Hi Everyone ! Welcome to Cub Scouting with Pack 301

Happy New Year 2008 to our Scout Families !

Happy New Year and wishes of health and wealth in the coming year. It is now January and we have a lot do do in the coming weeks and months. Our Christmas /Holiday party was a lot of fun and we thank the Trevose Fire Company for escorting Santa Clause to our pack meeting. We also thank Santa for finding time in his busy schedule to visit with our scouts. We were thanked for the stockings that were donated to the less fortunate on December 19th. I appreciate all your efforts in helping others during the holiday season as well as all year long with our Aid for Friends dinner program. We will be planning some trips as well as having our 2nd annual Pack 301 Pet show and tell at this months pack meeting. This was a fun night last year and it is always interesting in learning about the pets that our scouts care for. We took the scouts out to Washington Crossing State Park and enjoyed the dress rehersal of the annual crossing...and we helped feed many visitors while there while raising funds for our pack activities. ! Great work boys !

The Hatboro 47th Annual Christmas Holiday parade was a lot of fun, although a bit damp. Oh Well....We are Cub Scouts...doing our best ! Thank You to Rob's Automotive for use of the truck for our float. Halloween was fun with the annual Spooktacular at the school and the haunted hayride at Sleepy Hollow Hayrides. We are signing up new faces and the Pack continues to grow. We started the year with a Raingutter Ragetta. We will be adding a Cub Scout "BIlly Cart Race" to the calendar in January...maybe a sled event as well....if the weather cooperates.This past scouting year...we saw a Philies game, MonsterJam, King Tut at the Franklin Institute...went Trout fishing....Bowling...we were busy ! The Christmas / Hannukah Holiday is upon us and everyone will be exchanging gifts and helping others with our stocking drive that benefits the clients at Wood Services in Langhorne. We have begun a new year with lots of ideas, projects, activities, and adventures that the boys will enjoy.

This year, signing up only takes a few minutes, as all the paperwork is ready for you. If you haven't joined yet...what are you waiting for??? Stop by on Tuesday NIght !

Our Weekly Meetings begin promptly at 7 P.M. until 8:30 P.M. every week, so please be on time! We invite all boys to join cub scouts, and especially WELCOME ALL OF OUR NEW scouts. Three years ago, we lowered our registration fees to JUST $35 from the $50 dollar fees that was charged in the past. While our taxes, gas prices and everything around us is going up in cost...Pack 301 maintained these costs and we will be doing it again this year.... the registration fees again for the 2007-2008 Cub Scouting year....just $35 dollars per scout. $25 for the second in the same family ! WOW ! What a great deal. This fee includes your Boy Scouts of America registration fees...your t-shirt ( if you are a new scout), pins and badges, pinewood derby car and your den book. While other groups keep asking for more in fees, we have gone in the opposite direction and lowered the fees, and as always, NO FUNDRAISERS EVER! Our pack leadership works with all families to make meetings and snacks an enjoyable weekly task, as well as affordable trips and outings. Our business community has been very gracious with us in the past and this year is stepping up to the plate and helping us once again, and for that we are very thankful, as it takes the burden of high fees off the parents, making the priority of our Cub Scouting Program...the Boys...not fundraising! We are in our first year with the "Cubby Cart". (www.cubbydog.com) I recently purchased a hot dog vending cart for my sons...as they wanted to earn money over the summer, but are too young to get a job...so I created one for them...and it has been very successful. We will occasionally take the cart out to a festival as a cub scout event...with the proceeds benefiting the Cub Scout Pack. This will be an easy way to raise funds for the pack to pay expenses generated during the scouting year...without a need to sell popcorn, candy or wreaths as other groups do. We are also in the fifth year of a program called "Pack 301 Ebay Days". This is a program that allows anyone to support our great pack of scouts while cleaning the house of unwanted treasures. Pack 301 puts the items online and splits the auction wins with the owner. A win-win idea for seller and scout! Take a look at the page by clicking the link and if you have anything to sell online, just bring it any week to the den meeting. Also, Pack 301 has an account set-up with the Funding Factory Company and ECycle Group that pays us cash for used computer printer ink cartridges, cell phones and laser inkjet printer cartridges. While the money that they pay isn't much...it all adds up. So if you have any of the above listed items, and are just going to be throwing them away.....bring them to any cub scout meeting and Pack 301 will send them in.

Thank you to Terry R., our Assistant Cubmaster, Paul L. and Dan T. for assisting in making last scouting year the best one yet. Also...thank you to each and every den leader who worked through the scouting program and kept it fun and exciting for the boys. Your efforts are VERY MUCH APPRECIATED !!!!! You make life a lot easier by running your programs so efficiently. And of course, thank you parents !!!!! We have the best families and parents in our program and the scout program is better then everyone elses because of it !!!!!

New for 2003-2004 was a monthly newsletter that is printed up for every pack meeting. Over the years...it has gotten bigger and better...now printed monthly in full color ! It will continue to be printed this year as well. It includes important dates, messages and scouting updates showing the accomplishments submitted by each den. Be sure to pick up a copy of the monthly newsletter at the scout meetings or check it out online anytime. If you would like a notice sent to you monthly when it is available online, just let me know and I will see that it is sent.

Scouting is a great program and one way to succeed is through teamwork! While the boys benefit, there is no better lesson for them to learn, then watching their Mom or Dad participating and showing them their way. All kids learn by example, so get involved, it will enhance your child's scouting experience. Helping out as a den leader or assistant is the way all of our boys will succeed. For this 2007-2008 scouting year...Let's all work together and make Cub Pack 301 a pack that all others continue to take notice of and want to imitate.