Den 11 gathered and filled trash bags with pine needles in the woods to place around blueberry bushes at the farm to help acidify the soil. Afterwards the boys got to meet some of the sanctuary’s wildlife residents (deer, foxes and chickens to name a few).

Den 11 hosted December’s Pack Meeting with the theme of caring. The den solicited donations of baking supplies for a food drive for the Acton Food Pantry. They delivered the supplies and got a tour the following week.

Volunteers from a local animal shelter came and spoke about the importance of selecting the right pet and things to consider when bringing a new pet into your home. They spoke about the different pets they see and asked the pack about their own pets. Den 11 brought in some of their own pets, a gray tree frog, french lop-eared rabbit, bearded dragon and guinea pig, for show and tell.

Members of the pack made bird feeders to bring home and share with their feathered friends. The bird feeders consisted of stale english muffin halves, sunbutter, string and bird seed.

Thank you to all for the generous donations that Pack 1 contributed for the Acton Food Pantry!

Scouts and Parents,

The Pack 1 Rocket Launch is coming up on Sunday November 6th on the corn field west of Wetherbee Road, off Route 2, across from the School Street soccer fields.

Pack 1′s launch window is 11:30 to 1:00pm. We have enough engines for each scout to launch at least 3 times.

Please show up promptly or you may not get to make 3 launches. We do have to stand down promptly at 1:00 pm until 1:30pm so the State Police across the street can move their horses inside the barn safely (the hiss the rocket engines make spook them and it can be dangerous for the handlers).

The rain date is November 20th.

Visit the Rocket Launch page to find  some rocket assembly instructions originally written by Paul Malchodi many years ago and recently updated by me. If you’ve never built a rocket before, it’s worth a read.

Regards,

Paul Guditz

Greetings,

Many packs, troops and crews in the Nashua Valley Council conducted a Family Friends of Scouting presentation which emphasized the importance of family contributions to our ability to provide a quality Scouting program in our council. With over 3,000 families involved in Scouting we were unable to reach out to every family and every unit.

On Wednesday October 26th and Thursday October 27th volunteers of the Nashua Valley Council will be conducting a phone-a-thon. It is our plan not to contact you if you have already supported our council with a gift in 2011.

Won’t you please give what you can toward supporting one or more boys?

Here are a few of the benefits that the Nashua Valley Council provides to our Scouts and leaders through-out the year:

• Outstanding outdoor facilities and programs at Camp Wanocksett, in Dublin NH, and Camp Split Rock, in Ashburnham, available year-round to support your outdoor Scouting program.

• Summer programs at Camp Wanocksett and Camp Split Rock.

• Membership recruitment resources and materials for all units.

• District and Council events, including camporees, Merit Badge College, and Webelos Woods.

• Training courses for every volunteer position and regular leaders’ roundtables.

• Record keeping, including unit advancement and training.

• Full-time field staff to assist your son’s pack, troop, crew or post.

• Special high adventure opportunities, including the National Jamboree, Philmont Scout Ranch, Northern Tier, and the Florida Sea Base.

• A local Scout service center with a full service national Scout shop.

Each Scouting family is asked to support our Friends of Scouting campaign so the council in turn can best support the unit in which your son or daughter is involved. If you will be unavailable to receive our call next week but would like to support Scouting in your neighborhood, please click on the link below to be directed to a site that can help you do so. Don’t forget to check on whether your employer will match your donation. All funds raised stay in Nashua Valley Council and support our most valuable resource, our young people.

The commitment that you make today will help to make Scouting in Nashua Valley Council financially secure, and will help to ensure that Scouting is strong and growing! Thank you for your support!

Yours in Scouting,

James Adams
Council President

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION NOW

Special thanks goes out to Kshama Sathaye for organizing the Pack’s first outing of the year. It was a huge success and the Scouts had a fantastic time exploring the rock features. Paul Guditz says they have dedicated Scout camp sites at Purgatory Chasm if any of the Dens are interested. Great work to all the parents who helped keep the Scouts together and safe!

Here are some pictures taken by Kurt Thaller. Click on a picture to view it larger:

Keith, Committee Chair

It’s time to start selling popcorn.

This is our one fundraiser of the year which pays for the expenses for the pack. You should have received a selling kit in the mail. If not, you can print the sales flier here.

Important Dates

• Sept 10^th – Sales Begin
• Oct 16^th – Sales End – Popcorn order (spreadsheet) due. Please email to Sudhir.
• Nov 11^th – Popcorn Pickup from Den Leaders
• Nov 25^th – Money Due: Check(s) to “Acton Pack 1″ drop off at or mail to Sudhir’s house.
• Jan 13^th – Prize distribution at pack meeting

Goals

Each Scout’s sales goal is $300 to pay for a great Scouting program. Look at the Prize Program brochure and decide what prize level you want to shoot for.

Tips & Safety

Review these tips with your Scout before he starts selling.

Welcome back Pack 1 Scouts and Parents,

Hope you all had a great summer and are excited about the upcoming scouting year.  Our first pack meeting will be Friday, September 9th 2011, 7:00pm at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church located at 472 Massachusetts Ave, across from the Jr. High.  We have an outstanding year planned for the Scouts and our first Pack meeting will focus on previewing the many upcoming activities.

The theme of the meeting will be recycling and water conservation.  We will have a presentation from the Acton Water District on how we can conserve water and the many free resources and rebates available to Acton residents.

Going with the recycling theme, we will be kicking off our Pack Uniform Recycling Program.  If you would like to participate, please contribute at least one uniform article (such as a scarf, slide, hat, shirt, book, belt, etc) or gently used camping gear. This will be your ticket to pick out something that you need for the upcoming year.

Update: 9/10

A big thanks to the Wolf den for being our hosts! Here are a few pictures by Sudhir Srinivasan. The first is a picture of Matt Mostoller, a former Eagle Scout who now works for the Acton Water District, explaining about water conservation to the boys. (Thanks, Matt!)

Here are the boys doing the crab walk during a recycling game: