We’ve had a few visits to our friends at the Grafton Community Cable News over the past few months, and recorded some “station id” segments. Our Tiger Den wished the Patriots well, and they won the AFC Championship. Our Webelos have done the same for this weekend’s Super Bowl… could they bring some good luck to our Pats in Indy?? Who knows?

They’ll be shown on the local channel on the following schedule this weekend if you want to tune in!

Webelos I Den 1 / Patriots Superbowl
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 15:59:40
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 18:29:51
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 19:59:39
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 22:59:41
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 08:59:51
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 12:59:51
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 15:59:51
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 17:59:49
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 08:43:04
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 13:59:51
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 14:59:42
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 15:59:19
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 17:59:37

Tiger Den 3 / Patriots AFC
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 14:12:51
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 17:59:41
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 20:30:02
GCTV 11/34 02/03/2012 Friday 22:59:50
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 01:29:38
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 11:59:39
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 15:32:58
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 18:59:50
GCTV 11/34 02/04/2012 Saturday 22:59:40
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 07:59:50
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 08:59:50
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 13:36:42
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 16:59:50
GCTV 11/34 02/05/2012 Sunday 17:59:46

We brought the last Pack Meeting in 2011 to a close with a bang!

Mrs. Rodrique handed out a ton of Popcorn prizes for the boys. As she explained, our boys did a tremendous job this year, setting new Pack and Council records! All of the top sellers in the Pack were presented with movie vouchers and certificates for their accomplishments. We also had Jacob P. set a new Council record for individual scout sales too, with $4502 this year. Jacob was presented with an iPod Nano for his first place finish, and will be dropping the puck at a Sharks game in January! James A. did an awesome job too, with $3500 in sales: enough to earn him a cool “Razer Powerwing” scooter, and a seat on the bench during the Sharks game as the top seller in the Hassanamisco district! There are more prizes coming, too – there was a customs issue that prevented the boys’ prizes from Trails End being delivered on time, and these will be distributed to the Den Leaders as soon as we get them.

Four boys were awarded their 50-mile Hiking Sticks this month! I am amazed at how motivated these boys are to get out into the great outdoors! Next time you see them, please congratulate Kevin P., Keiggan O., Graham Z., and Jack F. – they’ve all done a terrific job, and put their names up on the Pack’s “Banner of Achievement!”

We also had James A. putting a sticker on the banner, too! James was awarded 10 Belt Loops in 12 months, which is really good work!

Mr. Alderton presented the results of the photography contest, too: Jack F. won the “Animal” category, James A. won the “Scout” category, AJ R. won the “Leaders” category, and Graham Z. won the “Landscape” category. There were some really good photos entered, and everyone who participated had a blast! Each of the winners received a framed copy of their photo, and a gift certificate too! See the end of this post for all the photos.

To cap the meeting off, we had “Ooch” the Yoyo guy back for another show, and everyone in the audience really enjoyed the entertainment.

The day after the meeting, a bunch of boys (and adults!) from Pack 106 participated in a Dodgeball Tournament in Worcester. The Pack entered 3 teams: in the Cub division, we had the “Grafton Strikers” competing hard; in the Webelos division, the “Grafton Grenades” did a great job; and in the adult category, the “Grafton Old Folks” made an impressive showing. The competition was incredibly fierce and intense! In the end, each of the Grafton teams ended up taking first place in their respective divisions. It was a really fun event, and I think everyone hopes that it happens again next year!

Here are the winners of the December 2011 Photography contest! All the boys who participated earned the Photography Belt Loop, too! Congratulations to the winners!

Scout Winner: James A. got this creative shot of Graham Z.	Leaders Winner: AJ R. snapped this picture - is it Sasquatch??
Landscape Winner: Graham Z. snapped this gorgeous shot on the trail	Animals Winner: Jack Flaherty got this beautiful shot of some ducks

And here are all the entries:

Wow, what a busy month we’re having!

On November 10th, we had our monthly Pack Hike at the West Boylston Trail Rail. It was a beautiful day! The boys all participated in a fun photography contest, too, earning their Photography Belt Loops and taking some really great photos. The winners of the contest will be announced at the December Pack Meeting, and all the pictures will be published at that time.

On November 17th, we had our November Pack Meeting at St. Mary’s Church, and there were a ton of awards that were handed out. The boys are on fire with their achievements! In addition to the many belt loops and pins, George H. was awarded his 50-mile Hiking Stick! Well done, George! Also, Nick S. did a fantastic job with earning some Belt Loops and Pins, and was awarded with a Banner of Achievement sticker with his name on it.

After the awards, the boys did a great job assembling 22 Holiday Food Baskets for charity. Each family donated some food items, like canned corn or stuffing, and the Pack donated a $25 gift card for a Turkey. It was explained to the boys that this is a wonderful way to give back to our community, and hopefully brighten the days of people who aren’t as fortunate this holiday season as others are.

