Pack Hike @ Quabbin Reservoir 3/16/19

~ tabithalefrancois

Yesterday, the Cub Scouts and their families took a journey along the trails of the Quabbin Reservoir to find a long lost treasure in the woods. The Scouts braved the snowy and icy trails to see a sight that most people don’t even know about, or have only heard rumor of – the crash site of an F94 Starfire Jet.

Along the way is the line between the towns Hardwick and Petersham. We had the fun opportunity to stand on this dividing line and be in two towns at the same time!

Because the trails were covered in snow, we were able to see tracks of animals who live in the area. Using a Critters pocket guide, we were able to determine which animals had left the tracks crossing the trails. Along with some deer tracks, we were surprised to find that there were also moose tracks! These moose tracks measured about 6″ long!

After stopping for lunch, we continued our journey to find the crash site. Despite there being snow and ice on the ground, a decent amount of the wreckage is still visible. While admiring the site of the crash, Cubmaster Tabitha shared the history of how the plane ended up in the Quabbin Reservoir. You can read the history about this crash and other crashes within Quabbin Reservoir on the New England Aviation History website.

Here is what you would find under all the snow and ice (photos taken by Cubmaster Tabitha in June 2016 and May 2018):

Thank you to all the families that embarked on the 9 mile journey with us!

Pack 107 Blue and Gold Banquet & Ceremony

~ cindyfong107

On Saturday March 2, 2019, Pack 107 hosted their Blue and Gold Banquet and Ceremony at St. James Parish in S. Grafton. The Blue and Gold Banquet is one of the most exciting and important celebrations in the scouting calendar, as scouts celebrate the birthday and anniversary of scouting.  Our pack also celebrates the scouts who achieve the rank of Arrow of Lights, and their cross over to the  troop as  BSA Scouts.

The theme of this year’s Blue and Gold Banquet is the Cubscout motto “Do Your Best”. It’s about resilience, how to overcome failures or setbacks to achieve success. On this year’s placemats there were 12 examples of people in history who showed how they did their best to achieve their success.

On each dining table were scout themed centerpieces that the Arrow of Light scouts designed and hand made. This was a special personal touch for these scouts as they celebrate their big day.

This year we have 10 scouts who earned  their Arrow of Light rank and award. Congratulations go out to Bella, Cooper, Alexander, Colin,  Ben, Douglas, Austin, Lily, Adeline, and Trevor,  as well as their families  on their achievement of Cub Scouts highest  rank and award, the Arrow of Light.

In addition, this scouting  year is especially significant as Scouts BSA, and our pack,  welcomed females to join cubscouts.  Our pack  has 3 female Arrow of Lights who  crossed over to the first inaugural all-girls Grafton BSA Troop 2019. Congratulations to Adeline, Bella and Lily.

We also have 5 boys who crossed over to Grafton Boy Scout Troop 107. Congratulations to Cooper, Colin, Trevor, Austin and Douglas.

We wish the new BSA Scouts all the best in the next phase of their scouting journey. May they soar with the eagles!

DSC_0660-1.JPGAwards were presented for the best in  Pinewood Derby design categories. The award for “Best Paint Job” goes to Lukas,  “Most Likely Made by a Scout” goes to Alexander, “Most Patriotic” goes to Steven , “Best Sports Theme” goes to Cooper, “Most Original Design” goes to Trevor, and “Best Scout Theme” goes to Nicholas. Congratulations to our winning cubscouts and to the all the cubscouts for making so many creative and fun designs.

One of our adult leaders received a special recognition.  The Cub Scout Trainer Award was presented to our Committee Chair, Tony Frederico for completing the Cub Scout Leader Recognition Plan. He completed all the training required for the Cub Scout program. Thank you Tony for putting in  your time and dedication.

We had a presentation about the Friends of Scouting, and Tony Frederico represented the pack to receive the Pack Friends of Scouting award.  Our pack has a car wash planned in late spring/early summer with proceeds going to the Friends of Scouting.

DSC_0728.JPGWe had the pleasure of presenting our pack’s rechartering certification to Rev.  Dr. Barbara Therese, representing the Congregational Church of Grafton. She lead us in a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving and reflection,  before the banquet started. A big thank you goes out to all the families for contributing to the beautiful lunch spread for the special banquet.

Amid the pomp and circumstance, cub scouts from each den level performed various skits throughout the banquet and presentations, providing us with much laughter and entertainment. Even the den leaders performed their own skit! Well done everyone!

Our own Tabitha, and  Scoutmaster Mr. Ed King from Troop 107, presented information about summer camp at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation which got the cubscouts very excited! The pack is planning to attend summer camp the week of July 21, 2019, the same week as Troop 107.

This Blue and Gold ceremony marked the last day for Cubmaster Shawn Tidd, who served 2 years as Cubmaster,  one year as Committee Chair, and 4 years as a Den Leader. We thank you for all your time, talent and dedication to Pack 107 over the past few years.

This day also marked the transition for Tabitha Lefrancois to become Pack 107’s new Cubmaster. She was the pack secretary for 2 years, assistant cubmaster in the last year,  also the most involved  leader since joining the pack! Congratulations Tabitha!!  We thank you for your time, talent, dedication,  and enthusiasm for scouting.

20190209_104031Mathew Often, Den Leader for AOL Den 5, is also leaving  as his son crossed over to Troop 107. We thank you for your years of dedication and time working with your den.

A thank you to our special guests for joining our celebration:  Reverand Dr. Barbara Therese, Jacob Union from Heart of New England Council, the scouts and leaders of Grafton Troop 107,  and Grafton Troop 2019.

A big thank you to all the scouting parents who share your children with Pack 107,  for all your support in helping them to do their best  so that they can become our future’s responsible leaders.

Lastly, thank you Christine Gaspar and Chris Nichols for helping to capture so many wonderful photos.

Pack 107’s Pinewood Derby 2019

~ cindyfong107

 

One of the most anticipated events in the scouting year arrived today…the Pinewood Derby, which took place at St. James Parish, in South Grafton. The cubscouts and their families worked hard over the past couple of months to design and build an unpowered, unmanned race car from a block pine wood. Today all their hard work came together for a full display of creativity, engineering, sportsmanship and camaraderie. This year, the Pinewood Derby took place the day after the 109th birthday of the Boy Scout of America. The pack took a moment to acknowledge this special day.

Before the Pinewood Derby got started, the Bear Den organized an entertaining and fun carnival for all the cubscouts to enjoy. The Bears did a great job creating clever and innovative games as part of their ” Grin and Bear It” adventure. The games were enjoyed by all, and the cubscsouts  were entertained until Derby time.

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The Derby opened with “The Star Spangled Banner”, sung by all the cubscouts and joined in by their families. Reverend Dr. Barbara Therese  from the Congregational Church of Grafton, gave a beautiful invocation prayer. We thank you, Rev. Barbara Therese for coming to support the pack.

 

 

State Representative David Muradian,  stopped in  at the derby today to show his support to Pack 107, and to cheer on all the cubscouts. It was a very delightful surprise.  Thank you for your support as always, Mr. Muradian!

Many families brought in an array of snacks for the event and we thank you all for your generosity.

The cubscouts and their family enjoyed pizza for lunch after the scout races were completed. After lunch,  the Family Race took place, which included cars made by the pack committee leaders and cubscout siblings.

Awards for speed were awarded to the Pack’s top 3 winners .Congratulations to 1st place winner, Gabriel F, 2nd place winner, Colin S, and 3rd place winner, Austin T.  A special award  called ” Draggin’ In”, for the slowest speed, was awarded to Ben. S. Congratulations, Ben!

Winner of special categories awards will be presented at the Blue and Gold Ceremony on March 2, 2019. These categories include : Most Original Design, Most Patriotic, Most Likely Built by a Scout, Best Sports Theme, Best Scout Theme, and Best Paint Job.DSC_0579

Awards were also given to the top 3 winner of the Family Race. Congratulations to the 1st place winner, Christian F., 2nd place winner, Nick C., and 3rd place winner, Rob L.20190209_130104

A big thank you goes out to Mr. Chris Tedford, of Pack 106, for spending the day with us to help us  run the Pinewood Derby, and to Pack 106 for lending the track to us.20190209_115003

Lastly, a special thank you goes out to Mathew Often,  AOL Den leader of Den 5, who chaired this event for the past 2 years. Thank you, Mr. Often, for all the behind the scenes organization to make this memorable event such a great success!

