Parents and Cubs,
Welcome to 3rd Eastern Passage Pack. We are headed for a fun and exciting year. The Pack has gone through a change in leadership with a whole new team heading up the Pack this year. Dan Godin will be your Akela. He has 3 years Pack experience, and also has worked with Colony over the past 5 years, as well he is the Deputy Area Commissioner for Atlantic View Zone, which Eastern Passage is a part of. Scouter Steve Matheson, who was working with us near the end of the year is joining us for this year, and he comes with lots of experience with scouting at the troop and cub levels. Scouter Jennifer Garnier comes to us from the Beaver Colony at 3rd EP, with her skills, creativity and excitement she is eager to get started. Steve and Jennifer will get their new names after a couple meeting when the Cubs get to know them better.
Meetings:
When~ 6:30-8pm Mondays
Where~ EP Education Center, 93 Samuel Daniel Dr, Heritage Hills
Our first meeting night will be the 25th of September. We start at 6:30 sharp, so we would really appreciate your support in ensuring your cub/s are there between 6:15 and 6:25pm. You will have to ring the bell to get in unless someone is at the door. For safety reasons we need a parent to accompany your Cub into the meeting place and out. This also gives us as Leaders an opportunity to see you and pass on any important information. As you can see from the sample schedule below our closing is at 7:50pm. This is an opportune time to be present and we ask for your cooperation, as this is the time we pass out badges the cubs have earned and any other special awards, not to mention we review what is coming up in the near future.
Sample Schedule~
Structure at this age is extremely important in ensuring everyone has a great experience. We model most of our meetings around this structure, as it is easy to follow. We will have gathering activities/ games before opening (6:15-6:30) and during the program delivery time. This will vary on the topic/s for that week.
6:30 Opening
6:40 Inspection
6:50 Program Delivery
7:50 Closing
Dues: We collect dues each week to help pay for badges your cub will earn and help offset the cost of craft supplies and outings. This year we have set dues at $1.50 which you can pay each week during inspection. We have also given the opportunity to pay your dues all at once with a savings of about $8.50. The cost is $35.00, which is payable by cheque or cash and is due the last meeting night in October (30th). After this time you will have to pay weekly. This allows us to plan better and you don’t have to scramble for $1.50 each week.
Uniforms: Your Cub is expected to arrive in full uniform each week unless we tell you otherwise. We will ensure you have all the badges you need for your uniform and as well provide the necker during your investiture into our Group. You need to have a Cub shirt and sash (yellow trim). You can get these at the scout shop or sometimes you can find them at your local second hand store for a great price.
Cub Kit: We are creating a Cub Kit this year, as your Cub will need to bring a few items with them every week. We will build the contents as we get through the year. But to start off and most importantly your Cub needs a Cub Book. If they don’t already have one, you can get these at the Scout Shop for about $10.00. This will follow them through the program until Scouts. As for the kit itself, they will need a small Rubbermaid bin large enough to store their Cub Book and any badge work items and crafts they have. A clear one with a good secure lid is perfect with their name on it. This helps us in ensuring things keep organized and that their belongings and notices all go home with them.
Badge Work: In you Cub books you can see that the badge work your Cubs will do is broken down into stars. Each year we rotate the stars we work on to ensure the Cubs get as little duplication from the previous year. This year we will do the first 2 stars; Black and Green. A lot of the Cubs may already have badges in these groups so we will try to find common ones to work on and the more experience Cubs can help us out. Each badge has a set of requirements and we will not normally complete the badge requirements at Cubs, so you will require doing some at home to complete. We will only get through a small amount of them during the year, so you Cub will have to do most of this on their own. If you have any questions about how this all works, please come see us. We will have a parent’s night on the second night of Cubs to discuss how and what we are going to do this year.
Volunteering:
We do need help always, even if it seems minuscule, it helps us out a lot. We are still looking for additional Leaders in our program. With our combined teams experience you will see it is nothing at all to be a Leader. The more help we have, the less stress and more fun we get out of it. It is a great program and a lot of fun experiencing it! Just ask one of the Leaders about how to join, or give me a call.
If you can volunteer; during our regular meeting nights, sleepovers, and camps, you will need your Police Record Check (see me). If you are just staying the day, or if it is an outing such as our hike or a tour you do not need it done. However saying that you will not be allowed to be alone with the children at anytime if you do not have your PRC! Their safety is of the utmost importance to us!
Dan Godin
Akela 3rd EP
