Latest News

(updated November 30, 2005)

SPELL IT HONESTY

You may have heard the word "ethics" before. Sometimes you hear your parents or teachers use words but they don’t always explain what those words mean. Let me tell you a story about a Scout who showed the true definition of the word ethics and of scouting.

His name is Andrew J. Flosdorf, and in 1983 he was a 1st Class Scout in Troop 42 of Fonda, NY. Andy was in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, competing for the championship and a chance for a scholarship. During a break in the competition, Andy went to the judges and told them that although they thought he had spelled "echolalia" correctly, he had mistakenly substituted an "e" for the first "a" in the word, which means a speech disorder. He said he discovered his error when he looked it up afterwards.

By admitting the mistake, that the judges hadn't caught, Andy eliminated himself from the competition. The chief judge said, "We want to commend him for his utter honesty," and the crowd gave him an ovation. But Andy didn't tell them about his error to earn cheers. He wanted to win as much as the other contestants, but he wanted to win fairly. "The first rule of Scouting is honesty," Andy told the judges. "I didn't want to feel like a slime. " I don't know what has happened to Andy Flosdorf since then, but I'm sure of two things. He learned one of Scouting's most important lessons, and gave us an example of honesty and fairness that all of us should shoot for.

So you see, having ethics and doing the right thing is never easy. It’s sometimes the hardest thing in the world to do. But by doing it, you honor not only yourself, but those who have gone before you and given you the knowledge of what is right and wrong. Sometimes “A good turn daily” means you do something for yourself that benefits others.

Start thinking about this years pinewood derby car designs. This scout year pinewood derby will be held on Friday night (1/20/2006) instead of Saturday morning. The Pack does not have to pay the school if we do this during a weekday. Check-in for cars will be Thursday 1/19/2005. Times for check-in and race will be posted on the Pack Calendar in scout track and in the December News Letter. Rules for building the cars and the race will be handed out at the December Pack meeting and will be posted on the Pack web site. If a parent can help with Pinewood please contact me or Johnny Fougeron.

Wow, we had a GREAT campout! 24 families joined us at Thousand Trails campgrounds. The campgrounds were very clean and the facilities had something for everyone. The pack held two flag football games (WEBLOS/Bear and Wolf/Tiger) providing the opportunity for 24 scouts to earn their Flag Football Belt Loop. Many scouts took advantage of the miniature golf, tennis, basketball, and much more. Some scouts were able to earn their Table Tennis Belt Loop. Mr. Eric Ruckstuhl, botanist extraordinaire, led a group of scouts on an information filled hike through the woods. All scouts that camped overnight in the park will be awarded a camping patch from the park. Other special events included our Cub Master, Joel Hopper, conducting several Flag retirement ceremonies, a wonderful dinner prepared by Den 2 Leader Wayne Hancy and his Panther Patrol, and our traditional making and consuming of SMORES. Our Pack received several compliments from the families camping around us and from the Thousand Trails staff, each wanting to tell us how well behaved our Pack was and that it was a pleasure to be around us! Thousand Trails informed me that we are welcome back ANY TIME we want. I want to congratulate the kids for being so well behaved and the parents for watching over them; GREAT JOB!

We are looking forward to our next campout in the spring when Trey Saunders will take over the Outings Chair. We will need support and are looking for volunteers to assist with the camping committee.

Charter Organization Representative:	Courtney Cravin
Committee Chairperson:	Rob Miller
Cub Master:	Joel Hopper
Assistant Cub Master:	Jeff Johnson
Awards Chairperson:	Kim Hancy/ Mary Lou Miller
Secretary Chairperson:	Wayne Hancy
Outings Chairperson:	Trey Saunders
Fundraiser Chairperson:	VACANT
Race Chairperson:	Johnny Fougeron
Pack Trainer:	Charlotte Brown
Membership/Registration Chairperson:	Debbie Saunders
Treasurer Chairperson:	Tiffany Johnson

Pack 978 has experienced a few changes of the past few months and I would like to take this time to introduce the new Pack 978 Leaders. The Charter Organization Representative and Committee Chairperson were just approved by the Farney PTO last month. Many of these positions will be vacant next year so we are looking to get new people into them while there is ample time to transition the job and knowledge. If anyone is interested in joining the committee or assisting with many of our events please talk directly to any committee member, Cub Master, or your Den Leader. These are fun jobs and support a great organization.