Saint Patch Retreat Information

Well, it is hard to believe that the January 10th Saint Patch Retreat is only two weeks away. The team that is helping have been working extremely hard to put on a fantastic event and it looks like we are getting a great response from the scouts with over 25 scouts attending so far. I am personally very excited to see how the community of St. Peter's is coming together to support our boys. I wanted to give you some details on what the program is and what the day will entail.

The National Catholic Committee for Scouting developed an activity called the "Footsteps of American Saints". The Footsteps of American Saints Activity program is a religious activity program that encourages youth to learn about several individuals that have shaped the landscape of Catholicism in America. This religious activity honors those men and women who led heroic lives of faith. Their words, their deeds, and their devotion to prayer and to the sacraments, inspire all American Catholics. The goal of this activity is to share the lives of several Saints so that the youth might relate to what these people have done and maybe look to these individuals as role models.

Saturday January 10th

12:30 PM Registration

1:00 PM Opening Flag Ceremony

1:15 PM Station #1

1:45 PM Station #2

2:15 PM Father Doug - Saint Education

3:15 PM Confession/Snack/Music

4:00 PM Station #3

4:40 PM Mass

6:00 PM Station #4

6:30 PM Station #5

7:00 PM Dinner

8:30 PM Games

10:00 PM Lights Out

Sunday January 11th

7:00 AM Wake Up, Clean and Pack

8:00 AM Breakfast

9:00 AM Dismissed

At the conclusion of this retreat the scouts will have earned the 5 patches recognizing the different saints. They will be awarded these at the Mass prior to the Blue and Gold Banquet with the other religious awards on February 21, 2009 at 5PM at St. Peter's Catholic Church.

As you can see there has been a tremendous amount of work involved in this and I think the boys will have an experience they will remember. To cover some of the costs for dinner, breakfast, snack, supplies and the cost of the patches the fee is $20 per scout. This can be paid at the door the day of the event. The pack will be covering the remainder of the cost.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at cnagelmol@aol.com or Deb Lamolinara at gdlam63@aol.com.

Have a great New Years Holiday and see you on the 10th......

Chris Nagel

Cubmaster Corner

I don't know about you, but it is hard to believe that it is almost Christmas. It has been an exciting and action packed beginning to the scouting year already and much more to come as the 2009 approaches. The fall picnic, cubmobile racing, Halloween storytelling with Barb Sutton, the Fellas Cake Bake, American Red Cross Blood Drive, a successful popcorn fundraiser and many more den activities are just a few of the activities that have kept the boys busy so far.

I want to take some time to update you on what is happening over the next few months. I am looking forward to what the 2009 scouting year holds for the boys. The leaders will be meeting in a few weeks to put some more detail into 2009, but here are the highlights that we are looking at.

December

We will be going to the Lutheran Home in Westlake on Saturday, December 20th at 10AM to entertain the residents with Christmas Caroling. One of our Scout Moms works there so we have done this for the last few years. The residents have a great time and the kids have a unique rendition to the ole classic songs. We will be awarding the Bobcat badge to those scouts who have achieved it and having some refreshments and holiday cheer. Please bring the family, we need all the help we can get.

January

As the scouts continue working on achieving their Light of Christ and Parvuli Dei medals for the religious awards program we will be holding a Saint Patch Retreat on January 10th, 2009. The goal of this is to assist the boys in completing their requirements to earn the 5 saint patches for this year as a group. Deb Lamolinara is coordinating this event and we are getting great support from the parents, parish and the Knights of Columbus with help. I encourage you to mark the date down so your scout can participate in this program. The event will end with dinner and a movie before lights out for anyone wishing to sleepover for a mid-winter campout type experience in the basement.

February

February is a very special month for scouting. This is the month where we celebrate the birth of scouting and it's formulation by Lord Baden Powell. We begin the month with Scout Sunday on February 10th. The Scouts attend the 10AM Mass together at St. Peter's Catholic church. Scouts should meet in the church basement at 9:30 dressed in their Class A uniforms. They will proceed in together and sit as a group for Mass. We are looking to have refreshments following in the Church basement.

This is also the month for the Blue and Gold banquet which is scheduled for February 21st. The Blue and Gold banquet is one of the traditions in scouting where we celebrate scouting's birth and recognize the scouts for their achievements. This is also the time where we award the religious medals and saint patches to the scouts who have earned them over the last several months.

Festivities begin at 5PM with Mass at St. Peters where the boys will be awarded the religious medals in front of the parish and proceed in with the Knights of Columbus 4th Degree Assembly. We then proceed to the gym where we have a banquet. We are looking at the format and content for the evening so stay tuned. I encourage you to attend this special event.......

Finally, I leave you with a warm wish for your families this holiday season and a heartfelt thank you for all you do for the boys. I look back on the year and know that what we had done and accomplished for them could not have been possible without your support. The pack is only as good as the support we get from you. I saw this poem many years ago and thought it would be a nice ending to this very successful and fun scouting year.

Bridge Builder

An old man traveling a long highway,
Came at the evening cold and gray,

To a chasm vast and deep and wide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim,

The sullen stream held no fears for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," cried a fellow pilgrim near,

"You're wasting your time in building here.

"Your journey will end with the closing day;

"You never again will pass this way."

You have crossed the chasm deep and wide,

"Why build you this bridge at even tide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head;

"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said.

"There followeth after me today,"

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

"This stream which has been as naught to me,

"To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;

"He, too, must cross in the twilight dim--

"Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."