Updates

This page is in the process of being updated. To contact Pack 43, please visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pack43fl or email us at pack43rules@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Get Ready for Pinewood Derby!

What is Pinewood Derby?
Every year, more than a million Cub Scouts and adult partners team up to participate in a Pinewood Derby, a tradition that goes back generations. Building a car from a block of wood helps Cub Scouts build confidence and take pride in their own growing skills and hard work.

The Pinewood Derby was begun in California in 1953 by Cubmaster Donald Murphy, who was looking for a fun project to do with his son, who was too young to compete in the city's soapbox derby. He conceived of the small wooden gravity-propelled cars, and wrote a rule set for the race.

Scouts in his Cub Scout pack (280C) were issued a simple kit consisting of a block of soft pine wood, 2 wooden axles, 4 nails and 4 wheels. The kits for Pinewood Derby cars today are very similar to those original kits! (The contents of your derby box kit are pictured to the right)

The first Pinewood Derby race was held on May 15, 1953. It was an instant success, and was adopted by the national office of the Boy Scouts of America the very next year for use in Cub Scout packs nationwide. To date, more than 100 million Cub Scouts have participated in the Pinewood Derby.

Building Your Car
•  The length of the car shall not exceed 7"
•  Overall width including accessories shall not exceed 2 3/4"
•  The overall height of the car shall not exceed 3"
•  The bottom clearance of the car shall be no less than 3/8"
•  The inside wheel width (distance between left front and right front wheels and distance between left rear and right rear wheels) shall be no less than 1 ¾" and no more than 2 ¾"
•  Weight shall not exceed 5 ounces
•  Wheel bearings, washers, and bushings are prohibited.
•  The car shall not ride on springs.
•  Only official Cub Scout Grand Prix Pinewood Derby wheels and axles are permitted
•  Only dry lubricant is permitted
•  The car must be free-wheeling, with no starting devices.
•  All body parts, weights and accessories must be securely fastened.
•  Accessories and details are permissible as long as these details do not exceed the size and weight specifications.
•  Each car must pass inspection by the official inspection committee before it may compete.

The Rules
The rules for the Pinewood Derby are firmly established (see details below). Each car must pass inspection by the official inspection committee before it may compete.

If, at registration, a car does not pass inspection, the owner will be informed of the reason for failure, and will be given time within the official weigh-in time period to make the adjustment.

After approval, cars will not be re-inspected unless the car is damaged in handling or in a race. Therefore, it is vital that your child's car meet the guidelines, but there is plenty of room for creativity within those rules!

Many many unique designs have been made by scouts over the years, in the shape of the car, paint job, decals and stickers. Your Scout can 'pimp his car' any way he likes within the guidelines.

Samples of the creativity of Cub Scout Pack 43 in years past!

The Derby track may be 2 or four lanes (ours has 2) on which the cars race. Each lane has a central tail that the car straddles. This keeps the car in the lane and prevents it from sliding into the lane of another car.

The race is run in a series of qualifying "heats" in which scouts will compete through a double elimination style competition.

A champion will be chosen for each den, as well as an overall champion for the pack based on the speediest car. Additionally, Pack 43 gives awards for creative designs.

The winning cars' times will be submitted to the district, and may qualify the scout for the district derby race. Winners in the district race go on to compete with other winners in the state, and state winners go on to compete on a national level.

While only scouts are eligible for the official competition, siblings and parents are encouraged to make and race their own cars! Pinewood Derby is fun for the whole family, and prizes and awards will be given to unofficial racers as well.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!
We'll see you all on February 23rd. Good Luck Pack 43!

Join Pack 43 at the Scout Carnival!

Mark your calendars! The Threshers Boy Scout Carnival takes place on Saturday, July 14th at the Clearwater Threshers vs Ft Myers Twins baseball game at Bright House Field.

The entire concourse will be surrounded with activities, games, challenges, information, demonstrations and fun, fun, fun!

The carnival begins when the gates open at 5pm and continues until the fireworks are over at the end of the ballgame (around 9:15pm).

Be sure your scouts wear their uniforms to get these goodies*: Free patch, Free BSA Physical, Free guitar lesson, Free food from 5-8pm at Hot Corner Cafe. Cub Scouts in uniform who bring a Pinewood Derby car and sign up at main gate get to sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at 7th inning stretch, shown on the big scoreboard.

