Happy New Year!

First off, I’d like to say THANK YOU to all of the scouts and parents who participated in the Christmas Parade, the Food Drive, and Christmas Caroling! Our Pack was awarded the First Place in the Christmas Parade for our age group! Also, several of our scouts won the drawings for the extra popcorn prizes that were offered district-wide. Our own Ben Bowlin won a playstation 3! Congratulations, scouts!

PINEWOOD DERBY 2011
Our Pinewood Derby will be held January 25th up at the United Methodist Church. Scouts need to CHECK IN at 6:30 p.m. Please be there on time. Scouts sign in, cars are weighed, and any last minute adjustments are done. We begin racing at 7:00 p.m. Rules for the derby are short and sweet:

FOR CUB SCOUTS: You must follow the rules for building the pinecar in your pinewood derby kit. You must use the official kit supplied to you by the Cub Scouts. If you need additional kits, you can purchase them from Pack 101 for $5.00. Your cars must use the block of wood and all of the stock parts which come in the kit. It must be the specified wheelbase, axle height, length, width, and weight (5.0 ounces or less). You can add weights, wood, and other parts as long as the car stays within the stated guidelines. A dry graphite-based lubricant can be used on the wheels. My advice is to apply the lubricant after you have completely finished the car. If you need to double-check the weight of your vehicle, you can do so at the Metropolis Post Office.

FOR OPEN CLASS RACERS: You must begin with an official pinecar kit. The wheelbase, axle height, and overall width of the vehicle must be as specified in the kit. However, most everything else can be modified. Although you must use the block of wood as the body, exactly how much of it you is is up to you (meaning, at least some part of the body must be made from the original block of wood). The wheels, axles, weight, and just about every other aspect of the vehicle is OPEN for interpretation (which is why it is called the Open Class). I will make any final decision about whether or not a car will be allowed to race. For example, if the car won't fit on the track, or if racing the car would damage the track, it will not be allowed to race. If you are unsure whether or not a modified car you wish to run will be allowed to race, please contact me ahead of time (618) 524-8340 or pugh@shawneelink.net.

Many awards will be handed out. So, having a fast racer might be great, but having a unique design, or an interesting paint job, or an unusual use of material will also be recognized, as well as many, many other attributes. We look forward to seeing you there!

RECYCLABLE SNOWMANCONTEST 2011
Every year at the Pinewood Derby, we also hold a contest for each den to make a snowman, but not just any snowman. In the past, we have made edible snowmen, in which all the parts have to be foodstuffs. However, we realized that wasting food when there are people in our own community who need food was just not the right message to send to our scouts. So, we decided this year to have a recyclable snowman contest, in which each den will make a small snowman or winter scene featuring a snowman from any materials that have been repurposed for this project. That might include cardboard, cans, plastic wrap, or any old thing that you can recycle into a snowman!

SCOUT SUNDAY 2011
Every year, the United Methodist Church recognizes Pack 101, and invites us to join them for church on Sunday. This is our opportunity to honor their support of our Pack and be thankful for the space, time, and facilities they devote to us as well. Please plan on joining the United Methodist Church parishioners for Scout Sunday on February 13th. Worship service starts at 10:00 a.m. Scouts and leaders should wear their uniforms.

BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET 2011
The next big event in our calendar is THE BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET, a special scout event held in place of our February Pack Meeting, on Saturday, February 26th. This year’s theme for our Blue and Gold Banquet will be “Camping Out,” and our potluck will be traditional scout camp food. The First Baptist Church Family Life Center will host our event. It is located at the intersection of 6th and Catherine Street. If you turn at the DQ, it is one block down on the left. Each den has been assigned some specific foods to bring. If you’re not sure what that is, please contact your den leader. People need to show up with their food dishes at approximately 5:30 p.m. The banquet itself will begin at 6:00 p.m., and the program will begin at 7:00 p.m.

