Big Trip 2020 - Cumberland Caverns

We will be going to Cumberland Caverns in TN this year: February 29 - March 1

RSVP by February 17th. Ages 6+ (Lions under 6, see Lennette O’Hern). Cost is $80 per person.

Activities: Dinner, Spelunking, Walking Tour, Camping in the Cave, Breakfast, Gem Mining

Many more important details and forms.

Trip Flyer - High level flyer. Must read.

Pack Sign Up Form and Payment - Sign up and Pay here.

Caverns Info and Registration Form - Detailed trip info and Caverns Registration Form (on last page)

More background info:

Snack Bar and Breakfast Items

Cumberland Caverns

Cumberland Caverns Tour

Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) 2018

For the second year in a row, Pack 608 will participate in Jamboree on the Internet. We have been assigned our ID number for 2018 (see below)

Last year we made contact with Scouts from many different countries and then we learned more about some of those countries during our Around the World pack meeting.

More information about last year’s JOTI can be found at: JOTI 2017. Please consider participating and keeping track of the Scouts that you connect with.

JamPuz

The 2018 JID for Pack 608 is 6US97O

JamPuz is a key element of JOTA-JOTI.

If you have not taken part in JamPuz before, we encourage you to read the information at www.jotajoti.info/jampuz  JamPuz is a great addition to your JOTA-JOTI weekend, and it would be disappointing if Pack 608 were not able to take part.  From experience, your young people will be asked for their "JID code", and if they do not know about JamPuz they may feel that they are missing out on something.

The 2018 JamPuz documents can be downloaded fromwww.jotajoti.info/jampuz-documents  You are advised to print these documents before your JOTA-JOTI event.  Please make sure you have enough copies.

If you have any query about JamPuz then you can read the JamPuz FAQ atwww.jotajoti.info/jampuz-faq

We are keen to stress that JamPuz is about conversations, not just contacts.  We want to encourage people to talk to each other, not simply swap JIDs.  More information at www.jotajoti.info/conversations-not-just-contacts

Whether you are taking part in JOTA-JOTI over the airwaves, over the internet, or both we hope that you will take part in JamPuz as part of your JOTA-JOTI activities.

Philip Bird
World JOTA-JOTI Team
World Organization of the Scout Movement
 

Spooky-ree 2018

We have registered to attend Spooky-ree the weekend of October 19-21.  Spooky-ree is held at Bert Adams Scout Camp in Covington, GA.  Check back for more information as specific details become available. 

Activities at Spooky-ree include:

All activities are first come, first served. No specific activity tickets or individual start times will be given. To support the excitement around Archery and BB shooting there will be between 48-64 lanes of shooting offered continuously throughout each Saturday! To support our Rangemasters, the ranges will close off the line at 11:45am for lunch and 5:00pm for the day.

• Fall Festival- Featuring inflatables, games and face painting!
• BB Shooting- Take aim at our shooting range.
• Bows & Arrows- Can you hit the bull's eye?
• Slingshots- Grab a "wrist rocket" and see if you can hit the target!
• Pumpkins- Every Scout and sibling gets a pumpkin! 2nd graders and youngers decorate their pumpkins and 3rd graders and older can carve with adult supervision.
• Letters to the Troops- Write a letter to a US service man or woman who is deployed so that they can receive it on Thanksgiving.
• Creepy Crawly Nature Show- Learn about the things that go bump in the night (aka. spiders, snakes).
• Guided Nature Hike- Camp staff will guide you on a trail to see wildlife, plant life, and explore our ecosystem.
• Field Sports- Learn the rules and play a sport!
• Scavenger Hunt- Explore our camp and see how many items you can find.
• Council Fire- Make s'mores and learn about Cub Scout summer camps!
• Campfire- Experience a real Scout campfire program in the huge amphitheatre.
• Trick-or-Treat Trail- Put on your costume and Trick-or-Treat on our slightly spooky trail.
• Haunted Trail- A slightly spook trail for Scouts and sibling 3rd grade and younger. 
• Super Haunted Trail- The most haunted trail that is complete with a ghost pirate ship, cemetery, and zombies! Recommended for Scouts and siblings 3rd grade and older.
• Cub Mobile Racing - Sponsored by NAPA AutoCare Atlanta. Feel the thrill and excitement of racing our Cub Mobiles

2018 Summer Day Camp

(Edited 5/6/2018 to add FAQ link at bottom).  The theme for day camp this year is Passport to Adventure and registration has opened.  If you have volunteered or your Scout has attended day camp in the past there are a few important changes that you must know about.  Please read carefully.   

1) Day camp has been shortened to 4 days (Monday to Thursday). 

