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Meetings
Each den of 5-15 boys meets twice a month as a den, usually at Hamilton El's gym or the scout cabin (located off the Hamilton El parking lot). Meetings last 1-1.5 hours and generally follow the month's "theme" as presented in the Leaders Helps (see the main leaders' page for a link to those meeting outlines).
The pack meeting occurs once a month on the third Thursday and involves all 5 levels of cub scouts (Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos 1 and Webelos 2).
Various fun activities happen throughout the year. Council/district activities include the Fall Hike, sporting events and Winterfest. The pack generally schedules swimming and bowling a few times a year.
Awards/Achievements
Each level of scout requires that various achievements be completed to earn his badge. There are also electives, beltloops and pins that are optional for the boys to work on. Awards are given out each month at the pack meeting, and the list of awards to be purchased needs to be compiled and brought to the leaders' meeting at the first of the month. The awards coordinator will then order/purchase the awards and submit the appropriate paperwork to council.
As a leader, you should be helping the boys to finish some of the achievements, but it is not feasible to work on them all as a den. The boys should be working on them at home with their families when possible, and you should stress to the boys that THEY should work on them, not have to wait for mom or dad to nag them.
The ideal "goal" is for the achievements to be completed by the end of January so that the badges (Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Arrow of Light) can be awarded at the Blue and Gold banquet at the end of February. The Blue and Gold banquet is a special pack meeting, generally held on a weekend, that includes a potluck dinner, fun, and awards.
Fundraising
The pack holds one fundraiser each year, and in the recent past that has been the popcorn sale. It falls at the begining of the school year, and the funds from this event pay for most pack activities.
Service Projects
The pack holds one main service project each year and that is the "Scouting for food" food drive in March. Boys drop off empty bags in their designated "area" and return a few days to a week later to pick up the bags that are (hopefully) filled with non-perishable goods. The food stays in Hamilton, and this is a great event for the boys.
Crossover
For the Tigers - Webelos 1, the last pack meeting of the year (May) will be the one in which they "cross over" to the next level. It is at this meeting that they will receive their handbook and neckerchief for the following year of scouts.
Pack structure
The following details the various positions in the pack leadership:
Charter Rep - Member of the charter organization (in our case, the Lions club) that oversees the program.
Committee Chair - convenes the monthly committee (leaders) meetings and attends to "business" of the pack
Cubmaster - supervises the leaders and leads pack meetings and activities
Asst. Cubmaster - assists the cubmaster
Popcorn Kernel - heads the popcorn fundraising event each year
Activies chair - leads the coordination of one or more pack events
Summer camp chair - leads the summer camp signup and information drive
Secretary - Takes notes at leaders' meeting and prepares agenda for pack meetings
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