On November 19th, we had a couple of events going on. First, we all picked up our popcorn orders at Jennifer Rodrique’s house. This year’s order was so big, we had to rent a truck! Thanks to Jennifer for coordinating this activity. Also on Saturday, some of the Webelos Scouts participated in a “Turkey Shoot”, where scouts competed against other scouts in the Council (there were about 100 Webelos in attendance). Hunter W. had a great showing in BB-Guns, but didn’t place in the top 3. Jacob P. managed to score a “Turkey gift card” with a 3rd place finish in sling-shots. It was a really fun event on a sunny but chilly day.

There were some other Den events tossed in there as well, including a “Gem Show” and Bat Nest building by Wolf Den 2 – like I said, it’s been a very busy month for us!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Here are some pictures of the recent activities:

Our October Pack Meeting was a blast! We started the meeting by singing Happy Birthday to Jayce K. After that, we recognized our new Tiger scouts and some new scouts at other ranks with their Bobcat awards. There were some other awards too, with several boys receiving “Recruiter” awards for bringing new boys into the Pack. Also, AJ R. was awarded his 50-mile Hiking Stick – way to go, AJ!! AJ got his name put on the Banner of Achievement, too.

Jennifer Rodrique gave us an update on our Popcorn sales – we’re doing great! It’ll come down to the finish line on which dens will get the “Pizza and Bowling Parties”, and which den will get to go to Worcester Rockclimbing for a 2-hour den event too! Cubmaster Paquin was pleased to announce that the boys did a fantastic job with submitting their completed sheets to the Council Office, and that we won a very cool Pack-only Marksman Event at Treasure Valley! The date on this is still being worked out, but the boys will be able to shoot BB-guns and practice archery all to themselves!

We had some prize drawings for some gift cards, and after that we all got ready for the “Pie in the Face event”. This was a new idea this year, and turned out to be a ton of fun! Ryan B. won the chance to shove a pie into his Den Leader’s face, Jason C. “pied” our Popcorn Queen Jennifer Rodrique, and 7 boys in total all sold 50 items to put a pie into Cubmaster Paquin’s face! It was messy, but a LOT of fun!

Jennifer Thomas was kind enough to bring her dogs in for a bit of entertainment too. We didn’t have enough time for a complete presentation on dog-sledding, but will plan to do that later in the year.

Finally, a number of boys went to the Community Barn to watch “Rio”, and then had a sleep-over indoors and outdoors. All told, it was a really good time!

Here is the agenda from the meeting.

Here are pictures from the night:

Popcorn News

As our Popcorn Queen Jennifer Rodrique mentioned in a Pack email recently, we’re almost halfway through our Popcorn Sales period! Hopefully every single one of our boys is having a great time getting out and meeting new people. Remember, people look forward to seeing our Scouts this time of year, and it’s really terrific seeing the boys develop confidence and presentation skills!

In addition to the door prizes at the October Pack Meeting for boys who’ve sold 10, 20, or 30 units of popcorn, we’re adding a fun new event this year. Boys who sell at least 20 units will be entered into a special raffle to mash a pie into the face of their Den Leader. Scouts who sell 30 units or more will get the chance at “creaming” Jennifer Rodrique. And every boy who sells 50 or more units automatically gets to shove a pie in my face! Believe me, I’ll sit there all night long if we get enough boys selling some good numbers!

Also, Jennifer mentioned that there’s a special contest going on right now in the Council. The Pack that fills the most sheets from Wednesday, October 11th to Friday, October 21st, will get a Pack-only BB-Gun and Archery Training event, including lunch, at Treasure Valley! This is a really cool event that I’d love to have our boys win. If you’re close to filling those sheets, now’s the time to do it – and make sure you get them to Alison Specter by 3pm on the 21st! You can email an image to her at alison aspecter@bsamail.org or fax it to her at (508)-752-3047.

Here’s where we stack up against other units in the Council on sales – the boys are doing an OUTSTANDING job! Let’s keep the pressure on, and win that contest!!

October Hike

We enjoyed a great hike today at Upton State Park. The Whistling Cave Trail was nice and steep and even though there were parts of the trail that were pretty soggy, it was fun finding our way over the streams without getting our boots wet!

The boys were credited with 3 miles today. The Hike Log page has been updated with this information.

Pack Meeting – Friday, September 23rd

We had a great first Pack Meeting on Friday, September 23rd, with almost 100 boys in attendance! All the boys listened attentively to the leaders who spoke, and cheered loudly for the boys who were recognized for some special awards they earned over the summer. Specifically, the following boys all earned the ‘Summertime Activity Award’ for attending all 3 Summer events:

• Dante O. (Wolf)
• A.J. R. (Bear)
• Graham Z. (Bear)
• James A. (Bear)
• Jacob P. (Webelos)
• Keegan O. (Webelos)
• Matthew L. (Webelos)

In addition, James A. and Luke T. were presented with their 50 mile Hiking Sticks!! James earned his as a Bear Scout at Douglas Park in June, and Luke hiked his 50th mile at Wachusett Mountain in July. As a reminder to all parents, keep track of those miles, and let your Den Leader know as your boy gets closer to achieving one of the awards.