2) They will be strictly enforcing the policy of 1 FULL TIME volunteer per 3 Scouts from a unit .  Multiple part time volunteers WILL NOT equal a full time volunteer this year (see the FAQ for clarification about this requirement).  Registration will be at a Pack level, so it will only let us register the correct ratio of Scouts (i.e., if there is only 1 full time volunteer then we can will only be able to register 3 Scouts).  Priority will be given to Scouts will volunteers and then on a first come, first served basis.  

The Pack leadership will not be coordinating or recruiting volunteers.  Those that may want to attend day camp must either volunteer or recruit volunteers for themselves.    

The day camp flyer can be found here for those that may be interested.  

The FAQ about day camp can be found here. 

Grab Some Ear Phones and Get Excited for Space Camp

We are only a couple of weeks from our trip to Space Camp.  Here is a really cool video to get everyone excited about the trip.  Grab some earphones and get excited!!  Thanks Brian O'Hern for the the suggestion.

Button Gwinnett Awards Banquet

The Button Gwinnett awards banquet was held on Tuesday (2/20).  For the second year in a row, Pack 608 logged the most community service hours (328 hours) for all packs in the district.  The next closest pack logged <100 hours. 

For at least the 3rd year in a row, Pack 608 has been a Journey to Excellence Gold Unit.  We narrowly missed a perfect score in 2017.  

Gillian Rummel was also 2018 Pack 608 recipient of the Golden Quill award.  The Golden Quill award is given to a Scouter that "gives of themselves freely and unselfishly for the good of the unit".   Gillian has been with Pack 608 for the last decade and has given tirelessly to the Pack and her Den.  She is also the one who suggest that each of the big events be split up between the different ranks.  Gillian will be moving on to a Troop in early March and she will be missed.  Please make sure that you congratulate Gillian for this well deserved award next time you see her.

2018 Golden Quill Award recipients (Gillian is in the middle of the picture)

Blue and Gold

Each year, Pack 608 celebrates the birth of the Scouting movement at the Blue and Gold dinner.   This year's theme was Winter Olympics.  We got to eat great BBQ that was prepared by a Bear den leader, and the rest of the activities were put on by the Bear den families.  

There was a year in review video that can be found on the activities page.  The video highlights all of the fun things that the Pack participated in since the last Blue and Gold dinner.  

The biggest news of the night came from the Friends of Scouting campaign.  Pack 608 was able to raise 150% of our 2018 fundraising goal.  Through the generous donations, we were able to support 15 Scouts for the year.  It is not too late to add to this effort (can we make it 200%???).  If you would like to find out more about Friends of Scouting, and to find a link to online, tax-deductible donations you can do so at the Atlanta Area Council website.  If you want to see a powerful video about the Westside Initiative, which the Friends of Scouting funds help support, it can be found here.

2018 PWD is Complete

We had another successful PWD on Jan 27.  This year we had 45 Scouts and 4 siblings competing the the races.  Thanks to to the Wolf den for putting on a great event!  If you have any comments or suggestions about how we can improve the event next year please let your den leader know and we will add it to our notes.

You can see some pictures from the event on our activities page.  

Do A Good Turn Daily

The Community Service Committee would like to extend a big thank you to all of the members of the Pack.  This pack meeting we were able to collected 6 meal boxes that will be donated to the North Gwinnett Co-op.  In addition to the meal boxes, we raised enough money to purchase an additional 106 food items.  The meal boxes and food items will be used to ensure that a families in need have a good Thanksgiving meal.

In 2017, Pack 608 has completed over 324 hours of community service.  We have more than doubled our 2016 community service hours!!  

Scout Day at Autrey Mill

We received this email from Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center.  They are planning a Scout day on 11/10, and it is an opportunity for Scouts to complete some adventures.  The cost is $10 and includes a patch.  We do not plan on making this a pack event, but it may be something that individuals or dens attend. 

Greetings,

This email is going out to leaders in the Button Gwinnett  District.  Scout Day at Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center is coming up on Saturday November 11th this year.  The event runs 10:00 to 2:00 and is an opportunity for Cub Scouts to engage in  self-directed learning and crafts for scout achievements.   The flyer with the rank activities can be viewed at the link below.  The cost for the day is $10 and that includes an exclusive 10 year commemorative Autrey Mill Scout Day patch and all of the crafts and activities. 

Cub Scouts can participate singly or with their den, but they will need to be with a parent or leader.  Volunteers are there to guide leaders to the information, but scouts will need adult supervision to read and do the activities. 

It is recommended that groups do what they can to carpool, parking is limited, and can include a walk through the preserve to the heritage village.  There is also off-site parking at the Middle school that is a ¾ mile walk, or a ride in a provided shuttle van.  There will be Hot Chocolate and S’mores sold by the Fire Pit and lunch Pizza and Hot Dogs for sale. 

http://autreymill.org/scout-day-2016/

Pam Sutton

President, AMNP