Frequently Asked Questions
A: Our leaders can be found on the "Our Leaders" page of our website. Contact information is listed for each. We always welcome volunteer leaders for our Pack. Please see the "Join" page of our website for some informaton about joining as a volunteer. Then, contact the Cubmaster or an Assistant Cubmaster or your son's Den Leader about becoming a volunteer. All of our leaders must undergo official BSA training in order to maintain their leadership position and work with scouts. Our leaders are chosen with the oversight and cooperation of our charter organization, Mt. Tabor United Methodist church.
A: Our leaders are chosen in cooperation wtih our chartered organization, Mt. Tabor United Methodist church. All BSA volunteers must complete an application and undergo a BSa required background check. The BSA is committed to providing a safe environment for all scouts. See the BSA website for its "Youth Protection Training" required of all volunteers. (Click here). Further, it is BSA policy that all functions in our program require the presence of more than one adult in any scouting event or acitivity. If you should see or hear of any situation where this is not the case. please contact your son's den leader, the Cubmaster, or the local coucil office immediately. We welcome - and indeed request - the participation of at least one parent in all of our activities and meetings.
A: No. While many of our scouts' families do attend and/or are members of Mt. Tabor United Methodist - our charter organization - a scout or his family does not need to be a member of the church. In fact, we have scouts/families in the Pack who come from diverse racial and religious backgrounds and from various neighborhoods and schools.
A: Our current Pack calendar can be found on the "Calendar and Docs" page of our website. The calendar for each the Pack's "fiscal" year runs from August to August. It is is usually updated over the summer and put online by the beginning of August for the current year. The calendar is occaisionally updated thoughout the year, so referencing it periodically is best. In addition, the next few months of the calendar is usually displayed on the "Home" page of our website.
A: Our Pack activites, in addition to our regular den and pack meetings, are listed in our Pack calendar. The current Pack calendar can be found on the "Calendar and Docs" page of our website. There is also a link to the full calendar and a "mini" calendar on the "Home" page of our website. The calendar lists all of our Pack events. Over the course of the year, the Pack typically has the following activties:
Oct – Parent-Son Camporee (Camp Raven Knob)
Nov - Yorktown Overnight (Every other year)
Dec – Pack Skating Party
Jan – Pack Lock-In at MTUMC
Feb – Pinewood Derby
Mar – Scout Sleepover – SciWorks
April – Pack Hike
May – Pack Bike Ride
May – Spring Family Campout
June – Resident Camp (Camp Raven Knob)
June – Day Camp
July – Pack Movie Night
Aug – Summer Reunion
Back to FAQ's
A: Cub scouting is a part of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The BSA has been working with boys for over 100 years. The BSA scouting program has evovled and developed over this century to become a comprehensive training, teaching, outdoor and indoor, service related experience for boys of all ages. At the cub scout level, each grade level of boys is grouped togehter in a "den." In our Pack, there is usually 1-2 dens per age group divided into "ranks" as follows:
1st grade - Tigers
2nd grade - Wolves
3rd grade - Bears
4th grade - Webelos I
5th grade - Webelos II
Each rank has various achievements and requirements that must be accomplished before they can be awared their rank badge for the year. It is our goal to help each boy complete most of these requirements through the den meetings throughout the year. However, some requirements must be completed at home with parental assistance. Further, many requirements can be also achieved through participation in our optional Pack activities. A thorough explanation of the philosophy of scouting can be found at the BSA website (Click Here). Requirements for the various ranks can be accessed on the BSA website as well (Click here).
The cub scout motto, "Do your best," and the cub scout law and promise are to be memorized by each cub scout to achieve the initial rank of "Bobcat." Cub scouting also has 12 Core Values that are "taught" in every rank level. The are: Citizenship, Compassion, Cooperation, Courage, Faith, Health & Fitness, Honesty, Perseverance, Positive Attitude Resourcefulness, Respect and Responsibility.
In addition, as your son gets older, many of our activities will expose him to and teach him about outdoor skills and abilities that are typical to scouting such as camping, hiking, first aid, outdoor safety, personal safety, etc.
See the Cubmaster if you have additional specific questions about what your son will be taught in cub scouts.
A: No. Pack 934 requests that a parent accompany their son to all meetings, events and activities - with limited exceptions. In the case of our Tiger Cubs - 1st graders - a parent MUST accompany their son pursuant to BSA mandate. While this requirement is not imposed on older aged scouts (Wolves (2nd), Bears (3rd) and Webelos (4th-5th)), our Pack still requests parents to accompany their son(s) to all events and meetings. This will promote a closer relationship between a parent and their son and will keep the parent informed of their child's rank advancement progress and especially of what must be accomplished at home. Further, the cub scouting experience is not meant to be a child care service, but instead to be a place where a parent can be involved with the development of their son's personal growth. We understand that not all families can make this commitment, but it is very important to the scouting program at Pack 934. Should this requirment be a hardship to your family, please contact the Cubmaster to determine whether your family's particular situation can be accomodated regarding the parental involvement requirement.
