Newsletter - January 2011
January 2011 - Road Work Ahead
Character Connection: Positive Attitude
What does it take to build our roads and bridges? Who builds our roads and what materials and equipment are used? Find out this month as you put on your construction hats and dig in! Arrange to tour road building equipment. Have a construction company foreman/owner come visit at your pack meeting. What vehicles travel the Cub Scout roads?
The core value highlighted this month is:
Positive Attitude: Being cheerful and setting our minds to look for and find the best in all situations. Through participating in a derby, chess match or other competitive event, boys will see the importance of having a positive attitude, regardless of the outcome of the game.
Do Your Best – One Bite at a Time
Remember that old joke about "How do you eat an Elephant?" This month, we can help boys be successful by teaching them to:
* Break a project down into sections
* Learn a new skill to do a project
* Practice the skill on a sample first
We can also teach them about the power of Positive Thinking – every athlete knows that even a difficult task becomes easier and more often fun if they first THINK they can do it and then do their best. Cub Scouts can learn to take pride in their accomplishments and know that doing their best is more important than winning or losing.
January 2011 Events
4 - (Tues) Den Meetings
11 - (Tues) Den Meetings
16 - (Sun) Outing: McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
18 - (Tues) Pack Meeting @ St. Kathryn's - 6:30 PM
25 - (Tues) Den Meetings
26 - (Wed) Committee Meeting
February 2011
1 - (Tues) Den Meetings
5 - (Sat) Event - Blue and Gold Banquet - St. Kathryn's - Hall A & B and kitchen reserved from 12-5
6 - (Sun) Scout Sunday
8 - (Tues) Den Meetings
15 - (Tues) Pack Meeting @ St. Kathryn's - 6:30 PM
22 - (Tues) Den Meetings
23 - (Wed) Committee Meeting
Monthly Reflection... Pinewood Derby Race
by Peggy Porter
My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to "dad". That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed. Finally, mom stepped in to see if she could figure this all out. The project began.
Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do and what we couldn't do. Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car. A little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom). Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids' cars and was feeling pretty proud of his "Blue Lightning", the pride that comes with knowing you did something on your own.
Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby car in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the big race. Once there my little one's pride turned to humility. Gilbert's car was obviously the only car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed.
A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert's lopsided, wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility, Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had "mom".
As the race began it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp. Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my wide eyed, shy eight year old asked if they could stop the race for a minute, because he wanted to pray. The race stopped.
Gilbert went to his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled brow he set to converse with his Father. He prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on his face and announced, 'Okay, I am ready."
As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second before Tommy's car. Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud "Thank You" as the crowd roared in approval.
The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to win, huh, Gilbert?" To which my young son answered, "Oh, no sir. That wouldn't be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I wouldn't cry when I lost."
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Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn't ask God to win the race, he didn't ask God to fix the outcome. Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn't cry out to God, "No fair, they had a father's help!" No, Gilbert went to his Heavenly Father for strength.
Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get us through the struggle. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13.
Gilbert's simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He never doubted that God would indeed answer his request. He didn't pray to win, thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to lose with dignity.
Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his Father also showed the crowd that he wasn't there without a "dad", but he also went away a winner that night, with his Father at his side.
May we all learn to pray this way.
Pinewood Derby Web Sites
(March 19 - (Sat) Event - Pack 252 Pinewood Derby - @ St. Kathryn's - 11 AM - 3 PM)
Official Pinewood Derby Website - Boy Scouts of America
http://www.pinewoodderby.org/
www.USScouts.org Pinewood Reference Pages
http://usscouts.org/pinewood.asp
Pinewood Derby Pack Night Ideas
There are a lot Car related and Pinewood Derby related ideas in the December 2007 Edition of Baloo's Bugle, "Cub Scout Car Show."
Pope's Pinewood Pages Portal
The Pope's have created their site by selecting information so that it does not duplicate what you can find elsewhere on the Internet. It includes original material on Pinewood Derby race management and race car design, 2-liter pop bottle rocket launcher, Cub Scout Roundtable, and other Scouting topics, as well as a few personal insights by Stan and Barb Pope.
Pope's Pages - http://stanpope.net/pwportal.html
The book, " "Learn to Build A Winner" http://stanpope.net/lbw_apl.html
Crafts
Art-rageous cars: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/artsand-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11738
Toilet Tube Racer: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/artsand-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11416
Car Party Ideas:
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/birthday/feature/famf1001_racecarbday/
Pinewood Derby Driver’s License:
http://www.pinewoodpro.com/pinewood-derby-carracing-license.htm
Pinewood Derby Activities Manual by "A Bunch of Old Guys and a Track"
http://grandprix-racecentral.com/downloads/activities_booklet.pdf
Link to lots of pinewood derby websites with useful information:
http://www.scoutingthenet.com/Derbys/
http://www.three-peaks.net/pinecar.htm