Some of the fun activities that will be there include:

• See Order of the Arrow Lodge Chief Jacob Fritz throw out the first pitch, flanked by his Vice-Chiefs, all decked out in ceremonial regalia
• Try out the all new, newly invented Gator Bridge.
• Test your balance skills on the Monkey Bridge.
• Test you Pinewood Derby car on the track to race against your friends.
• Race a Raingutter Regatta boat
• Check out our Model Campsite and learn how to strum a chord around the campfire 
• See a demonstration of how branding irons work 
• Get a Shark-Do hair gel style 
• Try out a Space Derby Race 
• Learn or show off your knot tying skills 
• Stroll into a Dance Zumba Class
• Draw sharks and scouting symbols on a big mural 
• Win a prize for completing a stamp pad booklet(by visiting each exhibit) 
• See three showcased Eagle Scout Projects 
• Get latest leader training opportunities list of dates 
• Participate in Hula Hoop games 
• Show off your throwing accuracy at the Corn Hole game 
• Visit the Patch Trader Tables
• Take aim at the Shooting Sports Area
• Buy Camp Cards!

Tickets are $14 at the door, which includes the all you can eat food if your scout is in uniform. Seats will be unassigned, so we can all sit together once we get inside.

*some restrictions apply, subject to availability

Get Ready for Scout Day with the Rays

May Newsletter

The May pack meeting was great! The Bears kicked off the meeting with a solemn flag ceremony, then the Tigers showed us the food pyramid poster they had made in their Den Meeting. The WEBELOS 1 gave us a skit on just saying no, and the WEBELOS 2 gave us a hilarious show for their Showman badge. A great time was had by all!

Read this month's news in the May Newsletter

SCOUT STORIES: From Tiger to Boy Scouts

 by Hunter Wurtz, WEBELOS 2, Arrow of Light

When I joined Cub Scouts as a Tiger, I made a lot of new friends. I also built things, like my first derby car. It was a little blue car that I named Speedier. We also had a boat race, which I won.

I went with daddy on my very first camp out. I helped my dad set up the tent, it was big and blue. Daddy and I had a lot of fun that day: we cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and sat around a big fire. We had hot chocolate and played games, like tag and hide and seek. We made skits like:

"We are the Tigers, the mighty mighty Tigers. 
Everywhere we go, people wanna know... 
who we are.. so we tell them: 
We are the Tigers!" 

That was also my first year of Cub Scout Family Camp. We had a lot of fun! I got to shoot a BB gun for the first time, and bow and arrows. We also learned about safe swimming. My Mom was our den leader.

When I was a Wolf, we went on trips to the dinosaur dig where we dug for fossils and found really cool things. We did nature hikes, and my first Coastal Clean Up! We made up den songs, and went camping with our friends. I made another Pinewood Derby car that looked like an Army tank, and I won that year!  I also went  to summer camp again and learned to fish with bamboo poles. I also got shoot marshmallow shooters!

As a Bear, I learned how to tie knots, how to grow plants from seeds, and how to take care of my self. At camp I learned how to play Jedi Ball, Which I really liked that game, it's FUN!

My first year as a WEBELOS I learned first aid, and how to use my pocket knife. This is when I met my new best friend, Marcus, and my Mom met Mr. and Mrs. Drennen, they are the nicest people I ever met, they are like a family to me. I met a new friend Jonathan too.

That year my mom became the Cub Scout pack leader, and she was special, and my dad too. I got to make another derby car, it was a tank, it was really fast, I won 1st place, and again went to Cub Scout camp.

As a WEBELOS 2, I earned my whittling chip badge, and in three weeks, I will have earned my Arrow of Light! I will miss all my friends, but I have had alot of fun as a Cub Scout, The only sad part is I don't get to make derby cars anymore. I'm looking forward to being a Boy Scout.

Goodbye everyone, I'll see you when you come to Troop 43!

April Newsletter

The April Pack 43 Newsletter is now available for download here. Read Tyler Merrifield's tale of the Pack Campout, see pictures of our trip back in time to the Civil War and more!

SCOUT STORIES: Camping with Pack 43

by Tyler Merrifield, WEBELOS 1

When I first got there, I was feeling a little sick because of the long trip, but once I got out of the car I saw Mr. Coogan and I ran over to say Hi. He helped us carry our stuff over to the campsite, like our tent and mostly groceries. I said, "We sure brought a lot of stuff!" I thought the cooler was leaking so I closed it up.

I was still at the car and suddenly I looked around and saw they were all gone. I thought I was lost, but my brother came up behind me and said, "You gotta check this out!" I saw a beach with lots of water and a bridge nearby.

Next we set up my tent. That was my first time making a tent, so I learned about how to set up a tent. Then Ms. Bonnie came and helped us put up our big tent.

