Pack 78 News

2009-06-07T18:45:00.003-04:00

Memorial Day 2009

On a beautiful sunny day Pack 78 once again was honored to participate in the Framingham Memorial Day Events. Cub Scouts from several Dens arrived to deliver the Pledge of Allegiance to start off the festivities on the steps of the Framingham Memorial Building. Thanks to all of the boys who came to honor all of our Veterans.

2009-04-03T19:59:00.005-04:00

Pack 78 Blue and Gold 2009

It is hard to believe that we have almost finished another year of Cub Scouts. With the end of the year comes our Annual Blue and Gold Banquet. On 3/29 we all gathered at the Eagle Lodge in Framingham to celebrate all of the Cub Scouts achievements during the year. We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner, followed by a successful raffle with many of our Cub Scouts heading home with their winnings. We then proceeded with the much anticipated presentation of awards and accomplishments of the Tigers, Wolfs, Bears and Webelos I. The evening finished with the move up of our Webelos II to Boy Scouts which was a very exciting event. All of our Cub Scouts look forward to the new Boy Scouts visiting and continuing to be an inspiration to us all. Congratulations to all of our new Boy Scouts and their families!

2009-03-22T18:16:00.008-04:00

Pine Wood Derby 2009

On a sunny and warm March 7th the cars and cub scouts started to arrive for a much anticipated race. The cars were yellow, they were red, they were square, they were skinny, they were fancy and they were decorated. But all of them were built with care and each Cub was proud of their entry for this year. As the race began the cheers went up as each Cub Scout cheered for their car as well as their friends cars. In the end all of the Cub Scouts who competed were winners for participating and putting their heart and soul into building the car. Again this year a Tiger Cub took first place for speed demonstrating that any level of Cub Scout can build the fastest car. As the day finished all Cubs headed home dreaming and planning of the car they would build next year. Congratulations to all!

2009-01-24T15:26:00.001-05:00

Raingutter Regatta

On a cold January 21st the cheers could be heard as our races began and the boats were blown like the wind. With boats competing from every Den in Pack 78 it was a very successful event and everyone had fun blowing our boats down the long gutters. Congratulations to the Den Winners, Overall Winners, Speciality Winners and all cubs who were competitors as they were all winners in the eyes of all!

2008-11-24T07:52:00.002-05:00

Pack 78 Monthly Hikes are off to an Exhilarating Start

In October we scaled Great Blue Hill in Milton. At the summit, we toured the Blue Hill Weather Observatory where the scouts learned all about the instruments used to measure temperature, wind speed, rain, snowfall, and the number of hours of sunshine in a day. From the top of the observation tower we could see Nobscot Hill in Framingham and all the way to Mount Monadnock.

In November, Pack 78 and guests trekked Purgatory Chasm in Sutton. We climbed over, crawled under, squeezed between rock, jumped from rock to rock and even used one rock as a giant slide. Yes, Pack 78 ROCKS!!

2008-11-21T12:48:00.003-05:00

Soldier Boxes and Cake Raffle

Once again this year we all were proud to be able to prepare and send special gift boxes for the holidays to our military serving away from home. The Cub Scouts prepared some very exciting gifts for our soldier's. A cake raffle was held to raise funds to ship these boxes overnight. The bidding was intense for Volcano, Cub Scout, Patriotic and many other cake designs. The auction was very successful and at the end of the night everyone seemed to be heading home with a wonderful cake to enjoy. Well done Cub Scouts!

2008-11-11T12:56:00.005-05:00

USS Salem Overnight

On November 1, a beautiful fall day, ~24 Cub Scouts and parents heady to Quincy for an overnight aboard the USS Salem. The Cub Scouts had the opportunity to participate in a number of different events in the afternoon such as fire drills, safety training and learning about different parts of the ships operations. They then settled in for a night of eating in the Mess Hall, movies and sleeping overnight in the berths. The following morning they had a Scavenger Hunt on the ship and then took a Harbor Tour. A great time was had by all and some of the Cub Scouts even managed to get some sleep that night. All are looking forward to another trip like this next year.

2008-10-19T15:32:00.006-04:00

Techno-Challenge 2008

Do you think that you can build a launcher to shoot a ping pong ball across the room? Well on 10/15 Pack 78 held the annual Techno-Challenge to accomplish this task. For 30 minutes our four teams worked on planning, building and testing a launcher to shoot the ping pong ball the farthest. The challenge was that no hand action was allowed for the launcher and it had to be built to launch upon release. In addition, all launchers had to be built totally by the scouts without parents participating in the actual building of the launcher. After a few glitches in the first shots by all teams and the need to do last minute repairs to the launchers Team 1 was victorious in shooting their ball the farthest. Great teamwork and having a lot of fun was accomplished by all.

2008-09-26T15:12:00.007-04:00

Pack 78 Kicks of 2008-2009 Year

Welcome to another year of Cub Scouts. We are in for a very exciting time this year with many fun events already on the schedule. We kicked off the year with a great Pack Meeting on September 17th. It was wonderful to see all of the familiar faces from last year as well as to welcome some new members to the Pack. The meeting introduced all of us to the events for this year and allowed the Cub Scouts to enjoy a bonfire with Smores which was a big hit.

At the Pack meeting our Cubmaster, Tim Spellman spoke about the need for participation by all of us in order for the Pack to be a success. There are still a number of open positions for this year that we need people to volunteer for helping out. The Parent Handbook for 2008-2009 includes descriptions of what is needed. Just think I just became the Web Master and this is the first time I have ever even done a blog. If you are interested in helping in any way please contact Tim and let him know.

Good luck with your popcorn sales!

Pack 78 Salutes Vets on Veterans Day

2007-11-13T20:24:00.000-05:00

Almost 90 years ago, the Allies and the Germans signed an agreement ending the worst war ever, World War I. Now, on the anniversary of that day, we celebrate Veterans Day to honor those veterans who have served our country in the military.

Sunday, November 11, over a dozen Pack 78 Cub Scouts honored our veterans by leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the Memorial Building in Framingham, MA. This ceremony is known as presenting the colors. The Cub Scouts respectfully filed into Veteran's Memorial Hall, gave their best pledge, and then retired quietly to the back of the hall, where they listened patiently to the speakers.

Good job, Scouts, in keeping your Cub Scout Promise!

Cub Radio Operators Ham it up at 50th JOTA

2007-10-22T20:44:00.000-04:00

October 19 & 20 was the 50th Jamboree-on-the-Air, an annual Scouting and amateur radio event sponsored by the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

15 Pack 78 cub scouts and their parents visited the Framingham Amateur Radio Association on October 19 to participate in the Jamboree. Technical difficulties with the HF band were surmounted by the FARA members, and the scouts got to exchange message with scouts all over the world.

There is a slide show including several of our scouts at http://wa1ham.aa1ti.org/fara/TheJOTADay/html/1.htm

Cubs Crack Crispie Case at Techno-Challenge

2007-10-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

Pack 78 parents and Cub Scouts teamed together at the October 17 meeting on the newest Techno-Challenge: using only the materials provided, move the most rice crispies from one box to another in three minutes.

Four teams competed in the challenge. They were given a small box of materials: dowels, cups, rubber bands, fasteners, tape, paper clips, and string. The challenge was to build a hand-operated machine that would move rice crispies from one box to another. Parents, and especially the engineers among us, came up with one fabulous, impractical design after another.

In the end it was the simplest designs that paid off. Just scoop and dump, scoop and dump. The winning team moved more than three times the payload, by weight, than the other teams. Every scout got an award certificate to show off their achievement.

Thank you to everyone in the Lloyd family who helped conceive, plan, set up, and run this event!

Pack 78 Scouts Live History at "Old Ironsides"

2007-05-01T06:51:00.000-04:00

Pack 78 scouts and their parents got a good dose of history with a visit to the USS Constitution on April 28. At the invitation of the US Navy, our scouts received a private tour of "Old Ironsides", the oldest floating warship in the world. Scouts learned about the construction, history, and function of the ship. Many scouts were interested in how the ship worked, how the crew lived and how the ship's "great guns" were manned and fired.

Scouts also visited the USS Constitution Museum, reviewing the history of the ship and her many battles, as well as a World War II vintage US Navy destroyer.

Many thanks go out to our scouts who were well behaved, listented intently to their tour guide and who asked many interesting and engaging question. Great job guys!

Pack 78 "Takes Flight" With Paper Airplane Competition!

2007-04-25T21:08:00.000-04:00

Pack 78 scouts and their parents had a great time participating in Pack 78's "Take Flight" paper airplane competition at the pack's April 25 meeting. Twenty scouts participated in the event, constructing and flying their planes after receiving instructions and materials from the Cubmaster. Each scout was given three throws of their planes and were judged on the longest flying time.

Winners were Zack S. with a time of 2.90 sec., Kyle F. with a time of 2.65 sec., Danny O. at 2.13 sec., Chris G. at 2.10 sec and Asher L. with a time of 2.09 sec. These scouts received prizes of balsa wood airplane kits for their efforts. All competing scouts received glider kits.

Special thanks go to Ryan N. and Ryan L. who helped setting up for the event and many scouts and parents who participated in cleaning up after the competition.

Congratulations go out to all of the winners and competitors. Great job!!

Pinewood Participants Post Proud Performance

2007-03-03T20:06:00.000-05:00

The hall was packed. The crowd was hushed. The children leaned forward in their chairs as den leader Allen Grome announced the start of the race. "Three, two, one, go!" And the first four cars screamed down the track. Framingham Pack 78's 2007 Pinewood Derby was under way.

Forty-seven gloriously-decorated and lovingly-built cars raced neck-and-neck at the annual Pinewood Derby Saturday afternoon, March 3. Entries included a skateboard, a fire truck, a dragon, a number of blazingly fast sports cars, and other innovative and creative cars. Lego® drivers guided their cars to many a close finish.

Here are the results of the proud Pinewood participants.

Overall Winners *
1. Kyle S. (Tiger)
2. Ryan N.
3. Chris H.
4. Nick D.
5. Scott C.

Tigers *
1. Kyle S.
2. Shane C.
3. Andrew S.
4. Camden M.

Certificates
Best Car - Scott C.
Best Use of Materials - James B.
Best Design - Nick D.
Best Paint Job - Adam S.
Best Concept - Asher L.

* The top four Cub Scouts and the top two Tigers are invited to the Liberty District Pinewood Derby Championship race on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 at the St. Mary's Church Hall in Holliston, MA. Tigers will race at 10:00 AM. Cubs will race at 1:00 PM.

Thanks to the race committee: Eric Solomont, Joe Benoit, Rick Stetson, Allen Grome and Steve Graveline for putting on a great race. Thanks to Ali Solomont and Sharon Lloyd and their kitchen team for delicious hot food and cold drinks. And thanks to the Lloyd family and everyone else who helped make the day a fun success.

Cubs Scout Out Fun With MOS Trip!

2007-02-11T18:08:00.000-05:00

What do you get when you mix 300 cub scouts, a late night electric show and a dinosaur with a red and white striped scarf? You get the Camp-In at the Museum of Science. Pack 78 along with a number of other Packs from Massachusetts attended the annual Camp-In event on February 9 and 10. Even though the T-Rex didn’t come to life after the lights went out all the boys had a fun and exciting evening. We became “Pirates O’ Science” and made discoveries by attending workshops, watching live animal shows and exploring as many exhibit halls as we could until the late night hours. The Pack finished their explorations Friday night with “shocking” lightning show. Our group even slept in the Theater of Electricity, which fortunately was not a hair-raising experience.

We woke early Saturday morning to breakfast and finished our museum trip with more exploring which included a planetarium show (we really liked the comfy chairs after a night sleeping on the floor) and finished with a movie about Jane Goodall in the Omni Theater. Everyone had a great time and we all went home a little tired but also little bit smarter.

Many thanks to Sharon Lloyd for acting as laiason for the Pack 78, as well as for the whole Knox Trail Council!

Pack 78 Scouts Box, Bake For Bravery!

2006-11-26T18:06:00.000-05:00

Continuing their spirit of service to community and country, Cub Scout Pack 78, sponsored by the First United Methodist Church of Framingham, has completed another community service project and honored our military heroes serving overseas.
The scouts of Pack 78 donated items to be sent to members of the United States Army serving in Iraq. Each Cub Scout decorated and filled a shoebox with items that they felt soldiers would need. Gifts for the soldiers included books and magazines, toiletries, candy and small food gifts, clothing and small game items. With their box, each scout also included a personalized letter of greetings and thanks for their soldier. A total of about forty-five gift boxes are being forwarded by Pack 78 to their Army contacts in Iraq via the “Any Soldier” program. To help defray the cost of shipping their boxes to Iraq, scouts and their parents contributed baked goods including cakes, pies and cookies to be auctioned at Pack 78’s November pack meeting.
“This is just one of the many ‘feel good’ projects that our scouts complete each year. I feel that our Scouts really connected with the needs of others,” said David Lloyd, Cubmaster of Pack 78. “One of the major themes of our Pack is community service, and the Pack really demonstrated this. Our Cub Scouts and Pack leadership are very enthusiastic about helping others in need.”
Allison Hughes and Laura Miller, organizers of the events were also pleased with the results. “”It was great seeing our scouts come forward to help others, especially our military heroes” said Ms. Hughes. “The baked goods auction was a great success, with plenty of unique baked items”, said Ms. Miller, who also noted that the sale raised enough money to cover all postage and shipping costs for the project.

Christmas Wreath & Chanukah Candle Sale

2006-11-26T10:46:00.000-05:00

Pack 78's Christmas wreath & Chanukah candle sale is our main fundraising event of the year. Proceeds from this sale will be used by our Pack to support our program and to purchase much needed equipment for camping, hiking and other outdoor activities. We appreciate your support!

The schedule this year is as follows

Nov. 26 to Nov. 29: Drop off sales sheets and cash receipts to David Lloyd.
Sat, Dec. 2: Volunteers decorate wreaths at the church between noon and 3 PM.
Sat, Dec. 2: Pick up your wreaths/candles at the church between noon and 3 PM.
Sun, Dec. 3: Dec. 3: Participate in corner wreath/candle sale at the corner of Edgell Road and Water Street. Times are as follows:
o Tigers: 10-11
o Bears: 11-12:30
o Wolves: 12:30-2
o Webelos 1s: 1:30-3
o Webelos 2s: 12:30-4
Sun, Dec 10: Participate in wreath sale at Pinefield Shopping Plaza on Water Street.
o Times: 10-3

Thanks in advance for helping make our Pack go. Let’s knock it out of the park at our upcoming fundraisers!

Bake It For Bravery!!

2006-11-12T19:52:00.000-05:00

Pack 78's November Pack meeting will feature our service to the brave soldiers that are stationed around the world, protecting us in our daily lives.

First, each scout will present their completed and filled soldier gift boxes to the pack. Pack leadership will pack these boxes and ship them to troops serving overseas, principally in Iraq.

Next pack scouts and their parents will bring in cakes and pies to be auctioned, the proceeds of which will be used to help with postage for sending our soldier gift boxes overseas.

Many thanks for this project go to Laura Miller and Allison Hughes, our Wolf Den Leaders. Our hats are off to them for pulling this meeting activity together.

If you need more info, please please contact Laura or Allison via their link on the Contact page.

Marshmallows Fly At Techno-challenge

2006-10-19T19:10:00.000-04:00

Ready, set, build!! Those were the words Assistant Cubmaster Tim Spellman used to start Pack 78's October 18th Techno-challenge.

Scouts and their parents formed five teams to design and build a marshmallow hurling catapult. Each of five teams were given a box of "secret building materials" consisting of everything from paper clips to wooden spoons with which to construct their marshmallow firing device. Teams spent forty minutes to complete their project, after which they competed to see who's marshmallow would fly the farthest.

