FAQs

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Definitions

1. School Night For Scouting (SN4S)
This is the Cub Scout’s recruitment. Each Pack is assigned a school(s) by council office to recruit from. Pack 370 recruits from Bell Elementary, Caldwell Elementary and Cumberland Academy. We go into the school to invite all boys from 1st through 5th grade to join us later that week with their parents for an information meeting. This meeting can be held at each school or at Green Acres Baptist Church not long after school has started.

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2. Den Meetings
These are weekly meetings, typically on Monday nights, where the boys in each Den (age specific group) meet to work on advancements in their Handbook. The den Leader plans activities for that week to reach the goal of rank by our spring Blue & Gold awards banquet. (see below)

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3. Pack Meetings
These are family meetings on a Monday night (see calendar). All of the Den’s get together as a group to award the advancements of each boy. Songs, skits and announcements round out the evening’s activities. The whole family is invited to cheer your cub scout on for his achievment.

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4. Fun & Son
This is at camp-out opportunity each scouting year. This is a district activity that involves all of the packs in this district. It is held at George W. Pirtle Scout Reservation in Gary, TX outside of Carthage. A parent and their cub scout pitch their own tent and enjoy the activities that council (with the help of area Troops) have put together that help with Belt Loops and advancements in some ranks. This happens in the Fall and the Spring each year.

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5. Fund Raiser
The boys are given the opportunity to raise funds to support the pack an help pay their dues. The proceeds are used to support Pack 370 and pay for the cost of awards and program.

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6. Scouting for Food (S4F)
This is a district community service project in conjunction with the East Texas Food Bank. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving each Unit (Pack and Troop) are assigned an area to go door to door dropping off plastic grocery bags with a request to fill and leave out food for the next Saturday. They return the next Saturday to collect the bags full of food that are then taken to the East Texas Food Bank to be distributed to needy East Texas families.

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7. Pinewood Derby (PWD)
Pinewood Derby is every boy’s favorite. They are given a block of wood, four tires and four nails. With creativity and imagination (and assistance from an adult possibly) the boys are able to create their very own race car. The boy’s then race their car down the 32 foot derby track by den’s to see whose car is the fastest. The boys also compete in style for the best design. 1st and 2nd place finishers in both categories are able to advance to compete in the district Pinewood Derby to compete against the fastest and most stylish from this district. The Packs PWD is at the end of January. The District is in March (see calendar).

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8. Blue & Gold (B&G)
This is the last Pack Meeting for the Webelos II and is usually in late March (see calendar). They will then begin their new journey into Boy Scouts and from this point on meet with the Troop. This is a rank only advancement event, meaning that only rank awards and recognition for those boys that have completed thier rank requirements are handed out during this meeting. We try to help all of our scouts earn their rank badge before this night. The evening ends with the Boy Scout call out of our Webelos II.

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9. Scarfing Ceremony
Each year we will hold a Scarfing Ceremony as the last Pack Meeting of the school year. We will advance the boys to their new Den by having them pass thier neckerchief (AKA “scarf”) down to a boy in the den one year younger. He will in turn receive his new “scarf” from an older boy in the Pack. In this way the boys see that they are actively “helping the Pack GO” and the Pack is helping him to GROW.

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10. Day Camp
This is a district activity held each year on the campus of TJC. The Scouts go to a full days activities for one week designed to get a jump start on their next rank. The scouts are broken into a den for the week and have a chance to meet other scouts in this area in their age group.

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11. Summertime activities
Summers are BUSY and FUN for our kids. In an effort to keep Cub Scouts fun all year long we will have different activities scheduled each month, June, July, and August. Some activities will be on a week night and some on a weekend. Some are local and some require travel. If your son participates in ONE ACTIVITY EACH MONTH he will receive the Summertime Pack Award. We do not have regular Den or Pack meetings in the summer.

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General

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1. What is East Texas Area Council?
ETAC covers 17 counties that form 6 Districts. They are the support center for most of the East Texas counties all from the office here in Tyler on 5th street across from TJC.

