Past Activities |
March 2004 |
Paw Prints
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Thankfully, spring has arrived,
well at least the calendar says
so. The scouts of Den 9 are
anxiously awaiting warmer
weather but the cool season
has not kept us inside. We took a
nice long hike along the trails at
Hidden Pond and spotted several
deer including a multi-point buck.
We also learned about knife
safety and earned our whittling
chip patch at the Julie J. Metz
Wetlands Bank in Prince William
county. Then we spent some time
at Leesylvania State Park,
walking the shoreline and
exploring the historically
significant bluffs overlooking the
Potomac River. We learned about
the Civil War Confederate gun
battery at Freestone Point and
hiked past the ruins of the home
of Henry Fairfax. The park also
has an awesome nature center
with a large collection of native
species (birds, mammals, etc.).
It was a great day, too bad we
were not able to stay longer.
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February 2004 |
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February was time to prepare for getting our Bear badges. We actually had several meetings indoors to
finish the work so we can be Webelos.
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January 2004 |
Paw Prints
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Den 9 had one meeting since the last Paw Prints newsletter. Boy was it a great one! It was a warm and beautiful January day.
We had a bunch of achievements for the Bear Badge but luckily we found two that fit the day.
We ended up playing many great games on the tennis courts of Hidden Pond.
One of our favorites was "Steal the Bacon" because the game was fun and even the parents got involved.
I'm happy to report there were no injuries.
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December 2003 |
Paw Prints
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This was a busy month for the Bears of Den 9. We had a great time scouting
for food. Now that we are in 3rd grade, we were able to cover a lot more
ground than before. We were excited to pick up our bags of food the
following Saturday, and quickly realized another pack was kind enough to do
it for us.
We completed an elective when we went to Kidwell Farm. A really nice woman
taught us about the farm animals and how to care for them. We were able to
brush a goat, and we saw some pretty cute, but smelly, baby pigs. Thank you
Mrs. Penna for arranging the farm trip for us.
Our Nov. 23rd den meeting was spent shopping for our Thanksgiving Basket. We
got a lot of stuff, and had a great time in Giant! After grocery shopping,
we played adults against Bears in basketball. We had a blast!! We delivered
the basket the next day to our family.
At our Dec. 7th den meeting, the boys made trail mix and drank hot
chocolate. We learned about all kinds of food, healthy and not healthy. The
meeting began with a snowball fight and ended with a snowball fight. What
could be better.
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November 2003 |
Scouting for Food Pickup on the 15th
Time: 9:30 AM
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We will visit the same houses we hit on November 8th to pickup what they put in the bags. Please meet
at the same place we met last Saturday, at the entrance to Orange Hunt Swim Club.
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Franklin Farm on the 15th
Time: 1:00 PM
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Bridget Penna (Tristan's mom) has arranged for us to visit Frying Pan Park.
This will be a great place for the kids to learn and explore.
We will meet at Frying Pan Park at 1 PM on November 15th.
We should be finished around 2 PM.
Attendance will complete your son's Farm Animals elective.
This is not an essential part of being a Bear but it should be fun.
Directions: Take Fairfax County Parkway north until you get to West Ox Road. Turn left on West Ox Road. You'll see the farm on your right.
The cost is $3 per boy.
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Den Meeting on the 23rd
Thanksgiving Baskets
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We will be providing a bunch of food to a family in need. The food will be a frozen turkey and some staples (potatoes, canned vegetables, soups, chocolate...).
There are two things our den has to do. First we have to go shopping together. Next Den 9 (or some representatives from Den 9) will deliver the basket.
We'll do the first part (the shopping) during our Den Meeting on Sunday, November 23rd. The Den Meeting will be held at the Dorothy Lane playground at 12:30 PM. The boys and parents will walk to Giant and shop for food to fill the basket.
I'll bring a wagon to cart the food back from Giant to the playground. I'll bring a cooler and ice for the turkey.
Please give your son $7 or more to spend on his shopping spree. Coupons are welcome.
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Paw Prints
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The scouts from Den 9 have been busy working through their achievements for
the Bear Badge. We were pleased to provide the color guard and lead in the
pledge of allegiance at the 25th anniversary celebration and ribbon cutting
ceremony for the Hidden Pond Nature Center. We also worked very hard
planting about a dozen trees on the grounds of Hidden Pond primarily to fill
in a bare area by the amphitheater and for erosion control to the left of
the primary path to the nature center. It was more work than we had
anticipated but well worth the effort.
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October 2003 |
Paw Prints
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The scouts of Den 9 have had a very busy month. Many of us went to Mount
Vernon with the other Bear Dens and had a great time learning about our
first president (who would have rather been remembered as a General). We
studied what it means to be a good citizen and reviewed the common sense
rules of personal safety. Our boys joined the other dens in selling
popcorn and we had an excellent time fishing at Hidden Pond. It was quite
a remarkable day. The weather was perfect, we caught several fish, saw a
huge bull frog, lots of turtles and three different snakes. Believe it or
not, a three foot snake popped his head up through the boards on the small
fishing pier and scared the daylights out of Kevin's mom. Twenty minutes
later, he popped his head up again and one of the volunteers at the Nature
Center caught it. What a great day it was.
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