EVERYONE in your scout’s life is invited---mom, dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, in-laws and outlaws. We will supply the main course, drinks, and dessert. We ask each family to bring one of the dishes we asked their dens to prepare, so that our banquet table will be bountiful. It is very important that you RSVP to me the TOTAL number of people in your family, including your scout, who will be attending the banquet. We need to know how many tables to set up and how much of the main dish, drinks, and other supplies we will need to buy. PLEASE, RSVP by February 18th by mail, phone, email, or facebook. My address is 113 Lindsey, Metropolis, IL, 62960.. My phone is (618) 524-8340, my email is pugh@shawneelink.net, and our facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Metropolis-Illinois-Cub-Scout-Pack-101/133467963360177

What is so special about the Blue and Gold Banquet? This is the celebration of the anniversary of Scouting. This is also the time at which we recognize, through official ceremony, the crossing over of Webelos II scouts from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. From that moment on, they are Webelos II no longer. The larger adventure of scouting awaits them. The entire Pack participates in this advancement. We look forward to seeing you there!

November and December Calendar Events:

REMINDER: POPCORN MONEY TURN-IN WILL HAPPEN THIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23RD, UP AT THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH AT 7 PM. PACK ACCOUNTANT LISA GOWER WILL SETTLE UP ALL POPCORN ORDERS. YOU MUST TURN IN YOUR POPCORN ORDER AT THIS TIME. OUR MEETING WILL BE UPSTAIRS BECAUSE THE BASEMENT WILL BE IN USE BY THE CHURCH.

THIS MEETING IS ALSO OUR PACK MEETING, BUT IT WILL BE INFORMAL. AS YOU COMPLETE YOUR POPCORN MONEY TURN-IN, WE WILL AWARD ANY ADVANCEMENTS YOUR SCOUT HAS EARNED, AND WILL ALSO PRESENT HIM WITH HIS PINEWOOD DERBY KIT FOR THE UPCOMING PINEWOOD DERBY. THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE.

There are several more important events coming up on our calendar. They are listed below. Please contact your den leader with any questions!

Thursday, December 2nd: Christmas Float Building. We invite the whole pack to participate. We will meet at Jared and Afton English’s home at 3955 Macedonia Church Road at 6 p.m. The easiest directions to the house from Metropolis is to take 45 North towards Joppa, and turn right on Macedonia Church Road. Stay on it until you have to turn right. The house is less than a quarter mile down the road from the turn. We will be working in a heated barn, but please dress for cold weather work. Our theme is Camping and Christmas! Parents, please bring any old, unwanted Christmas decorations or camping gear that you no longer use, and we will recycle it one more time for the float before those items hits the trash! Hot chocolate and cookies will be provided.

Saturday, December 4th: We will participate in the Christmas Parade. We will gather at the Washington Park area at approximately12:45 p.m. Scouts and parents who will walk with us, please dress accordingly! If scouts wish to throw candy, they may, but parents, you need to supply candy for your scout. The parade goes from Washington Park to the Market Street area. We ask for parents to meet us to pick up their scouts at the new fire station across from the Sav-A-Lot. Please make your way there after the parade. Leaders will stay in that area until all scouts are picked up.

Because we have been so blessed in our popcorn sale, we have decided to give back to the community with a food drive for COPE (Christian Outreach Program Emergency). COPE has helped families in need in Metropolis since the 1970’s.

Saturday, December 11th: Food Drive. We will be positioned at Big John’s, Sav-A-Lot, the Dollar Store, Family Dollar, and Pat’s Market from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. taking donations of food. Please see the attached flyer for general information. Contact your den leader and/or Melissa Rushing (270) 994-2645 for details about the times and places scouts will be scheduled to man the tables.

Thursday, December 16th: Christmas Carolling, Pack Meeting, and Popcorn Prize distribution. We begin by meeting up at the United Methodist Church parking lot before 5 p.m. At 5 p.m., we will carpool and caravan to the different assisted living centers in Metropolis, singing Christmas carols at each stop. If you can’t make it at 5p.m., please stop by later, and we will give you a schedule of events, and you can catch up. At approximately 7 p.m., we will meet back up at the basement of the church and have hot chocolate and cookies, award any advancements, and distribute the popcorn prizes that the boys have earned. We will hand out information about the upcoming Pinewood Derby, which happens during the January Pack Meeting.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Cub Scouts and C.O.P.E.
A GREAT Combination!

