Fall Camporee

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Frontier District LogoAttention Webelos!  You are invited to attend the Frontier District Fall Camporee on October 2-4.   This year’s Fall Camporee will be held at Meadowcroft Rock Shelter and Historic Village. Scouts will enjoy 16,000 years of history all in one weekend! Experience what life was like for prehistoric Americans at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. The programs on Saturday will be put on by the Staff at Meadowcroft and boy do they have a great program ready to go for our Scouts!

All Webelos I and II scouts can attend the camporee as guests of Troop 2 from Bridgeville.  Webelos will need to camp with a parent, but can participate in all the camporee activities and will dine with the Troop.  If you are interest, please contact the cubmaster for more details. [ email:  cubmaster (at) pack843.org ]

Popcorn Show and Sell Update

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Our scouts did a good job of selling popcorn at Portman Farms this past weekend. When I called to schedule our time at Portman Farms, Beth checked the schedule and thought she gave us the weekend for the Ham Salad sale (which is a big weekend for customers). This morning, she apologized to us for giving us the wrong dates. She welcomed us back to sell our popcorn for the Ham Salad weekend.

Also, I have parents asking for more Show & Sells. Our time slots have filled up within a day or two of being released.

Here is my solution. I will put second Show & Sell for this coming weekend at Portman Farms for SATURDAY ONLY. If the slots fill up with a day or two then I may open SUNDAY time slots if there is enough interest. We have found the first two hours to be slow but the afternoon very busy. Therefore, I am going to change the hours of Show & Sells (FOR PORTMAN FARMS ONLY -this coming weekend). Please pay close attention to the time slots.

Our inventory is moving well.   I will be releasing hours for Show & Sell in Sam’s Club in Robinson. We have never done a Show & Sell at Sam’s Club so I am not sure of our supply for our final weekend of October 17 & 18 (Walmart in Carnegie). Look for time slots for Sam’s Club and Portman Farm’s to be available for signups on 9/21. I expect to have plenty of popcorn for our final weekend of sales but, just to be safe, I will wait to release those hours until after our sales this weekend.

Pack Meeting Friday

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Reminder — the Pack Meeting is this Friday, September 18th, 7:00 PM at Fairview Park.  Please meet at the entrance pavilion BY 7:00.  We have limited daylight, so we have to start promptly!

Scouts should be in uniform (but if you don’t have one yet, please come anyhow).  We will be geocaching in the woods, so long pants and decent shoes would be a good choice. As with any hike, items like a flashlight and a water bottle would also be a good idea.  Parents may want to bring a chair and a jacket.

Pack Meeting Sept 18th – Geocaching!

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Cub Scout GPSThe first Pack Meeting of the new season will be this Friday, September 18th, at Fairview Park.  We will meet at 7:00 PM at the entrance pavilion for a Geocaching Adventure!  Please be on-time or early — we have limited daylight, so I will be starting PROMPTLY at 7:00.

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.  And it’s happening right now, all around you!  There are over 2.5 million active geocaches, and over 6 million geocachers worldwide.  For this event, we will have some temporary caches set up, and GPS devices that the scouts can use to track them down.  There will be a reward at the end for all successful cachers.

If you’d like to get a head start, you can visit the Introduction to Geocaching page at Geocaching.com.

Besides the geocaching, there will be our usual Pack Meeting activities, like awards and presentations.  Do not miss this great event!  Recommended dress is long pants (for the geocaching), good boots or shoes, and remember to bring a jacket.

Popcorn Show and Sells

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Hello All,

I want to thank all the Scouts AND parents working the Show & Sells these past two weekends. The boys are adorable and our sales for the Show & Sells are really going well.

Just a few reminders:

  1.  Boys must be in their uniform when selling popcorn. The uniform includes the cub scout shirt with the Pack 843 patch you received when you signed up, a neckerchief, neckerchief slide and hat.
  2.  When signing up for a time slot, please sign up with your CHILD’s name so I can credit your child for the time working the Show & Sell.
  3.  Leave the site as you found it.  Please clean up everything you bring to the Show & Sell site.
  4.  The Scouts can use the bathroom if needed but otherwise must stay at the location of the popcorn table.  No wandering in and out of the facility.
  5.  Please make sure your Scout keeps the entry and exit pathway clear so we do not block anyone from entering or exiting the facility.
  6. We can accept checks at the Show & Sell location (checks need to be made out to PACK 843). We do NOT take credit cards.
  7. If you need to cancel your time slot, PLEASE send me a text message (412-780-9757).  I can clear the spot so someone else can sign up.   If your child is ill the morning of the Show & Sell, please CALL ME as early at possible (don’t worry about waking me up, I am up very early).
  8. If you run out of popcorn or have any issues while at the Show & Sell, PLEASE call me (412-780-9757 – my number is also on the popcorn tally sheet)
  9. If you have any questions, please send me an email ( karen10903@gmail.com)

Karen Billingham – Assistant Cubmaster & Popcorn Kernel

Den Meeting Wednesday

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The first Den Meeting of the year will be this Wednesday, September 9th at the South Fayette Elementary School.

