On September 10, 2021, Cub Scout Pack 107 held it’s Welcome Cub Scouts September Pack meeting at Grafton Lions Club Mass pavilion. This was the first Pack meeting of the new Scouting year. Before the meeting began, the Scout enjoyed some kick ball fun. Our AOL Den helped open the Pack meeting with performing the Color Guard ceremony, leading the Pledge of Allegiance, The Scout Oath, and The Scout Law. A moment of silence was taken to remember the lives lost and affected by the events of 9/11, 20 years ago.We welcomed our new Scouts, Max S., Atharva S. and James C., who joined our Pack over the course of the summer, and our newest Scout, Owen T. who joined the same day! The Pack was introduced to our Pack Committee member and Den Leaders: Mr. Dan Gaspar, Committee Chair and AOL Den Leader, Mrs. Christine Gaspar, our Assistant Tiger Den Leader and committee member extraordinaire, Mr. Larry Drew, AOL Assistant Den Leader, Mr. Rob Lane, our co-Popcorn Kernel and Popcorn King, and former Den Leader, Mrs. April Lane, our co- Popcorn Kernel and Popcorn Queen, and Treasurer, Ms. Tabitha LeFrancois, our Cubmaster and Lions Den Leader, Mrs. Tiffany Bubriski, our Webelo Girls Den Leader, Mr. John Bubriski, our Webelo Den Leader and IT Chairperson, Mrs. Cindy Fong, our Public Relations Chairperson, Mr. Matt Davy, our Bear Den Leader, and absent was Mr. Chris Nichols, our Pine Wood Derby Chairperson and AV genius! Committee members were also recognized for their years of volunteer services. A great Cub Scout Program starts with great volunteers who share their time, talents, and love of Scouting! Thank you all for your dedication to Pack 107’s program success!Our current Cub Scouts also received their new neckerchiefs for their new ranks. Pack 107 had an active summer, and those who went to Cub Scout summer camp and Webelo overnight camp received their awards for the adventures they completed at summer camp. All Scouts who participated in at least one Pack activity in each of the months of June, July and August received their Summer Time Pack Award. Our Scouts who earned hiking miles were awarded for their new milestone hiking awards. Scouts who participated in the HNE Council Pinewood Derby on May 1, 2021 received their patch for this event.Our Popcorn Kernels; Popcorn King, Mr. Rob Lane, and Popcorn Queen, Mrs. April Lane introduced our Popcorn Fundraiser program that helps raise funds to run a successful Cub Scout Program for the year. They also explained about the various Scout incentives. Our Cub Scout Gabriel F., is the current Scout who raised the most funds last year. He earned the opportunity, as one of the incentives, to pie our fun-loving Cubmaster, Ms. Tabitha LeFrancois. She is definitely the best Cubmaster we could ever ask for! It was a great “welcome back” Pack Meeting, and we look forward to all that the new Scouting year has in store!

September 11th was gorgeous end of summer September day. Pack 107 held its September Pack Hike at the Douglas State Forest, in Douglas, MA. As the Cub Scouts and their families gathered, they were amazed by the sight of motor boats being unloaded in to Wallum Lake, and by boat getting out the water back onto truck trailers. Before the hike began, the Pack recited the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, The Outdoor Code and The Leave No Trace Principles. Our Cub Scouts and families paired up into buddy groups and learned about safety when hike in groups. The Pack enjoyed a 2.3 mile hike along the Coffeehouse Loop Trail. They saw different colored mushrooms, plants, and they even spotted a small toad along the trail. Our Cub Scouts learned about etiquettes when hiking in a group such as yielding to the right side to allow other visitors to pass, and to be courteous not to block a trail path when taking rest breaks. It was a great way to start the weekend enjoying the outdoors, making new friends and enjoying time with old friends

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Pack 107 adopted Norcross Park in 2017, and has committed to monthly clean ups and maintenance of the park and Miner Field, during the non-snowy months of the year. The cub scouts and their families work together to help with picking up trash, weeding, spring and fall clean ups, and mulching of the playground area. On September 18, 2021, the AOL Den of Cub Scout Pack 107 started the monthly Norcross Park Clean Up of the new Scouting season. It was a busy day at the park and Miner’s Field with fall season sports in full swing. The Den began with reciting The Pledge of Allegiance, The Scout Oath, The Scout Law, The Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace Principles. Our Scouts and their families worked together picking up twigs, sticks, garbage, and raked newly fallen leaves that are a signal that autumn is fast approaching. They also observed different spider web shapes around the park, and they even found an earthworm in their leaf pile. The made sure to leave the earthworm safe in its habitat!After the clean up, our Scouts enjoyed some fun bonding time playing at the playground, and enjoying the new clean look of the park. It was a productive Saturday morning well spent!

On September 25-26,2021, a few Webelos and AOLs from Pack 107 along with their parents, joined Webelo Scouts throughout the Heart of New England Council at an overnight camping experience, call Webelos Woods. They participated on science fun, art explosion, engineering, rock climbing, BB guns, archery and more. They shared a campsite with Pack 106. They enjoyed dinner and breakfast cooked over a campfire, and even learned on some knot tying together. It was an awesome time at camp.

Cub Scout Pack 107 held its October Pack Meeting on October 1st, 2021, at the Grafton Lions Club Mass Pavillion. Our Webelo Den did a great job performing the Color Guard Ceremony for the meeting. We welcomed 3 new Scouts into the Pack. Welcome Ian M., Ellis M. and Owen T.!! Patches were presented to Scouts who went to Cub Scout Summer Camp, and to the Webelos/AOL Scouts who attended the Webelo Woods Camp-Out last weekend at Camp Wanocksett. Scouts who reached hiking milestones received their hiking beads, and our AOL Scout, Gabriel F. reached his 50 miles award level!.Congratulations to all our Scouts.For our Pack meeting activity, all the Cub Scouts and their families enjoyed designing paper airplanes, and launching them into hula-hoop landing targets. The Cub Scouts also decorated Halloween Trick-Or-Treat bags that they can use for the Scouts Spookerie event at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation (TVSR). Our Pack will be hosting a camp-out the night before at TVSR, and will be doing some Halloween decorating at the camp site!! What better way to gear up for Halloween than to have a camp-out!!

Just because the school year ended and summer vacation is in full swing, Cub Scout Pack 107 kept the summer fun and active or our Cub Scouts.

In the first week of July, our Webelo Scout, Lillian, and AOL Scout, Sam enjoyed, three great nights at the Webelos Under the Stars summer camp at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation. They participated in a variety of Cub Scout activities, and even completed some of their rank adventure requirements. Sam said his favorite part of camp was shooting sports while Lilly loved climbing. They also particpated in swimming, boating, sports, nature adventures, learned some knot tying, and so much more. They enjoyed every moment and can’t wait to go back.

On July 11, 2021, Pack 107 hosted its summer “Kids Go Fishing” event this morning at Dorothy Pond, in Millbury. It was wonderful to see so many happy young faces enjoying the outdoors and learning how to fish. So many of our Cub Scouts were successful , some catching up to 10 or 11 fish!! It was so heartwarming to see the beaming pride on their faces with each of their catches!! One of the youngest in the group had the largest catch of the day, a 3 lb bass!! Great job, Madelynn!! It was wonderful to see the Scouts enjoying an activity where they are bonding with their family and friends at the same time! A special thank you goes out to Troop 107 Grafton Senior Patrol Leader, Nick C, and assistant Scoutmaster, Mr. Erik Coldwell, for helping out with this event!! Nick did a great job attending to all the Cub Scouts, giving them great fish handling tips, and helping them identify the species of fish that they were catching.

On Sunday, July 25, 2021, Pack 107 hosted its monthly cleanup of Norcross Park followed afterwards by a Rain Gutter Regatta held at the Grafton Lions Club Mass. It was amazing to see the dedication and commitment the Cub Scout had in cleaning up Norcross Park, and in learning about the importance of not littering. We even had a new family join in this great community service! Luckily, the rain held off and the clean up was a success. Great job everyone! For the Rain Gutter Regatta our Cub Scouts designed and created sailboats out of recycled materials to race down a water track. It was a fun STEM activity to work on creativity and engineering! The Scouts had great ideas on how to modify and improve their sailboats designs for balance, speed, and steering against variable wind conditions. Not once did they give up. Everyone cheered each other on, and they even shared tips on how they made their sailboats work better!This was an awesome opportunity to make new friends while doing some great community service, and enjoy Cub Scouts summer fun!A special thank you goes out to Pack 106 in Grafton MA, for lending us their inflatable rain gutter regatta. It’s so wonderful seeing the Scouting community helping each other out! The Scout Law teaches us that “A Scout is …helpful, friendly, courteous, kind….” Thank you!!Thank you to Grafton Lions Club Mass for you generosity as always, in giving us a setting to host this event!

On August 7th, 2021, Cub Scout Pack 107 hosted it’s Summer Time Bike Hike at the Upper Charles River Bike Trail in Milford MA. It was a perfect summer day to be outdoors and to enjoy the beautiful weather and the awesome scenery. It was great to see new and seasoned Scouts with their families at this event. We had various level of bike riders, so we divided into 2 groups to accommodate the levels of experience. It was a great opportunity to get all the bikes safety checked, to learn about bike safety and bike etiquette when riding on a public trail. The advanced riders rode 6 miles, and the beginner riders rode 3 miles, while the walkers walked 2 miles. This was a perfect plan so that we all ended at the finish line around the same time! Our walkers were able to explore various insects, plants, stone boulder structures, and they even spotted a family of swans swimming in Louisa Lake through their binoculars! They even helped pick up trash along the path, since a Scout follows the BSA, Leave No Trace Principles, and the Outdoor Code! These oaths were recited with the help of our AOL Scout Sam G, and Webelo Scout Lillian G., at the Pack gathering before starting the bike hike.

On August 13th, 2021, Pack 107 Cub Scouts and their families, came together for the monthly clean up of Norcross Park. Scouts picked up fallen branches and pine cones. They swept the parking lot and basketball court and they picked up trash. Along the way they found and discussed a variety of nuts and berries they found that had fallen on nearby trees and bushes. They also discovered a animal skeleton skull. Great jobs scouts. After they had fun together while they played on the playground

On August 28-29, 2021, Cub Scout Pack 107 hosted an end of summer celebration and a BLAST OFF to a new scouting season! This was the perfect camp out with the theme of spending a night amongst the stars! Our evening of fun took place at the Grafton Lions Club Mass . Our Cub Scouts had fun maxing their own galaxy slime, lead by our Tiger Den Leader, Mrs. Christine Gaspar, followed by designing a bottle rocket that they later launched with a mission to land as close as possible to the “Moon” landmark. This event was lead by our AOL Den Leader and Pack Committee Chair, Mr. Dan Gaspar. The top 2 scouts who landed closest to the Moon, won a model rocket kit. Congratulations goes out to our AOL Scout, Sam G, for earning 1st place, and to Matthew L, for earning 2nd place, coming 37.5 inches, and 48 inches respectively, from the Moon landmark. Our fun campfire dinner, started with a campfire ash ceremony lead by our Cubmaster, Ms. Tabitha Lefrançois with the assistant of our Webelo Scout, Jasmine B. Dinner included roast your own hot dogs at the campfire, which everyone loved! A big thank you goes out to our special guest, Mr. Tony Frederico of BSA Troop 107, and our former Pack Committee Chair, and den leader. Mr. Frederico demonstrated a model rocket launch and , followed by a captivating lesson on rocket science. The scouts were enthralled and asked many amazing questions, which showed that this lesson captured all their attention!! Mr. Frederico also brought his Dobsonian Newtonian telescope for a demonstration. Unfortunately the clouds did not cooperate with our plans to view Saturn and Jupiter, but the scouts got to see what how a telescope works. Mr. Frederico has volunteered to do another telescope viewing of Saturn and Jupiter at a future date!The evening continued with our Cub scouts telling jokes, singing and performing a play, and we were treated with a fantastic guitar sing along with Mr. Dan Gaspar. Pack 107 is so fortunate to have such so much talent shared with us!Just before lights out, we had a virtual viewing of our galaxy, its planets and the various constellation from the International Space Station via an NASA app. This was definitely a night to remember for all our Cubscouts!

June is a busy month where students of all ages celebrate the end of the school year, and for some, it is graduation. In Cub Scouts, we also celebrate the end of the Scouting year with an Advancement Ceremony, and it also marks the kick off of the new Scouting year. Pack 107 held their Advancement Ceremony and Camp Out this past weekend, June 26-27, 2021 at the Grafton Lions Club. This is the Pack’s first family camp out since the COVID pandemic. Everyone was so happy to be able to enjoy the outdoors and camp together once again!