After the award presentations, Jennifer Rodrique talked to the Pack about our Popcorn campaign for 2011. There are some really cool prizes that can be earned! Also, keep in mind that Popcorn is our only fundraiser, and pays for just about everything we do.

Finally, we all saw Jozeph the Magician perform a really fun magic presentation! All the boys thoroughly enjoyed Jozeph’s entertainment!

Here’s a copy of the meeting’s presentation for your reference.

First Tiger Den Meeting and Hike @ NGES – Saturday, September 24th

We had a bunch of new Tiger Scouts meet with some of the leaders to have a short hike through the woods, and do a fun craft activity with some leaves. Any Tigers who attended completed Activity #5 in the Tiger Book! Also, any scouts in attendance earned 1 mile towards their hiking awards.

Pack Hike – Sunday, September 25th

A whole bunch of boys showed up for a nice hike in Uxbridge to Lookout Point. It was a hot and muggy day, but the rain stayed away, and the view at the top was gorgeous! All the boys who attended were credited with 3 miles towards their hiking awards. We also saw what looked like a baby Timber Rattlesnake, but in the end it turned out to be an imposter: an Eastern Hog-Nosed Snake. Too bad, because Timber Rattlers are very rare in Massachusetts, and it would have been newsworthy. We got some good pictures of it anyway!

And special congratulations to A.J. R.! A.J. walked his 50th mile with the pack today, and will be receiving his personalized Walking Stick at the October Pack Meeting. WAY TO GO A.J.!

Here are some images of all of the above events:

Some of the Pack 106 Scouts had a ton of fun riding their bikes on August 6th at a Bike Rally! The round-trip wasn’t as far as we thought it was, but the Millbury section of the bike trail is very nice, well-maintained, and has some really great scenery along the way.

The boys were credited with 2 miles for their hiking awards. This is also one of Pack 106′s three “official” summertime activities – boys who attend all three events get a pretty cool award for their efforts!

Here’s a picture of the entire set of boys (click for a full-size version):

Here we are again! After a fantastic summer with some really fun activity, we’re ready to start the official Scouting Year off! A flyer will be going home soon with boys of the appropriate ages in our school system. Here’s a copy of it if you’re interested.

Some important dates are coming up. Please refer (and subscribe, if you’d like) to the Pack Calendar.

Pack 106’s registration date for the 2011-2012 year is Friday, September 16, 6:30-7:30pm at St. Mary’s Church, 17 Waterville Street, North Grafton. The cost is $46 and includes a Pack tee-shirt (for new scouts) or $40 for existing scouts. If you’d like to print and fill out the registration form prior to the 16th, here’s a copy.

The first Pack Meeting will be the following Friday, September 23rd, from 7-8:30pm at St. Mary’s. We will have Dens (and hopefully Den Leaders for the new Tigers) figured out by then. You’ll be hearing from your Den Leaders regarding Den Meeting locations and schedules.

There will be a Tiger Hike & first Den Meeting on Saturday, September 24th, from 3-4pm at North Grafton Elementary School, 46 Waterville St, North Grafton.

And lastly, the September Pack Hike will be on Sunday, September 25th, from 1-3pm at the Blackstone Valley River Canal at 350 Hartford Avenue East, Uxbridge, MA. We’ll be doing the ‘King Phillips’ Trail, and it should be about 3 miles for the boys’ Hiking Awards.

On behalf of the entire Pack 106 Leadership Team, I’d like to tell you how much we’re all looking forward to the Scouting Year! As always, if you have any questions, or comments, please reach out to me (cpaquin42@gmail.com or 508-839-0195) or any of the other Leaders.

Sincerely…Chris Paquin, Cubmaster

We enjoyed an incredibly nice summer hike at Wachusett Mountain on Saturday, July 9th. The weather was perfect and so were the trails. It was a pretty steep trail at some spots, but all the kids did a really good job climbing the trails and staying hydrated. At the top of the mountain, we enjoyed some beautiful scenery and were able to see Boston in the distance. The boys were credited with 6 miles for the hike, which is a pack record!

Luke T. got his 50th mile, too! He’ll be getting his hiking stick in the fall – way to go, Luke!

The trail we hiked can be found on the Hike Log page.

Here are some pictures from the hike:

We had a great day at Douglas State Park on Sunday, June 26th! It was beautiful weather for a nice hike and some fun outdoor activities. We enjoyed the 2.5 mile ‘Coffeehouse Loop’ in a bit over an hour, and then had a well-deserved lunch of grilled burgers, hot dogs, and ice cream sandwiches!

One of the more interesting sights was a young red-tailed hawk that landed near our picnic area – I was able to get close enough to get a nice clear picture before it flew off.

The boys that hiked were credited with 3 miles towards their hiking awards.

Here are some pictures from the day: