Cubmaster’s Notes

Finding Balance During the Busy Fall Season

Amidst the transition to cooler weather and leafless trees, we find ourselves with an impossibly busy schedule; so much so that we rarely take the time to watch the world around us move through Fall. October and November always bring a host of great and exciting pack events and activities. However, it also comes at a time when our scouts are in the throes of other activities like sports, band, and school parties. 

I want to encourage you to take some time to slow down, breathe, and reflect. While I would love to see everyone at every pack event, the most important thing is not to overextend yourself or your family. Look at the calendar, figure out what you can realistically commit to, and get involved where you can, even if that means simply being present at a den meeting.

Lastly, make it a point to schedule some time for family activities. Puzzles, game nights, hikes, and bike rides are all great ways to disconnect from the outside world for a little while and reconnect with yourself and each other. 

October Recognitions

• Troop 29 Scouts and Leaders for their guidance and leadership at Scout Skills Day
• All of the parents who led or helped lead the stations at Scout Skills Day
• Cathy and Don Lippey for their recruiting efforts at the Forks Township Fire Dept Open House
• The Lippey and D’Huyvetters families for representing Pack 29 at the Forks Township Trunk or Treat
• Eric Tate and Al Raccuia for taking the lead to set up the Halloween Party
• All of our parents for helping with the Halloween Party activities and for making it such a festive evening!

October Den Activities

October was an exciting and productive month for our scouts. We started the month with our annual Scout Skills Day, which was an opportunity for our scouts to learn some basic skills from our pack leaders and scouts and leaders from Troop 29. The skills we worked on included:

• Understanding the Scout Oath, Scout Law, and Scout Handshake
• Building and maintaining a campfire
• Fire safety at home and at camp
• Cooking over a fire
• Flag-Raising
• First Aid
• Basic Water Rescue
• Knife Safety (Webelos only)

It’s been great to watch our older scouts develop some of these skills over the last few years and to see how much they’ve grown!

We also had one den meeting in mid-October, where each den worked on an individual adventure. 

Lions & Tigers

Lions and Tigers worked on their Personal Fitness adventures (Fun on the Run and Tiger Bites, respectively). They talked about balanced and nutritious meals and the importance of being active. Then, they played some games like Tag and a pick-up soccer match with the other dens!

Wolves

The Wolf den worked on their Bobcat and Digging In the Past adventures. For the Bobcat, they created a den Code of Conduct, talked about the meaning of the Scout Oath and Law, and played a game to learn a little more about each other. For Digging In the Past, the scouts learned about fossils and created their own ceramic dinosaurs!

Bears, Webelos, and AOLs

The Bears, Webelos, and AOLs held a joint den meeting, where they worked together on their Personal Fitness adventures

• Bears – Bear Strong
• Webelos – Stronger, Faster, Higher
• AOLs – Personal Fitness

We were joined by Adam Volcskai, owner of Iron Crush Fitness, who talked to our scouts about how different types of food affect and fuel our body. We then learned how to structure a simple workout with stretching, dynamic warmups, and some bodyweight exercises. After that, the scouts set up a pick-up soccer game for all of the dens.

November Pack Updates

Scouting for Food

The 2025 Scouting for Food campaign is underway, and it’s one of my personal favorite events of the year. This is a national effort orchestrated by Scouting America, and it affords our pack an opportunity to give back to our community in a real and material way. 

This year, we will be distributing door hangers (flyers) on three separate days (11/1, 11/2, 11/4) and collecting food from the community on Saturday, 11/8. Many of you have already signed up, but if you haven’t and are available to help on any of those four dates, please use the Sign-Up Genius link below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D4CAAAB2DA1FD0-59777762-scouting#/

I would also encourage you to tell your friends and families about Scouting for Food. If you aren’t able to participate in the canvassing or food collection, you can ask your friends, families, and neighbors if they have any food that they would like to donate!

If you have any questions about Scouting for Food, you can contact our Scouting for Food chair, Emmet O’Hanlon at emmetjohn@gmail.com.

Fundraising

Popcorn

All popcorn orders will be available for pick-up at our November pack meeting on 11/23. Please reach out to our Fundraising chair, Jen Scheig (sjmznschleig@gmail.com), if you have any questions about your order.

Meat Sticks

We recently collected the order forms for our fall Meat Stick fundraiser, but we continue this fundraiser year-round, so if you didn’t get a chance to sell any during our Fall campaign, or if you just want to sell more, reach out to Jen Schleig for a PDF of the order form. These are a great “bang for your buck” fundraiser and can help you accrue some money into your scout’s account with little effort.

In addition to the order forms, we still have a few Show & Sell dates available. Scouts who participate in these events will receive a percentage of sales into their scout account. Here is a Sign-Up Genius link with the remaining dates and more information about the events.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D4CAAAB2DA1FD0-58608425-cubscout#/

Bundt Cakes

This year, we’re partnering with Nothing Bundt Cakes for a Winter fundraiser to sell bundt cakes for the holiday season. Each cake will cost $7.00, and scouts will receive $2.00 from each cake for their scout account. This is another low-effort, high-reward fundraising opportunity that can help build your scout’s account to pay for scout-related expenses!