The ceremony began with the Color Guard presentation of the flags by the Webelo Den, with our Webelo Scout Lukas H. as M.C.

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At the Advancement Ceremony, Pack 107 was excited to officially welcome all the new Scouts that signed up at our May and June Scouting Fun Fest. It was so thrilling to see all the smiling faces of the eager new Cub Scouts, and their families, as they were presented with their new neckerchiefs. A few of the new Cub Scouts already started earning hiking miles and community service hours, and one new scout even earned his Recruiter patch! We are so happy to welcome Oliver N., Oliver D ., Christian E., Andrew N., Jacob H., Gabriel R., Tatenda N., Max. V., and their families to Pack 107!

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As we reflect on the 2020-2021 Scouting year, all the Cub Scouts, their families, and Pack Leaders worked so hard and were so flexible to make this year a success. Families works as units and spent family bonding time working on portions of the various adventures at home. They learned to “Do their Best” and “Be Prepared” when we held our various Pack meetings, Den meetings outdoor, through, sun, rain, and cold. Amazingly, no body minded, and they were just happy to be together and enjoy all the fun activities. This would not have been possible without the kindness and generosity of the Grafton Lions Club for allowing us to host our meetings and events on their property. Even more remarkable, Pack 107 was able to keep their commitment to community service, with monthly Norcross Park clean ups, and collecting food, personal care items, socks for the those in need. Amid a year like no other, Pack 107 is so especially proud of all the Scouts for completely all the required adventures to earn their rank badge. These Scouts were recognized, and received their well-deserved belt loops and adventure pins, hiking miles awards, and their rank badge. Congratulations to all our Scouts and families!

In addition, this year’s Council Pinewood Derby winners for 2020 and 2021 were presented with with their trophies. Congratulations to Steven L. and Matthew L. for earning the 3rd place trophies for their rank in the 2020 race., and to Gabriel F. for winning 2nd place for his rank for both 2020 and 2021 races.

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Our Pack leadership team also received service pins to recognize their years of service on the Pack Committee. Thank you to Mr. Chris Nichols for 1 year of official service as committee member, Pinewood Derby Chairperson, and photographer. Mr. Nichols has been actively volunteering in the pack long before he became a committee member. Thank you to Mrs. Tiffany Bubriski for 2 years of service as Den Leader for the Girls Den, and to Mr. John Bubriski for 4 years of service as IT Chairperson and Den Leader for the Bear and upcoming Webelos Den.Thank you to Mrs. Christine Gaspar for 3 years of service as committee member, photographer, contributor to Pack 107’s postings, recruitment committee member, talented multi-talented volunteer for many events, and new Tiger Den Leader! Thank you to Mr.Dan Gaspar for 3 years of service as assistant den leader, den leader for the Webelos Den and upcoming AOL Den, recruitment committee chairperson and Pack Committee Chairperson! Thank you to Mr. Larry Drew for 4 years of service as den leader, assistant den leader of the Webelos den and soon to be AOL den! Mr. Drew also the Committee Chairperson of the all female Scouts, BSA Troop 2019. Thank you to Mrs. April Lane for 4 years of service as Pack Treasurer, and Popcorn Kernel, and to Mr. Rob Lane for 6 years of service. He is a retired talented den leader, as of last summer, after his AOL den “graduated” and cross over to the Scouts, BSA Troop level. Mr. Lane remains active as a committee member, and Co-Popcorn Kernel. Thank you to Mrs. Cindy Fong for 4 years of service as Public Relations Chairperson. She shares about all of the Pack’s activities, with the Greater Grafton community, via Facebook posts and blog posts on the graftonpack107.org website. Thank you to Ms. Tabitha Lefrancois for 5 years of service, as the Pack’s secretary, Lion Den leader, Assistant Cubmaster and Cubmaster. She also works tirelessly behind the scenes for many of the pack administrative and program planning. Thank you to Mr. Matt Davy, who could not be at the Advancement Ceremony, for 2 years of service as den leader for the Wolf Den and soon to be Bear Den.

A great program requires dedicated and creative minds and bodies. Thank you leaders for sharing your time, talent, and love of Scouting with Pack 107. Anyone who has interest in giving us ideas and input into advancing the Pack’s Scouting program to be the best of the best, we’d love to get your input and have you join one of our Pack Committee meetings.

