Our Rocket Launch was in the News

Augusta — The temperature hovered above 40 degrees and the light of day was fading fast. The field beyond the launch pad was saturated with rain that had fallen that morning. Dark clouds hung overhead.
It was not an ideal setting for a rocket launch, but for the 20 Cub Scouts from Pack 603 and their parents, it might as well have been the Kennedy Space Center in Florida."It was awesome," said first-grader Andrew Truman when rockets began firing into the sky.
After each launch, the boys ran across the field to try to find the rocket that had returned to Earth.
Each den (Cubs are placed in age-groups called dens) had been given a 1-inch model rocket to assemble and decorate at the Oct. 6 meeting at Hussey Elementary School.
Parents equipped the rockets with a removable engine at the time of the launch Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the American Legion on Eastern Avenue.Cub Scout Ryan Lathe had not built a model rocket before and was anxious to see one take flight.
"I think the orange one will go the highest," he said prior to the countdown.One rocket was recovered; the others experienced equipment failure when the parachutes failed to deploy."The boys had a lot of fun despite the technical problems," said Den Leader Chris Bailey. "So did I.""I liked shooting them up itno the sky," said Cub Scout Jacob Arbour."It's great to give these boys experiences like this," said Cub Master Chuck Mahaleris. "These Cub Scouts could be the next Mainers into space, following in the footsteps of current astronauts Charlie Owen Hobaugh, Kenneth Ha and Christopher Cassidy. It's a fun way to teach them about science."
Of the 312 pilots and scientists selected as astronauts since 1959, at least 207 were Scouts or active in Scouting. The list includes 39 Eagle Scouts.
Of the 27 men who traveled to the moon on the Apollo 9 through Apollo 17 missions, 24 were Scouts, including 11 of the 12 men who walked on the moon's surface, and all three members of the crew of Apollo 13.
This past summer, the Cubs attended Cub Scout Day Camp at Camp Bomazeen in Belgrade and Webelos Resident Camp at Camp Hinds in Raymond; outer space fun was the theme for the programs.For more information about Cub Scout Pack 603, contact Mahaleris at 400-9850
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Mid-October Notes, Scouts in the News, Rocketry, and More

Popcorn
We are into the final push of the Popcorn Sale! All popcorn orders and money have to be turned in at the Halloween Pack Party on October 27th at 6 PM at the American Legion.
This is the big fundraiser of the year. We don't do another. This has to carry us all year long. When you realize that each belt loop costs the pack more than a dollar you can see how fast it all ads up when we have about 30 boys in the pack. Several boys earned more than six awards each from summer camp alone. It adds up quickly. If your son has not sold anything, please set a goal of selling four or five items in the next two weeks. It will make a world of difference.

Congratulations to the following Cubs for their Popcorn Salesmanship:
Reese St. Pierre won a Dairy Queen gift certificate two weeks ago and followed up with a gift card to K-Mart for having sold the most items overall. Joseph Beaulieu was our top seller last week and also received a K-Mart gift card. I know we have several Cubs who are going to sell big this week as they want a shot at a prize next week. We will give out a big prize at the pack meeting. These prizes were donated to the Pack by my wife and I to help encourage the boys to sell more popcorn. They will also be able to order prizes at the end of the sale based on how much they sell.


Rocket Launch

Nice job at the rocket launch on Tuesday. In support of that outstanding program, I have found a link to NASA and their information model rocketry programs. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/rocket/rktparts.html and some information about astronauts who had been scouts:http://www.usscouts.org/eagle/eagleastronauts.asp Feel free to incorporate any of this stuff in your next den meeting if you like to cap off the rocket launch program. Again, thanks to Chris, Paul, Gary and George for organizing the launch! Here is some information about what is happening in the skies overhead the rest of this month:
Oct. 16. Saturn and Venus will be 7 degrees north of the waning crescent moon this morning.
Oct.18. New moon is at 1:33 a.m.
Oct.25. First quarter moon is at 8:42 pm and the moon is also at apogee, or farthest from earth.
Oct. 27. Jupiter will be three degrees south of the waxing gibbous moon tonight.
Oct. 28. On this day in 1971 Britain becomes only the 6th nation to launch a satellite.

Here is a link for a fall star chart: http://www.northern-stars.com/Autumn_Star_Chart.pdf

Great resources for your den meeting: http://www.northern-stars.com/teacher

Here is information on programs this year at the Fairfield Planetarium: http://www.northern-stars.com/programlist09-10.pdf Nice work.

Halloween Party- Tuesday Oct 27 6 PM at the American Legion. Kids (Cubs and Siblings) come in costume. Each den will run a station (ideas are pumpkin bowling, eating mini donut off a string, etc). Den leaders, please shoot me a note what stations you will run for this event. Thanks. Kids will travel from station to station and do the fun things at each station. We will have a costume parade. Kids will leave with a little candy bag. Parents are welcome to bring in some candy to help fill the bags :)

Scouts in the News
The Capital Weekly ran an article about our Cubs attending summer camp and getting their awards at the September meeting. Here is the link. http://capital.villagesoup.com/place/story/scouts-blast-off-to-new-adventures/201508 The paper is now free and distributed at most supermarkets, etc around town.

Religious Emblems
I would encourage everyone to work with their son on their religious emblem. Scouting does not advocate any particular religion but it is one of those cornerstones of life that lead to a well-rounded adult. There are links on the pack website.

Cubs in the News- Rocket Launch- Popcorn- All Kinds of News

Our pack's visit to the fire station was reported in the Capital Weekly. Here is a link to that story: http://capital.villagesoup.com/place/story/cub-scouts-tour-fire-station/201086#

Next week (Tuesday, Oct 13) we will be launching rockets during den meeting. Due to Parent/Teacher conferences at Hussey School, we will be meeting at the American Legion at our regular time. Some dens are starting early to decorate the rockets prior to launch. You are safe if you show up after 5:30 PM. The launch will begin shortly after 6 so we can do them while it is still light out.

Popcorn top seller of the week was Wolf Reese St Pierre who sold 24 items of popcorn. Nice job Reese. Reese received a gift certificate to Dairy Queen. We will have a prize next week for the boy who sold the most number of items since last week and the boy who has sold the most number of items to date. Two prizes! We will have prizes each week until the pack Halloween Party when all the popcorn order forms and money have to be turned in.

Halloween Party- Tuesday Oct 27 6 PM at the American Legion. Kids (Cubs and Siblings) come in costume. Each den will run a station (ideas are pumpkin bowling, eating mini donut off a string, etc). Kids will travel from station to station and do the fun things at each station. We will have a costume parade. Kids will leave with a little candy bag. Parents are welcome to bring in some candy to help fill the bags :)

Hikes- I like to encourage our dens to have outdoor activities while we can with the weather. I found a neat website that has information about area hiking trails that would be a great Go See It for your den. http://www.capitalwalks.blogspot.com/

Planetarium- Message from the planetarium: There are still plenty of fall and early winter dates available at the Northern Stars Planetarium in Fairfield, but dates are filling quickly. Call to reserve the 2009-2010 dates you want. I hope to see many of you and your kids under the stars soon. http://www.northern-stars.com/

Trails' End Popcorn Message: Hey, Scouts!Get four orders online between today, October 5, and midnight EST on Monday night October 12, and you'll receive a $20 Walmart.com gift card.Congratulations to the 99 Scouts who earned the last bonus giveaway ... a $20 Walmart.com gift card for selling $200 online between Sept 22 and 28.Click on the link below to get started. Good luck!
http://www.trails-end.com/trailsend/scouts/