This fundraiser will have a quick turnaround. Forms will be handed out at the November pack meeting (11/23) and collected at the December pack meeting on 12/7. Order pick-up will be on 12/14.

2026 Pack Dues 

Every year, all Cub Scout packs, Scout troops, and any other unit that is part of Scouting America is required to re-charter for the next year. This is also the time of year when Pack 29 collects our annual dues. 

This year, we will be collecting the 2026 Pack 29 dues at the November pack meeting. Dues for 2026 are $50 per scout. If you aren’t able to attend the pack meeting, or if you have any questions about the pack dues, please contact our Committee chair, Jen Schleig.

Pack Calendar Updates 

December Pack Meeting

Due to a scheduling conflict with another event at Arndt’s Lutheran Church, we have decided to move our December pack meeting from Sunday, 12/14, to Sunday, 12/7. This date was previously reserved for a Den meeting. As of now, we have not rescheduled the den meeting, but we’ll communicate the new den meeting date, if we decide to hold one in December!

December Committee Meeting

In addition to the December Pack meeting, we have also decided to move our December Committee meeting so that we have enough time to prepare for the Pack meeting. The December Committee meeting has been moved from Sunday, 12/7, to Sunday, 11/30. 

Winter Cabin Camping

Every year, Pack 29 rents two cabins at Camp Minsi for a weekend of camping, hiking, and other fun activities. This year, we will be camping on January 16-18, 2026. The cost is $40 per person, and that includes all meals and consumables. 

We’ll be sending out more information later this month, but if you’re interested or have any questions, you can reach out to Mike Ehret or Jen Schleig! We’re limited to 16 scouts and 16 adults, and this does fill up fast.

Help Wanted!

Pinewood Derby Crew Chief

Pack 29 is looking for volunteers to help with our Pinewood Derby! Our current Pinewood Derby Crew Chief, Tom Quackenbush, is moving on to the troop in February, so we’re looking for someone to fill that position. The primary duties for this position include:

• Coordinate Pinewood Derby build day, trial night, and event.
• Send communications via email, blog, social media about event
• Facilitate setup/tear down of track
• Run the timing/scoring software on the event 

This position requires 12-15 hours of your time during late February and March, and you will have assistance from a small team of Pinewood Derby Pit Crew members. Our current Crew Chief, Tom, will also be available to answer questions and help train you!

Please contact Mike Ehret (pack29easton@gmail.com) if you have any questions or are interested in signing up.

Pinewood Derby Pit Crew

In addition to the Crew Chief, we have openings for 1-2 Pit Crew members. This position is responsible for helping with setup and teardown of the track, and serving as the helping hands for our Build Day, Test Night, and on Derby Day. This position requires 6-8 hours of your time during the month of March. 

Please contact Mike Ehret (pack29easton@gmail.com) if you have any questions or are interested in signing up.

Upcoming Events

Scouting for Food, 11/1, 11/2, 11/4, 11/8 – Forks Township

Attire: Class B

• This is our annual community food drive, where our pack collects non-perishable food items from families in Forks Township and delivers them to Salvation Army.
• We’ll distribute door hangers (flyers) on three separate dates; 11/1, 11/2, and 11/4. Families will be paired up and assigned routes to canvas with door hangers.
• Food collection will take place on Saturday, 11/8. Families will drive through the canvassed neighborhoods and collect food that has been left out for us to collect. We’ll sort and weigh that food, then take it to the Salvation Army in Easton.
• Here is a link to the Sign-Up Genius page. 
• This activity some of the requirements for your scout’s Community Service adventure!

Meat Stick Show & Sells – 11/1, 11/5, 11/22

Attire: Class A

• There are three more Meat Stick Show & Sells left this fall; 11/1. 11/5, and 11/22
• Here is a link to the Sign-Up Genius page. 
• Reach out to Jen Schleig if you have any questions!

Sunday, 11/16/2025, 2:00 PM-5:00 PM – Den Meetings

Attire: Class B

• Your den leaders will be sending out more details individually, so be on the lookout for that.

Sunday, 11/23/2025, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM – November Pack Meeting, Bushkill Park

• Pack 29 is going roller skating! Our November Pack meeting will be held at the Bushkill Park skating rink. This is a great time to relax and have some fun.
• We’ll be collecting 2026 pack dues and handing out popcorn and meat stick orders.
• We’ll also be handing out order forms for our bundt cake fundraiser

Sunday, 11/30/2025, 7:00 PM-8:00 PM – Committee Meeting, Virtual

• The primary agenda item will be to plan our annual Holiday Pack meeting
• A formal agenda and meeting link will be sent out ahead of the meeting.