lions Archives - Cub Scout Pack 279

Matt Weitzel installs Michael Fedor as Cubmaster

As Your New Cubmaster

By Michael Fedor | March 22, 2019

Last night it was an honor to be installed as the new Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 279. The list of leaders who have proceeded me in this role over the 52 year history of our Pack. Each Cubmaster has brought their own personality, ideas, and priorities to the job of Cubmaster. As parents, I want you to know what you can expect from my service to the pack.

1 – Make It Fun

The number one goal of Cub Scout programming is to make each outing, den meeting, and pack gathering fun and enjoyable for the scouts. They are our number one priority and they remain my number one priority. We are going to continue our rich tradition of lighthearted skits, themes, and laughter that make being part of Pack 279 so enjoyable. If the kids have fun as a scout, we’ll keep them coming back month after month, year after year. After all, our goal is to create lifelong learners and scouters.

2 – Encourage Us to Get Outdoors More

As a suburban township pack, we can sometimes get stuck in the rut of classroom style gatherings indoors. The cool, wet Central Pennsylvania weather of late that has spanned October to April has not made the job of getting us outdoors more often any easier. However, we are not about to give up. We are going to take on one major conservation project a year as a Pack to help push us into the outdoors more and I am going to encourage our Dens to hike locally and meet outdoors rather than inside the church recreational hall anytime weather permits.

3 – Lean In and Listen

A great teacher listens more than he or she speaks. As you might know, I have been a lifelong educator with experience teaching every age group from kindergarten through adulthood. I am here to listen to our scouts and our parents for opportunities to make our programming better or keep wonderful traditions and programming alive. My phone and email are open to you, but so am I for any one-on-one conversation you want to have about your scout’s experience in our Pack.

4 – Stay Committed to the Well Run Machine

The Cubmasters who have come before me have developed a robust system of tools to keep communication flowing in our Pack. No parent should ever have to guess what programming opportunities are coming up next for their scout. We will keep using Scoutbook, Timetosignup.com/pack279 and our monthly Pack announcements slides to ensure parents have all the information they need get their scouts active and involved in activities to earn rank, learn, and have fun.

5 – Parent Partnership

I am supremely proud that every leader in our Pack is a parent of a current scout. This ensures we stay focused on the kids. I also know that a pack of our size (back down to 73 for now with the bridging of 12 AOL awardees, but surely we’ll be up into the 80s again this fall) cannot succeed without the time, talents, and energy of a robust corps of parents who are involved and giving of themselves to make our programs wonderful. I encourage you to join me in this journey. Attend Parent Planning Meetings once a month (We meet the Monday before the Pack Meeting at St. James generally). Volunteer for the Quartermaster Corps to help with cooking, supplies, and set up. Become a Popcorn Sale team member to ensure that fundraiser is as successful as we need it to be each year. Suggest to us other ways you can help make Cub Scout Pack 279 a fun and exciting experience for K-5 students for the years ahead.

Thank you for this opportunity to serve our youth and your family. I am looking forward to fun that will create lifelong memories together.

Family Scouting Off to a Roaring Start

By Michael Fedor | March 19, 2018

We had a feeling Family Scouting was going to be a big hit in Cub Scout Pack 279 here in Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County. Gee, we were right.

We had six girls in grades kindergarten through fourth grade sign up immediately to join Cub Scout Pack 279. These girls got to work right to way after their induction into the Cub Scout Pack on Thursday, March 15. We are happy and proud to report two have already completed their Bobcat Badges (3 days might be a new record!).

Female scouts join the pack — A female scout receives her Webelos neckerchief at a ceremony on March 15, 2018. Cub Scout Pack 279 was among the first to open its program to girls in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

The female scouts got right to work with their very first Den meetings on Sunday, March 18. By Sunday, the ranks of female cub scouts grew to 8 in our pack, and two more picked up information on how to join. We could easily finish the Scout Year with 10-15% of our total Cub Scout membership as female scouts.