Competition was close, but in the end, Team 2 took top honors, with their marshmallow flying the entire length of Fellowship Hall (about 70 feet). As their prize, Team 2 scouts got the first spots in line for snacks at the end of the event. All participating scouts received awards for their efforts.

Many parents and scouts feel that this was one of Pack 78's best events to date. From a few simple materials, scouts and their parent partners were able to create not only a catapult, but also an evening of great fun, teamwork spirit and lasting memories.

Special thanks for this event goes to Tim Spellman who arranged and ran the event. Great job, Tim... Keep up the good work. Pack 78 appreciates it!

Techno-Challenge To Tease Scouts', Parents' Brains

2006-10-10T20:24:00.000-04:00

Pack 78's October pack meeting will introduce our first "Techno-Challenge" in which scouts and their parents will use their engineering and building skills to create a device to compete with other Techno Challenge teams.

The Cubmaster is still keeping a pretty tight lid on what exactly the scouts will be building, but we do know some details...

Scouts and their parents will break up into teams for the competition, four to five teams in all.
Each team will be given a box of raw materials from which to complete their "device".
There will be a time limit for completion of the "device".
Once the time limit has expired, teams will stage a friendly competition to see who's "device" performs the best.
Ribbons will be given to all scout builders.

So, put on your thinking caps, sharpen your wits and join us for Techno-Challenge.

It's bound to be loads of fun for everyone!

Pack 78 Apple Picking Event Set!!

2006-09-27T20:38:00.000-04:00

Pack 78 Apple Picking Event Set!!Come join Pack 78 for a fun-filled afternoon of apple picking, hay rides and autumn outdoors activities at Shelburn Farms in Stow.

Sunday, October 8 – Noon

We’ve been able to procure a special “Apple Picking” package for our Pack on Sunday, October 8. We will meet at the Apple Barn and with our package, you will get:

- ¼ peck apple bag (about 8 apples)
- A small pumpkin from the pumpkin patch
- A hayride to the orchard
- An orchard coloring book.
- A cup of cider and a cider donut.

The cost for all this is only $8.
But wait – there’s more…

For an additional $4.00 per person you can add on a moon bounce, hay maze and tractor rally(Scouts drive their tractors through the maze).

Shelburne Farms has a snack bay where you can purchase hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks. They also have a store where you can purchase a myriad of apple related products.

If parents are really in the mood for apples, they can purchase a 10 lb. bag of apples for $13.00 and a 20 lb. bag of apples for $20.00

Go to http://www.shelburnefarm.com/ for more information and directions.

Please contact David Lloyd at dflloyd@verizon.net or 508 877-6343 to get your name on the reservation list. NO ADVANCE PAYMENT REQUIRED – PAY AT THE DOOR.

NOW, what to do with all those apples???? Here are a couple of the Pack Master’s favorite apple recipes.

Cub Scout hike to Tippling Rock

2006-09-24T14:49:00.000-04:00

29 Cub Scouts and family members of Pack 78, Framingham (and 3 of their dogs) dodged the raindrops and hiked to the top of Tippling Rock at the Nobscot Boy Scout Reservation. The skyscrapers of Boston made a dim appearence in the distance as the scouts had lunch at the top. Mother Nature cooperated beautifully and sent only slight sprinkles for the hike. A great time was had by all.

Tippling Rock hike Sunday at Noon

2006-09-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

Bring a lunch for a picnic on Tippling Rock, at Nobscot Scout Reservation, this Sunday, September 24 at Noon.

The hike is a pleasant one--about a half hour to a panoramic vista east across Sudbury to Boston.

Here are directions to Nobscot Scout Reservation: http://www.ktc-bsa.org/nobscot.htm.

2006-09-17T21:16:00.000-04:00

Cub Scout Pack 78 is hosting a Cub Scout Information Night to introduce first through fifth grade boys and their families to the activities involved in scouting.

When: Thursday, Sept. 21 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Where: First United Methodist Church
360 Water Street (Brook and Water Streets)
Framingham MA, 01701