Field Trip to Benchmark Automation - November 16

Our Den Leader, Mr. Cline, was great in coordinating a Field Trip to Benchmark Automation located in our Athens hometown. The Bear Den met with Mike Rupert. Mr. Rupert was kind enough to give the Bear Den a tour of his facility which is responsible for creating the machinery for packaging. Their distribution systems includes cookies, crackers, bars, baked goods, and frozen foods (our kind of place). The Bear Den enjoyed watching the automation process and met other mechanical engineers who explained the process of creating the machinery. This could inspire a scout to pursue engineering!
Pictured are: Colton, Tom, Mr. Cline, Thomas, Michael, Evan, Wesley, Mr. Rupert, and Harper.

November Pack Meeting

Pack 352 was treated to a Flag Ceremony demonstrated by Troop 1. We were honored to have Nathan, Tom, and Daniel talk to the pack about their current activities and accomplishments. Each of these young men had started with Pack 352 as a young Cub Scout. The highlight was each scout eagerly waiting to try on the backpack which was used in New Mexico Philmount's hike. The backpack must of weighed over 25 lbs.

We had a great pack meeting with good participation from all scouts. Our young scouts are learning to speak confidently about their activities. Some belt loops were earned. Both Tigers and Wolves had made progress towards advancement. The Wolf Den has a chart to track the progress of their many scouts! The Bear Den had worked on Wood Whittling Badge (the holy grail of Cub Scouts). The Weblos have met and have an upcoming field trip they will be sharing with us at the next Pack Meet.

Project Birdhouse

The Bear Den met at the Den Leader, Mr. Cline's home to learn how to build a birdhouse. Mr. Cline cut the wood from old staircases. The Bear Den learned how to sand, fit the blocks of wood together, drill holes (supervised of course), and hammer the nails so that it would stay. Building a birdhouse can be a satisfying project. The lessons are many: a bit of carpentry, ornithology and ecology. And so are the rewards, among them the sense of accomplishment that comes in building something with your own hands. Once the birdhouse was stained, it was be donated to a local nursing home so that the elderly could enjoy seeing the nesting cycle of birds and knowing that they've helped boost the bird population in the neighborhood.

Washington Farms Maze

October 31 - Halloween!
The Williams were great in coordinating a maze outing at Washington Farms, a local farm known for their pumpkins, strawberries, blueberries and more. What we didn't expect was the rainy weather. Many had to cancel due to uncertainty. To the few that showed up - we say - "Great job - Guys." We started out eager...but a half hour into it..it started to rain pretty bad. Everyone was soaked. So notice our pictures...Notice the before..everyone is smiling and non-muddy. This top picture is the after. Take a closer look...the scouts are soaking wet!

October 28 - Den Meeting
We begun a new year for the scouts and some moved up to the rank of Bear. Troop 352 is smaller this year, but large in energy and enthusiasm. Here are a few pictures of our Oct. 28th meeting at Patrick's home. We started out with a demonstration of pocket knives. The safety, how to use them, and got to practice on potatoes. Jokingly, we told Mr. Cline that his dinner would be lots of mashed potatoes. The young scouts were eager to learn and some just need a few more practice sessions (anyone care for more potato salad?). I apologize for lack of quality of my pictures...I just returned from the eye doctor and my eyes were dilated.