Cub Scout Pack 101, Metropolis Illinois will be collecting food items for those in need on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the following locations:

Big Johns
Sav-A-Lot
The Dollar Store
Family Dollar
Pat’s Market (in Brookport)

While you shop, pick up an extra food item for donation to C.O.P.E. and drop it off at our table. Please help make a difference for many families this holiday season.

God Bless You!

November Pack Meeting and Popcorn Money Turn In!

SCOUTS AND PARENTS: We will meet on November 23rd, 7 pm on the FIRST FLOOR of the United Methodist Church. This is our PACK MEETING, AND our popcorn reconciliation night, during which you MUST turn in your popcorn sales to us. Our treasurer, Lisa Gower, will settle up all popcorn accounts at that time. We will also give out Pinewood Derby cars to the scouts. SEE YOU THERE!

Last Weekend, and this coming Week....

On October 23rd, Matt's Flaming Arrows camped out at Fort Massac, and informally invited any other scout accompanied by a parent to camp out too. The event was very well attended. Please friend our facebook page and see many of the pictures and comments about the event.

This coming Tuesday, October 26th, is our Halloween/Fall Festival Pack Meeting. Leaders need to be at the Methodist Church at about 6:30, for scouts to show up at 7 pm. Parents, remember to bring a bag of sealed candy!

We had a record-breaking popcorn sale! Thank you to all scouts who participated. We will be getting popcorn on November 6th, and your leaders should be delivering it parents and scouts by that afternoon.

Go See It at Fort Massac

I want to thank all of the wonderful scouts, parents, leaders and staff who attended the event at the Fort. We looked like an invading army. For having such a huge group, I commend all of the scouts (and their parents) for behaving so well. I hope the scouts learned something and had some fun!

One of the scouts, Lucas Stahl, had to leave early because he cut his forehead on the flat end of a nail at the Fort. He is just fine, but we missed him. I'm glad he is okay.

Here are some pictures of the event. Remember, that we have our Pack meeting next Tuesday, September 28th, at 7 pm in the United Methodist Church basement. See you there!

The September Newsletter

Welcome and Welcome Back, Scouts, Parents, and Leaders of Pack 101!

There are many things happening in scouting over the next month or so. Meeting times are set for our groups, but some groups may change, depending if we need to form additional Dens.

Tiger Cub Den 5: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm; Tiger Cub Den 15: Meets Thursdays at 6 pm
Wolf Den 4: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm; Wolf Den 14: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm
Bear Den 3: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm; Bear Den 13: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm
Webelos I Den 2: Meets Thursdays at 6 pm; Webelos II Den 1: Meets Tuesdays at 7 pm

Each week we will meet (unless otherwise directed by your leader). For Tigers Cubs ONLY, we meet regularly on the first and second week, and then take a small trip called a “Go See It” on the third week.

FOR EVERYBODY, the fourth Tuesday of every month is our PACK MEETING. During that week, instead of meeting in our dens, we all gather as a Pack and have awards, advancements, and any special events that we will do.

Find your group and mark your calendar. All meetings up at the UM Church in Metropolis unless otherwise noted:

Tuesday, September 14th: Tiger Den 5, 6 pm, Wolfs, 6pm, Bears, 6 pm, Webelos II, 7 pm.

Thursday September16th: Tiger Den 15, 6 pm, Webelos I, 6 pm.

Tuesday, September 21st: Tiger Cubs, Den 5 and 15, GO SEE IT! We will meet at 6 pm up at the Fort Massac Museum and Visitor’s Center. Wolfs, Bears, Webelos I and Webelos II are also invited to attend and have this meeting take the place of their regular meetings. Talk to your individual leader about that.

Tuesday, September 28th: PACK MEETING, 7 pm up at the UM Church basement. We will hand out individual awards and advancements and go over our next events.

We have officially begun our Popcorn sale! This is the one fundraiser we do which has enabled us to put on a great program for the boys every year. We are able to supply all of the kits for our contests, food when we cook out, and pay expenses for the trips we take because the boys work so diligently to meet the goals of the Pack. Even though it involves time, you will find that when a scout takes an order for popcorn, it practically sells itself! Metropolis and the surrounding communities really support our scouting program and many people are looking forward to an opportunity to order from your scout.