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After the ceremony, the scouts and their families enjoyed a pizza dinner along with chips, and fresh fruit, Kool-Aid and water, all served from with a friendly smile from Mrs. April Lane and Mrs. Christine Gaspar. It was so fun to finally be able to enjoy a meal together again, and to make new friends.

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After dinner, the Scouts were treated to an epic “Scout Ninja Warrior-like” obstacle course starting with navigating through a rope web in the forest, followed by commando crawling through a low pass, and tunnels, beach ball relay balancing a beach ball on a hoop net, basketball hoop toss, pool noodle weave run, ping pong ball toss, and hula hoop jump. This was the masterminded and set up by our talented Mrs. Christine Gaspar! Thank you so much for all the planning and preparing that went into this!! It was a big hit!! As if the obstacle course didn’t tire them out, the Scouts continued afterward with hula hoop contests, hide and seek, tag, and discovering fireflies after sun set.

After all that fun, everyone enjoyed a cooling and quenching freezy pop treat, before the start of the campfire program. It started the Campfire Ash Ceremony (also known as a Friendship Ash ceremony) , and is a ritual associated with  Scouting meant to convey the long history and fellowship associated with the movement. Attributed to Lord Baden-Powell, it is said that he would take a small amount of the ashes from the campfire he was at, and would take them to add to the next campfire he attended. The Scouts from Troop 2019 performed campfire side skits, followed by Ms. Tabitha’s jokes and riddles, and then the Cub Scout and their families were invited to share any jokes or skits. It was amazing to see so many Scouts who wanted to share. Even our newest and youngest Scouts came out to share! It was amazing to see so many new friendship develop already!

A flag retirement ceremony followed with Troop 2019 leading the solemn ceremony. The Scouts, BSA Handbook states: “A national flag that is worn beyond repair may be burned in a fire. The ceremony should be conducted with dignity and respect and the flag burned completely to ashes.” … The Scouts, BSA Handbook explains, “As the symbol of America, it stands for the past, present, and future of our country.”

The campfire program ended with the singing of Scout Vespers. Scout Vespers is a traditional Scouting song. The tune is that of “O Tannenbaum/O, Christmas Tree“. The song is usually sung at the end of the evening campfire, often as people are filing out of the fire circle. Often it will be sung by alternating singing the lyrics and humming the tune. 

The camping night lights out was at 9:30pm, and the next morning, the camper enjoyed breakfest before the end of this event.

We look forward to seeing everyone, and any new faces at our summertime scouting events to come.

The June Scouting Fest is getting bigger!! This is a community event to share what Scouting is all about with Cub Scout Pack 107, BSA, Troop 2019, and BSA, Troop 107.

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Cub Scout Pack 107 is an all year round family Scouting program for boys and girls entering grades K-5. It is a great program for siblings and families to learn and enjoy new experiences together, while learning about civic duty, learning about the outdoors, STEM activities, special Scouting events, community service, while working toward being physically fit, mentally awake and morally straight!

BSA, Troop 2019, is an all year round Scouting program for girls entering 6th grade and up. It’s a wonderful program to prepare all girls in this critical age of development, to be independent, strong future leaders. Girls, too, have the opportunity to earn the rank of Eagle!

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BSA, Troop 107 is an all year round Scouting program for boys entering 6th grade and older. Scouting is perfect for boys, in this critical age of development, to learn to be responsible, independent, strong future leaders. Troop 107 just had 4 Scouts earn their rank of Eagle!

There is something for everyone, girls and boys, in grades K-12. Join us this Friday , June 11th , 6-7 pm, at the Congregational Church of Grafton, 30 Grafton Common, Grafton, MA , to find out more. Fun activities await!! Feel free to bring a buddy!!

Do you have a daughter or son who will be entering grades K-5 in the fall? Do they like adventure and outdoor fun, doing STEM activities, and doing fun activities with the family? Do they like making new friends or are they a little timid? Cub Scouting is a great way to get your child back out to learn and see nature, explore hidden talents, learn what it means to be a responsible citizen, while making meaningful, lasting friendships! As a family scouting program Cub Scout Pack 107 is for both girls and boys, so all siblings in the grades K-5 can join together. The pack will guide you and teach you how to go hiking, camping and so much more! The Scouting program helps build a foundation for our youth to become tomorrow’s leaders!