  • If you are a returning scout, you should have heard from your Den Leader about what time to meet.
  • If you are a new Tiger, please come at 6:30 and we will be dividing into dens.
  • If you want to sign up as a new scout, please come at 6:30.

Sign-up Night Reminder

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Pack 843 will have a new scout Sign-up night on Wednesday September 2nd, 7:00 in the South Fayette Elementary School cafeteria.  Parents will have the opportunity to hear about the Cub Scouting program, about Pack 843 in particular, and to ask any questions.

If you are interested in Cub Scouting but can’t make the meeting, there is plenty of time to join.  You can check the Pack Calendar, and show up for any upcoming event.  The next few events are:

  • Den Meeting  — Sept. 9th, 6:30 at the South Fayette Elementary School
  • Pack Meeting — Sept. 18th, 7:00 PM at Fairview Park
  • Den Meeting — Sept. 23rd, 6:30 at the South Fayette Elementary School.

Visit the “About Pack 843” page or the “How to Join” page for answers to more questions.

If you are a new scout who already signed up at the Spring Picnic, then hang on — you should hear from your Den Leader in the next week (after sign-up night is done).

Join Cub Scouting

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Do you have a boy who is interested in the adventures that Scouting can provide?   Since its origin, the Scouting program has been an educational experience concerned with values. In 1910, the first activities for Scouts were designed to build character, physical fitness, practical skills, and service. These elements were part of the original Cub Scout program and continue to be part of Cub Scouting today.

On Wednesday, Sept. 2nd Pack 843 will have a New Cub Scout Sign-Up Night, in the South Fayette Elementary School cafeteria, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.   Potential scouts and their parents can get the answers to all their questions, find our more about our program, and register their boys for the new scouting year.

Some basic information about Cub Scouts:

  • JoinCubScoutsCub Scouting begins for boys in First Grade, or who are 7 years old.  Members at this level  are called Tiger Cubs.  They work closely with an adult partner (parent or guardian) to begin their scouting trail.
  • Members in grades 2 and 3 are called Cub Scouts, and work on Wolf rank (grade 2) or Bear rank (grade 3).
  • Members in grades 4 and 5 are called Webelos Scouts, and work on the Webelos rank and the Arrow of Light rank.
  • Webelos Scouts usually graduate into Boy Scouting in about February of grade 5.
  • All scouts work on their rank by completing a series of Adventures.  They will receive a Cub Scout handbook that will teach them new skills and concepts, and will help guide them through each adventure.
  • The overall Cub Scouting program is family-centered, adult-run, and offers the boys an introduction to scouting.

At the meeting we will be asking for a $35 registration fee.  Fund-raising opportunities will be discussed, and please remember that no boy will be denied membership due to financial concerns.

You can learn more about what our Pack does by visiting the “About Pack 843” page.

Kicking Off The New Year

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BalooHello Scouts!  The 2015-2016 Scouting year is about to begin!  The new calendar is loaded on the website, and the whole thing can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Here are a few important dates to get started:

  • Tuesday, September 1st the Cubmaster will be at the Elementary School to talk to boys about becoming scouts.
  • Wednesday, September 2nd will be a sign-up night for new scouts, at the Elementary School at 7:00 PM.
  • Wednesday, September 9th will the the first Den Meetings, at the South Fayette Elementary School.  Starting time is determined by den, usually 6:30 or 7:00.
  • Friday, September 18th will be our first Pack Meeting.  We’ll be meeting at the entrance pavilion at Fairview Park at 7:00 for a geocaching adventure!

We are also ready to kick off the Popcorn Season!  This is a chance for scouts to raise money for dues, scouting events, uniforms and equipment.  The easiest way to do this is through Popcorn Show-n-Sells, and the first Show-n-Sell dates of the year will be September 5th.  Please go to the Sign-up! page of the website to register for the time slot(s) that your scout would like to work. Don’t let this opportunity pass!

More information about the popcorn sales (and the great stuff you can win) will be coming SOON!

Pancake Breakfast Aug 30th

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Troop 248’s Noah Magdich ( a Pack 843 alumnus ) is having a pancake breakfast to raise money for his eagle project.

Sunday, August 30, 2015
St. Barbara Church
Prestley Road, Bridgeville PA
8 am – 1 pm
$8.00 / kids under 10 $5.00

Information about his project, from Noah’s GoFundMe page:

NoahEagleProjectHello. My name is Noah Magdich and I am a Life Scout with Boy Scout Troop 248 in Oakdale, PA.  I am striving to acheive Scouting’s highest rank, Eagle Scout.  When I heard of K9 Officer Rocco’s Line of Duty death and 8 other K9 officer deaths due to being left in a hot car in the past 11 months, it inspired me to turn my love of dogs into an Eagle project.  I am raising funds through a pancake breakfast at my church, St. Barbara Roman Catholic Church in Bridgeville on August 30, to purchase a bulletproof and stabproof vest for K9 Officer Lord of the Scott Township Police Department and upgrade the temperature control system for Officer Shane McGrath’s K9 police vehicle.

You can contribute to Noah on the GoFundMe page, but that doesn’t come with pancakes!