 What the Entire Pack is "Doing" Together... |
Pack News
"I've never had so much fun in 102 degrees!"
That's what one parent said after our Pack family campout at the Boulder Creek Scout Reservation this weekend. It was a hot weekend, but a great one! Our campout chairs and committee, rangemasters, those parents who cooked and washed up and
brought supplies to share, and everyone in attendance, all approached the weekend with an attitude of fun and cooperation. It was a
really wonderful time, and a joy to see all of our scouts playing and
learning together, while parents had a chance to get to know each other
and have fun, too! We had lots of new Scouts and their families (even with little Scout siblings) attend and brave the heat, and it was great to see our Pack grow. If you missed out, don't worry, we have lots more fun coming up! Our next Pack meeting is Friday Sept 16 at 7 pm at Grant Park, and our Bottle Rocket Launch event is October 8 from 2-4 pm on the Montclaire field. See you soon! |
Get ready for the 2nd annual Camporee, on August 27!
In 2021 we organized a brand new event, the Camporee (an afternoon of outdoor games, crafts, Scout skills and s'mores!) and it was such a success we decided to make it an annual event! Pack 501 Scouts and their families are invited to bring their friends and classmates to our 2nd Annual Camporee to show them what kinds of fun things we do in Cub Scouts. The Second Annual Pack 501 Camporee will be held on Saturday, Aug 27 from 1-4pm at
the picnic area of Grant Park in Los Altos. This
is a great way to kick off a new year of Scouting, and also an opportunity for continuing Scouts to be presented with their new neckerchief for the year! If you have any questions please contact your den leader or the Cubmaster (cubmaster@pack501scouts.com). Following the latest CDC guidelines, face coverings are recommended. |
Pack hike- Saturday, July 16, 9 am
Remember that if your Scout attends this hike, or another
Scout event, during the month of July, they'll be on their way to
getting the summer activity pin! This pin is awarded to Scouts who participate in a den, pack, or council event during June, July, and August. Please bring your scouts and families and
join us for our July pack hike at Castle Rock State Park located in
Saratoga. We will be meeting on July 16th at 9 am. This park is a
popular one for many families with children. Please navigate to the
Castle Rock Main Parking lot. There is a $10.00 parking fee per car.
After paying for parking, meet at the far end of the parking lot by the
picnic tables and near the restrooms. The trail to the rocks is a short
walk away. We will be taking the Castle Rock trail which leads to
some huge rocks to climb on, full of rock ledges and cubbies. It
does get cold at the higher elevations so you may want to bring a
jacket. Please be aware that you need to be prepared to watch your kids
climb, and be able to set your own limits on the heights you feel
comfortable with them climbing up to. The hike and play time should last
about 2 hours. You also want to bring the
6 essentials for a cub scout hike: first aid kit, water bottle,
flashlight, trail food, sun protection, and a whistle! If you arrive late, take the trail and meet us there. Look forward to seeing you all there! Here is google map link to parking lot Here is web page with more information about park and trails. |
Summer with Pack 501!
As the school year winds down, in some ways, so does Cub Scouts. Dens decide whether they will continue to have meetings during the summer- some may choose to pause den activities until the new school year starts. We also don't have Pack meetings during the summer. BUT, there's still a lot of Scouting going on! If Cub Scouts participate in one den or pack activity per month they earn the Summer Activity award, so if your scout is interested in that, they should plan to attend the Fire Circle in the June, the Pack hike in July, and the Camporee in August. "Camp-O-Ree? What's that again?" The Camporee is a new pack event we added in 2021, a family-friendly event with games and activities to kick off our Scouting year. This is a great time to bring your friends who are curious about Pack 501 and thinking about joining Cub Scouts. Save the date of August 27, more details to come! Keep an eye out for emails, or contact your den leader or cubmaster@pack501scouts.com with questions. |
Save the date for the 2022 Pack Campout!
Spring Events around the corner!
