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:

Photos from Building the Float