Next Thursday we will have our annual Movie Night and get together and watch “Despicable Me”, along with popcorn and drinks.  We will start our meeting at 6:00 PM.

Note that this year's Movie Night is in the Art Room, not the Chandelier Room.  Because of this slightly cozier space, we are asking that no one brings blankets or sleeping bags.  Please feel free to have the Scouts and siblings bring a pillow, but no blankets or sleeping bags.

Pack 998 Blue and Gold Dinner – Saturday, February 11^th. 5:00PM in the Classic Gym.

Our annual Blue and Gold Dinner will be on Saturady February 11th, at 5:00PM.  If you are interested, scouts and families can attend the 4:00PM mass on Saturday prior to the dinner.  More information on the Blue and Gold dinner will come out shortly, but it should be an enjoyable night with fun, socializing, and awards.  Rumor has it that each den will be performing skits to show of their comedic talents and maybe even entertain the guests.

Pack 998 Pine Wood Derby – Sunday March 18^th in the Field House Gym.

I handed out many Pine Wood Derby car kits at the Christmas parade after-party, but if you did not receive a kit, I will be bringing them to the upcoming den meetings as well.  In addition to the official Cub Scout race, we usually run a non-sanctioned race for Cub Scout age and younger siblings.  

As we did last year, we will set up the track a week or so before and allow scouts to test run their cars, ensuring that there are no major steering or design issues.  I hope to send out the official rules and some new information about the race next week.

 I look forward to seeing everyone next week!

-Tom

(Results and some thoughts from Jeff Herr...)

What a great time!  With the music, the announcing and the excitement and the anticipation in the air, it could have been the Indy 500!!

It amazes me every year...  When you look at the time difference between the racers, I think every one of our scouts deserves a trophy.  

Consider this...  There was only one TENTH of a second between the 1st and 7th place finisher, and only two tenths of a second between 1st and 14th place...  Less than three hundredths of a second separated 1st and 3rd.

When my children asked if I thought they would win the race, I was honest with them...  
"I doubt it.  You've got a great car, but so does everyone else.  We did our best and had a great time doing it.  You've already won!"  If your child left the Derby feeling like anything less than a winner, remind them of how much they learned, the time spent with their akela, spending time being creative...  There's so much that comes from the Pinewood Derby that the race day is almost unimportant!

CONGRATULATIONS to all our winners!  Here's the results of the race day competition:

• By Time
• By Time, including details
• By Racer Name 
• By Den

Some quick statistics:

• The amount of time separating the 1st place finisher from the 10th place finisher was roughly an EIGHTH of a second.  Yikes!
• Our "block-o-wood with wheels and some putty" came in around 4.0 seconds.  The fastest heat of any one car shaved off less than a second from that time.

I like to explain to my kids that the times are all so close and with all the good times they had, every one of the boys is a winner!

Here's the details:

• Avg time: Scouts by Place based on average time
• Details: Scouts by Place with heat details
• Den: Finish order by Den
• Lanes: Fastest single heat and Lane Speed averages

I am always amazed at what a good time the Pinewood Derby is every year.  The positive energy in the race arena is so good to see, and all the scouts are so well behaved for the race...  But I know, kids want to win, too!  For them, winning is still an important part of this day, even if as adults, we know that's just a nice byproduct of time spent together, teaching, talking, learning, growing.

Webelos-I News

I wanted to remind you that we will be having a den meeting this Friday,11/20/09 either in the art room or the science lab at 6:30pm. It justdepends on whether or not the pie people need the art room on Friday. Weare working on our Fitness activity badge and will have a guest speaker. Hewill go over general information on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Part ofthe requirements include that you speak with your scout about these topicsas well. I am attaching the booklet about Take A Stand Against Drugs foryou and your scout to read and discuss together. That will also coverrequirement #8.

We worked on requirements #1 & 2 at our den meeting last week. Thisincluded starting safety notebooks. The scouts were given the assignment ofcompleting the notebooks with their parents and bringing them to the nextmeeting for me to check them off.

There is an opportunity for our scouts to get "good turn" credit for theircitizenship beltloops. We will be in need of hands to assist withtransporting popcorn orders into the school and dividing orders by scout.So, if you want to arrive early to the den meeting to help with this, thatwould be great!

Paul and I will be at the popcorn distribution area around 4pm on Friday, sowe are keeping our fingers crossed that we arrive at the school by 5-6pm.

Hope to see you on Friday,

Patty

Anyone who can assist with popcorn pickup from the distributor on Friday afternoon, please contact Paul Neely ASAP (219-670-3026).

In an effort to be as efficient with our time as possible, we have scheduled the November Pack meeting for THIS SATURDAY, 11/21/09 at 10am. The thought is that you can pick up popcorn either before or after the pack meeting.The meeting will be held in the science lab of building #3. Our primary objectives will be to give out recognition awards and work on snowflakes for decorating our Christmas parade float.

Did I say Christmas parade float??

Yes, we will be hosting a float for theChristmas parade again this year! I will send another notice with specifics. What you need to know for now: After the Pack meeting on Saturday, those who want to participate may join us at Peter St. Mary's workshop to put finishing touches on the float. The parade will be Friday, 11/27/09. The parade takes off at 5:30pm and we will have pizza party for the scouts and their families immediately following at St. Pat's classic gym.

We realize that the playground installation is set for this Saturday as well.  However, the majority of the help seems to be needed in the afternoon. Hopefully, for those planning to assist with the install, this schedule will work out for all.  This is a great opportunity for the Scouts to help with a community project!

Charlie has offered to host a hike at his Farm outside of Valpo on Friday 11/6 at 3pm. We will do a hike through a very beautiful wooded area, learn some things along the way, play some fun games in the open field and then roast some Hot Dogs over a campfire. If we are lucky, maybe Mr Olson will provide some campfire entertainment.  Fun should be had by all, young and old. We will wrap up between around 5.

The address to the farm is 185 South State Road 2.  

Here are the complete directions:

• Go south on 49 to Division.
• Go West 4 miles to SR 2.
• Go left on SR2 for 2 miles.

The entrance to the farm in on the left.  It is a gravel road right after a guard rail on the left hand side of the road.  

Please let me know if you will be joining us so we make sure to wait for you before we start our hike. This will knock out requirements 2f, 3, 8a, and 12b.  Hope to see you Friday!