Even though it's still quite chilly, we've been making plans for several springtime pack events. On Sunday, March 27 from 12-2pm, our pack will be holding our Blue and Gold Banquet, a very special event for every family in our Pack to celebrate their scouts' achievements in scouting! Then on April 2 from 2:3-4:30 pm we will hold our Bridging ceremony. Bridging is a special occasion for the Arrow of Light scouts to transition to their new Scouts BSA troops, and all are invited to attend. Both the bridging ceremony and banquet will be at Stevens Creek County Park (Bridging will be at the archery range on Mt Eden Rd, and Blue & Gold will be at the Sycamore Picnic area, where we held our Camporee in August). The Blue and Gold Banquet will take the place of our March pack meeting.
Our other exciting upcoming event is our Pinewood Derby! The Pinewood Derby will be on April 30 at Grant Park- start getting ready! Talk to your den leader about a kit, and start thinking about designs. You can find great tips and how-tos at https://scoutlife.org/pinewood-derby/
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Staying safe while Scouting... during a pandemic
Pack 501 has resumed some in-person meetings and events, but the safety of our Scouting community is always our first priority, so here are some ways we are working to stay healthy in these continued Covid times: -we ask all participants to wear a face mask regardless of vaccination
status -we continue to try to maintain social
distance at events -all den/pack events and den meetings are held outdoors -we will continue to hold pack meetings virtually until further notice. Currently Pack meetings are held one Friday evening per month but they may be rescheduled for weekend afternoons, to allow us to gather in person outdoors. Please ask your den leader, email the cubmaster, or check the pack Calendar for updates! While some meetings and events are still happening virtually, we're proud of our leaders' creativity (and our Scouts' cooperation!) in adapting many traditional Scouting activities during this time. We look forward to seeing you soon, whether that means in person or on screen! Yours in Scouting, Kat Carpenter, Cubmaster  |
A new kind of Scouting year is underway!
We've been so happy to resume in-person Scouting activities during the 2021-2022 year. The year will still look different than a "normal" year but events and activities are being held! In August we held our first annual Camporee, a fun family event of games, a hike, whittling, s'mores, and more. It was so much fun we've decided it will be a regular event! October 2 was our Bottle Rocket Launch event, the
event in which the Scouts learn just how "explosive" of a combination
Diet Coke and Mentos can be, then we made our empty soda bottles into
rockets, filled them with water, and "blasted"
them down the field. In November we had a wonderful time at our all-pack family campout at the Boulder Creek Scout Reservation. We had so much fun hiking, learning about archery and riflery, playing in the trees and creek, cooking over camp stoves, hiking and doing crafts, catching crayfish, and singing during campfire! We're all looking forward to next year's campout! During our December pack meeting we had two big events- we put together care packages to send to our military servicepeople stationed overseas, and learned about the solar system, thanks to our Arrow of Light scouts who created a wonderful model for all the explore. It was scaled with the sun being represented by a basketball, down to planets as small as a pencil dot- it stretched all the way down St. Joseph Avenue in front of Montclaire! We played bingo, did a scavenger hunt, and played Kahoot during our virtual January pack meeting. Our scouts also enjoyed hearing about recent awards won and learning about how our care packages were sent on to our deployed military members. Our next (virtual) pack meeting will be held February 4. Plans for pack events like our Pinewood Derby, Blue and Gold dinner, a winter hike, and lots of other fun den activities and pack meetings are underway! Please contact me or your den leader if you have any questions! Yours in Scouting, Kat Carpenter, Cubmaster  |
Welcome Scouts
Welcome to scouting for 2020-2021. This year is going to be quite a bit different from previous years, but we have a lot of fun and exciting events planned!
Our first virtual pack meeting is August 21 from 7:00 – 7:30. The scouts will do a kahoot quiz with questions created by each of the dens.
On September 5 we will have a backyard campout. Pitch a tent in your back yard (or just make a tent in your living room), make some s’mores, and join the campfire program from 7:30 – 8:30.
All the events have been entered in the uptous calendar and on www.pack501scouts.com.
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Pushcart Derby scheduled for May 11th at 10:00 am
Please join Pack 501 at the Los Altos United Methodist Church at 10:00 am for a fun couple hours of the pushcart derby. You will have teams of scouts pushing and driving hand-crafted push carts across the parking lot. |
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