About Scouts BSA and Pack 370
What is Cub Scouts and Scouting?
Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America, available to boys and girls from Kindergarten through Fifth grade, or 7 to 10 years of age, and their families. Scouts BSA is for boys and girls from 11 to 18 years old.
Who can join?
Anyone can join Cub Scouts, provided they are between Kindergarten through Fifth grade. Both boys and girls can join. There are separate boys and girls dens (as required by the BSA) but dens of the same rank will work together on many activities.
What do they do?
Cub Scouts is a program of learning and development of mind, body and spirit. Activities foster interpersonal skills while providing a basis for their future development.
Activities include outdoor education, such as learning about first aid, hiking, and camping. There are also opportunities to work on skills such as storytelling, organizing skits and plays, as well as various artistic efforts.
What are the obligations involved?
Cub Scout meetings and events are all voluntary participation. If a scout cannot make it to a meeting or other activity being put on by the Pack that is fine. We feel that any involvement is better for the scout than not being able to do anything at all.
Dens meet every two weeks or so, depending on holidays. These meetings are on Thursday nights from 6 to 7 PM in the OLL Pastoral Center.
The Pack meets once a month on a Saturday night. The Pack meeting is where advancement awards are presented and activities such as the Rain Gutter Regatta and Pinewood Derby occur.
What about parent involvement?
Parents are encouraged to get involved with their child’s scouting journey as much as they are able and would like to do so. Parent volunteers make up all the Pack staff and we are always looking for interested parents to join in with keeping the Pack running smoothly.
The younger dens (Lions and Tigers) need to have a parent attend the den meetings with their child due to their young age.
Is there fundraising?
Why yes, yes there is. The pack holds three fundraisers during the school year: Popcorn Sales in the Fall, Greenery Sales, also in the Fall, and Christmas Tree Recycling in early January.
Scouts are not required to participate in any of the fundraising activities. They are available so that those who want to take advantage of them can do so. For Popcorn Sales, after the popcorn is paid for a portion of the monies raised go to the Council, part to the Pack, and part for the scout’s benefit.
The proceeds for the Greenery sales are handled in a similar way.
Any fundraising money raised by a scout can be used for a variety of purposes. They can be used to pay for dues, field trips requiring additional payment, and summer camps. Any unused money is kept from year to year, and when a scout moves up to Scouts BSA that money is transferred to the troop that he or she joins.
Are there dues?
As with most activities there is a cost associated with Scouting. Annual Dues cover the registration cost with the Boy Scouts of America, advancement material, and certain events and activities organized by the pack, such as the cars for the Pinewood Derby and the kits for the Rain Gutter Regatta.
How can dues be paid?
Dues can be paid to the Pack Treasurer via check, cash or Square (there is an extra cost for paying by Square due to the fees involved.) Fundraising activities can help pay for a scout’s dues. Depending on the circumstances a partial or complete scholarship may be available as well.
What are the uniform requirements?
Each scout is expected to have a scout shirt, neckerchief and slide. Optional items include a hat and belt of the appropriate rank.
The pack has some uniforms available in a Uniform Bank that are free to any scout who can use them. Uniforms can also be purchased from the Council Scout Store in Portland.
Is there camping?
Each Den has a summer camp activity, scheduling of which varies based on availability of the camp and the den leaders. Scouts are encouraged to take advantage of the summer camps and the activities available.
Volunteer Training
All pack leaders are required to take the Scout BSA Youth Protection Training course every two years. This course teaches the expectations of the Boy Scouts of America about keeping our youth safe while they are participating in pack activities.
Leaders are also required to take the Archdiocese Safe Environment Training as required by our sponsoring organization.
This training is also available to all volunteers, and in some cases might be required. We highly recommend parent volunteers take this training so that they are not limited in what activities they can participate in as part of the pack.
What is the schedule like for a typical year?
September – Pack Meeting
October – Pack Meeting (Rain Gutter Regatta)
November – Veterans Day Parade
November – Pack Meeting
December – Pack Meeting
January – Christmas Tree Recycling
January – Pack Meeting (Pine Wood Derby)
February – Scout Sunday
February – Blue & Gold Banquet Pack Meeting
March – Pack Meeting
April – Pack Meeting
May – Pack Meeting
June – August – Summer Camp
Additional Information
For more information contact the Pack 370 Committee Chair, Steve Abbott, @ Steve.Abbott.BSA@gmail.com or at 360-241-7598.
You can also go to the Boy Scouts of America, Cascade Pacific Council web site to get more info at http://cpcbsa.org or https://beascout.scouting.org/