Class B Uniforms

Does your Pack use Class B uniforms? Do you even know what one is?

Class B uniforms are scout themed shirts that Cub Scouts (or Boy Scouts) wear when they don’t want to mess up their regular uniform. They’re great for den meetings if you plan a lot of messy crafts and they’re even better (and cheaper) if your den makes the shirts themselves!

So next time your boys go to summer camp or day camp, save those shirts!

Read more about Class B uniforms, and other cool Cub Scout stuff, at the St. Louis Cub Scout Examiner.

Blue and Gold a big success…sorta

Our Blue and Gold was on Friday the 13th, which, I have to admit, freaked me out with omens of bad luck. Somehow, it managed to go pretty dang well. The food was good, the boys were as good as 10 year olds with access to a chocolate fountain could be, and the bridging ceremony was short and sweet.

I’d say the only problem was that our entertainer wandered off and couldn’t be found when it was his time to take over. We always hire an entertainer for the boys at the end of the banquet. I’m not sure why. The parents use this time to clean up and chat. Maybe it’s to keep the kids out of our hair while we pack up.

My boys made a bee line back to their table and the aforementioned chocolate fountain, to finish it off before it needed to be packed up. Then they started playing Hot Wheels. Oh, did I mention our theme was sports and we had a table full of games: finger soccer, finger football (with little paper triangles for balls), magnet fishing and a Hot Wheels track for NASCAR.

This track was pulled out of my son’s closet. I’m proud to say that he is the fourth generation to play with most of the pieces of this track. The original orange track was purchased for my aunt in the late 60′s. It was passed on to me in the 70′s and I added on to it. I boxed it up and gave it back to the aunt for her boys in the late 80′s and what was left was sent to me for my sons in the late 90′s. It’s been around! It’s now a collect of orange, blue and electric green track. It’s like the Brotherhood of the Traveling Track.

So, I as I was saying, this track was pulled out of my 10 year old’s closet. I hollered to him to help me find a set up that would work with what we had on a 6 foot table. He stared in wide-eyed amazement at what I had set up so far and said, “where did that come from?” Geez. Poor kid completely forgot about The Track.

He put together an impressive oval with a loop-de-loop and two turbo boosters. It was the hit of Blue and Gold. Kids came from every den to check out the amazing ancient toy – real live non-computerized fun! As we cleared tables, they moved it to the floor. Half the den has invited themselves over to “play race cars” with my kid on President’s Day.

Pinewood Derby Continues

Still  working on a Pinewood Derby car? Here are some tips from Boys’ Life magazine.
www.boyslife.org/hobbies-projects/projects/2952/speed-secrets/
You can also check out photos of derby cars that Scouts have sent in, or send in your own photo to share.
Click on this link to see a video of the world’s fastest Pinewood Derby Track.
www.boyslife.org/home/video/6236/video-of-a-super-fast-pinewood-derby-track/
Scouts in Indiana built it for a museum exibit on speed. The track is two stories tall and and 125 feet long.