Cubmaster Corner - October 2026 Edition

Happy Halloween Pack 442! We are just about a quarter of the way through the school year and we've had a busy scouting year to so far! We had a great turnout to the Overnight at the San Antonio Zoo. Everyone had a great time and the zoo staff were fantastic hosts! As we turn the calendar into the fall and winter, we look forward to the scouts enjoying the weather change and us spending a bit more time outside at our events and Den Meetings. Remember that Den Meetings are the best way to work towards your scouts badge of rank, so make every effort to attend those meetings.

The council is offering a recruitment bonus, so if you know of people who are interested in joining scouts, please bring them to an event and see if they are interested in joining. Remember that if your scout recruits someone they get a "recruiter" patch.

Volunteers: 

Many hands make for light work. It is how our pack runs, through your families, our volunteers. Each year we ask our families to volunteer for tasks to complete at the various events and activities we conduct. We use a Signup Genuis to do this, so please take a look at let us know where you can help.

The best way to find a leadership opportunity is to fill out the Family Talent Survey, and then respond to any opportunities that are presented. We have tasks from big to small, but all are a tremendous help to making our pack successful every year. For more information about the positions you can see the Pack Position Manual.

Adult Leadership (Application Needed)	Parent Volunteer (No Application Needed)
Assistant Treasurer	Racetime Commissioner (Raingutter Regatta & Pinewood Derby) - Training at this years Derby!
Public Relations Chair	Rocket Day Coordinator
Advancement Chair	Blue & Gold Planner
Membership Chair	Pack Crossover Planner
Pack Trainer	Service & Conservation Project Coordinator
Secretary	Shooting Sports Rangemasters - Training Required
Assistant Cubmaster	Campout Activities

Fundraising & Dues

We are nearing the end of the fundraising, so time is running out to raise funds for your scouts dues. As a reminder dues are $350 per year, and fundraising can cover any portion of this. If you are done fundraising, please work with Eric to close out your dues. If you paid your national dues, via the messages that were sent out by Scouting America to renew your membership, please let Eric know as well so we can adjust what your family owe's.

If you need anything else on Fundraising, please reach out to Josh Clark or Joslin Winston.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Pack Parent Meeting - Monday, November 2nd 6:30am - 8:00pm @ Lakeway Church Rm 205 (Building C)

All parents are welcome to join us for our monthly Pack Committee Meeting, where we will discuss and plan out details for any of the upcoming pack events and activities. This is the last one before the Fall Family Campout, so we'll have a lot to discuss to prepare for the fun weekend!

Please RSVP through Scoutbook.

Veterans Day Flag Ceremonies (Citizenship Service Project) - Varies by School

Every year, we work alongside our school campuses to help celebrate our veterans. Many of the schools conduct a flag ceremony, but please reach out to your schools liason to be part of the festivities at your campus.

Serene Hills Elementary - Nico Sfeir November 11th @ 8am

Lakeway Elementary - Bryan Weatherford November 11th @ 5pm

Rough Hollow Elementary - Carson Marston November 11th @ 7:20am (Gym)

Raingutter Regatta - Saturday, November 7th @ Lakeway City Park (Upper Pavilion), 502 Hurst Creek Rd, Lakeway, TX 78734

If you need help building a boat, there are several videos and websites that offer advice (a very thorough video here). Feel free to reach out to your Den leader if you need help.

We understand there are sports events and do our best to create a schedule that can work for most. If you can't make your 'den' time, we have added an extra session for mixed group make-ups. Hopefully, you will be able to join us for this exciting event!

SCHEDULE

Please arrive at least ten (10) minutes before race start time for check-in & pictures.

Lion Den - 12:00-12:30 pm

Tiger Den - 12:30-1:00 pm

Wolf Den - 1:00-1:30 pm

Bear Den - 1:30-2:00 pm

Make-up/Siblings - 2:00-2:30 pm

Webelos Den - 2:30-3:00 pm

AOL Den - 3:00-3:30 pm

CHAMPIONSHIP - 3:30-4:00 pm

Scouts will compete by den in the designated heat times above. We race double elimination so that each Scout will get at least two races. Please try your best to make it your den's assigned time. If you cannot make it due to another conflict, let us know, and we can add them to the "Make-Up" heat. If you win your heat, then you move on to the finals race held at the end! If your Scout has a sibling who would like to build a boat, we have a special heat for the siblings too.