We know the success of the Family Scouting program relies heavily on the experience of our pioneer girls. We are actively seeking feedback from them and their parents on how to do this right. We are also funneling that feedback up to the District and Council levels so that more Packs in the area may learn from our experiences.

If you have a girl in the Cumberland Valley School District (or surrounding area) who wants to challenge herself to have more fun, meet new friends, and learn new skills in conservation, citizenship, science, and so much more, visit our Join Our Pack and FAQ pages to learn more on how to sign her up. Females who join for the rest of the school year will have their membership fee of $100 waived by our Pack.

It’s Official: Lions are Here to Stay

By Michael Fedor | February 26, 2018

The Boy Scouts of America have announced that the Lion pilot program was such a success that it has been officially converted to a permanent scouting rank and den, along with an official uniform, belt loop adventures, and neckerchief and slide. That means this fall Cub Scout Pack 279 will once again offer a Lion Den to kindergarten age children (That’s 5 years of age on or before September 1, 2018).

And as we announced last week, Cub Scout Pack 279 is now a Family Scouting Pack. That means the Lion Rank will be open to boys and girls in kindergarten.

The uniform for Lions will be an activity Class B Pack 279 T-Shirt, available for purchase when your Lion joins the Pack in September. They will also wear a Lion rank hat and earn their gold neckerchief and slide.

The Lion Adventures will be belt loops earned like other Scout ranks: with the guidance and help of an adult partner. The Adventure loops will include 5 required adventures and completing 1 or more of 7 electives in a range of age appropriate topics like Fun on the Run!, Animal Kingdom, Gizmos and Gadgets, Ready, Set, Grow, and more. Loops are worn on the official Cub Scout belt as part of the uniform.

Lions who earn their rank will wear it on their Class B t-shirt. Once they advance to Tiger Den, the scout will earn a Lion Rank Bar that will be worn on the lower left of their Class A (Field Uniform) below the diamond of den ranks.

The goal of the leaders of Pack 279 is to carry out the mission of the Boy Scouts of America. We provide an educational program for children to build desirable qualities of character, to train in the responsibilities of participatory citizenship and to develop personal fitness. The scouts of Pack 279 learn leadership skills while taking part in many activities and community projects.

We have a year-long program where our scouts have the opportunity to camp, hike, learn, and cook and have other rewarding outdoor adventures 12 months a year. Highlights of our pack include going to Boy Scout camps in the area, visiting local parks, hiking on the Appalachian Trail and at Hawk Mountain, racing in the Pinewood Derby, holding the annual Blue and Gold Banquet, attending Hershey Bears and Harrisburg Senators games, snow tubing, performing community service projects, and running the annual Raingutter Regatta. Pack 279 is chartered by St. James Presbyterian Church on Orr’s Bridge Road in Mechanicsburg. We partner with Boy Scout Troop 276, which is also chartered at St. James. We are grateful to be affiliated with these organizations and look forward to continue to strengthen these relationships in the future.

SaveSave

Family Scouting is Here: Pack 279 Ready to Welcome First Female Scouts

By Michael Fedor | February 23, 2018

To discuss Family Scouting, we first must know the history and how we got here today.

Cub Scout Pack 279 has a long tradition of encouraging scouting to be a family activity. We have always welcomed parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters to join us at outings, pack meetings, and den activities. Last fall the Boy Scouts of America announced a major change to our program. Beginning in 2018-2019 scouting year, the Cub Scouts would begin accepting females into the program in a policy change called “Family Scouting.”

Clearly girls and boys have their differences, but there is no question they deserve equal opportunities and treatment to become better students, stronger leaders, and healthier citizens. For many families, the BSA Cub Scout Program is the right program to encourage that growth.

This change to the BSA policy should not come as a shock as most of the world already enjoys co-ed scouting. In fact, even here in the USA, the BSA has programs like Venturing and Stem Scouting that are co-ed programs.

