Andrew and Connor compete in District Pinewood Derby Competition

As speed winners for Pack 209 Wolves, Andrew and Connor were invited to compete in the District Pinewood Derby at St. Frances High School. They competed against about 43 other Wolf scouts (see picture below) from the Swan Creek District. There were five total tracks set up; four for the heat races (see below) and one for the finals. During the heat races, each boy had the chance to race 12 times against two other competitors. Both Andrew and Connor had a number of first and second place finishes and a few thirds. Unfortunately neither of the boys qualified for the finals. If I were to guess, I would guess they were the next two on the list. Both boys did a great job representing Pack 209 and Den 8. They had great attitudes going into it and came out of it feeling grateful for the opportunity to be there. We're all very proud of their accomplishment. Great job Andrew and Connor!

Pack 209 Receives District Recognition for Blue & Gold!

Pack 209 was recognized by the Swan Creek District Director, Glenda Bowman, for a very successful Blue & Gold Banquet. You may recall Cub Master Wilhelm introducing her to the group. Check out this link to see what she had to say. She also included a number of pictures in her comments. We should all be proud of the entire Pack. If this link does not work for you, you can access it through the Swan Creek District website. http://www.swancreekdistrict.org/flyers/GlendaInfoForMarch.pdf

Fun with Collections!

During our latest den meeting the scouts had the opportunity to share a collection of theirs with the rest of the den. Two of our boys showed their collection of Pokeman cards. It was interesting to hear how these collections started and how they play with the cards. One scout shared his Star Wars collection. His favorite items in the collection are the action figures. Coming from someone who grew up with the "original" Star Wars, it's amazing to hear how much all of the boys know about it. For example, did you know Luke Skywalker got his name because "Luke" was George Lucas' nickname? Another scout shared his collection of colorful and shiny stones. He's collected the stones from many places he's been too. His collection started with a few stones he got from Great Wolf Lodge. We had one scout talk about his collection of Hot Wheels cars. His favorite car is one that has rocket boosters on the back. And finally, one of our scouts shared his collection of "state" quarters. He said that other than the Washington state quarter he was able to find all of them at home. He got the Washington quarter from his Grandpa. Speaking of special coins, did you know the US mint will be issuing The 2010 Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin at the end of March? Follow this link to find out how to get yours! http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/commemoratives/?flash=yes&action=2010BoyScouts

We were inspired by the US Hockey team's performance during the Olympics so we also played a game of "Ping Pong Air Hockey". What a lot of fun!

Blue & Gold Banquet: Oh What A Night!

On Friday, February 19th Pack 209 celebrated our annual Blue & Gold Banquet. This was a very special event as we celebrated the 100th year of scouting here in the United States. Not only do the scouts receive many awards, we also have two den competitions; table decorations and "dad n' lad" cake decoraing. Most of our scouts earned progress beads toward their Wolf badge as well as academic and sport belt loops. They also received their patches for their participation in the Raingutter Regatta and the Pinewood Derby. Finally, each of our scouts received a small gift from Margaret and Tom. They each received a cub scout coin (as seen in the picture below). The coin is significant to Tom as he received one of these coins when he was a scout 30 years ago. The evening ended with entertainment from Zeemo, the "yo-yo guy". He really entertained all of the boys and showed them some of the tricks they can learn to do with the yo-yo's they received from Pack 209. What a great way to celebrate 100 years of scouting!

LET'S GO ROCKETS!

Saturday, February 6th was Scout Night at the University of Toledo Rockets basketball game. Two of our boys, Andrew and Connor, attended the game. It was great to see so many scouts at the game. Thanks to the University and Pepsico, Inc. tickets were only $3! It was an exciting game and the Rockets had a chance at the end of the game but ended up losing by 6. The highlight of the evening was seeing 7 local scouts being recognized for phenomenal popcorn sales. Each of the boys recognized sold more than $2500 in popcorn! The pictures below show Andrew taking a "free throw" and Connor posing on the court.

Tool Time!

During our latest den meeting we learned about tools and their purpose. The boys were very knowledgable. The tool they found facinating was the Strait-Line laser level. We even discussed whether tape should be considered a tool or not. After learning about the different kind of tools we practiced choosing the right screwdriver for a job and actually driving a screw into and out of a board. Finally, we used the measuring tape as we challenged ourselves in standing long jumps. It wasn't a contest, just a personal challenge. The goal was to jump farther each time you jumped. We followed the Cub Scout motto; DO YOUR BEST!

After our meeting our boys took the opportunity to check out some of the activities set up at the Green: Inside and Out exhibit at W.W. Knight Nature Preserve. The boys had the chance to make their own recycled paper and their own polymer (similar to silly putty). If you haven't had a chance to check out the entire exhibit, you should definitely make the time.

Scouts Participate in 2nd Grade Invention Convention

All of our scouts particpated in the 2nd grade Invention Convention at Fort Meigs Elementary school on Thursday, January 28th. WOW...it's amazing how creative these kids can be. Some of the ideas were very practical and others really challenge our current ways of thinking. It was also inspiring to see so many inventions focused on environmental issues. Three of the local network TV stations sent camera crews to the event and that gave some of our scouts there "network tv debut".

Link to 13abc video (click on Jan 28th video): http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video#global You'll notice one of the other Wolf den leaders, Ann Hymel and while you won't see David, you'll see his robot on the video.

Link to Fox36 video: http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/Inventive-invention-convention Keep your eyes open for some of our scouts as well as scouts from the other Wolf den.

Link to NBC24 story: http://www.toledoonthemove.com/news/story.aspx?id=408584 Unfortunately they didn't put the video they collected and showed on their news broadcast otherwise we'd see a lot more of the boys and parents.

Great job guys!