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2. What is Okee-Tuklo?
Our District is made up of Smith and Wood counties. It is called the Okee-Tuklo (pronounced O-key Too-klow) district of The East Texas Area Council.

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3. How is Green Acres Baptist Church involved?
GABC is our charter organization. They have agreed to Council that they will support scouts and scouters by hosting our meetings and the use of their resources (buildings, property, use of vans) and many other things that are in the fine print. We are very thankful to GABC for their many years of support of Scouts as they have sponsored the Troop for 50 years and the Pack for 30+ years.

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4. What level of Scouts will my son be placed in?
Boys are usually placed by grade starting with the 1st grade Tiger Cubs. These are the boys they may interact with at school. However, there are may other things to think about. If you consider your child to be a lower grade or if he was “held back” at some point, talk with the Cubmaster to see if your child qualifies for another Den. If your child turns 6 year old by the end of the calendar year they may be able to start Tiger Cubs.

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5. Do I have to attend all meetings?
In Tigers (1st grade) a parent or guardian (over the age of 18) MUST attend ALL meetings with their scout. We strongly encourage a parent or guardian attend all meetings in the older boys dens. Scouting is about relationships and families.

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6. Who is in charge of the Pack?
The Cubmaster is in charge of the pack’s leaders and over all dens. The Committee Chair is over the volunteer adults. These two positions work together to create pack leadership.

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7. What is the Pack Committee?
The committee is made up of parent volunteers that help steer the Pack. The committee has both short and long term positions available. These adults help the den leaders by organizing the big pack events and by supporting them with paperwork so a Den Leader can focus their attention on the boys in their den.

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8. Who decided on the leader of the den?
The pack committee decided on den and pack Leadership. The committee looks for an adult who has good interaction with the boys in that age level, who is organized enough to plan and carry out a meeting, who keeps the attention of the boys and who can handle discipline issues.

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9. How do I know that the leaders are safe?
All adults go through Boy Scouts of America training. BSA runs a background check and sex offender check on all adults.

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10. What is re-charter?
It is an annual process that all of the packs go through to update their Council level membership paperwork. It’s like a census for BSA and generally occurs late fall to winter.

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11. How much is membership in Cub Scouts?
Effective January 1, 2016 Total Registration Fees including Boy’s Life Magazine cost $50 for returning scouts and $62 for new scouts. The additional $12 is for registration. This includes membership in BSA and the subscription to Boy’s Life magazine. We encourage the cub scout to participate in the fund raiser to earn their Cub Scout dues and pay for awards.

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12. What about dues?
We calculate that into the amount due for your boy’s annual re-charter fee and awards. This is often taken care of through our annual fund raiser.

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13. Why have a fundraiser?
In Pack 370 we have a fund raiser scheduled for the boys to self-fund their membership and dues for the year.

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Uniforms

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1. How long will my scout wear this uniform?
The dark blue uniforms are worn for three years. Tiger, Wolf and Bear ranks all wear them. Only the scarf will change. In Webelos, they start the transition to the tan shirts associated with Boy scouts. These are worn for two years in Cubs and continue into their Boy Scout tenure.

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2. What is the FIELD UNIFORM?
In the past this was called the “Class A uniform”. You may still hear people refer to the FIELD UNIFORM as the CLASS A – old habits die hard.
THE FIELD UNIFORM is the button down shirt – navy blue for cub scouts, or the tan shirt for Webelos; along with the shirt is the official belt and neckerchief, and leather or dark colored shoes. Official pants or shorts are optional, but they may be required for participation in some public events. This uniform is to be worn to ALL Meetings and Outings and Field Trips unless directed otherwise by the Den Leader or Cubmaster.

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3. What is the ACTIVITY UNIFORM?
The ACTIVITY UNIFROM was called the “Class B uniform”. You may still hear people refer to the ACTIVITY UNIFORM as the CLASS B – old habits die hard.
The Pack T-Shirt is considered The Activity Uniform and is typically worn for ANY physical activity or “messy” activity when the Field uniform may be soiled. It is recommended that it be be worn under Field Uniform so that the scout can change easily.
The Cubmaster and Den Leaders will inform you when it is apropriate to be worn.