A: Yes. The BSA believes that putting a boy into a uniform makes him feel more a part of the group in which he is participating. This is true for sports teams and it is true for cub scouts. Indeed, in this day and age, our society has less and less emphasis on formal dress that spans from our schools, to our churches, and on. In scouting, a uniform makes a boy feel not only a part of the pack, but that his is part of something special, a group that makes him actually dress up. Further, the uniform is a the way for a cub scout to display his rank and achievements in the form of a neckerchief, badges, pins, and loops. Uniforms can be purchased at the local BSA council office located at 6600 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC 27106 (
www.oldhickorycouncil.org). If your family may find obtaining a uniform to be a hardship, please contact the Cubmaster for more information.
A: Our Pack typically has only 2 out-of-doors camping events each year. The first is a council organized event called the "Parent Son Camporee" held in October at the council's boys scout summer camp, Camp Raven Knob. This event is a 1 or 2 night campout that will require you and your son to have a tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses or other insulating pad for under the sleeping bag, and pillows. The Pack has the option of eating in the camp dining hall or providing meals communally for the Pack. No cooking or eating gear is required. Other camping sundries such as flashlights, hiking boots, walking sticks, camp chairs. etc. will be useful. WEather appropriate clothing and rain gear are a must.
Our second camping event is our annual Spring Family Campout. This camping event is usually in the mountains about 1-2 hours aways from Winston-Salem. Again, the Pack provides a meal plan and food service, so cooking gear is not necessary. Tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses or pads, pillow, chairs, and other camping gear is needed.
Please don't allow your family's lack of camping experience stop you from participating in our few camping events. They are great fun for the boys and enjoyed by family members. Ask the den leader, Asst. Cubmaster or Cubmaster if you have other questions about camping gear.
A: General scout uniform information can be found at the BSA website
(Click Here). Tigers, Wolves and Bears wear a blue shirt. Webelos scouts may, but are not required to, have a khaki colored shirt. Many times, if you get a larger shirt to begin with, one shrit can last for your son's cub scout career. However, should your son go through a growth spurt around the end of the 3rd grade, many families will get a khaki shirt for their Webelos son if it appears the old blue shirt can't make it till he moves up to boy scouts.
In addition to a shirt, a cub scout should have a rank specific neckerchief - the square cloth that is folded in half diagonally and then rolled up half-way and put around the neck. The neckerchief is held around the nect with a "slide." Each rank has a specific color neckerchief and corresponding slide as follows:
Tiger - Orange
Wolf - Yellow
Bear - Lt. Blue
Webelos - Plaid
Finally, a complete uniform also consists of having a cub scout belt. This is similat to military style slide belts made of cotton webbing. The belt is necessary since some activity awards that may be earned in addition to rank advancement achievements and electives are in the form of belt loops. Having the cub scout belt will permit your son to display his "loop" achievements as a part of his uniform.
Uniforms also require a few patches: A council patch (Old Hickory Council for Pack 934), a World Scout Crest, and Unit Numeral ("934" for our Pack).
All the uniform items may be purchased at the local scout shop located at the Old Hickory Council headquarters office at 6600 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC 27106 (
www.oldhickorycouncil.org).
However, note that the Unit Numerals, "934," can be purchased from the Pack in a single, unified patch. Numerals purchased from the scout shop are individual numbers and must be attached to the uniform individually. The unified unit numeral patch obtained from the Pack is easier to attach, and is a bit less expensive than the individual numerals. See the Cubmaster for more details on getting the "934" patch.
A: This depends on the event or activity. A general description of equipement needs and other helpful information for most of the Pack's activities and events is located on on the "Helpful Information" page of our website. If you have other questtions about equipment, please see your son's den leader or an Assistant Cubmaster or the Cubmaster for more information.
A: The Popcorn fundraiser for the Pack provides all the funds used to financially supplement all the Pack activities for the scouts. In addition, the Pack uses funds raised from popcorn sales to purchase Pack equipment (e.g. Pinewood Derby track, communal and loaner camping equipment, etc.). Some scout units keep track of all sales of each scout and "credit" that scout with the "commission" of his sales to that particular scout's activities for the year. Pack 934 has traditionally NOT followed this individual credit model as we have found that most boys/families can meet the minimum sales goal set for each scout at the beginning of each year's fundraiser. In addition, many cubs are able to sell more than their goal; and a few others cannot quite attain the individual goal. The Pack remains sensitive to individual family and community situations in which the members may be situated. If your son is having a difficult time with achieving his sales goal, please talk with your son's den leader, the popcorn coordinator or the cubmaster. We'll be glad to do all we can to help.