This spring, the New Birth of Freedom Council asked for at least one Pack from each school district to step forward and offer “early adoption” of Family Scouting. So many girls and families had heard about the change, they were eager to join. It speaks to the quality of the scouting program for sure.

The leadership of our sponsor organization – St. James Church – and Pack 279 and Troop 276 sat down last month to talk about what it means to be leaders. St James Church feels strongly that we seize this opportunity to lead and show other Packs in the area what leadership around Family Scouting looks like.

Early adoption would mean offering Cub Scouts to girls in grades k-4 for the remainder of this school year. Then in the fall, the Cub Scout program would be opened to K-5 to boys and girls.

The National BSA organization has said that Scout Troops for grades 6-12 will need to be single gender Troops. This is in full recognition of the developmental and emotional differences between young women and young men, but the Scouts of America and our Council are encouraging at least one sponsoring organizations in each school district to consider supporting at least one male and one female troop.

St James Church, Boy Scouts Troop 276 and Cub Scout Pack 279 are going to work hand-in-hand to help stand up an all-female Troop as a partner to our Pack and Troop in time for bridging in 2019. This will ensure any females from the CV school district have a BSA Troop to join and continue their scouting adventure in grades 6 and beyond in the 2019-20 school year.

So here is the news tonight.

IF you are a girl in grades kindergarten through fourth grade, and IF you like adventure, and IF you want to work hard while having fun, and IF you want to be a Cub Scout in Pack 279, you MAY pick up your youth application, complete it and join our pack tonight!
Young ladies joining anytime in the next three weeks will have their first official Pack meeting in uniform on Thursday, March 15 when we bridge the Arrow of Light den into the Boy Scouts. Your first den meetings will be that following Sunday.
You will wear the same uniforms as the boys, earn the same adventure loops, beads, and ranks. You will learn from the same leaders and have as much fun (or more) as the boys already in the Pack.
And IF you are a girl and join before the end of the school year, there is no charge to join. That’s right, free membership. We do not want the cost to be a barrier, especially when we hope to learn as much from you in the next few months as you will the program.

All girls will have membership in a special Den of female scouts in addition to your work in the den of your grade level. That female den will be mentored and lead by our female Tiger leader Serena Fedor. Serena will be working closely with Assistant Cubmaster Michael Fedor and Cubmaster Matt Weitzel and the parents of our first female scouts to ensure everyone has a great experience.

In fact, whether we planned it or not, every Den in Pack 279 has a female leader helping to plan and run the program today. This ensures our commitment to Youth Protection will be ready for Family Scouting day 1. It also ensures the changes we need to make as a pack to welcome female scouts will be front and center at every level of the Pack.

To the leaders of our Pack, thank you for your thoughtful consideration about Family Scouting. Thank you for your commitment to stand the program up early. Thank you for the work you will do in the days and weeks ahead to ensure our first female scouts have fun and feel safe and welcome.

And to the boys already in the Pack, let’s remember that a scout is helpful, friendly, courteous, and kind. We need your help as young leaders in our pack to make sure every young lady that joins us is treated as you would want to be treated.

As we speak, Camp Tuckahoe and others in the area are being renovated to provide equal facilities for female scouts. That means Cub Camp and Webelos Resident Camp this June are open to all scouts – male and female – in our Pack.

Blue & Gold Dinner with Surprises

By Michael Fedor | February 22, 2018

Everyone knows that Cubmaster Weitzel loves to include surprises into the Blue & Gold Banquet, right?

This year is no different. This week Mr. Weitzel and Mr. Fedor prepared more than 88 bags of awards, achievements, and special recognitions for the Scouts of this Pack. It is so exciting to see so many of you excelling in your Dens!

Don’t forget to dress in your “Class A” – also known as your Field Uniform – on Friday for dinner. Have a parent or guardian make sure your uniform is clean, pressed, and looking extra sharp. We are going to take photos as Dens and as a full Pack! It will be our largest group photo yet.

