Parents Committee The Parents Committee is made up of ordinary parents, the den leaders, and the Cubmaster. They help organize pack events, handle the money, and so forth. You don't need to be an official leader or anything to join us--we'd love to have you!
We generally meet in the meeting room on the ground floor of the St Paul's rectory, or at Ledo Pizza near the Damascus Safeway.
What we talked about at our April meeting (4/4/06): Rocket launch At the Browns' farm, 4./15 is the only possible date. Start at 10:30am so that Woody can make it to a Boy Scout hike later that day. Rick and Ted J. both have launchers, so there's no need to get another. Pack to provide engines--John Kuszewski will pick them up. District Pinewood Derby 4/22. Some people can't make it, but others are bringing their cars--they don't need to be present to race. Woody to inform top-5 pack finishers of time & place. Pack will cover entry fees. Summer camp Julie K is coordinating. Signup is on-line, and is essentially complete. Looks like we'll have a great turnout of our boys, and enough parents as well. Frederick Keys campout 6/24. John Kuszewski got volunteered to coordinate, since he was late to the meeting. Celebrate Damascus parade 7/7, 6pm at Weis. Woody to coordinate. We could use a banner to carry in front of us, to try to show up pack 1438. Fishing Derby Sometime in August. Woody to coordinate. New leadership Diane K to be the new Chartered Org Rep--we want to make her the main contact w/ St Paul's, to try to avoid confusion. Julie K to be advancement coordinator, Bob B to be treasurer. Still looking for a new chairman--someone to run parents' committee meetings & handle recharter. Bob has a possible new cub & parent who might step into that role.
What we talked about at our March meeting (3/7/06): Webelos Bridging ceremony 3./27, at St Paul's. Woody building a new bridge, with a plank for each of the 12 points of the Scout Law. Will have representatives from all 3 troops that are receiving our boys (945, 445, and one from Germantown). Outgoing Webelos will provide cake & cookies afterward. Will hold off on awards for other dens until following pack meeting, to keep focus on Webelos. Arrow of Light ceremony Web den leaders to get arrows from shop in Mt Airy. Order of the Arrow will run the ceremony. Need to be flexible about inside/outside due to weather. Pinewood Derby 3/18, Damascus Elementary School, 9-1pm. Weigh-in 9-10am. Barbara has trophies & medals ordered already from shop in Mt Airy. She needs to tell us where it is for next year! She'll also pick up ribbons for the younger siblings (one for each), and some for the dads' division as well. Car tune-up is 3/13, 7pm. John to bring scale & epoxy. John needs to double-check condition of track. He also needs to find the official scale & sizing box. John has software to set up overall pack heats. John has address stickers to put on each car to identify it and keep track of its losses in den races. Den races will come first, using double elimination (ie., cars that lose twice are eliminated until only one remains). Then comes the siblings & dads' divisions. Then the overall pack. Barbara to contact Julie K and Diane K to bring cupcakes, and Karen H for the big drink thermoses we used at the Blue & Gold. Rocket launch We need to have our pack model rocket launch in early April to avoid messing up the crops. Waiting on an official date from Rick. Other Advancement We're a Quality Unit! So everyone gets a Quality Unit patch. All the boys who attended the Star Party earned the Astro belt loop. Need to have them available for Webelos at 3/27 meeting, others later. Barbara, Leo, Karen, Julie, and Bob B have all earned committee member knots--need to get applications together. John has just about earned Den Leader knot. If we remain a quality unit next year, Woody will get a Cubmaster knot. Summer Initial thought is to repeat our summertime activities--Keys campout in June, parade in July, and fishing in August. Woody will contact the Kelpy's regarding fishing. No Webs going to sleep-away camp this year. Need a pack coordinator for day camp, to recruit parents to be den walkers. Which means we need a rough estimate of the number of boys who'll attend.
What we talked about at our January meeting (1/3/06): Blue & Gold banquet Lots of stuff, all on a handout that I don't feel like retyping just now. Dens need to make centerpieces, with the theme, "Cub Scouts of the Future." Den 8 lays claim to Pee Wee Harris in a DeLorean idea. Star Party The owner of Hands On Optics in Damascus has offered to run a star party for the Cubs in the St Paul's parking lot. It'd have to be a weekend night, and we'd want a half moon, so that it's not too bright for the boys when looking through the telescopes. Fr. Kennedy has been happy to do this in the past, and can turn out the parking lot lights for us. We could have a large number of telescopes available, so that we could potentially even invite the other Damascus packs to come along. This should easily knock off the Astronomy belt loop. The best night is looking like March 5th, a Sunday evening. Woody would prefer a Saturday night. John's coordinating. Bowling Trip Pack bowling trip to the Mt Airy duckpin lanes is 1/21. Will try to arrange backstage tour as well, which is a requirement for the bowling pin. John to coordinate. Science Center Sleepover Webelos dens are going on their sleepover at the Md Science Center on 1/7-1/8. Woody to miss the Redskins playoff game. Pinewood Derby John to coordinate. Track is in the St Paul's storage shed, along with electronic scoring machine. Need to assemble computer spreadsheet for scheduling & scoring. Want to encourage boys to build their cars on their own by offering a Dads' (and older siblings', and even Moms') Division as well. They'll have to purchase their own kits, though. John to announce at Jan pack meeting, and try to have kits available at Blue & Gold. Parent Recruiting Barbara is graduating along with Ben in April, so we really really need a new Committee Chairman to step up! Also need a permanent leader for the Bear den.
What we talked about at our December meeting (12/05): Not much! We were locked out of the rectory, and were standing out in the cold! John noted that Nate should have an Arrow of Light knot, since he'd earned it as a youth. Julie to handle.
What we talked about at our November meeting (11/8/05): Blue & Gold Banquet Decided to save money by having the pack provide only the main course and the drinks. Families will bring pot luck side dishes, and boys can enter the cake contest. November pack meeting We'll have a Bobcat ceremony and potentially a new Scout welcome ceremony too. Denis will announce popcorn credits for each boy so they can pick out their prizes. Lisa Y will lead the boys in making rubbler-glove turkey centerpieces. Recruiting: We're starting to pick up a few more boys, and with the end of fall sports, it's time to try again. Have boys fill out My Best Friend is a Cub Scout invites at next den meeting, with target date of 12/5 den meetings. Need to have something fun lined up. Best to talk to the boys' parents as well, since that seems to be most effective. Popcorn: First popcorn weekend went well--we sold out. Denis got more. He kept track of who was at each selling station when, and what items were sold while they were there. Thus, each boy can get proper credit for their sales at Safeway. General: Den leaders need to update their rosters with Barbara, Bob Burns, and Woody. Need to put the smack down on people to pay their dues. Suggested that we put the pack's URL into our signature files when emailing people. New leaders: We'll need a new Commitee Chairman next year. We'll also need to fill a few smaller jobs (secretary, Chartered Org Rep). A few possibilities: Katie, Sheila, Diane. Barbara will start talking to them. Woody needs to decide what job he wants next year--Cubmaster or Tiger den leader. John could take over former if needed, with Rick B taking over the (then) Bear den. Pinewood Derby: John to chair. Distribute kits at Dec pack meeting. Little siblings will get free ones too. Older siblings & parents also welcome to build & race. Should have a separate trophy for them. Try to encourage boys to build as much of their cars themselves as possible.
What we talked about at our October meeting (10/4/05): Oct pack meeting agenda: Den 8 to handle flag ceremony. Den 5 to show off the video they made. St Paul's has a TV, but we need to bring a DVD player. Mr Doug Noble of the Damascus Emergency Preparedness Team has graciously volunteered to give a ten-minute talk, which fits with the monthly Scout theme of "To The Rescue." Woody to run the welcome ceremony for the new kids and their parents. Lisa is bringing little pumpkins and sharpie markers to decorate them. Remind people that dues are due this month.
Recruiting: We obviously need more. Den leaders have "My best friend is a Cub Scout" packets for every boy. We really need to push this, especially for Tigers & Wolves. What meeting should they be invited to? The pack-wide schedule is pretty tight for the next few weeks.
Popcorn: Dates for first & second orders are on Upcoming Events page. We have Safeway exclusively on the first two weekends of November. Wolves need to fill out a form to get permission from NCAC to sell their birdhouses at the same time. John to handle.
What we talked about at our September meeting (9/6/05):
Join Scouting Night agenda: Den leaders contact boys, have them wear uniforms to school 9/12. Give out prizes for those who do. John to bring balloons w/ grade numbers on them to facilitate new people finding the right place. Woody to update his poster, John to supply side show of summer events. Chris/Lisa's den runs the flag ceremony. Welcome from Woody, introduce leaders. Announcements from Barbara. Family campout announcement from Lisa. Kids from day camp reprise skits. Kids go outside w/ Boy Scouts from 445 during parent talk Dues remain at $62 Need handout w/ uniform needs on one side, pack structure & leader list (w/ open slots!) on reverse. After parent talk, kids return to get awards (leftover stuff for Chris/Lisa's den, summer belt loops, etc) No snack--DES rules. Cake raffle in place--since we're not eating it there, it's ok. Got volunteers to bake, and we have a roll of tickets.