Finally, the Drennens came with Marcus. Marcus asked me to help him put up his tent. We put it up all by ourselves. We argued a bit, but we finally got it up. Next we tried to find a spot for our clubhouse. It took a while but I found the perfect spot. Marcus brought a blue tent to use as a club house. The wind was blowing so hard we were having a hard time setting up the clubhouse tent, but then Mr. Drennen came over and helped us set it up.

After that we decided to hang out and hide in the clubhouse tent. The more people that came inside, the more destroyed it got. The next thing I know Mr. Drennen came back to get this thing put back up.

When we came out, there was a big fire and and we ate hot dogs. After we ate, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Then we told each other some scary stories and some funny stories. Hunter told a funny one that went "Down the toilet, down the toilet..." Then Mr Drennen told a story. At first I thought it was going to be a silly story but it turned out to be a really scary story.

Then we went to bed, but I had a hard time falling asleep because I didnt have my pillow. Then Mr. Tim gave me a flashlight so I could get my pillow from the car. On our way back from the car, I saw two raccoons fighting. At first I thought they were going to attack me, but they just ran off. Finally I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up but just a few people were awake - some people were still asleep. I played cops and robbers for a while and then I found the biggest trees and climbed them. Then we went on a hike with Mr Coogan and Mr. Justin. We picked up 3 bags of trash.

When we came back, we did an Easter Egg Hunt. There were lots of colored eggs, and gold and silver eggs with money in them. Little Aidan was the first to find a golden egg. Then my brother and my sister found a golden egg too. We looked out on the beach for another golden egg, but big Aedan found that one. There was only one golden egg left, and me and Hunter and Marcus were in a competition to find it. I found it in a tree, but I gave it to Marcus cause he got hurt. Then I found a silver egg, and it had a dollar.

After that, we ate hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch and then we colored eggs. Mr. Tim and Mr. Coogan had a huge water fight. After that, my mom said it was time to go.

It was the best camping trip ever.

March Newsletter

The March newsletter is now available for download here. Be sure to check out KC Santiago's awesome account of his visit to the Daytona 500!

SCOUT STORIES: My Race to the Daytona 500

by KC Santiago, WEBELOS 1

Hi, my name is KC Santiago, a proud cubscout of Pack 43. I would like to share my experience when me and my family went to Daytona Beach to watch the 2012 Daytona 500 Nascar race on February 25th and 26th.

Friday after school, I helped my mom pack all our camping stuff and load our van. We left Saturday morning and got there around noon. We set up our tent and the air mattresses for us to sleep at night. We watched the first race and it was awesome! Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race.

That night, we set up the camp fire and sat with my family and friends. I met a friend, his name was Kai and we played together. We made S'mores and it was delicious.

On Sunday, they cancelled the race because it was raining. We got soaking wet but we still had a great time. Me and my friend played video games on my iPad. I really had a great time. We packed our stuff and left that afternoon.

Monday after school we went back to see the final race. Me and my mom stood on the roof of our car to see the perfect view of the race. And then there's a big fire on the track. One of the race cars collided with one of the trucks that dries the track during break time. It was 48 laps to go when the accident happened. They did a huge clean up on the track and it took about 3o to 45 minutes to clear the track. While we waited I played video games with my iPad then my uncle set my air mattress up at the back of our van for me to take a rest and sleep.

It was an excellent experience. I hope that my fellow cubscouts will get a chance to experience the fun I experienced at the Daytona 500.

February Newsletter & Pack Meeting

What an amazing pack meeting this month! We celebrated the birthday of Cub Scouting with a fun Blue and Gold Party featuring a delectable meal - blueberry pancakes, cheesy eggs, sausages, and yummy blue and gold cupcakes! We even had blue and gold drinks! Thanks SO much to Mr. Ed, Ms Stacy, Ms April and Mr Gordon for their hard work in getting the meal done on time and delicious!

I am also incredibly proud of all of our scouts and siblings, who worked hard tonight to be respectful and learn about resourcefulness. The Bears did a great job with the flag ceremony! The boys who did the neckerchief skit did a great job showing off some of the many things that a neckerchief can be used for - it was both useful and entertaining! All of the pack had fun making their own woggles for their neckerchief. I am immensely proud of the resourcefulness every boy showed! Super job tonight Pack 43!!

If you enjoyed the Baden-Powell story at the beginning of the meeting, be sure to read the article in this month;s newsletter. It's a fascinating and informative tale of Baden Powell's vision for Scouting. There's a bunch more you'll find useful in the February Newsletter. Check it Out!

January Newsletter & Pack Meeting

Thanks to everyone who joined us tonight at our 'magical' pack meeting! I hope you and your scout(s) and siblings had as good a time as we did!

The January newsletter is available for download here. In it you will find information on our upcoming Pinewood derby, the council redistricting project, a little known achievement your scout can easily earn, and dates for upcoming events. I hope you enjoy it!