When a scout sells popcorn, remember to be safe. First, if the scout has a uniform, he should wear his uniform. People expect and respect it. Second, scouts should not go out and sell alone. Parents or guardians should accompany him. Third, remember that this is the time we TAKE ORDERS only; scouts are not handling money at this time. This is also a good sales strategy. A good approach goes something like this: “Hello, I am taking orders for popcorn for the Cub Scouts Pack 101. Would you like to order something? Our Chocolate Covered Popcorn tastes really great!” They may look at your order, or place an order. If they are not interested in popcorn, show them that there are other items than popcorn, and make them aware that if they want, they can make a military donation, in which the popcorn they buy will be sent overseas to our troops around the world. If they are not sure about ordering now, let them know that you are only taking orders now, and are not collecting money. A person only pays for his or her popcorn when it is delivered.

Sales goals per scout are as follows: Tigers: Let’s shoot for selling $200 per scout! Wolfs, let’s shoot for $300 per scout; Bears, let’s shoot for $400 per scout; Webelos I, let’s shoot for $500 per scout, and Webelos II, let’s shoot for $750 per scout! These are all do-able goals. However, whether you can reach this individual goal or not, I want you to DO YOUR BEST! Every order taken helps to make this Pack go!

Important Dates For the Popcorn Sale. Information about all the prizes the boys can earn:

The take order part of the sale (going door to door, taking orders) begins NOW. Everybody should have gotten the take order forms at your den meetings. If you did not, please see your leader or see me and we’ll get you what you need to start!

The take order part of the sale officially ends the week of October 18th. You will need to turn in your order forms to your leader at the den meeting you have that week. I have to submit popcorn order to the council office by NOON on October 22nd, so we can’t be late with those forms.

Saturday, November 6th is the popcorn pick up date. Leaders will have your popcorn by that afternoon.

Scouts will have until November 21st to deliver popcorn and to collect money for popcorn sales.

We will officially collect all monies for popcorn orders on Monday, November 23rd. We will meet up at the UM Church beginning at 7 pm. This meeting will take the place of our November Pack meeting. You MUST turn in your popcorn money to us at that time. We can not turn our popcorn sales in late, or our whole Pack will lose a substantial bonus from our Council for turning the money in on time.

Scouts, it’s up to you to make this happen! For each den which makes its sales goals on average, Pack 101 will throw your den a PIZZA Party! There are lots of great prizes offered by Trail's End that you should shoot for. In addition to the pizza party and the prizes the boys will earn from Trail's End, our Council and District offer great prize incentives for each boy, too!

Parents, each week, you need to report to your den leaders how much in popcorn order your scout has taken. For every $50 of popcorn sold per scout each week, we get to enter that scout in a council wide drawing for PRIZES, and at the end of the drawing, on October 22nd there will be a council wide drawing for a NEW BIKE!

For every $250 sold per scout, in addition to being entered in the $50 drawing, your scout will also be entered into a drawing for a $75 gift card from Gamestop. For every $500 sold per scout, the scout will be entered into a drawing for a new LAPTOP COMPUTER!! For every $600 sold per scout, the scout will receive a MARSHMALLOW CROSSBOW in addition to any other prizes they earn from Trail's End.

If a boy sells more than $1500, he will receive and additional $50 from Trails' End (typically a Wal Mart gift card); If a boys sells more than $2500 in popcorn, they will also earn a college scholarship fund from Trail's End, based on the amount of popcorn sold.

For every page of orders a boy fills up, he will be entered into a drawing for a PLAYSTATION 3!!!

For every boy that sells more than $500, Pack 101 will pay their registration fees for next year. For every boy that sells more than $750, Pack 101 will pay their registration fees and give them a CASH BACK BONUS based on their total sales. If a scout has already paid his registration fee, we will either refund his fee (CASH BACK BONUS) or apply it to the following year! One more thing, in addition to that, we will have mystery houses around Metropolis. If a boy comes to the door of the mystery house, even if the person there does not order popcorn, they will report to me that this scout has visited, and that scout will receive a SPECIAL MYSTERY GIFT from Pack 101 at the end of the sale.