Popcorn: This is the only fundraiser of the year. Goal is 3750 units, which is 6-7 containers per scout. First orders due Mon 9/26 Pick up popcorn 10/8. Same place as last year. Order a bit extra to have some on hand for occasional fundraising later. Don't push too hard at JSN. Have den leaders/Woody talk at 9/19 den meetings.
Other: Church hall unavailable for meetings 10/24, 10/31, 11/28. Nate sponsoring Tiger den. Need a sponsor for Bear den--Garry on hiatus.
Upcoming events: District Webelos Camporee 9/23-5. $20/boy. Looks unlikely b/c of family camping trip the following weekend. Possible hay ride on 10/29. Barbara coordinating. Mount Vernon trip tentatively scheduled for 11/12/05. John to coordinate. Interest in another Air & Space Museum trip in the spring.
What we talked about at our August meeting (8/3/05): Join Scout Night training 8/11 for Woody and John. Popcorn training--Denis will be Popcorn Colonel, but he has a conflict for the popcorn training date (8/25). We'll have to pick up the materials from Jennifer Wright.
Join Scout night publicity: 1. John will handle mailing to each parent of eligible boys in DES, to arrive 1 week ahead. 2. Jen will handle announcement in the Gazette. 3. Barbara will handle announcement in St Paul's bulletin. Can others get announcements in their church bulletins? 4. Signs: If signs from the district are too busy to read by the roadside, we'll make our own. Jen friends w/ Tucker of Gas & Go. Try to get sign there. Fr Kennedy gave permission for sign at St Paul's. John will install. Woody will ask Jimmie Cone, Safeway, Weis, Damascus Chevy if we can put up signs there. Jen will contact Mrs Sennewald, who's head of DES PTA. Can we get an announcement in their newsletter? Several people agreed to put signs in their yards. They'll send email to pack1084@gmail.com address. Need to remember to take them down promptly.
Sept pack meeting (9/12): 1. Barbara needs to confirm the DES cafeteria. 2. Probably no snack, since it would complicate DES rental. 3. Have some boys bring Pinewood Derby cars, Raingutter Regatta boats. 4. Den leaders need to ask their boys for cast off uniform shirts/hats/neckerchiefs to give to new scouts. 5. John will print big pictures of campout, parade, fishing and will show off web site. 6. Awards to be distributed at next pack meeting: Leftover awards from Lisa/Chris's Webelos den. Fishing belt loops for those at the Derby. What about those at Heritage? Archery & BB belt loops for those at day camp. What about those at Heritage? Summertime cub awards for those with three activities (Keys campout, parade, fishing, camp). Summertime pack award to go on pack flag.
Future events: 1. Pack campout 10/1 @ Little Bennet State Park. Spaces are already reserved and paid for. 2. Leader specific training 9/24. Discuss again at Sept parents committee meeting. 3. Try to squeeze in a trip to Mt Vernon during 1st 2 weeks of Nov. John will coordinate.
What we talked about at our May meeting (5/4/05): May pack meeting: Den 5 will run the flag ceremony Raingutter Regatta--Woody has the raingutters. Need to bring extra boats/kits for any new kids. Run it outside?--avoids mopping up afterward. Need RR medals from the scout shop. Run single-elimination, by den. New Scout welcome--Need leader rosters, registration forms. Keys campout--John K will coordinate.
May 16th den meetings: Garry might be unavailable. Combine his den w/ Bears and work on Ultimate Frisbee or Marbles belt loops.
June pack meeting: We're dedicating park benches inside St Paul's gazebo in memory of the former pack treasurer. Need to invite his daughter, widow. Need a picture? Picnic--ask people in different dens to bring different kinds of food.
Went over calendar for next year--it's all typed into the upcoming events page.
Family campout is Oct 1st, Jellystone park. Lisa Y coordinating. Give out Pinewood kits at December pack meeting. An un-named individual suggested Ted J for Santa. Barbara will coordinate reservations for the blue & gold and the pinewood, since she's "ICBS" certified by the MCPS.
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