Dear Pack 65 Tiger Den #8 Parents:
It was great to meet you and your sons at our Pack 65 ice cream social. We have a really great bunch of boys and we’re going to have a lot of fun together! Included here is some information you’ll appreciate. Don’t worry: we’ll review most of this at our first den meeting (Sunday, 09.14.08 at 5:30pm – 6:30pm).
Tiger Den Leadership
As our Cubmaster, Greg Richards, shared last night, I am thankful to serve as our Tiger Den leader, and I’m looking for an assistant to partner with. I’ve accomplished most of the planning and simply need help with executing the plan.
Shared Parent Leadership for Achievements
We’ve found our dens work best on the basis of shared parent leadership – our boys can learn something from the unique perspective that each of us brings from our life experiences. Our boys will attain the Tiger Cub badge by completing a series of five achievements (please see Uniform and Materials below). Please review the attached sheet and consider which month you might like to lead. Again, we’ll discuss this in greater detail at our first meeting.
Meeting Details
Our first den meeting will be held on Sunday, 09.14.08 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm on the second floor of the Hershey Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (HTLC) at 212 Cocoa Avenue. In general we’ll meet as a den three to four times each month:
1. Tiger Den Meeting at HTLC
2. Go-See-It Event (fire house, civic building, etc.)
3. Pack 65 pack meeting (all dens) on a Friday night
4. Potentially one pack event (fossil hunts, bike rides, etc.)
Uniform and Materials
The uniform is an important part of the Scouting program. It identifies the boys and adults with Tiger Cubs and gives them a sense of belonging to the den, the pack, and the Boy Scouts of America. Most boys enjoy wearing their Tiger Uniform and they should wear it to all den meetings, pack meetings, and special pack events. You’ll want to pick up either at our Keystone Area Council store in Mechanicsburg, PA (http://www.seosemtools.com/tinyurl/e8Zm549fz) or shop online at http://www.scoutstuff.org/.
Don’t worry about not having the uniform for the first meeting – we’ll cover this in detail at our first meeting (uniform wear, patch placement, etc.). The minimum uniform in Pack 65 consists of the following:
□ Tiger Cub Scout Handbook
□ A blue Cub Scout uniform shirt
□ Cub Scout Patches:
o Keystone Area Council patch
o Pack number patches (that is a red “6” and a “5)
o Den number patch (we’re Den 8)
o World Scouting insignia (small, purple patch)
o Tiger Neckerchief (orange in color)
o Tiger Neckerchief slide (brass)
o OPTIONAL: Tiger Cub Hat and belt
Getting Started
Once you pick up your son’s Tiger Cub Handbook you’ll find there are actually two badges that our boys will attain this year: Bobcat Badge and Tiger Badge. The Bobcat Badge is covered in pages 29 – 34 of the Tiger Cub Handbook and in achieving Bobcat your son will learn the Cub Scout essential basics that will bond him with the other boys in our pack: Cub Scout sign, Cub Scout handshake, Cub Scout Promise, Law of the Pack, etc. It’s designed to be a great way to introduce your son to Cub Scouting – I still remember from my days as a Cub Scout! I encourage you to begin working on this at home with your son, and we’ll also be applying it at most of our den meetings as well.
Tracking Advancement
Your son will work with you both at home and in our den meetings to accomplish the five achievements required for the Tiger Cub badge. As he completes these achievements you’ll enter these online to track his progress with an web-based application called ScoutTrack (https://www.scouttrack.com/servlet/ScoutTrack/index.htm) that our pack subscribes to. We’ve found it helpful because parents can help their boys know exactly how they’re progressing towards their Tiger and Bobcat ranks and it helps our pack leadership compile the monthly awards ordering and presentation that occurs at each monthly pack meeting.
Need Updated Medical Forms
Each year, we need updated Class I medical forms for all the boys. You can find the form on the Pack website (http://www.hersheypack65.org/) in the "Scouting Links" section in the left column. Please fill this out at your earliest convenience and bring it along to the first Den Meeting on 09.14.08.
Recruiting
Most dens have between five to nine boys: we currently have six, potentially seven, Tigers – awesome! If you know of any other potential Tigers (1st graders, of course), please let me know. It’s a great time to join with friends from school, church, soccer teams, etc.
Upcoming Events
Tiger Den Meeting: Sunday, 09.14.08 from 5:30pm – 6:30pm at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Pack Meeting: Friday, 09.19.08 from 6:45pm to 8:30pm at ECC
Fossil Hunt: Sunday, 09.21.08 from ~1:00pm to 5:00pm (please see Pack website at http://www.hersheypack65.org/ for details)
Thanks again for joining our Tiger Den and our Pack. We’re thankful to have you and your sons and look forward to an amazing adventure together!
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
In Scouting,
Travis Zimmerman
zmant@comcast.net
717.443.5000 (cell)
717.520.5900 (home)
