October 2002

Edited by Jon C. Halter
Illustration by Bill Basso

You asked for it!

As a Good Turn, our pack manned the "water stops" along the route of a road race held to benefit the local humane society. The morning was hot and humid and my Cub Scouts did their best to hand a cup of water to each runner who passed our table.

Instead of reaching for a drink, one runner said, "Hit me!" Not being runners, we didn't know what that meant. He repeated, "Hit me!" several times, then said, "Throw a cup of water on me!!"

Before the runner moved out of range, one of us was able to comply with his request.

Then all went well—until another runner said, "Hit me!" Now aware of what that meant, all the Cub Scouts responded simultaneously, and I was afraid we would have to resuscitate a nearly drowned runner.

We cautioned the Cub Scouts to control their enthusiasm for "hit" requests, and the remainder of the race went off without a hitch.

Chuck Larkin
Former Cubmaster
Lilburn, Ga.

Staying in Philly's 'Hotel Whatever'

En route to the 2001 National Scout Jamboree, Jamboree Troop 2023 of the Utah National Parks Council visited Niagara Falls, New York City, and Philadelphia. As our bus exited the freeway for the City of Brotherly Love, the driver pointed out our hotel, a tall building with a large green sign on top.

After the Scouts were settled into their rooms, we collected the boys' dirty clothes, and took a taxicab to a self-service laundry (where we met some leaders from two other troops doing their Scouts' laundry). We finished at about 2 a.m. and telephoned for a cab to return to the hotel.

But when the dispatcher asked me what hotel, I realized we'd left everything containing the hotel name back at the hotel. "It's something green," one leader noted. "But that was just a green sign," another pointed out.

"It was next to a police station," I offered.

"We have 16 police stations in this city," the dispatcher countered.

Finally, a Scouter took out his cell phone and called his wife in Orem, Utah, where it was about 12:30 a.m. She checked the trip itinerary on the kitchen bulletin board and sleepily told him that we were staying at the Hawthorn Suites.

Informed of our destination, the dispatcher sent a cab for us. And although we were very tired the next day, the boys looked great in their clean uniforms.

Gerald Carter
Varsity Coach, Team 227
Provo, Utah

A pearl of (practical) wisdom

My youngest son and five friends joined Cub Scouts as members of the same den and later crossed over together into Boy Scouts. During their five years as Cub Scouts, I served as a den leader, and we shared many adventures and "teachable moments."

They had been Boy Scouts for a couple of years when we found ourselves together on an outing. Cody, one of the former Cub Scouts, came up to me and said, "Ms. Nora, I'll always remember what you taught us in Cub Scouts..."

I waited for Cody to reveal what enduring pearl of inspirational wisdom I had provided to him and his fellow Scouts. The result, however, was not quite what I had anticipated.

"Always wait 'til you see bubbles in the middle of the batter before you flip a pancake!"

Nora Beck
Committee Chairman, Troop 174
Crossville, Tenn.

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