Cub Scout Pack 497 in Eden Prairie

It is nearly January and you know what that means – Pinewood Derby Time!

Pinewood Derby Car Cutting

On Saturday, January 9th, scouts from our pack can get their cars cut for $2 at the Eden Prairie Senior Center from 9 am – noon. The seniors cut the car with the boys and love to see new challenges! The Senior Center is located at 8950 Eden Prairie Road, not far from the intersection of Eden Prairie Road and Pioneer Trail. Please have a design in mind, preferably already sketched on your car.
For planning, please choose a time slot on the spreadsheet and return your request to Joe Thomas at jthomasfamily {at} comcast(.)net.

January Pack Meeting

Our January Pack meeting is on January 11th at Cedar Ridge, gathering activity at 6:45pm. We will be hosting a local ski jumper – just like you can see in the Winter Olympics!

January Parent/Leader Meeting

Our January Parent/Leader meeting is on January 15th at 7pm at the Nichols’ house. We will learn the basics of updating our Pack website from Bill Heyman as well as ensuring our next few scouting activities are ready to go.

Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby weigh in is at Cedar Ridge on Friday January 22nd from 6:30 – 7:30pm and the Derby itself is on Sunday, January 24th beginning at 1pm sharp!

It is a busy and fun January! I look forward to seeing all of you there!

Hi Parents! A few reminders:

Our fundraiser for wreaths and popcorn ENDS on Monday, October 26. Ann Rorem will send directions about turning in money, unused product, etc., but for now remind your scouts to finish strong and sell as much as we can! We have a $250 minimum total sales for each scout — but our pack membership numbers are a little lower this year so it would great if we could all beat that!

Upcoming dates to hold:

Monday, October 26 — 7:00 (6:45 gathering activity) Pack meeting at Cedar Ridge. Fundraiser ends. Scouts should bring something funny (but not scary or gory) to dress up the leaders. We’re doing a reverse dress-up activity, where all the leaders will get dressed up by the scouts in interesting combinations of hats, masks, clothing, etc.! Should be great! Also — theme for the pack meeting is “Go on Safari.” COME see the GREAT fun we’ve got planned!
Wolves — skit; Bears — off this time; Jr. Webelos (Karol/Bruce) — gathering activity; Jr. Webelos (Renee) — flag ceremony; Raven Patrol — Song; Dragon Patrol — Jokes

Thursday, October 29, 7:00 — Parent/Leader meeting at Kim Aldrin’s house. Any parents are welcome.

Saturday, November 14 (1:00-2:30). Pack Service Project to Simpson House Shelter in Minneapolis. More details at the pack meeting.

Monday, November 16, 7:00. November pack meeting.

Thursday, November 19, 7:00. Parent/leader meeting at Ann Rorem’s house.

(See the website at www.pack497.com for more info and dates!)

Thanks! AND thanks to Kelly Zarling for putting together our Mad Science night and heading up recruiting this year! That was GREAT!

Hi Scouts!

Please join Pack 497 at the Staring Lake Outdoor Center this Sunday, Sept. 13, from 1pm – 3 pm. It’s our first activity of the new school year! (Have any boys you want to join our pack? Invite them to join us!)

We will be will be catching, tagging, and releasing monarch butterflies as part of a national conservation project! All ages are welcome. This is a conservation project and meets one of requirements for the Conservation Patch (depending on your rank).

Cost: FREE for scouts and $6 for any participating sibling.
This is a RAIN or SHINE event. In the event it rains, we will be working with a naturalist inside the center!
Please contact Lori Hasan (lahasan {at} yahoo(.)com) with any questions.

Thanks!

1. Monthly meeting. Our monthly leader’s meeting is this Friday night, October 2, at 7:00. We’ll meet at Rick and Karol Joos’ house, at 17200 Candlewood Drive. (Thanks, Rick and Karol!)
These meetings are just to check in together and make sure our dens and pack are running smoothly — and to look ahead to the upcoming events for the next 1-2 months to make sure our planning is adequate. And we usually have fun together, too! I won’t email everyone about this every time (since they’re on the pack calendar), but any parent is always welcome to come. And leaders, as always, it’s always important to have someone from each den there if possible. (Den leaders — can you let me know if you won’t be there? Thanks!)

2. Apple Orchard Trip. This Sunday we’ll meet as a pack to Minnesota Harvest Orchard in Jordan at 2:00. Please let Beth Witherspoon ( bspoon01 {at} aol(.)com or 612-867-0342) know if you’ll join us! Wear your light blue Pack 497 t-shirts (Class B uniform)!

3. Mad Science Night. October 12 is our “Join Scouting Night.” We’re in need of new recruits, esp. 1st graders, so if you know some boys that would like scouting bring them along. Come one come all to Mad Science; all ages are welcome!

Great to see so many of you last night. Hope all’s well.