As a reminder, the January Family Camp is almost here. Spaces go fast, so don't wait too long to sign up! The camp itself will be January 28th and 29th. This will be at Camp Soule, which is right in our own backyard (Soule road is between Sunset Point and McMullen Booth off of Union) so we highly encourage the entire pack to attend. To register, click the register link on this page.

CUBMASTER'S MINUTE: Do Your Best in 2012

by Andrea Drennen, Pack 43 Cubmaster 

Hi everyone, it's the first meeting of the new year, and that means that myself and Mr. Drennen are now officially the cub masters for Pack 43. Please rest assured that we are as dedicated to Pack 43's success as Ms. Bonnie, and we will be working closely with her to keep the pack running smoothly! I promise we will work hard to help the pack go!

Speaking of promises... Because of the new year, the topic of New Year's Resolutions has been popping up all over the place. This has got me thinking - what is a resolution but a promise that you make to yourself? How is it then, that these promises are the ones most often not kept?

In Cub Scouting, we make a lot of promises to our boys. We promise to teach them new skills, to help them build character, to become more independant, to introduce them to experiences that are not as common in today's digital age, and to help them do their best in everything.

I think it's time we start pushing ourselves as parents and as adult leaders to make good on these promises. It's so easy to let time slip by without getting out and doing something toward these goals. There's a lot there! But Cub Scouting provides us with a framework to achieve all of these things, and more.

Remember Cub Scouting is built for family involvement, not just meetings and pack events. Whenever you have an opportunity to provide your scout with a learning experience, like helping out in the kitchen or reading a map to navigate to a new location, take it! Your Scout will be enriched with the new knowledge, and chances are he can be rewarded for it with an achievement at the next pack meeting!

I am so proud of our pack. We have dedicated adult leaders, eager scouts and supportive families. There's nothing more we could ask for as a group. So let's promise to get outside more this year, bring our boys together toward our common goals, and work together to keep our promises to the pack, the scouts, and ourselves!

Happy New Year Pack 43! 
Do Your Best in 2012!

Happy Holidays from Pack 43!

December Newsletter

Happy Holidays everyone! This month we keep everything short and sweet to make room for spending time with family and friends this holiday season. We are looking forward to our pack's holiday party this week, which is going to be a great time! To get into the mood, check out this month's pack newsletter!

Also, don't forget that we will be participating in the Safety Harbor holiday parade on Saturday. If you have extra strings of beads we can throw to the spectators, please bring them! We need everyone to show up looking their best in full uniform. We will be gathering at the Safety Harbor Marina at 12:30 pm. See you then!

CUBMASTER'S MINUTE: Just Believe

by Bonnie Wurtz, Pack 43 Cubmaster

About a week prior to the Thanksgiving Holiday, my son Aiden and I were walking in the mall. Not really wanting to be there, I was in such a rush to get what I needed from one of the shops and get out quickly.
As we were walking through the crowd of people, my son started pulling on my arm. “MOMMY LOOK !! MOMMY LOOK !!”

I didn’t want to stop and see what had caught his attention, because I was focused on one thing. (Get what I wanted and GET OUT), I never even looked up, I said… “NO Aiden,” we've got to go.

“BUT MOMMY LOOK!!”  and he again pulled on my arm.

By this time I was getting frustrated with him, because he was pulling me in the opposite direction I wanted to go.  What could be SO important?  Once again I said NO and we continued on our “mission” “But Mommy ITS HIM !”

That’s when I stopped and looked over to where he was pointing. There, in the middle of the busy mall, stood a jolly looking man dressed in a red t-shirt and khaki shorts with flip flops. Knowing my son had just mistaken him for Santa Claus, the nice man just turned and look at my son and waved.

The look in my son’s eyes at that moment will forever be in my heart.

Being the brave little man he is, Aiden went over to this gentleman (with me close behind) and started talking to him as if he was the JOLLY OLD ELF himself.

I just smiled at the nice man and thanked him for taking the time out of his busy day to make my son's day.
This “Santa” stood there for the better half of 20 minutes talking with my son, about everything from LEGOS, to asking him how he lost his tooth. And my son thought he had the ‘411’ on Santa,
As we walked away, my heart smiled. I couldn’t believe that a total stranger would take the time out of his day to talk to a little 4 Year old boy who thought he was Santa….

I walked away believing that there are kind people left in this world.

I walked away believing in people again.

I walked away believing that sometimes that the little things DO matter,if you just stop and look around.
I guess you can say I walked away BELIEVEING.

So as you’re rushing around with all the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, take a minute to look up, to see all the wonders around us, and do something nice.

