My 1st Pack Meeting

Last night was pretty epic: I attended my first Pack Meeting as a leader. I'm pretty sure I've attended some in the past for my little brothers, but it's been years and I don't remember much about them. I wasn't really sure what to expect, what to where, or what I'd be doing. Fortunately, the other leaders are super nice and chill, so there was no need to feel out of place. I tried racing to a Savers after work to see if I could pick up a shirt...but couldn't find one. Seriously? Isn't this Utah where everyone is a Scout? Next time I'll try DI (since I'm not spending $45+ on a shirt) since I know THEY probably have a whole section (or at least a rack) of Scouting uniforms. I just wish there was one on my way home from work...

Every day since I've been involved in Scouting (I say that like it's been a while...it hasn't been, but still) I've learned something new. What I learned recently was that each month's Pack Meeting is given a theme from the BSA Council. This month's theme was "Clean - Cubservation." Silly, but cute little play on words. I'm still smiling about that. It's hard to not get caught up in the awesomeness of Scouting!

The Pack Meeting started with a little activity to help "decorate" the board.

The Scouts all traced their feet and wrote 1 way they can stay physically, mentally, or morally clean.

After learning what those 3 things meant, they cut out their feet...

And made a little path around their advancement bulletins.

Some of the things the Scouts (and siblings...this is totally a family affair) wrote on their "feet" were super cute - shower, say nice things, choose the right. It brought everything back to how young they really were. I had to remember really quick what I was like back when I was 8-10...Greek Dodgeball was the best, tetherball was my sport, the clarinet was my instrument, and play time was until mom whistled for us.

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance

Cute little colorguard...I get to help my new Scouts learn to do this!

During the course of the meeting, we were divided up into 7 different groups to help with the story that our Cub Master read to us. Each group was assigned a different animal (well, I was a tree) and had to make a specific sound when our animal was mentioned in the story. It was pretty fun to hear the squirrels, rabbits, people, snakes, and other various sounds.

Most of the crew...what a fun, loud, and rambunctious bunch!

One of the things I learned was that Pack Meeting is a time for the Scouts to be presented with their advancements. As an adult, I can imagine thinking "how silly this must look to others." As a new Scout leader, I am so thrilled to see the boys advancing and learning new skills (even though I didn't have a hand in this month's presentations). It was cute to watch the Scouts pin little pins onto their mothers.

Arrow of Light Ceremony...my favorite part of the Meeting!

Of course, it wouldn't be a Pack Meeting without some fun games. Similar to the rigged games they have at carnivals and state fairs, the boys lined up behind a strip of tape and had to use a rubber band to shoot down some Solo Cups. It was fun to watch the little kids do this, as they hadn't mastered the "gun" configuration on their thumbs and index fingers.