The UW Oshkosh Fox Cities Campus, 1478 Midway Road, Menasha, WI, is offering 10 merit badges in December! All classes have a limit of 20-25 Scouts depending on the badge. Classes offered include:

Join us for some aquatics fun at Cub Scout Wet and Wild! This new program is for Cub Scouts and their parents to escape the colder temperatures outside and learn some valuable boating and lifesaving skills in the pool. Participants will be using boats in the pool at the downtown Appleton YMCA on January 29, 2023, from 12:00 - 2:00 PM. Cub Scouts can also complete their swim tests for rank advancement and/or summer camp (parents too)! Cost is only $5 per person. Follow the link below to see which Elements Cub Scouts can earn and register for the event.

Polar Cubs is a unique winter program for Cub Scouts and their families, held at Gardner Dam Adventure Base in February 2023. Campers will be grouped into “Super Dens” keeping those from the same Pack together. Led by staff members, these dens will rotate through various outdoor winter adventure focused activities. Overnight registrations include a bunk in one of our heated cabins (with indoor showers and restrooms), meals, and a participant patch. We offer two weekend options so you can conveniently fit this event into your family or Pack schedule.

Arctic Adventure is a winter adventure program for Scouts BSA and Venturers with a variety of outdoor and indoor activities. Enjoy the pristine Northwoods winter environment at Gardner Dam Adventure Base or Camp Hiawatha with the freedom to do nearly any winter activity you want like snowshoeing, cross country skiing, broomball, outdoor hiking, sledding, and much more! Overnight registration includes a bunk in one of our heated cabins, meals, and a participant patch. Also, back again is the new and exciting Ice Climbing Adventure, based at Camp Hiawatha in Munising, MI. You will have three weekend sessions to choose from in February and March 2023.

Calling all Cub Scout leaders! Pi day is an awesome STEM event that takes place each March. It is open to all Scouters from Lions to leaders. To make this event happen, we need you -- enthusiastic and wonderful volunteers who are willing to step up and keep this event accessible. If you are interested in helping out the youth in our council, please reach out to Amanda Tuttle. Event registration will be announced soon.

This Thanksgiving week, we host the grandsons’ six-month-old pure-bred beagle, Nora. Our fenced-in backyard always has been a great space for beelining and zigzagging, and exploring. Earlier this week, she discovered her first bird up close: a house-sparrow nestled among the leaves in the breezy but sunny upper 20s Nora managed to grab it. But similar to our playtime of fetch, fight and throw again, she adjusted her “grip” and the bird flew away. Then she watched as other sparrows flew into our 20-foot evergreen and the encircling hunt-and-sniff was on. Till her not-so-well insulated body shivered and shook, so it was time to come inside.

Learning by doing/experiencing.

Because of who we are and what we do (and have done), we just might take our learning for granted. There is much joy watching this puppy act on her instincts and learn what beagles do best. As leaders and parents, we need to remember how, when and why our scouts learn and try again, and succeed. (And our leaders and mentors, too.) Thanks, Nora, for reminding me of this, even as you presently sit at the door whimpering and waiting for my lovely bride to finally come into the house.

Happy Thanksgiving! This week and every week!

See you on the trail!

Warren Kraft
Program Development
guide@baylakesbsa.org

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