Troop 189 has been awarded BSA Quality Unit Status in
2003
2004
2005
2006

and the
2007 Centennial
Quality Unit
Award
 

Greetings Pack 189 Scouts and Parents:

I hope that all of you are enjoying your summer.   Some of the Pack just returned from Cub Parent Weekend and we had a great time and wish you had been there.   The weekend gives us special time with our sons and they get a chance to better know some of the other boys.  We realize how much the boys enjoy these weekends away so we have scheduled two of them.  The first is an overnight on a battleship docked in New Jersey and the second is the Frost Valley trip.  The pack committee has already met and we feel we have some great things planned for the upcoming year.   Some of the events are yearly traditions, such as the Pinewood Derby.  However, this year’s Derby will be run differently.  Our tentative plans are that it will be held on a Sunday afternoon and will be run like a carnival with games, popcorn, cotton candy, etc.   We will have our car check-in the week before the race and since this is on a Sunday afternoon, we will avoid interfering with dinner and bedtimes.   Last year’s Thanksgiving Dinner was a huge success so we are having another.  We also will once again have our wonderful Halloween Party and our scarily successful haunted house.  We will continue our plan of trying to go on one trip per month.   Some of the trips will be local and some of the trips will be free.   However, other trips will not be free and we always try to get the best prices and to subsidize the costs whenever we can.  However, this brings me to my first point:

The annual pack activity fee is once again $45.00 and is essential to running the program.   This money is in addition to the registration and insurance fees we must collect annually.  We also fundraise by selling popcorn as a portion of each sale goes towards our pack and helps to defray the cost of some activities and trips.   This year we want to increase our fundraising efforts and will set up a popcorn booth at a local place where we will all take turns selling.  This along with our raffle sales will hopefully help to make things more affordable.

The pack will once again supply all new members with tee shirts for their class B uniforms.  The standard uniform can be purchased at the Scout Shop in Massapequa and should be worn to the September 11 th meeting.   We will advise when the class B or standard uniform should be worn.   When purchasing the uniform do not worry about purchasing the pants.   It’s not that we don’t wear pants; it is just that the boys outgrow them so quickly and we try to save you the expense.

We have some great and dedicated leaders returning for another year, as well as some new leaders who we thank for volunteering to help.   However, we can still use more assistance.  Whatever time you can give to the Pack is greatly appreciated.  

Our calendar is far from complete and may possibly change.   If you have any ideas for activities, trips, or guest speakers, please speak to me.  Most of our scheduled items coincide with the requirements in the scouting books, which allow your child to earn the various patches, beads, pins, and belt loops.   The  Scout Shop has the specific books for your scout’s age group.  1st grade-Tigers, 2nd grade-Wolf, 3rd grade-Bear, and 4th and 5th grades- Webelos .

Communication is essential.  We will try to give as much notice as we can for whatever we are doing.  We also need you to communicate with us.  If you cannot attend a meeting, please let us know.  The bottom line is that we do not want the children to miss anything as a result of missed information.

We hope that your child enjoys this year.  We have many great things planned and the Pack Committee will meet again throughout the year to plan additional items.  If you or your child knows someone who might enjoy what we have planned then invite them to a meeting.

There are so many more activities available to our children compared to when we were their age.  Scouting, however, was around when we were young and continues to be a very popular and extremely important activity today.  That is because the Cub Scouts offers your children an exciting, time tested program which is designed to excite and educate.   We try to teach the children skills which they can use their entire lives.  We provide them with knowledge and ideas while at the same time making them realize that they are unique individuals with the ability to think on their own and to be their own person.  So many of the activities are designed for you to do with your own children and this serves as a way of strengthening the child/parent bond.

Thank you for choosing Cub Scouts.   We are looking forward to another exciting year.  Our first meeting is September 11 th at 6:15 .   The meeting will include a discussion on flag etiquette and we will explain about our new charity book project (please collect all the books you no longer need or want and save them for our project).

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Sincerely,

Leonard Aberman
Cubmaster, Pack 189