Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Welcome and Welcome Back Cub Scout Pack 101!
Scouts, Parents, Leaders, and Volunteers,
Welcome to all the new people involved in scouting, and welcome back to those scouts and parents who are returning. This year, we had a terrific cub scout round up. Your participation has made Pack 101 the largest pack in our whole Council, which encompasses all of far Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and parts of Tennessee. Way to go, Massac County!
You should be contacted shortly by the leaders for your groups for your first meeting. The first meetings should begin sometime during the first full week of September. In order, your leaders are:
Roger Pugh (that's me, the temporary Tiger Den leader) Tigers are designated as Den 5.
Adam Cohoon, Wolf Den leader. His group is very large, so we will actively look to recruit another parent as a leader! But, until then, he and his wife Raven will run the Wolf group. Wolfs are Den 4.
Shannon Crockett, Bear Den leader. He runs Den 13.
Clay Blankenbaker, Bear Den leader. He runs Den 3.
Matt Alsip, Webelos 1 leader. He runs Den 2.
Valery Sronce, Webelos 2 leader. She runs Den 1.
If for some reason, you have not been contacted by your leader in the next few days, please email or phone me and I will make sure you get the information you need. My email is pugh@shawneelink.net and my phone is (618) 524-8340.
As soon as all of the meeting times and places are ironed out, I will send out an email and a newsletter with that information and other scheduled events so you can plan ahead and put Cub Scouts on your calendar.
I would like for all of you to stay as informed about Cub Scout events as possible. To that end, we have a blog and a facebook page on which we update information regularly, post pictures, and answer questions. You can find our blog at http://cubscoutpack101.blogspot.com and you can find us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Metropolis-Illinois-Cub-Scout-Pack-101/133467963360177 so please follow our blog and "LIKE" us on facebook. This will be the cheapest, fastest, and most comprehensive way that we can stay in touch about Cub Scouts.
Each year, I include a little background information about me in this welcoming email, so if you are returning, you have seen this part before (although it has changed a little bit)!
I would like to give you some insight into why I have volunteered as a Cub Scout leader for the last several years:
In my "real job," I am a staff person at the Achieve Program, a program of comprehensive academic accommodations and supports for students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I have worked in the Achieve Program for over a dozen years, and in that time have helped hundreds of bright, but struggling students excel at the university level. It is very rewarding work. I am currently completing my Ph.D. in Special Education at the University.
When my son was six, several years ago, my wife signed him up for Cub Scouts. I had never really been interested in scouts. There hadn't been a Pack or a Troop in my town when I grew up, and I really didn't know or care what they were about. Honestly, I thought scouts were a "throwback" to an earlier time, and maybe not too relevant today.
However, my wife insisted, because she knew the values that are the core beliefs of scouting ARE relevant and valuable to boys now, perhaps now more than ever. She became a leader, and over time, as it was obvious that my son was enjoying himself and learning some good skills too, every once in awhile, I "had" to go help the group do something. Soon, I was helping every week, and before I knew it, I was my wife's assistant for her den. Since this was the same role I seemed to fill around the house, we both adapted to it pretty quickly ; )
I worked in this capacity with her for two years. At the end of the second year, Joe Ogle, who was the "founding father" of Metropolis scouts, and who was our Unit Commissioner, asked if I would consider being the Cubmaster for the Pack. I told him as long as I had help, I would "do my best."
Well, I have had wonderful help over the years, from many caring, intelligent, and genuinely good people, several of whom volunteered to be leaders for the dens. Even though my son has long since left Cub Scouts and is now a Boy Scout, each year I ask each of the leaders and our Pack's board whether they would like for me to continue as Cubmaster, or if they would prefer I would step down. I made a promise to Joe Ogle before he died, that as long as I was able, and as long as the Pack leadership wanted me there, that I would be honored to serve this Pack in the capacity of Cubmaster. My son is going to be 15 this year, and is progressing towards his Eagle project in the Boy Scouts, and again this year, I have the honor to serve as the Cubmaster for Pack 101.
This year, Melissa Rushing is our Assistant Cubmaster, and has proven time and again to be invaluable to our Pack. Valery Sronce has been a leader for four years, Matt Alsip also for four, Clay Blankenbaker for three, Adam Cohoon for two, and Shannon Crockett for one. In the next few weeks, we will have trained at least one new leader for our newest group of scouts, our Tiger Cubs. You can depend on these leaders to deliver a fun, meaningful, and useful program to your children. Because our Pack has grown to be as big as it has ever been, I will be actively seeking parent participation for new leader positions to offer quality programming and a great scout experience for your family. I look forward to a great year in scouting.
Welcome to Pack 101!
Roger Pugh
Cubmaster
Welcome to all the new people involved in scouting, and welcome back to those scouts and parents who are returning. This year, we had a terrific cub scout round up. Your participation has made Pack 101 the largest pack in our whole Council, which encompasses all of far Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and parts of Tennessee. Way to go, Massac County!
You should be contacted shortly by the leaders for your groups for your first meeting. The first meetings should begin sometime during the first full week of September. In order, your leaders are:
Roger Pugh (that's me, the temporary Tiger Den leader) Tigers are designated as Den 5.
Adam Cohoon, Wolf Den leader. His group is very large, so we will actively look to recruit another parent as a leader! But, until then, he and his wife Raven will run the Wolf group. Wolfs are Den 4.
Shannon Crockett, Bear Den leader. He runs Den 13.
Clay Blankenbaker, Bear Den leader. He runs Den 3.
Matt Alsip, Webelos 1 leader. He runs Den 2.
Valery Sronce, Webelos 2 leader. She runs Den 1.
If for some reason, you have not been contacted by your leader in the next few days, please email or phone me and I will make sure you get the information you need. My email is pugh@shawneelink.net and my phone is (618) 524-8340.
As soon as all of the meeting times and places are ironed out, I will send out an email and a newsletter with that information and other scheduled events so you can plan ahead and put Cub Scouts on your calendar.
I would like for all of you to stay as informed about Cub Scout events as possible. To that end, we have a blog and a facebook page on which we update information regularly, post pictures, and answer questions. You can find our blog at http://cubscoutpack101.blogspot.com and you can find us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Metropolis-Illinois-Cub-Scout-Pack-101/133467963360177 so please follow our blog and "LIKE" us on facebook. This will be the cheapest, fastest, and most comprehensive way that we can stay in touch about Cub Scouts.
Each year, I include a little background information about me in this welcoming email, so if you are returning, you have seen this part before (although it has changed a little bit)!
I would like to give you some insight into why I have volunteered as a Cub Scout leader for the last several years:
In my "real job," I am a staff person at the Achieve Program, a program of comprehensive academic accommodations and supports for students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I have worked in the Achieve Program for over a dozen years, and in that time have helped hundreds of bright, but struggling students excel at the university level. It is very rewarding work. I am currently completing my Ph.D. in Special Education at the University.
When my son was six, several years ago, my wife signed him up for Cub Scouts. I had never really been interested in scouts. There hadn't been a Pack or a Troop in my town when I grew up, and I really didn't know or care what they were about. Honestly, I thought scouts were a "throwback" to an earlier time, and maybe not too relevant today.
However, my wife insisted, because she knew the values that are the core beliefs of scouting ARE relevant and valuable to boys now, perhaps now more than ever. She became a leader, and over time, as it was obvious that my son was enjoying himself and learning some good skills too, every once in awhile, I "had" to go help the group do something. Soon, I was helping every week, and before I knew it, I was my wife's assistant for her den. Since this was the same role I seemed to fill around the house, we both adapted to it pretty quickly ; )
I worked in this capacity with her for two years. At the end of the second year, Joe Ogle, who was the "founding father" of Metropolis scouts, and who was our Unit Commissioner, asked if I would consider being the Cubmaster for the Pack. I told him as long as I had help, I would "do my best."
Well, I have had wonderful help over the years, from many caring, intelligent, and genuinely good people, several of whom volunteered to be leaders for the dens. Even though my son has long since left Cub Scouts and is now a Boy Scout, each year I ask each of the leaders and our Pack's board whether they would like for me to continue as Cubmaster, or if they would prefer I would step down. I made a promise to Joe Ogle before he died, that as long as I was able, and as long as the Pack leadership wanted me there, that I would be honored to serve this Pack in the capacity of Cubmaster. My son is going to be 15 this year, and is progressing towards his Eagle project in the Boy Scouts, and again this year, I have the honor to serve as the Cubmaster for Pack 101.
This year, Melissa Rushing is our Assistant Cubmaster, and has proven time and again to be invaluable to our Pack. Valery Sronce has been a leader for four years, Matt Alsip also for four, Clay Blankenbaker for three, Adam Cohoon for two, and Shannon Crockett for one. In the next few weeks, we will have trained at least one new leader for our newest group of scouts, our Tiger Cubs. You can depend on these leaders to deliver a fun, meaningful, and useful program to your children. Because our Pack has grown to be as big as it has ever been, I will be actively seeking parent participation for new leader positions to offer quality programming and a great scout experience for your family. I look forward to a great year in scouting.
Welcome to Pack 101!
Roger Pugh
Cubmaster
Sunday, August 15, 2010
2010 Pool Party
Here are pictures from our pool party. I want to thank everybody who made this a great success.
We also held our Raingutter Regatta at the pool. All the boys were winners, but some of them had faster boats! Here is the list of award recipients:
1st Place: Robbie Myers
2nd Place: Riley Alsip
3rd Place: Ben Bowlin
4th Place: Sam Crockett
5th Place: Hayden LaVeau
Best Theme: Sam Crockett
Most Patriotic: Dylan Copley
Too Much Wind In The Sails: Riley Alsip
Went Down With His Ship: Trentin Sronce
Best Paint: Cobie Copley
Best Sails: Hayden LaVeau
Thank you and a great race to all the scouts who participated, including Bryan Walquist, Nickolas Shinn, Dalton Ledbetter, Hayden Laveau, Zuri Turner, Trentin Sronce, Riley Alsip, Andrew Brookshier, Kody Brookshier, Robbie Meyers, Austin Cohoon, Caleb Blankenbaker, Seth Blankenbaker, Sam Crockett, Cobie Copley, Dylan Copley, Matt McHaney, and Ben Bowlin! What a great group of kids!
Our next events will be our cub scout round up, in which new scouts will register for the cub scouts, and then begins our Popcorn Kickoff, in which we will sell popcorn to raise money for our Pack and fund a great year of events!
I would like to take a moment to thank the folks at the Metropolis City Pool, Big Johns, Sav-A-Lot, Sonic, and A&C Trucking of West Paducah for their generous help in making our end of year party a success!
We also held our Raingutter Regatta at the pool. All the boys were winners, but some of them had faster boats! Here is the list of award recipients:
1st Place: Robbie Myers
2nd Place: Riley Alsip
3rd Place: Ben Bowlin
4th Place: Sam Crockett
5th Place: Hayden LaVeau
Best Theme: Sam Crockett
Most Patriotic: Dylan Copley
Too Much Wind In The Sails: Riley Alsip
Went Down With His Ship: Trentin Sronce
Best Paint: Cobie Copley
Best Sails: Hayden LaVeau
Thank you and a great race to all the scouts who participated, including Bryan Walquist, Nickolas Shinn, Dalton Ledbetter, Hayden Laveau, Zuri Turner, Trentin Sronce, Riley Alsip, Andrew Brookshier, Kody Brookshier, Robbie Meyers, Austin Cohoon, Caleb Blankenbaker, Seth Blankenbaker, Sam Crockett, Cobie Copley, Dylan Copley, Matt McHaney, and Ben Bowlin! What a great group of kids!
Our next events will be our cub scout round up, in which new scouts will register for the cub scouts, and then begins our Popcorn Kickoff, in which we will sell popcorn to raise money for our Pack and fund a great year of events!
I would like to take a moment to thank the folks at the Metropolis City Pool, Big Johns, Sav-A-Lot, Sonic, and A&C Trucking of West Paducah for their generous help in making our end of year party a success!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A General Overview of the Trip in Pictures...
First, we had a great ride courtesy of Anchor Trailways Tour Bus Company. We arrived at the Aquarium, broke out lunch, got our tickets, and began our day in the fresh-water building. It is an amazing aquarium, several stories tall, in which you start at the top, and then work your way down from one zone to the next. Especially interesting were the sturgeon tank, in which you could touch the fish as they swam by, and then also the extremely large denizens of some of the world's rivers. Once we finished the fresh-water building, there is a plaza with interesting architectural features which led to the salt-water building. It is set up in a similar fashion. Besides the thousands of spectacular salt water fishes, the main feature is the huge ocean reef tank, which was home to a sea turtle, sharks, and nearly 4000 other fish! A highlight was the manta ray petting tank, and really amazing were the jellyfish tanks at the end.
Our trip was not without excitement, as the bus did not want to start at the end of the day! Storms were coming in, and we were all getting a little nervous about what we might do. But, it all worked out, and we made it to camp. As Joe Ogle, former Cubmaster and Unit Commissioner, and founder of our Pack would say, "The rougher the war, the better the story!" After dinner, we had a reverent flag ceremony, and the next day, we found our own wildlife friend, who enjoyed the apple we shared. After lunch, we loaded everybody back on the bus and had a great finish to a super weekend. Clay finishes up the slideshow, because he was in charge of the DVD's that were played on the bus, so was probably the key reason we had peace, although not so much quiet, on the ride home!
Summer Events!
Dear readers of the Cub Scout Pack 101 Blog,
This is Roger, the Cubmaster. I'm sorry it's been awhile since I last updated this page. I had hoped to get some pictures from the Rocket Regatta in May and the Cubmobile Race in June, but unfortunately, I haven't gotten those yet. So, I am pressing forward now, with lots of information from the previous events, and pictures from our latest adventure, our Summer Supertrip to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to see the aquarium there and to camp out with scouts and parents!
First, back in May, we had our last official regular year cub scout pack meeting, and during that meeting, we held our annual space derby. The scouts built rubber band powered balsa wood rockets, and we raced them neck and neck. Cobie Copley was the winner of the space derby. Seth Blankenbaker finished second, Dylan Copley finished third, Austin Cohoon finished fourth, and Grant Helm finished fifth. I want to congratulate all the boys who participated, also including Caleb Blankenbaker, Hayden LaVeau, Chris Runion, Trentin Sronce, John Bowman, Kody Brookshier, Nickolas Shinn, Dalton Ledbetter, and Zuri Turner.
Next, in June, we held our Cubmobile Race. We raced down 9th Street in the heat of a late June morning, with each boy have a great time! The winner of the Cubmobile race was Bryan Walquist. Second place went to Grant Helm, third wend to Nickolas Shinn, and fourth place went to Cobie Copley. The Wildest Ride award went to Ben Bowlin, and the Slow and Steady Award went to Riley Alsip. I want to congratulate all the boys who participated, also including Dylan Copley, Trentin Sronce, Zuri Turner, Julian Russell, and Zach Walquist.
Just a few days ago, at the end of July through the first of August, Pack 101 traveled to and returned from the most ambitious group event we have ever planned. A group of over 50 scouts and parents or guardians traveled by charter bus to take a day long excursion to the world famous Chattanooga Aquarium. While we were there, many of us took in the amazing sights of the aquariums (yes, there are two, one building for fresh water fish, and another building for salt water fish)and also watched an IMAX feature in 3-D! After we completed our day at the aquarium, we traveled to the beautiful Harrison Bay State Park, and camped overnight. While we camped, we had a nature hike, we ate good food, toasted s'mores, and participated in a reverent flag retirement ceremony led by scout leader Matt Alsip. We slept under the stars, and though weather threatened all day, and there was a point at which we thought the bus might not start, God looked over us and granted us a beautiful weekend in which everything we could have hoped to do with our scouts and parents, we DID. The next morning, we had breakfast, I taught many of the boys (and the girls too!) how to play washers, and we had a truly moving devotional moment that Sunday, led by scout leader Clay Blankenbaker. Our drive back was actually fun, too!
I want to take this time to thank our scouts, our parents, and our leaders, for organizing and participating in one of the best events our Pack has ever created for the boys. I want to thank the good folks at the Chattanooga Aquarium, who discounted our tickets. I want to thank Doug Knott, our wonderful driver of the Anchor Trailways tour bus, who was right there with us for most of our adventure. I thank Lisa Gower, our treasurer, for helping us to be creative with our funds and make this trip possible, and lastly, because we don't do it enough, I want to thank the folks at the United Methodist Church in Metropolis, our sponsor, who supplies us with rooms, and on days when we take trips, a safe place for our parents and leaders to park while we are gone.
Next, we will have our end of year Pool Party at the Metropolis City Pool. We will host this event on Saturday, August 14th, starting at 6 pm. While we have our pool party, we will also run our Raingutter Regatta, in which the scouts will race small wooden windpowered sailboats down two rain gutters. We hope that all of the scouts and parents of Pack 101 will come out to enjoy our final event of the Summer.
The pictures for the supertrip will follow in the next post.
One last thing: I have started a facebook page for our group. Please look for Metropolis Illinois Cub Scout Pack 101 and friend or like the group. Sometimes, it is easier and quicker for me to post short notes on facebook, and probably, there are more of us on facebook than there are folks who check out the blog. Thanks! See you at the Pool Party!
This is Roger, the Cubmaster. I'm sorry it's been awhile since I last updated this page. I had hoped to get some pictures from the Rocket Regatta in May and the Cubmobile Race in June, but unfortunately, I haven't gotten those yet. So, I am pressing forward now, with lots of information from the previous events, and pictures from our latest adventure, our Summer Supertrip to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to see the aquarium there and to camp out with scouts and parents!
First, back in May, we had our last official regular year cub scout pack meeting, and during that meeting, we held our annual space derby. The scouts built rubber band powered balsa wood rockets, and we raced them neck and neck. Cobie Copley was the winner of the space derby. Seth Blankenbaker finished second, Dylan Copley finished third, Austin Cohoon finished fourth, and Grant Helm finished fifth. I want to congratulate all the boys who participated, also including Caleb Blankenbaker, Hayden LaVeau, Chris Runion, Trentin Sronce, John Bowman, Kody Brookshier, Nickolas Shinn, Dalton Ledbetter, and Zuri Turner.
Next, in June, we held our Cubmobile Race. We raced down 9th Street in the heat of a late June morning, with each boy have a great time! The winner of the Cubmobile race was Bryan Walquist. Second place went to Grant Helm, third wend to Nickolas Shinn, and fourth place went to Cobie Copley. The Wildest Ride award went to Ben Bowlin, and the Slow and Steady Award went to Riley Alsip. I want to congratulate all the boys who participated, also including Dylan Copley, Trentin Sronce, Zuri Turner, Julian Russell, and Zach Walquist.
Just a few days ago, at the end of July through the first of August, Pack 101 traveled to and returned from the most ambitious group event we have ever planned. A group of over 50 scouts and parents or guardians traveled by charter bus to take a day long excursion to the world famous Chattanooga Aquarium. While we were there, many of us took in the amazing sights of the aquariums (yes, there are two, one building for fresh water fish, and another building for salt water fish)and also watched an IMAX feature in 3-D! After we completed our day at the aquarium, we traveled to the beautiful Harrison Bay State Park, and camped overnight. While we camped, we had a nature hike, we ate good food, toasted s'mores, and participated in a reverent flag retirement ceremony led by scout leader Matt Alsip. We slept under the stars, and though weather threatened all day, and there was a point at which we thought the bus might not start, God looked over us and granted us a beautiful weekend in which everything we could have hoped to do with our scouts and parents, we DID. The next morning, we had breakfast, I taught many of the boys (and the girls too!) how to play washers, and we had a truly moving devotional moment that Sunday, led by scout leader Clay Blankenbaker. Our drive back was actually fun, too!
I want to take this time to thank our scouts, our parents, and our leaders, for organizing and participating in one of the best events our Pack has ever created for the boys. I want to thank the good folks at the Chattanooga Aquarium, who discounted our tickets. I want to thank Doug Knott, our wonderful driver of the Anchor Trailways tour bus, who was right there with us for most of our adventure. I thank Lisa Gower, our treasurer, for helping us to be creative with our funds and make this trip possible, and lastly, because we don't do it enough, I want to thank the folks at the United Methodist Church in Metropolis, our sponsor, who supplies us with rooms, and on days when we take trips, a safe place for our parents and leaders to park while we are gone.
Next, we will have our end of year Pool Party at the Metropolis City Pool. We will host this event on Saturday, August 14th, starting at 6 pm. While we have our pool party, we will also run our Raingutter Regatta, in which the scouts will race small wooden windpowered sailboats down two rain gutters. We hope that all of the scouts and parents of Pack 101 will come out to enjoy our final event of the Summer.
The pictures for the supertrip will follow in the next post.
One last thing: I have started a facebook page for our group. Please look for Metropolis Illinois Cub Scout Pack 101 and friend or like the group. Sometimes, it is easier and quicker for me to post short notes on facebook, and probably, there are more of us on facebook than there are folks who check out the blog. Thanks! See you at the Pool Party!
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