!!

It would be great to go through the safety rules (like the safety circle) as they sit down to do their carving and to work on closing their knives properly and safely when they take a break from whittling.

In their Bear books, we completed Requirements 19a, 19b, and 19d tonight. If any of these are new to your Scout, you may sign off on these requirements and count them as electives toward an arrow point (see p. 180-181 in the Bear Handbook for more information about arrow points).

Den Meeting on Monday, April 5!

We've got a Den Meeting on Monday, April 5 at 6:30pm at First Baptist Church of Chandler!

We are going to learn about Pocketknife safety and earn our Whittling Chip cards. These cards allow a Scout to carry a pocketknife to Boy Scout activities, like our upcoming campout. Your Scout will NOT need to bring a pocketknife to the den meeting.

We will also be making AMAZING flying machines.

I will also have patches for all of the boys who attended the Fire Station tour.

And I'll have Informed Consent Agreements for parents to fill out and return to me for the upcoming Camp Out (April 23-25).

We will NOT have a Den Meeting on April 12.

We WILL most likely have a Den Meeting on April 19. We are working to arrange a field trip to an exotic animal clinic.

AND the TV Station Tour is coming up on Friday, April 16 at 5:00pm. Please RSVP to me at tkeller@ij.org if you have not already done so!!!!

The Storks and Kellers wish you a Blessed Easter!