Something as small as just smiling at a stranger, wishing them a happy holiday, holding a door open for someone who needs an extra hand, lend an ear to someone that just wants to talk, Drop that extra change in the Salvation Army Bell Ringer pot, or just “do a good turn daily.”

You never know how much those little things will make a difference, and you might just be surprised at the positive impact it makes on someone else.

The Holiday spirit is in all of us, if you JUST BELIEVE.

SCOUT STORIES: My Day at the Tiger Growl

 by Caleb Merrifield, Tiger Cub

For those who haven't heard of it before, the Tiger Growl is a yearly event that is exclusively for our new Tiger scouts and their parent partners. This event gives the Tigers a chance to learn some of the principals of Cub Scouts wrapped in a wild, fun, informative day. This year, two of our Tiger cubs, Daniel Martin and Caleb Merrifield attended the Tiger Growl. This is Caleb's account of the day:

First We had to get our color flag, and me and my mom were yellow.

There were lots of games. We played a squirting game where you get blindfolded and you have a bottle filled with water that squirts, and if you hear the bells you squirt people. We also played a game where you dump water into a water tank and try to make a golf ball go up to the top. Then we played Over/Under where you pass a cup full of water over and under and the first team to fill up a bucket wins, but if it knocks over you have to do it all over again.

Then we had a scavenger hunt where you had to find lots of stuff - like 10 things! Like, gotta find a person in the military... someone from Maryland... a Girlscout... That's all I can remember.

We also had lunch there, We ate hamburgers and hotdogs with some chips.

And that's all we did.

Oh we also slinged dog food at aliens with sling shots.

I had a really good time with my mom at Tiger Growl.

Pack 43 Newsletter: November 2011

What a great pack meeting tonight!! Every den demonstrated a new skill or project they worked on in the past month - the Tigers talked about the Tiger Growl, the Wolves showed off their new den flag, the Bears recited  their Bobcat badge requirements, the Webelos 1 showed their stretcher making skills, and the Webelos 2 talked about what they have learned about managing family finances and showed off their family tree charts.

We also talked about the origins and the importance of Veterans day. The boys worked together on a poster to tell our veterans "Thank You for Our Freedom". The boys gave a Cub Scout Salute with the poster, and we took pictures, which we have posted on our website, and on The WWII Museum's million thanks page. We will also be presenting our poster to the Safety Harbor American Legion on Veterans Day.

Our newsletter this month expands upon the themes of the month and gives you all the news and information about Pack 43! Read all about it in our November Newsletter!

Pack 43 Fall Fundraiser

Pack 43 is holding a Fall fundraiser! After the popularity of the candle fundraiser earlier this year, we have decided to make this our next fundraising effort. Not only will we have the same amazingly delicious smelling candles to sell, we have increased the items we will be offering to a lot more than just candles!

We need your help to help the pack go! Send your out of state friends and family to this website so they can view the catalogue of offerings online to choose what they wish to order. Best of all, your gifts will arrive in plenty of time to include them in your holiday packages!

Click any of the images below to zoom in:

      

      

      

      

Are you Ready for Coastal Cleanup?

Coastal Cleanup is this Saturday! This is one of the most important events of the year in terms of impact to the community and learning about things like conservation, environmentalism and preservation. Coastal Cleanup contributes to a large number of skill and achievements you can earn toward your den badge, arrow points, elective belt loops and pins, and prestigious Cub Scouting awards. It only happens once a year, so you definitely don't want to miss it! Plus it's loads of fun!!

Meet us at 8:00am at the Safety Harbor Marina

View Larger Map



Here's what you will earn simply by participating in Coastal Cleanup:

Available to ALL Scouts
Cub Scout World Conservation Award - Step 4
Leave No Trace - Step 1, 2 (partial), 4
Outdoor Activity - Step 1, 3, 5, 6, 13

Sports & Academics
Citizenship Belt Loop - Step 3
Citizenship Pin - Step 9
Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop - Step 1
Wildlife Conservation Pin - Step 8, 9
Hiking Belt Loop - Steps 1,2, 3 (All requirements!)

Tiger Cubs
Let's Go Outdoors - Step 5G
Cleanup Treasure Hunt - Step A

Wolf Den
Your Living World - Step 7b, 7d
Lets Go Camping - Step 23d

Bear Den
Take Care of Your Planet - Step 6g
Family Outdoor Adventures - Step 12b, 12d
Water and Soil Conservation - Step 15e
Let's Go Camping - Step 25b

Webelos 1&2
Family Member - Step 13
Naturalist - Step 11,12
Outdoorsman - Step 5, 6, 9