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4. What patches are required on the uniform?
When purchasing your uniform you also need to pick up and sew on the Council patch and the numbers 370 (each sold separately). The rest of the patches your scout will earn through-out his time in Cub Scouts. Here is a link to the BSA Insignia Guide for the Cub Scout Uniform.

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5. Where do I sew on these rank badges?
The rank badges are sewed on the scouts left shirt pocket just under the button. Like in this picture.
Here is a link to the BSA Insignia Guide for the Cub Scout Uniform.

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6. Where do I sew the arrow points?
The arrow points are sewed directly under the rank badge that they were earned for starting with gold and continuing in a straight line with the silver. These are awarded in Wolf and Bear den’s only. Here is a link to the BSA Insignia Guide for the Cub Scout Uniform.

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Advancement

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1. Where can I find out more information about the Belt Loops and Pins?
Check out the Links page in this web site for a Loops & Pins link. They change from time to time. They are updated on-line at this link.

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2. My scout has already earned this belt loop; does he really need to earn it again for Webelos?
Yes, your scout has matured in ability and thus should try them again gaining a better understanding of the Loop. We also encourage them to attempt the pins that go with them. Also, some of the Webelos pins require them to be re-earned for that Webelos pin.

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3. My scout did not complete his Rank badge by Blue & Gold, what now?
The scout advancement calendar runs from June 1 to May 31 in any given year. He has until May 31st to earn that rank badge.

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4. May 31st had already passed, what rank is he now?
He automatically progresses to the next level as it starts on June 1st. Cub Scouts is meant to be fun, it’s not mandatory to earn the rank badge to move on.

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5. My son turns 6 before the end of the calendar year; can he start as a Tiger Cub?
That depends on you the parent, you know your son. Boys tend to mature at different rates. Can your son follow simple instructions? Is he a people person, outgoing and loves to have fun? Then he may be ready for Tigers. Sign him up!

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6. What is the difference between Webelos Pins and pins with the Belt loops?
In Webelos the Pins they are earning are called Activity Badges and worn pinned to their cap or on their right shirt sleeve from a braided ribbon called colors. These colors represent the different categories of pins. (Outdoor, Community, Mental, Physical skills, and Technology) The Accademics and Sports pins that are associated with the belt loops are worn on the Cub Scout Letter C that is received when he has earned his first pin. This is NOT paret to the uniform. The Letter may be sewn onto a jacket or backpack etc. or may be displayed on the red Brag Vest.

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Pinewood Derby

To see or download Pack 370’s Official Rules CLICK HERE.

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1. Why does the Pack have a Pinewood Derby?
We want the boys to learn several things creativity, sportsmanship, working with tools, how to have fun and the bond with the adult that is helping.

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2. How do I add weight to our Pinewood Derby car?
Weights can be purchased at Scout office or at different hobby shops (Hobby Lobby or Hobbytown USA). You can also choose to be creative and use coins or fishing weights.

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3. How do I know if our car is 5 oz?
The most accurate scales that I know of are at the post office, use the self-serve kiosk.

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4. Do I have to add weight?
No, but the hevier the car is the faster i will run. If no weight is added it may not reach the end of the track.

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5. How close to 5oz should I be?
As close as possible. You might want to fasten most of the weight and bring the extra with you to the pre-weigh in. All cars will be weighed at that time to make sure all cars in the race are approximately the same weight.

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6. What can we use as a lubricant for the axles?
The hobby shop has a graphite based product that is used for this.

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7. Our scout has a sister/brother that also wants to build a car, Can they race to?
Yes, typically the Pack has an open division that allows them to build one to make it a family fun time.

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8. Am I as an adult able to race?
Yes, the open division is the place for you as well.

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9. My scout finished 1st or 2nd, what is district derby?
District derby is all of the packs in this district send their 1st and 2nd place finishers in style and speed to compete at this level.

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10. My scout finished 1st in speed and 2nd in style, can he attended district in both?
No, he will have to choose which one he wants to compete in for district.

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