Our ceremony will begin at 6:00 pm, so arrive in time to sign in, pick a seat with your family, and visit with your friends. We will begin with the presentation of the Colors and a blessing. Then dinner begins! Awards and recognitions to follow.

And we have an extra special announcement coming on Friday that will surely change Cub Scout Pack 279 for the better for years to come. So bring your listening ears, your singing voices, and your appetite. We are going to have a bucket of fun on Friday night, Scouts!

Fast Cars and Family Fun at Pinewood Derby 2018

By Michael Fedor | February 8, 2018

The Pinewood Derby is a longstanding tradition in just about every Cub Scout Pack you find. Most Dad’s in our own Pack 279 who were scouts themselves have fond memories of working in their own cars, and some still even have them stashed away in the family archives.

On February 3, 208, Pack 279 had a bucket of fun as six dens competed in Den centric heats. Five dens then sent their top three racers to the Pack finals (the Lions could not move on). It was a long but spirited day of competition. More than 150 fans cycled through St. James Church to see their favorite scouts compete.

For the first time, Pack 279 linked a community service project to the Pinewood Derby. We hosted the Central PA Blood Bank to host our first ever Community Blood Drive.

Assistant Cubmaster Fedor donates blood between Den races

Our very own Tiger Den leader and mother of two current scouts (and my wife) had her life saved in September by the gift of donated blood. We thought it would be a fitting tribute to her and to our Pack by ensuring we found a way to give back the very same gift that saved her life. Very soon we will know the final tally of how much blood we helped to secure for the Blood Bank. Stay tuned!

Now the moment you have all been waiting for: the results of the 2018 Pinewood Derby!

ARROW OF LIGHT
============
1) Luke T
2) Andrew Cl
3) Issac R
4) Brandon B

WEBELOS
============
1) Evan W
2) Ivan M
3) Ryan S
4) Connor B-S

BEAR
============
1) Ryan B
2) Alex G
3) Zachary D
4) Tobey S

WOLF
============
1) Aaron C
2) Alex M
3) Alex G
4) Aayush A

TIGER
============
1) Matthew C
2) Colin W
3) Grayson P
4) Beckett Z

LION
============
1) David M
2) Brayden H
3) Colin L
4) Jackson C

BUBBLE – Top-3 fastest times, that did not place above
============
1) Ryan M – AOL
2) Tristan B – Wolf
3) Jack R – AOL

PACK FINALS
============
1) Luke T
2) Evan W
3) Alex G
4) Andy C

Please contact the Cubmaster at cubscouts@pack279.us for a link to the complete den brackets. Congratulations to all!!

Join the Lion Den!

By Michael Fedor | August 25, 2017

So you successfully completed the first week of kindergarten and you are thinking you want to try out a fun, valuable, and rewarding after school program with your boy. Look no further; the Lion Den Program at Cub Scout Pack 279 has a program for you.

Last year, the Lion Den Pilot Program was offered to kindergarteners in Cub Scout Pack 279. We had 10 kindergarteners begin the program in September 2016 and 90% of them completed their Lion Rank, earned their Lion Badge, and advanced to become Tigers by June 2017.

The Lion program is back in 2017-18. It continues to be a Pilot Program and Cub Scout Pack 279 – a Gold Level Journey to Excellence Unit – was selected to offer the pilot for a second consecutive year. The Den will meet on the First and Third Sunday of every month beginning Sunday, September 17th. If you want to learn more or want to enroll your scout, come to Parent Info Night or the First Pack Meeting.

So what is the Lion Rank and what will the boys do if they join?

Lion Rank Program Structure

Each Lion Scout attends a Den meeting twice a month. Meetings are no longer than 45 minutes total in length. Like Tigers (First Grade), the Lion Scouts complete their adventures and electives alongside their parent or guardian or participating adult (grandparents welcome!). Adventures are completed at the Den meetings (no homework).