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Pack 107 Welcomes the New Year with a Fun-filled Pack Meeting.

~ cindyfong107

Pack 107 welcomed the new year this past Friday, with a pack meeting filled with fun, laughter, celebration and rewards!!

The Wolf den leaders lead the cubscouts in some ticket counting for the Congregational Church before the meeting started.20190104_190333

The Tigers did a great job opening the pack meeting, performing the flag ceremony.20190104_190449
The pack had 3 cubscouts who received their Bobcat awards. Congratuations to Lucus, Raymond and Bella!!20190104_191336

Awards were given to scout who earned achievements in the last 1-2 months. The cubscouts celebrated their hard work in popcorn sales with the arrival of their prizes.20190104_192519

Our top 2 selling cubscouts, Ben and Steven, placed #2 and  #24, respectively, in the whole district so they are in the top 25, who have the VIP honor to go on the ice at the Scout’s Railer’s game on January 19, 2019.20190104_194523

The pack have the opportunity for a second overnight experience and the cubscouts got to vote on where to go. The choices were The Roger William Zoo,  Skyzone, and The Plimoth Plantation. As you may guess, the overwhelming vote went to Skyzone!!20190104_192159

Since the fundraising effort exceeded the set goal, and with 100% participation, the cubscouts were rewarded the opportunity to “silly string” their den leaders. We thank all the leaders for being so willing and fun-loving!!

One of our cubscouts meet the 2 challenges our cubmaster set for popcorn sales. If any cubscout sold over $3000 in product, that cubscout would get to shave his beard. If any cubscout family sold a combined total of over $4000, that cubscout family will get to shave his head.

We had one very motivated, hard working scout who met those challenges. Congratulations to our Arrow of Light scout, Ben!20190104_194415

He gave our cubmaster, Mr. Shawn Tidd, a very creative, and original hairstyle! Thank you, Mr. Shawn Tidd for having such a fun-loving, generous spirit to offer this rare opportunity, and for being such a great sport! You are one cubmaster that will be well-remembered!

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We want to thank April Lane for doing such a fastic job keeping the pack and the cubscouts organized, motivated and on track during the popcorn sales season. As our Popcorn Colonel and District Popcorn Sales Coordinator, she had a huge job of  keeping track of sales, inventory, and tracking down who needed to get the popcorn to the rightful customer. She organized the popcorn prize ordering, and prize presentation to the cubscouts. In addition, the Lane Family so generous donated space in their home to store all the popcorn inventory  for the pack, during  the popcorn season. We are so grateful for all your hard work and dedication.

We look forward to a fun-filled year ahead with a movie night  and the Pinewood Derby Race next month, the Blue and Gold Banquet in March, and so much more.

If you, or anyone you know who, is interested in scouting  with Pack 107, please feel free to reach out to us!

Santa Visits Pack 107 at Their December Pack Meeting

~ cindyfong107

 

Pack 107 had their December pack meeting yesterday evening, and it

was packed full of excitement and energy. The cubscouts and their families enjoyed a surprise visit from Santa Claus!

The meeting started with the Wolf Den performing the Color Guard Ceremony, followed by award presentations. The cubscouts enjoyed time meeting with Santa and receiving a special scout gift from him.

The pack participated in the Cogregational Church’s coat drive, collecting donations of gently used coats. As an annual tradition, the pack also held a new sock drive to be given to the local area homeless. To celebrate their drive, the pack enjoyed their annual sock fight of cubscouts vs. adults.

Our cubmaster, Mr. Shawn Tidd ended the meeting with a message about the scout law of a scout is helpful, and a scout is friendly. He shared a story about  how a homeless person in NYC survived a very cold night by helping another homeless person stay warm and awake, to survive  through the bitterly cold night. “When you warm another person’s heart, you remain warm yourself.”. ” When you seek to support, encourage, and inspire others, you discover support, encouragement, and inspiration in your own life.” In helping others to find their happiness, you become a happier person.

This is a wonder message to keep in our hearts and minds during this holiday season.

Warmest wishes to you and your family, and we hope you find peace, and good will during this holiday season.