Welcome Pack 831 Cubs & Parents:

Pack 831 is GREAT! We have planned an exciting and fun filled year. It will be up to you and your son to work together to accomplish as much as you want. This is very much a family oriented program. As a Cub, you will participate in field trips, pack meetings, den meetings, camping and so much more. Our goal is to help each scout to complete the requirements for his advancement and have a great time doing so.

This year we have put out a yearly schedule for our monthly Den and Pack meetings. We have many active parents in our Pack who have so much to offer our Cubs. At this first meeting, we will begin working on our requirements and also ask each parent to consider coordinating part of a meeting. The den leaders will be glad to lead the meetings but would like to let other parents take an active role as well. Some of the meetings may match a particular interest you have. Each meeting will have crafts, games, songs, skits and other activities, which parents can volunteer to prepare for the meeting. Tigers and their partners will take turns leading their meetings.

Each month’s meeting has a theme and is coordinated with the achievement and elective requirements required to complete the Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelo badges. Each of you will receive your book at the Round Up meeting. To complete the badge requirements, each scout must complete a number of required achievements. Some of them require that all activities be performed and some require only part of the activities. A review of the book should make this clear. Please note that many of the activities can and should be done at home or with a parent/family. Your Den Leader will select the achievements that you will be working on and the order since this will work with the themes and other activities. You are free to work on others as long as you follow the requirements outlined in your book.

The schedule includes the dates and locations for the current year's den meetings. These are not set in stone, however they do coordinate with the school schedules and pack activities. All the meetings are set for Sunday evening since this has worked well in the past. There are exceptions to this rule, please see the calendar. Each den meeting will include a snack and each den will set up a schedule for this. If we complete the den meetings as shown on the schedule, all the scouts should have completed the badge requirements by the end of April Pack Meeting for advancement. If a scout misses a den meeting, then he simply needs to work on those achievements at home or a later den meeting.

Many of the achievements and electives can be performed at home. You may be surprised at how many you can quickly sign off and have already done this summer or can quickly do. I encourage each scout and parent to review the entire book early on to see the scope of the activities and perhaps mark those, which are of interest. The den meetings will be focused on those activities, which are more appropriate to a group setting.

The main method of communication is the Pack News and email. The Pack News will contain details for upcoming events, job schedules for Pack Meetings, recognition, and other items that might be of interest to our Cub families. This newsletter is sent primarily by email. If you change your email or are unable to receive email, let me know and I will update the list. I strongly encourage you to bookmark this site and visit often for updates and easy access to the calendar and details on events. Everyone is always welcome and encouraged to provide feedback on ways to improve our web site.

All parents are encouraged to become active in our Pack activities. We have several positions that help the Pack run smoothly. If you would like to help with one of these positions, please let me know and I’ll be happy to help you get started.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please call me at 412-279-4262 or email me at .

I look forward to a great year of scouting.

Bridget VanDorn

Cubmaster