Lions is fundamentally an introduction to Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Here are some of the fun activities we’ll do in 2017-18 as a Den:

Attend Pack Meetings together with the other dens
Earn Wampum Beads for being good scouts
Collect food for a local food bank
Go Christmas caroling at a Senior Living community
Explore a local zoo together
Meet a police officer
Explore the value of independence such as tying your own shoes and learning to dress yourself
Playing games with rules together
Taking turns
Being respectful
Exploring the outdoors
Attending family camp outs and outings with the rest of the Cub Scout Pack 279

Requirements for Lion Scouts in Cub Scout Pack 279

Attend Den meetings September – May twice a month for 45 minutes with an adult partner
Attend at least 3 pack meetings (held monthly)
Wear the Pack 279 “Class B T-Shirt” to all events (The BSA Lion Scout T-Shirt and cap are not required)
Do your best
Have fun
Complete 5 adventures and 1 elective. Last year the Den completed 5 adventures and 5 electives together.
Complete the enrollment paperwork and pay the $55 dues. Lion Scouts are not required to sell popcorn.
Lion scouts will be invited to try the Pinewood Derby for fun! (with fewer rules than other scouts)
Lion scouts will be welcome at all Pack Family events and outings
Lion scouts will complete one community service project with the Den.

Lion Program FAQ

Here is a helpful Lion Program FAQ prepared by the Boy Scouts of America. You’ll find it helpful as you explore whether or not to give Lion Scouts a try.

Here’s where to find the enrollment paperwork to join the Lion Den of Cub Scout Pack 279.

Hooked on Scouting

By Michael Fedor | August 15, 2017

Do you have a boy in grades K-5 in Cumberland Valley, East Pennsboro, Mechanicsburg, West Shore, Camp Hill, or even the Carlisle School Districts of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania? Ever consider getting him hooked on scouting?

Are you looking for a program in the 2017-18 school year that will give him positive relationships with peers, exposure to strong role models, and opportunities to earn awards and recognition to build positive self esteem?

Are you looking for a fun activity you can do together on a weekly or monthly basis to get out of the house?

Are you looking to learn new skills as a parent and meet new friends and families from your area?

Does your boy love adventure and to try new things?

Does he have friends participating in scouts?

Did you or a spouse or partner participate in scouts when you were young?

Then scouting may be just the program you are looking for. Join us for a Parent Information and Sign up Night on Thursday, September 7, 2017. You will have an opportunity to meet the parents who lead the pack, ask questions about time commitments and cost, understand the diverse opportunities we offer throughout the program year (community service, hiking, camping, competitions, sports and games, family friendly events, field trips just to name a few).

Get Hooked

As a special incentive, every new scout who completes enrollment paperwork and is fully paid in dues by September 30 will receive a free rod and reel fishing combo courtesy of Bass Pro Shops and the New Birth of Freedom Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Help your son discover new abilities, make new friends, and explore new worlds. Build an Adventure with Cub Scouts.

Lion Den Recruiting for 2017-18

By Michael Fedor | July 26, 2017

The Lion Den application is in, and upon approval by the New Birth of Freedom Council, Pack 279 will begin recruiting kindergarten age boys to be part of our Lion Den in the 2017-18 scouting year. Last year, Pack 279 successfully advanced 9 Lion Scouts to become Tigers in the inaugural class of Lions. Serena Fedor served as our Lion Guide last year and has moved on to serve as the Lion Den Leader.

Michael Fedor – Assistant Cub Master and last year’s Assistant Lion Guide – is back this year to help get the program off the ground again. He will be helping to recruit our next Lion Guide and providing the den with the support and guidance we found worked so well in 2016-17. He has also spoken with Packs across the Council, bringing some of their ideas and successes to our own program this school year.

If you are a parent or guardian of a kindergarten age student in the Easter Cumberland County area and want to know more about Cub Scouting in Pack 279, plan to attend a Parents Information Night at St. James Church on Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 7 PM.

Category: lions