What a beautiful weekend for a cub scout campout!  More than 75 people joined us at Camp Strake – Cub World for our annual Spring Camp Out.  This was made special with two of our scouts receiving Cub Scouts highest honor – the Arrow of Light.  Congratulations to Noah Marks and Ethan Cabral on the conclusion of their Cub Scout Trail and on the start of their journey into Boy Scouts.  See the attached photos for pictures of the Arrow of Light Ceremony held at Ceremony Island.

Arrow of Light Photo Album

On Friday night, we were joined by Mr. Paul from the Houston Zoo who took us on one of our most exciting ever night hikes.  Paul talked to all of us about the wildlife around us, and we stopped to “visit” many of them! Saturday morning started early with our Opening Ceremony by the Wolves and then quickly moved to our five rotations. The boys earned their Ultimate, Kickball and Music belt loops and managed to learn how to Tango in the process! They also spent time painting signs for the Scout Fair (coming up April 14) and Geocaching with Mr. Christian — where they learned the “Geocache Dance!”.

An exhausted group made it back to camp for a couple of hours of family time & a hot dinner of Silver Turtles & Cobbler. Our evening was capped off by a beautiful Arrow of Light Ceremony given by Troop 9. On Sunday morning, the Webelos led us in our Scouts Own service before we broke down camp and headed home.

A special thanks to everyone for coming and especially to those who volunteered.  Without you, our boys (and families) could not have all of these incredible experiences.  A special thanks to the Oscar, Lori & Andy Lewis who organized the Camp; to Jan & John who ran the kitchen; to all the volunteers to helped them in the kitchen; to Justin who took over the leadership of the Wolves; to Tisha who cleaned the bathroom (YUCK!); to all the guys who took the u-Haul back to storage and unloaded it even though it was hot and they were tired; to finally to all the parents who care enough about their kids to give them these experiences which last a lifetime.

One last congratulations to Mr. Tom Willows who is finishing up his 19th year in Scouting and whose youngest son earned his Arrow of Light.  He has been a valued leader & friend to all of us in Pack 926.  And while he may be “retired” we look forward to him “hanging out” with us in the future.  Thanks, Tom, for all you’ve done for our boys.

Over 150 people gathered today to watch over 60 scouts and more than 15 Me Too’s put their hard work and designs to the test — racing in our Pack’s 6th annual Pinewood Derby Race! We had cars representing all the worlds of imagination including superheros, Mario Kart heroes, Cars stars, fairy tales and more! We met at Kingwood Bible Church who allowed us to use their hall for our race.

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Our affiliated Boy Scout troop – Troop 9 – started our day with a flag ceremony and then the races began! Those new to the pack were introduced to how creative – and fast! – cars can be! We had a few 1st timers adding weights – or in some cases subtracting weights – to get their cars race ready. The boys all voted on their favorites. The winners of the voting were as follows:

• Best Looking Car – Ryan Lewis, Den 2 Webelos
• Coolest Paint Job – Cody McKnight, Den 3 Bears
• Most Original – Ryan McFarland, Den 2 Webelos
• Most Unusual – Luke Marks, Den 6 Tigers
• Best Scout Theme – Christopher Hall, Den 4 Wolves
• Most Patriotic – Gavin Miller, Den 7 Tigers

Each den raced individual heats and 1st, 2nd & 3rd winners were awarded. Then, the top 6 fastest cars including the winner of each den competition raced for the Pack Championship. The cars were the fastest on record for our pack. Winners for the overall pack were:

• 1st Place – Jared Marcotte, Den 3 Bears
• 2nd Place – Davis Thompson, Den 6 Tigers
• 3rd Place – Cole Marks, Den 6 Tigers

Even the adults got into the action with Oscar Lewis making another one of his famous outlaw cars which reach 387 MPH! While it was a long day, people left feed with all the nachos, hot dogs & cookies they could eat and in good spirits! Another successful race to put in the books for our pack!

We had an amazing time at last night’s Christmas Party at the ESE cafeteria! Thanks to organizer Angie Braun, we had a fun-filled holiday carnival filled with all sorts of games and prizes. Among the highlights, all the den leaders took a turn getting hit in the face with shaving cream in the Grinch booth, we had a massive “snowball” fight, family photos, and DJ Jeff spun some really fun tunes for line dancing. We ate lots of nachos and pizza and capped off the evening with ice cream sundaes. So fun! Thanks to Lake Houston Conquerors basketball team who came and helped run the game booths and to everyone who pitched in to make the night a great success!

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For the 4th time, Pack 926 Cub Scouts have participated in the Humble Christmas Parade.  The theme this year was a Cowboy Christmas and everyone did their best to show off their “cowboy” the best they could under coats, hats, mittens & scarves!  The temperature was cold, but spirits were high!  Thanks to our leaders for getting the truck and flatbed donated and for the many hours they spent building the railings to hang our banners and keep us safe.

We started the evening with Christmas cookies and hot cocoa which gave us the energy (and warmth) we needed to walk the parade route.  Each den decorated their own sign to show off their colors and the Webelos had the privilege of carrying our pack banner and leading our float in the parade.  We had a huge turnout of scouts and willing parents to walk along with us!  Thanks to all who helped prepare and to those who participated.  What a great way to kick off the holiday season!

Our Fall Campout – Success!!!

We couldn’t have asked for a better place or better weather for our annual Fall campout.  (We could have done without the very hungry mosquitos, however!)  Over 140 people converged on Brazos Bend State Park to enjoy one of Scouts most basic rituals – camping with our boys!!!  Moms, Dads & Me Too’s joined in the fun as well.  We arrived Friday evening, October 21st and pitched our tents and got everything set up for the weekend’s events.  Saturday morning started early with breakfast – egg, sausage & cheese tacos boiled in the bag – a favorite to make by all scouts.  We then had our Opening Flag Ceremony (by the Wolves) followed by our morning hike around the lake.  The rest of the day was spent going through our five rotations – Astronomy (thanks to our special guest “Dr. Weezie”), Survival Bracelets and Art Belt Loop, Flag Football, and our top two flagship events — a ZIP LINE and our 1st Annual Space Derby!

The boys couldn’t get enough of the zip line.  This was our big purchase for this year – a new zip line with full harnesses & safety gear – giving our boys (and Me Too’s) an even more safe and exciting event.  This was followed up by our Space Derby.  Each den awarded 1st, 2nd & 3rd places and then the final were held Sunday morning for overall 1st – 5th for the Pack.  (Check here later for results.)
We ended our weekend on Sunday morning with our Scouts Own Service – led by our Webelos – and our Closing Flag Ceremony (by the Bears).  All have now headed home with dirt and memories engrained for a long time!!!  See you in the Spring when we will meet at Camp Strake!