Great Trails Council Blog

Cub Family Weekend

Entire families, not just Scouts and parents, bring along grandparents, older and younger siblings, and other relatives who enjoy the great outdoors.
The weekend will be at Chesterfield Scout Reservation. This is a 500 acre camp owned by the Great Trails Council. It features 15 campsites, a dining hall, program buildings, playing fields, a 40 acre lake and much more!
This is an overnight camping experience happening Saturday June 14th till Sunday June 15th. It runs 9am Saturday through 10am Sunday.
More Information ...

Cub Scout Commercial

Here's a great little commercial I found on YouTube

Exchange Cub Scout Immediate Recognition Kit

You may now exchange the recalled Cub Scout Immediate Recognition Kit Plastic Patches for new lead free patches.  Please bring only the diamond shaped plastic patch to exchange - no other part of the kit was recalled and will not be exchanged.

Each new diamond shaped plastic patch will come with a ticket. Once the ticket is filled out and exchanged, the Cub Scout is entered into a chance to win one of three Mongoose BMX bikes.

Parents or leaders turning in multiple badges can download and print the tickets, fill out the information, and drop off the tickets in the store when picking up the replacements.

Download the tickets

Recall of Cub Immediate Recognition Kit

The plastic "Progress Towards Ranks" piece of the "Immediate Recognition Kit" (Item No. 01804) is being recalled by the manufacturer, Kahoot Products, Inc.
The item may contain lead levels in excess of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards in the paint on the totem badge. This is a voluntary recall and, pending formalization of the recall details, all consumers are urged to remove the Cub Scout Recognition Totem Badge from the child's possession and kept in a safe place where only adults have access. Detailed instructions for returning the product for replacement will be provided by the manufacturer and posted as soon as they are available.

The manufacturer has received no reports of any injuries resulting from the use of the kits, but are urging this action as a precautionary measure.  Read the Kahoot recall letter      See the recalled item

October Cubcast

Cubcast is an audio podcast from the National Council, featuring a variety of how-to and information topics for Cub Scout leaders and parents.  We will present these podcasts on the Great Trails blog for our volunteers.

Indian Nations, Second Chance Recruiting [MP3 - 19.4 MB]
Caren Tamkin, a Unit Commissioner in California, shares great ideas for celebrating November's Indian Nations theme. Bruce Mikkelson, Scout Executive in Weston, Wisconsin, offers insights for Second Chance Recruiting. Plus we're giving away 50 free subscriptions to Boy's Life Magazine! (October 2007)

Treasure Hiking

Treasure Hiking is an outdoor program for Cub Scout Packs that kids (& parents too!) will absolutely love.  At the same time it promotes a large number of scouting ideals.  This combination is a guaranteed success for your Pack.

Cubcast

Cubcast is an audio podcast from the National Council, featuring a variety of how-to and information topics for Cub Scout leaders and parents.  We will present these podcasts on the Great Trails blog for our volunteers.

Cub Scout Resources

Everone knows that there is a lot of information available for Cub Scouters - both online and in print.  One of the problems we have is being able to find that information.  Here's a link to some of the resources from the National Office: http://www.scouting.org/cubscouts/resources/.

Be sure and check out the 'Poster' template.  The language of scouting link is interesting, especially if you are new to scouting.  Here you will find the program themes through 2009!  Information for your new leaders, the outdoor program, and the list goes on.  You might want to bookmark this page for future reference.

September Baloo's Bugle for October's "Down on the Farm" Theme

Baloo's Bugle is a great resource for Cub Leaders.  It is an online Cub Scout Roundtable featuring monthly program hints for Cub Scouters.  Here's a link to September in Word format: http://usscouts.org/bbugle/bb0709.doc.  You can also visit Baloo's Bugle online at: http://usscouts.org/bbugle/bb0709/index.asp.

New Cub Scout PSA's

The Great Trails Council has just released three new public service announcements about Cub Scouts.  You will be able to hear one of Great Trails Cub Scouts talk about his experiences in scouting.  The PSA's will be playing on local radio stations throughout the three county service area of the Great Trails Council during the first part of September.

Cub Scout PSA #1
Cub Scout PSA #2
Cub Scout PSA #3