Here’s an example or two of what we did because of our great popcorn sale last year:









Please stay connected to Pack 101 by “LIKING” us on facebook, by searching for Metropolis Illinois Cub Scout Pack 101. Follow our blog at http://cubscoutpack101.blogspot.com As always, if you have a question, please email me at pugh@shawneelink.net, or call me at (618) 524-8340.

Meeting times, places

At present, all meetings will be held at the UM Church in Metropolis.

Tiger Den 5: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm

Tiger Den 15: Meets Thursdays at 6 pm

Wolf Den 4: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm

Wolf Den 14: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm

Bear Den 3: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm

Bear Den 13: Meets Tuesdays at 6 pm

Webelos I Den 2: Meets Thursdays at 6 pm

Webelos II Den 1: Meets Tuesdays at 7 pm

We have already recruited leaders for the new Wolf den, and should have help for the Webelos II den; we still need to recruit leaders for the Tiger Cubs, and for the new Bear Den we are creating. Recruiting leaders is a great problem to have!

Pictures from the round up!

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

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!

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!

Flag Retirement Ceremony

During our trip to Chattanooga, we had the honor of retiring Old Glory.

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!

New Newsletter:

I mailed new newsletters out Saturday morning, but I am including the text of the newsletter here in case you don't get it:

Old business:

Back in February, on the 14th, we represented ourselves well at Scout Sunday at the United Methodist Church in Metropolis. Dozens of scouts and their parents were in attendance, and we couldn’t have asked for a better group to show our appreciation to our sponsor organization.

Next, Leslie Bates awarded the Arrow of Light to five scouts at this year’s Blue and Gold Banquet, on February 27th. We had over 130 people in attendance to enjoy a wonderful barbecue buffet, and to witness a beautiful ceremony in which Caleb Ashley, Patrick Harville, Doug Bates, Braden Stamme, and Zachary Walquist bridged over from Cub Scouts and became the newest members of Boy Scout Troop 101.

The next weekend, they acquitted themselves well at their first boy scout event, a weekend campout at Dixon Springs.
-----------------------------------

New business:

March Pack Meeting: March 23rd, 7 pm, United Methodist Church basement. We will hand out any awards or advancements earned by the boys.
------------------------------------

Tuesday, April 6th, 7 pm: Kite building workshop. All members of the Pack and their parents are asked to come to the kite building workshop in preparation for the Pack’s Kite Flying Contest. When we make a kite, we do it the old-fashioned way! No store bought kites! We will instruct the scouts on how to make their own kites. Right now the Den leaders are discussing with their scouts the different kinds of materials from which you can make a kite. Seriously, paper bags, trash bags, old newspaper, sticks, dowel rods, even visqueen and pvc pipe, any of these materials can make a kite. Oh, don’t forget string, and rags for a tail! So, it shouldn’t cost very much (if anything) to get materials for a great kite. Please bring the materials you will use for your kite with you. We will have some building materials there as well. Go to http://www.int.gu.edu.au/~anthony/kites/ for many different kite plans.
--------------------------------------

Friday and Saturday, April 9th and/or 10th: Scout-a-rama at Stewart Nelson Park in Paducah. This is not a mandatory event, but would be a lot of fun if you want your scout to take part in a wide variety of events, and have the chance to earn some awards that require special training, like the archery and BB gun beltloops. Please contact your den leader or me for more information.
---------------------------------------

Saturday, April 24th, 10 AM, Trout Pond Shelter, Massac Park: Pack Meeting, Kite Flying Contest, and grilling out! You supply the kite, and we supply the food. After the contest, we will gather over at the pavillion nearest to Trout Pond for lunch. During lunch, we will give out awards for each Den’s flyers, and award a grand prize for the overall Best Flyer.

