Mill Valley Pack 34 - The official site of Mill Valley Cub Scouts Pack 34.

Camp Tamarancho Update

Here are the schedules for the ranges.  Make sure I have it correct.   If you are shooting on sat.  make sure you are there in time.  It takes about an 20 minutes to walk from the campsite to the ranges.  Remember no latecomers.   Also remember it takes 20 minutes from Fairfax.

A few rules about tamarancho.  In case you forgot.

Back your cars in,  this is in case of an evacuation and we need to be out of there quickly

No pets

No child is to wander by themselves.  Buddy system is mandatory. 

I will attach an info sheet along with directions. 

Can you also go over the excel file named tamarancho and make sure I have you as a rsvp

Map of Tamarancho: http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/DocDownload.aspx?id=17422


Directions to Tamarancho: http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/DocDownload.aspx?id=29686

we are camping at one of the two spots we always camp out.   Ghillotti or twin peaks.   Will let you know tomorrow.

 Please bring mess kits for kids.   we will have paper plates  and utensils for adults. 

 Your are in charge of lunch yourselves.

Meals will be as follows:

Snacks sat afternoon: Still deciding

Dinner sat eve.  

Chicken, hot dogs, sausages, chili and salad

Desert and smores

Sunday am.   For those shooting,  we will have cereal, fruit and muffins and juice.

For those hanging around we will also have sausages, and pancakes. 

Make sure you bring

  • Tent
  • Sleeping bag
  • Pillow
  • Mattress- not required, but highly recommended.
  • Flashlight. 
  • Warm clothes.  Can get cold and windy on top

Optional

  • Folding chair.
  • Bike
  • Bug spray
  • And anything else you can fit in the car.

Let me or bruce know if you need any help

 

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Camp Tamarancho March 27th

Looks like the weather is going to be nice. And we have two reservations at the ranges. First one is at 4:00 on sat afternoon, and the second is Sunday at 8:00am. Last time we had a problem with people showing up late. So the rule is no late comers. Even if your 1 minute late, you're out. So make sure when you confirm with me, you are on time. So I need to know if you are coming for Saturday night camping and what time slot you would like on the ranges. Let me know if there are siblings that would like to go to the ranges and after all the scouts are accounted for, we can include the siblings.

YIS

Doug and Bruce.

As usual, the pack will provide snacks on sat afternoon, dinner Saturday and breakfast on Sunday.

Cost is $20 per family, and $5 for the range. The crew that helps out with the ranges is raising money for a trip to the east coast, we usually give them coffee gift cards, but they are requesting tips in money. So a $5 per kid recommendation is what we were thinking of. Not required though. Thanx.

Webelo - Eagle - Upcoming Events

Hi everyone...

A long-overdue update from den leader Dave! Densely packed with info about upcoming events! Here we go...

Earning the Webelos Badge

 

It would be great for us to bridge our boys to Webelos at the April Pack Meeting (checking on date).

I've put up a spreadsheet showing what I know about the cubs' progress, here: http://bit.ly/bSld5g

Email me if there is new info and I'll update the spreadsheet. Here's a summary of the Webelos requirements:

1. Read the parent guide ("How to Protect Your Children From Child Abuse"; it came with the Webelos book) with your scout.

2. Be an active member of the den for 3 months. (Everybody has earned this.)

3. Know the meaning of the Webelos badge (page 52). I don't think there is a lot of deep symbolism... here's what the book says:

The Webelos badge is like the emblem on your Webelos cap, except that it also has the word "Webelos" and the Scout badge. The emblem is made up of a gold Scout badge with a blue "W," for Webelos, on it. It shows that you are moving from Cub Scouting to Boy Scouting.

4. Point out three special parts of Webelos Scout Uniform. (I marked the boys down who passed uniform inspection.)

5. Earn Fitness, Citizen, and one other badge from a different activity group (e.g. Artist). Note: do the Fitness Achievement with your family.

6. Plan and lead a flag ceremony. (Our den did this on September 9. If your cub participated in a 9/11 flag raising ceremony, I'd count that as well.)

7. Show understanding of key Boy Scout requirements.

8. Faith. See the Webelos book, page 50, for more details.

Future Den Meetings & Achievements

March 27, Tamarancho Spring Campout - we will tackle the Outdoorsman Achievement (p. 343) - Dave LaDuke to run at the campout

Before April 14, do the Fitness Achievement (p. 245) with your family

April, date TBD, visit to Tier 1 Data Center in South San Francisco (one of Facebook's data centers) - Communicator + Traveler Achievements (p. 165, 461) - Dave LaDuke to organize - shooting for a Wednesday afternoon when kids have early dismissal

Date TBD, Readyman Achievement (p. 365) - organized by Pearson's dad, Dr. Chris Ames - he is a brain surgeon, so this one should be very interesting!

Saturday May 8, 10AM -12 PM - Naturalist Achievement (p. 317) - organized by Nico's mom, Juliet Mohit - it will be in the Marin Headlands. Emily, a nature guide, will lead a hike.

Also...

Susie Ames is organizing a SECRET collaborative painting as a goodbye present to our Den Leader, Bruce Berlinger. She'll organize a time when kids can stop by ArtStart to contribute to the masterpiece. Stay tuned.

Thats about it... Hope to see you up at Tamarancho next weekend!

Best,

Dave

Camp Tamarancho Campout - March 27th

Now that rockets and pinewood derby are over, we can start working on our kids bridging and moving on to the next level. We have a campout on Saturday, March 27th, at Camp Tamarancho. We have 2 sessions booked at the ranges on Saturday. When I get details I will let you know. We are doing our usual sat eve campout and all members of your family are invited. Cost will be $20 per family. Let me know if you plan on attending:

1) Rain or shine
2) Sunny weather
3) Just for shooting
We will send out an email early next week when we know the weather and that will determine of how big our group will be.
YIS
Doug and Bruce

Tomorrow's Pack Meeting

Hi Everyone from Pack 34,
Tomorrow night, March 10th, our meeting at scout hall is going to be starting at 6PM. This is to accommodate the showing of the movie "Down and Derby", about the pinewood derby. This is a 90 minute movie, starting at 6 sharp gives us time to see the movie and have a short meeting to pass out a few patches that the boys have earned. We will conclude at our regular time of 8pm. I have extra pinewood derby cars for anyone who needs a car kit. I hope that everyone is working on their cars for the races this weekend.Yours in scouting, Bruce and Doug.
Pinewood Derby Weekend Times:
Check-In Saturday 3/13 Noon to 2 PM
Races Sunday 3/14 10 AM to 2 PM

Saturday Adult Pinewood Derby night

I'll say this at the head to avoid confusing folks over the much more
important event: The checkin for the scout's pinewood derby race is between
12:00 and 2:00 on Saturday March 13. Their race, along with the official
'open' race for non-scouts is on Sunday March 14th from 10:00am - 12:00.
Tigers race first.

With that out of the way, let me get into something altogether different:
our first parent's one derby race. Many parents have mentioned that they
have built a car along side their son, or have ideas to push the limits of
derby competition, or they are still reeling from their defeat some 30 years
ago and are yearning for the chance to instill their name in pinewood glory.
Well, glory might not be the reward, but we have decided to have a Saturday
night pinewood derby event on March 13th, the day before the big _real_
event on the 14th. (This way we help prevent a "Down and Derby" reenactment
in front of the kids)

So polish the axles and mount your wheels and come down to scout hall for a
fun filled evening. Check in is at 7:30pm with the hope of racing by 8:15.
Bring a food or beverage to share and get ready fun. Please RSVP if you
plan on coming just so I have an idea of how many we might need to
accommodate. If you need a kit, you can pick one up at the Marin council
store for a few bucks or I believe we may have some extras for $4.

The Rules:

0) You must use your own car. Sneaking your son's car into the race is a
no-no.
1) An official BSA 'Pinewood Derby Kit' must be used
2) The wheels and axels from an official kit must be used
3) The final car can weight no more than 5oz on the scale use for check-in.
4) The car must conform to the "Rules in the Box" that come with the kit.
These rules detail the dimensions and other, what one must assume are
purposely vague, guidelines.

What the rules don't explicitly say but we are explicitly allowing (for the
derby geeks in the audience):

5) Extended wheelbase (i.e. the precut axle slots do not need to be used)
6) Raised wheels (not all wheels need to touch the ground)
7) Modifications to the wheel shape are allowed.

Please note that rules 5, 6, and 7 are not allowed by the Marin Council so I
advise against incorporating them into your son's car design. Live and
learn I tell myself ;)

-steve

Items left behind @ USS Pampanito

Great Times over the past weekend & Great job by all participants and leaders of Pack 34!

Attached hereto is a photo of items we found at final cleanup and departure of the sub.

We will bring them to the next Pack Meeting.


Sincerely,


Peter E. Gilmore

cub scout day camp

This is the least expensive camp available.

Summer Day Camp for Cub Scouts offers your Cub Scout-Wolf through Webelos-a unique camp experience. A camp designed around the Cub Scout program, staffed by registered Boy Scouts, Venturers, and trained National Camping School BSA leaders. Our Staff ratio is 8 Scouts to 1 staff member.

 

Our Theme: The Knights of Tamarancho

Our Dates: June 21 to June 25, July 12 to July 16, and August 9 to August 13

Our Camp Fee: $175 (save $15 and register early prior to midnight Thursday April 29th)

 

No electronics or plastic kit projects here, just good old fashioned summer time fun in the great outdoors with nine theme-related program activities. As rainy days and cold winter nights lead way to summertime fun and these Camp Tamarancho delights: The Bow & Arrow, Arthur's Armory, Cooking at the Feast, Field Games & Jousting, Handicraft & Leatherwork, Practical Herbology & Nature, Knightly Skills at The Castle, Scouting Squire Skills, Loons at the Lakeside, and manly men in tights!

 

To five packs we've already presented live. So pick a date, and let us know because we'd like to visit to see how your pack goes, grows, and thrives. We'll sing a song, introduce ourselves, answer questions, and ring some bells! Make 'ye way to Tamarancho! Make ye way to Tamarancho!

Week One - June 21 to June 25
Week Two - July 12 to 16
Week Three - August 9 to 13

Registration opened February 4, and we sold out last year!

The pick up and drop off is at in n out burger in strawberry 

Go to http://www.boyscouts-marin.org/ and then hit the camping program and facilities tab,  then the cub scout camping tab and the registration is there.

USS Pampanito and Rocket Launch

Hello Pack 34,

What a weekend of Cub Scouting, thanks for all those that participated and helped in our activities. 

The USS Pampanito was a fun overnight trip and I hope our group does this one again.  We had a spectacular full moon and the weather was perfect for a night in the city.  Thank you Lisa Gilmore for being the point person on the trip, you did an incredible job making this a successful event. 

Yesterdays rocket launch was a blast.  I hope that everyone had a great time firing off their rockets, we had perfect weather.  It was amazing seeing all of the different rockets that the boys brought for the launch.  I think that it was clear how working together as a team on this type of activity keeps this a fun and safe day.   Special thanks to Gareth Tyrnauer for being a check in desk / rocket prep specialist yesterday.  I am glad that the Gilmore's rocket actually flew and then didn't take out the Southern Marin PG&E sub-station.  We will have another smaller rocket launch day for those that couldn't make yesterdays launch.  If your rocket is still intact after yesterday, you can launch yours again.    

We will post photos of both on our web site this week.

Our next camp-out is at Camp Tamarancho on the night of March 27th. 

Our next pack meeting is on March 10th, 7PM, we will be doing a follow up on disaster preparedness.  We will have a short presentation by Be Prepared Mill Valley.  Come with your own ideas to share with the group.  Please bring well fed scouts for another fun night. 

We will see you at the Pack Meeting,
Bruce and Doug

USS Pampanito and Sunday Rocket Launch

Hello Everyone from Pack 34,

Looking forward to a great weekend of scouting. 

For all of you that are going on our overnight at the USS Pampanito, I have a few suggestions from Linda Mondot at the Scout Council.  First, do not be any later than the check in time of 7PM, they want you on time.  Have all of your forms and paperwork and get them the Lisa Gilmore, ASAP, this is important as they are strict on the paperwork.  Less is better, we will be in tight quarters, do not bring to much gear.  Instead of bringing a pillow consider rolling up your jacket or sweatshirt as a pillow.   But, dress warm and bring a hat, the sub is cold.  Consider putting the boys PJ's on under their pants for ease of changing in tight spaces.  Try to eat before hand, we will have snacks and small breakfast for Sunday morning.  It should be a lot of fun. 

Doug and I will set up the Mill Valley Space Launch Central Sunday morning and we should be ready for our first launches at 9AM.  We know that everyone has conflicting commitments, so you can come and launch anytime between 9 and noon.  We have plenty of engines for the rockets, just check in at the command center to get prepped for your launch.  This is always one of my favorite scouting events. 

We have many activities left for the year, I hope that everyone is having fun.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Yours in scouting, Bruce.