Parents,

We will need to be at the USS Yorktown by 7:00 pm Friday.  Plan on five hours for the trip, which includes a break to stop to eat. The calendar on the pack website has the address to the aircraft carrier.  We will be participating in the aviation activity and harbor tour on Saturday.  Don’t forget to bring your BSA health forms, Class A and B uniform (preferably your blue Pack 934 t-shirt), pillow, sleeping bag, personal hygiene items, and warm clothing.  It was fairly cold and windy two years ago.  You will have to carry all of your belongings across a 600 ft. pier.  There will be a mandatory fire drill Friday night.

If you’re coming to Parent Son, here’s a few reminders:

Don’t forget to bring your son’s uniform.

Health forms need to be printed out and signed.

If I look like my head is going to explode, it’s probably because I need help 🙂

I updated the link on the Forms page for the BSA Health Form.  Every attendee needs to bring this form with them and give it to me at the campsite.  I will have the Health Forms at the next Pack meeting to return if you want it back.  After the Pack meeting the forms that remain will be shredded.

Remember the form is required for everyone, not just scouts.

I’ve had a few questions about parking for Camp Raven Knob. When you arrive, you can drive to the campsite to unload. Then you will have to park in a designated area. For our sites the parking area is the field beside the archery range. You’ll see the area on your left before you get to our sites.

I’m not sure which site is the first one you will see in the right, but the first of our assigned sites will be Webelos Is & IIs. Tigers, Wolves, and Bears will be at the 2nd site. Some Bears may have to camp at the first site as overflow.

All meals will be served at the first site. Depending on picnic tables we will probably be eating at both sites.

We have been assigned Cochise and Sequoia campsites. I’m trying to get a campground map that shows these sites. If you look at the map on Raven Knob’s website the sites are at the top of the map where it says shotgun range.

Tomorrow night is the absolute deadline to sign up for the 2012 Parent Son Camporee.  So far there are 46 scouts signed up!  Don’t miss out on a fun camping event for you and your son!

The Pack has a few tents that are available to borrow.  Please email me to reserve one.  They are first come, first served.

Also, our dessert Saturday night will be Dutch Oven desserts.  There will be a contest to see who the master of the cast iron is in our Pack!  We also have a few dutch ovens available for anyone that wishes to join in the cooking.  The Pack will supply the charcoal!  You just need to bring your recipe and the ingredients.  For those with nut allergies we will have alternate desserts available.  Even if you are bringing your own dutch oven, please let me know if you plan on participating so I can plan accordingly!

Tomorrow night’s Pack Meeting is the deadline to sign up for the Parent Son Camporee!

The signup form and more information is on the event page.
Parent Son Event Page

Don’t forget to bring your signup form and check (made out to Pack 934) tonight! We’ll have a table setup in the hallway collecting forms and payments tonight.

Update: the signup form and more information is on the event page.
Parent Son Event Page

“It is not our differences that divide us.  It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences that divide us.”

Audre Lorde

As I think of the September Cub Scout Value, Cooperation, I can’t help but think of our founding fathers and the crafting of the Declaration of Independence.  It was a very trying time for our country and there were many contentious debates.  The delegates of the Continental Congress did not have the authority to declare independence without the support of the colonies they represented.  Several colonies, i.e. New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware wanted to work on a reconciliation agreement with Great Britain.  Others such as North Carolina, which passed the Halifax Resolves on April 12 and was the first state to allow its delegates to vote in favor of independence and Rhode Island, which became the first state to declare independence from Great Britain wanted a free nation.  Ultimately, the preamble passed on May 15^th, 1776.  On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed a “Committee of Five,” consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman to draft the declaration.  The final version was presented to Congress on June 28, 1776 and approved on July 4, 1776.

Think for a moment about the challenges the delegate and each colony they represented faced.  Many feared fierce retaliation from the British Army.  Many colonies did not want to give up their way of life. Many wondered whether we would even win the war.  They overcame their own interests and trepidation in order to lay the groundwork for a system of government that led to the creation of the United States of America and served as model for future governments.  In order to accomplish this major feat, all the delegates had to compromise.

Parents/Leaders, I encourage you to talk to our scouts about cooperation.  Perhaps you do this by playing games.  Perhaps you talk to them about their favorite sport team, or their own team, and how it takes everyone to accomplish the goal by working together.

I close with a quote from another American that had a huge impact on our lives, Henry Ford.

“Coming together is the beginning

Keeping together is progress

Working together is success”