In the event of rain, we will postpone the contest until 1 pm the next day, Sunday, April 25th.
---------------------------------------

Saturday, May 22nd, 10 AM, Trout Pond Shelter, Massac Park: Pack Meeting, Space Derby, and grilling out! This will be our last official regular pack meeting of this scouting year. At this meeting, we will hold our Space Derby, in which boys build rubber band powered rockets and race them for fun and prizes! After our pack meeting, we will grill out and announce our schedule of summer events.
--------------------------------------

During the summer, we don’t have regular den meetings, but once a month, we gather together to have a special event. In June, we will have our Cubmobile Race, which is a soapbox derby race in which the boys race cars downhill over on 9th street between Girard and Catherine streets. In July, we will have a Supertrip, in which scouts and parents will travel together to a unique destination in our area. In years past, we have went to Mammoth Cave, Land Between the Lakes, and the St. Louis Zoo. Then, in August, we will have our end of summer pool party at the Metropolis Pool and also hold our rain gutter regatta.

I hope to see you at all the upcoming events!

Pictures From the Pinewood Derby

Here are pictures from the Pinewood Derby and Edible Snowman Contest. Enjoy! Coming soon: Pictures from the Blue and Gold, and the next newsletter!

Blue and Gold, and Future Events...

There will be pictures from the Pinewood Derby, and from the recent Blue and Gold banquet, as soon as I get a little time to work on them.

We have several more fun events planned for the Spring! Stay tuned!

Pinewood Derby and Blue and Gold

First off, I’d like to say THANK YOU to all of the scouts and parents who participated in the Christmas Parade in December, Christmas Carroling, and our Pinewood Derby! Our Pack was awarded the Third Place in the Christmas Parade, our best showing yet!

We held our Pinewood Derby on January 26th up at the Church. We nearly had 50 participants, making it one of our largest derbies ever. I want to thank everybody for participating, all of the leaders for their supervision, and all of the parents and families for supporting your scouts! Pictures of the Derby and of each den were taken by the folks up at the Metropolis Planet. You can see the pictures at The Metropolis Planet and when our pictures are posted, you can view them here.

Even though our event was a terrific success, it has come to my attention that despite our best efforts, a couple of mistakes occurred. First, it's possible that one boy's time was recorded incorrectly. The parents of the boy were writing their scout’s times down because they were texting their friends about his participation in the race. Their texts are different than the time we recorded, which would have made a difference in the race. I think it is right and fair that we recognize the boy without taking away the accomplishments of anyone else. Second, it looks like in another case, the time was recorded correctly, but the best times weren't circled. Again, I am not pointing fingers here. One leader recorded the times, another reviewed them for the awards, and I looked at them again while I was reading them off. Mistakes happen, and it is not a matter of negligence nor maliciousness. However, one boy was upset when he realized that his time should’ve been recognized and wasn’t. The first boy, for whom there might have been a time discrepancy, was Austin Cohoon. The other boy, whose time wasn’t recognized during the race, was Cobie Copley. I am proud of both of these boys. My sincerest apology goes out to them, and my gratitude to the folks who made me aware of our mistake.

Pinewood Derby Race Winners:
TIGERS
1st: Dalton Ledbetter; 2nd: Austin Cohoon; 3rd: Kody Brookshier; 4th: Nickolas Shinn; 5th: Matt Helm; 6th: Grant Helm; 7th: Jacob Mitchell; 8th: AJ Heine; 9th: AC Heine; 10th: Hayden LaVeau; 11th: Andy Sutton; 12th: Ralph Richardson; 13th: Bryan Walquist
WOLFS
1st: Tristen White; 2nd: Seth Blankenbaker; 3rd: Dylan Copley; 4th: Chris Runion; 5th: Carson McKee; 6th: Samuel Crockett; 7th: Tristen Hoxworth; 8th: Matt McHaney; 9th: Stetson Ramey; 10th: John Bowman; 11th: Caleb Holman; 12th: Julian Russell; 13th: Ethan Atkinson; 14th: Robbie Myers; 15th: Lucas Stahl
BEARS
1st: Riley Alsip; 2nd: Ben Bowlin; 3rd: Caleb Blankenbaker; 4th: Cobie Copley; 5th: Seth Clausen; 6th: Payton Adams
WEBELOS I
1st: Teige Heckenlaible; 2nd: Trentin Scronce; 3rd: Noah Carter
WEBELOS II
1st: Caleb Ashley; 2nd: Doug Bates; 3rd: Zachary Walquist; 4th: Patrick Harvill; 5th: Braden Stamme

Award for Outstanding Design: Tristan Hoxworth; Best Use of Materials: Braden Stamme; Unique Car: Matt Helm; Scout Theme: Riley Alsip; The BRICK Award: Zachary Walquist

We would like to congratulate Adam Cohoon and the Tiger Cubs for winning the Edible Snowman contest this year! Adam’s scouts received the award of a pizza party for their den, and made one of the most inventive snowmen (a Jamaican snowman made of meatballs!) I’ve ever seen.
I also want to thank everybody who was present for Scout Sunday up at the United Methodist Church on the 14th. We had a great turn out.


The next big event in our calendar is THE BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET, a special scout event held in place of our February Pack Meeting, on Saturday, February 27th. This year’s theme for our Blue and Gold Banquet will be “One Hundred Years of Scouting,” and our potluck will be a traditional barbecue. The First Christian Church in Metropolis (across from the Dairy Queen) will host our event. People need to show up with their food dishes at 5:30 p.m. Each den has been assigned some specific foods to bring. If you’re not sure what that is, please contact your den leader. The banquet itself will begin at 6:00 p.m., and the program will begin at 7:00 pm.

EVERYONE in your scout’s life is invited---mom, dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, in-laws and outlaws. We will supply the main course, drinks, and dessert. We ask each family to bring one of the dishes we asked each den to prepare, so that our banquet table will be bountiful. It is very important that you RSVP to me the TOTAL number of people in your family, including your scout, who will be attending the banquet. We need to know how many tables to set up and how much of the main dish, drinks, and other supplies we will need to buy. PLEASE, RSVP to me by mail, by phone, or by email. My address is 113 Lindsey, Metropolis, IL, 62960. My phone is 618) 524-8340, and my email is pugh@shawneelink.net. PLEASE RSVP me back!

What is so special about the Blue and Gold Banquet? This is the celebration of the anniversary of Scouting. This is also the time at which we recognize, through official ceremony, the crossing over of Webelos II scouts from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. From that moment on, they are Webelos II no longer. The larger adventure of scouting awaits them. The entire Pack participates in this advancement. We look forward to seeing you there!

THE PINEWOOD DERBY

The time has come once again for the Pinewood Derby! The Pinewood Derby will begin on Tuesday January 26th, at the United Methodist Church basement. Weigh in will be at 6:30 pm. We will begin racing promptly at 7:00 pm. This will also be our Pack meeting for January. Besides having a great race, we will also judge our edible snowman contest. Winners of the snowman contest will get a pizza party for their Den, courtesy of Pack 101.

I hope to see you all there!

Events coming up: Blue and Gold Banquet, February 27th.

See you on Tuesday!

Christmas Carolling and Pack Meeting..

Scouts, this Tuesday, December 15th, we are going to go Christmas Carolling and then have our pack meeting. We will begin by meeeting up at the UM Church parking lot at 5 pm. We will carpool and caravan, scouts and parents, from one assisted living center to the next, until about 7 pm. Then we will all convene back at the church for cookies, hot cocoa, advancements, and GIVING OUT THE POPCORN PRIZES. Two of our scouts won prizes in the Council-wide give-aways.

ITINERARY:
5 pm: Meet at the Church, get music books for carolling from Leslie Bates. Carpool and caravan to these assisted living centers:

Southgate
MNRC
Twin Oaks
Krypton House

Leslie will have the exact order and a sheet with the addresses for each place.

7pm: Reconvene at the church basement for our Pack meeting. We will have hot cocoa and cookies, advancements, popcorn prizes, checks for top sellers, and two special prizes for boys who won items from the Council-wide drawings.

This will be the last event we have until January. In January, we will have our edible snowman contest and a little thing we do called the Pinewood Derby!

The Christmas Parade

First, I want to thank everyone who participated. We had a great turn out. Scouts, our float took 3rd place in the float judging! That is awesome! This is the first time we ever even placed in the judging. The judges later told us that it was the enthusiasm, smiles, waves, and wishes of "Merry Christmas" that came from the boys that made the difference for them. So CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY!

Here are some photos from the parade: