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Cub Scout Pack 63
(Gorham, New York)
 
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http://pack63gorham.ScoutLander.com

  
 

Welcome to Cub Scout Pack 63 Gorham


 


Thank you for visiting Pack 63, located in Gorham, New York. We are chartered by the Gorham Rotary. We have about 15 active members and growing.

There are actives almost every month, either at the Den, Pack or District level. We start our Pack Meetings in September and have one every month until April. We do this to help all the parents and scout that are active in other activities in our community.

Each group is made of scout in the same grade level, which are called Dens. Tiger Den is first graders and our youngest scouts. Wolves Den is second graders. Bears Den are third graders. Webelos is two years and are made up of four and fifth graders. We come together once a month as a Pack for a meeting. Beside meetings for the Den and Pack, we also have a family fun day once a month.

We welcome all boys at any of these grades at anytime to join in and become part of our Pack. The lessons and actives foundation are the same in each Den, but are age appropriate for the Scout. The boys will not be able to back track and gain patch from previous years but the Dens are set up to keep everyone moving forward without feeling left behind. Interested in join Scouts please look at our Join Scouts page for more information.


Please look at our new tab, Camp Information.

Past Leaders Meeting Notes


The 2015-16 calendar is finalized with the exception of all District dates for their activities and events that are annual. We have requested those dates and are in hopes that we can add them to our calendar as soon as possible. Please see the calendar for events and there will also be a paper form available at first den meetings.  Please see attachment

Popcorn sales are scheduled to kick off August 31, 2015 - for all repeating scouts, you should receive an order form in the mail to help you kick off your sales on time. If by chance you do not receive one, please contact your den leader for help.
The Kernel this year will be Mrs. Lagger and his assistant will be  Ms. Wheeler. We are looking to have booth sales at Lowes, Runnings, and some local winery. It was a suggested to place a donation jar at the booth sales,  for customers to donate without purchasing popcorn.

We will need volunteers for different committees this year such as Thanksgiving Dinner, Blue and Gold Ceremony, Trunk or Treat, Pinewood Derby, Holiday community service project. Those of you that are interested in making a difference and starting new traditions, please contact the Cub Master or Committee Chair. I would like to see at least one den leader or committee chair assigned to each committee for support.

Leader and Committee training due date has been changed to September 1, 2015. I would like to see that as the final extension. Please make sure that you are printing 2 certificate of completion for record keeping. One will need to be sent to council and the other to be handed into the pack trainer Kathy Schmidt.

We have scheduled a camping trip for all cub scouts for July 18-20 at Gannett Hill in Bristol, NY.  We will need at least 5 families to commit and than others can come and join us for the day on Saturday for fun activities and other cool things. Once we get our 5 committed families then we can start thinking about menus and such. Would like to start on Friday at about 6-7pm and leave Sunday after breakfast time. We are planning hiking, fishing, biking, kickball, Frisbee tag, and other activities.

The Cub Master will be sending out a link for everyone to express their concerns to BSA directly about the elimination of belt loops and pins. I am encouraging all scouts and parents to send a request to not change this program, for its in the best interest of all scouts to keep it intact.

We will need to continue to put forth efforts and brainstorming on recruitment. Troy and Tricia will continue to work on our video (if anyone has footage or pictures that they think will be great for this cause, please place them on a drive and contact us for pick up). We will still need volunteers for this as well during open houses and any ideas that anyone might have to make our presentation impactful to our boys in the committee.

Round tables are scheduled for the 1st Wednesday of every month. If anyone is interested in going to one of these meetings please let us know so that car pooling can be arranged. I myself have plans to make it to at least 2 this coming year. Its been brought to my knowledge that its a great source for learning new ideas.

I would like to start planning a MIXER for next summer. This would entail reaching out to Rushville, Penn Yan, Dundee and other surrounding area scout packs. I would like to have all packs come together for a massive fun day at a centralize location. Have each pack think of some activity to head up that maybe only their pack has though of and share as a group and make a day of it. This would be beneficial to both our scouts to meet other scouts, and to leaders to meet other leaders and learn new ideas and processes for lessons and such.

The cub master has an idea that he would like to put into motion for achievement boards so that it serves as a visual tracking aide for the boys to track their progress. More details of this to follow soon. It should help keep the boys interest and encourage them to pursue more self taught and take charge of their activities.

We are looking to set up a beef jerky fundraiser verses the pancake breakfast - more details to come soon

Would like to see more communication done through scoutlander - its a great tool for the Pack to have and utilize.

Lastly - ALL leaders need to acquire a scout Class A shirt this year. Ladies can purchase the yellow shirt verses the khaki shirt. The website to order is www.scoutstuff.org.bsa/uniforms-insignia.html. They are roughly about $35 and look more comfortable to wear.


Attachments
Icon File Name Comment  
2014-15 Pack 63 Schedule.doc  

Past Leaders Meeting Notes


I am going to make it possible for all committee and leaders able to purchase from the scout store, however I would like to see everyone utilize our Advancement Chair as much as possible. I feel that Randy and Jonathan need to be able to control the expenses with as few hiccups as possible. This is not to say if you need to pick up something up quickly or if Randy is not available that we all cannot pitch in to help.
 
We will continue to support outside training that council offers up to $25, the remaining cost will have to be covered by the individual.
 
All expenses over $200 will require a second signature on the check & all expenses out of normal maintenance will need to be voted on at leaders meetings or through scoutlander.
 
Starting in September all scouts will acquire their own individual accounts. Scouts will earn 1/3 of the fundraising funds back into what we are going to call "Scout Bucks". These funds can be use for: Camp, uniform items, related scouts items (hiking boots, camping gear, etc... ), items from scout store. Each scout family will be able to utilize these funds as they see fit, but will not be able to exceed their earned funds So goes without saying "The more you sell, then more you earn".
 
We have decided not to continue with the annual pancake breakfast, but are still tossing ideas of cash wash, hotdog stand, cans & bottle drive, popcorn sales at the Deck the Halls Wine Tour (provided availability for at least one selling day if not whole weekend), spaghetti dinner. We are looking to keep the fundraiser down to a minimum but make the most buck from our bang. :)  We want to keep the parents happy with less work.
 
All scout families and leaders will be responsible for paying own dues to council. Pack will continue to collect dues at first den meetings to keep records of what families have paid.(Dues will need to be turned into treasurer in timely matter). It cost the pack about $900 last year to re-charter and if the pack continues to grow than that cost will continue to grow as well. All scouts are required to have dues paid in full by council to start earning awards and recognitions. All recruited scouts will need to complete application and be handed into Cub Masters. There were issues this past year as scouts doing the work, but not able to get the recognitions that earned because proper steps were not taking. We do not want this to happen again. It's not fair to the scout or the leader.
 
I am asking for all training to be completed by July 1, 2014. Please remember to print out copies of your certificates to hand into the committee (Kathy Schmidt) for record keeping. All training that is due has been listed on scoutlander and supplied to you in your leaders meeting packet. All applications need to be handed in by our April Pack meeting, so that we can have those signed off and ready for the new scout year.
 
All leaders and committee members will need to purchase uniforms for their roles. Ladies there are yellow shirts available instead of the khaki shirts. However, I do have a shirt that was given to me by a pervious leader if anyone would like it to save money. We are pushing uniform this year and will have multiple uniform inspections through the year.
 
We have several things taking place or planned for recruitment for new scouts:
 
First we have our kickball event scheduled for May 5, 2014. I am asking that you all talk this up and share with our families and friends. Word of mouth is great communication. We have signs posted at the Rushville, Gorham and Crystal Beach store as well. The Crystal Beach store is aware of our ice cream social and are going to ensure they have enough staff and ice cream ready for us. During our kick ball event, Troy is going to be taking testimony interviews from our current scouts to make a video to use at open house for a visual aid to recruit more scouts as well. Please think of 3 questions that would best be asked of our boys to answer (What was your most favorite thing about scouts?) Very awesome idea Troy !!!
 
Second we have our Memorial Day parade on May 26, 2014. This year the Troop is celebrating their 75th anniversary. I still need to speak with the Troop on this, however I would like to go with a theme of " Past, Present, and Future" . This theme will show the evolution of the scout process and maybe generate more interest into scouts as well at the parade. I am asking that all families consider marching with the scouts this year verses their sports teams to support the 75 years of history. More details to come..
 
Third we have open houses. Each Gorham and Valley has their own set open house. We are going to take a small portion of our PWD track and other visual aids (video, camping gears, pictures of events, cub and boy scouts present in uniforms, etc..) to help recruit the younger and upcoming future scouts. At that time we will need to feel out the tiger recruits and see what parents have interest in becoming apart of our great leadership team. Volunteers are strongly needed.
 
Lastly a bike rally held at the Gorham school. Where we will have finger printing by Ontario County Sheriffs, Gorham fire hall for bike safety and Troy and a group of his fellow bike racers to show boys proper bike upkeep and repairs. We will also have bike races, obstacle courses, etc... Date penciled in as 6/21/14
 
Summer activities that have been suggested because the Pack needs to hold at least one every month are:
 
Free fishing weekend of 6/28-29
Possible camping at Ontario County Park (jump off) various activities either weekend of 7/12-13 or 7/19-20 - will call to see what is available for scouts.
Biking on Finger lakes trail
Hiking at Watkins Glen
Nerf and water gun event
Rockets
Homemade sling shot competition
Possible mixer with other local Packs (Rushville, Penn Yan and Dundee) great for boys to reach out to other scouts and leaders to learn new ideas.)
 
Calendar for upcoming year is drafted with some changes and additions still to be made. Would like to get this finalized by August 1, 2014 to be able to hand out to newcomers at time of sign up. See attachment for draft.
 
Events planned for new year are:
Trunk or Treat
Thanksgiving dinner
Adopt a family or similar options
Letters to troops over seas
Uniform Inspections
Popcorn sales
Blue and Gold Dinner
Pinewood Derby
 
We will need volunteers to head up some of these committees and take charge of planning. We are pushing for food donations this year verses the pack covering all costs (Wegmans, BJ's, Wal-Mart, Tops, Aldee's, Sams, Lowes, etc...)  Also we are looking to have another silent auction during our Thanksgiving dinner, please start reaching out to local vendors and such to see if they would be willing to donate items for the cause.
 
Kathy and I will be setting up new leader binders for all dens to maintain records for achievements and advancements. Please do not trouble yourselves with this task, it will be done for you. We already have most of  the materials to complete this task. We hope to have these completed by August so that you can enter your scout names as you acquire them. This was very helpful to me as a leader this past year and its a great tool.
 
Finally all den meetings have been scheduled to start September 15, 2014 - please start planning an ice breaker meeting that will "WOW" the boys to go and have bragging rights the days/weeks before open houses to get more interest in scouts. (bird houses, Para-cord bracelets, science experiments, etc...) We are asking that all Den meetings to planned out 1 month in advance to be able to communicate to church of use of facilities.

Lastest Leaders Notes


10/24

The pack will be ordering new Class B shirts for everyone. We will be ordering 50 shirts @ $8.97 each. Total estimated cost is going to be $448.50. There will be sign ups for those to request sizes at the Pack Meeting in October.

We have a new Tiger Leader : James Ward and possible new asst: Sarah Keller
We have a new asst for the Wolves : Michelle (Chase's mom)

All dues of $33 for newcomers must be paid by thanksgiving dinner. All uniforms must be purchased by Thanksgiving dinner for before if possible. All returning scouts dues will be needed by 1/1/15 of $25.00. Please start to budget for that into your holiday expenses.

Thanksgiving dinner on 11/22 at the Gorham Fire Hall @ 2pm - 5pm. Please sign up for RSVP's on scoutlander or at October Pack meeting. All scouts are asked to bring a dish to pass. The Pack is covering the turkey and drinks.
 * Kathy is looking into food donations
 * All leaders should be looking into silent auction items
 * Will need to order pinewood derby cars to be handed out.
 * Popcorn sales will be handed out for delivery

PWD: Committee: Chris, Randy, Jason, Troy, Steve

* Trophies will be handed out to 1,2,3 places
* We will have pit passes again this year
* Jayne is in charge of bake sales
* practice run is scheduled on scoutlander
* pins/medals for other participates

Holiday Committee Project:  Toys 4 Tots (Jayne)
Asking all families to donate a toy to this great cause and spread some holiday cheer

Deck the Halls sign up for popcorn sales will be needed at October Pack Meeting - 12/7 in Watkins Glen

Will be selling jerky after the new year. Details coming soon

Bottle Collections for all boys: please bring your bags of bottles to Mr. Metcalf with your name and qty written on the bag to every meeting and those funds will be tallies for a grand prize to the boy how raises the most.

Troop 63 need volunteers to help assist in committee project @ MW Eco property : details to come