Please RSVP through Scoutbook.

Fall Family Campout - Friday, November 13th - 15th @ Guadalupe River State Park, 3350 Park Rd 31, Spring Branch, TX 78070

Spend a weekend exploring Guadalupe River State Park - Fishing, camping, birding, hiking – whatever your outdoor passion, you can pursue it. Join Pack 442 for our fall weekend of camping (Arrive Friday afternoon/evening and leave mid-day Sunday). Even if this will be your first time camping, please plan on coming and the Pack can help you get ready.

Camping Fee ($50) can be paid through Website (or via Venmo). Instructions are available there. Registration closes on Wednesday, November 8th.

Schedule:

The Pack trailer arrives on Friday ~2:00pm, to setup to cook/serve dinner on Friday

evening and will leave Sunday morning after breakfast/cleanup. All scouts and families can attend for

both nights! We'll send a full itinerary for the weekend in case you need work around some conflicts. We always need a lot of helping hands to have a successful campout. If you would like to

volunteer to help plan/run some activities during the campout please let Josh/I know....or better yet,

join us at Pack Committee Meeting on 10/27 to see how you can get involved.

Medical Forms for any Overnight activity

Scouting America requires that we collect medical forms for any scout (and all family members attending with them) attending an event in which there is an overnight component. These forms are used in case of an emergency and kept with the Pack Committee Chair or Cubmaster at all scouting overnight events.

Please fill out the Medical Forms and submit them to Josh Sawyer via email or by hand for them to be recorded with our records. These need to be filled out every year, so make sure you are up to date.

Please RSVP through Google Form and Scoutbook by November 8th!

Thanksgiving Celebration at Brookdale Senior Living Center (Citizenship Service Project) - Saturday, November 21st 2:00pm - 5:00pm @ Lakeway Church Fellowship Hall (then we will walk over to Brookdale)

Join the Pack as we engage with our community at Brookdale Senior Living Center to bring a Thanksgiving themed program that will sure put a smile on their faces. Last year, the current Webelos Den put on a 250th USA Anniversary program for the residents and it was a great success. Hawley Wolfe, grandfather of the Daigle Family, has generously volunteered to lead the program with the scouts. They just need to show up and participate. This will count as the service project for their citizenship adventure, so a great opportunity to get that requirement knocked out if you are in town for the holiday or have not left yet.

Please RSVP through Scoutbook

Upcoming Den Meetings

October 25th Tiger Den Meeting

October 25th Wolf Den Meeting

November 8th Webelos Den Meeting

November 8th Lion Den Meeting

November 8th Wolf Den Meeting

November 8th Tiger Den Meeting

November 22nd AOL Den Meeting

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Marking Advancements for Completion at Home: 

There may be times you have to miss a meeting or event and need to complete an advancement at home. If you work on any advancement at home, you can log into Scoutbook and mark the advancement as complete for your Den Leader to approve. Below is a guide on how to do that.

Google Photos

We have a shared google photos account, where you can upload and share photos from events and activities. These photos are no public, and the sharing is meant to provide photos and memories to everyone in the pack. If we use a photo for our publications, we will ensure that all scouts in the photo have a photo waiver on record.

Please check the WhatsApp General Discussion for instructions on how to link to the Google Photos.

If you have not filled out a Photo Media Release, please consider doing so.

Swimming Adventure:

Does your scout attend swim lessons or participate in the swim team? If so, they automatically qualify for the swimming adventure in their rank. Please let your Den Leader know if your scout qualifies under these circumstances so we can get him marked off in Scoutbook and get them awarded with the adventure of their rank!

CLOSING:

As we finish up fundraising, I am reminded of thow we communicate to our community that their donations help us support our community. They are not only supporting our local community, but they are showing their support to our boys and helping them promote a positive experience in their childhood. As we go into November and December you are going to see a lot of opportunities to connect with our community through service projects. This is our time to live our the Scout Oath, when we say "To help other people at all times". Please take consideration in how your family can not only connect to one of the projects, but maybe participate in several. Beyond the projects highlighted above, we will have Brown Santa on December 6th. We will be doing our own toy drive to help support the effort, as well as going down to the warehouse and helping wrap gifts for local families. This is a Pack 442 tradition and we look forward to participating again this year. Sign up here if you are already interested.

See you at the Raingutter Regatta and the Fall Family Campout!!!

YIS,

Josh Sawyer

Pack 442 - Cubmaster