Monday 9 November 2009

The Koolamunga Test

Long ago, somewhere in Africa, a little place called Koolamunga had a Scout troop but no Cub Pack. When the missionary, John Cristy, sent out word that he was going to start a pack, all the boys who were too young to be Scouts rushed over to join.

John looked out at rows and rows of faces - black, white, brown, yellow, and some so dirty you couldn't tell. It was impossible to start a pack with 40 or 50 Cubs ! "You can't be a Cub until you are eight," he said, "so would everybody younger please go home."

Nobody left. The six and seven-year-olds stood as tall as they could and tried to look tough. John realized he would have to sort them out some other way. So he told them the Cub Law. And then he said, "Next week, we will have an obstacle race. You can all come, but I shall start the pack with the 12 boys who do their best to keep the Law during the race."

A big crowd gathered on race day. The Scouts came along to help John pick his 12 Cubs. John designed an obstacle course so tough that it automatically eliminated the boys who were too young. The others had to run half a kilometer downhill to the river through prickles and a mangrove swamp with knee-deep mud. Then they had to swim across the river. On the other side, they had to climb a steep bank, go along the top, cross over the river again by a fallen tree bridge, and finally climb 300 m up the hill to the finish.

"This is not a race," John told them. "It's a test to see who can really do his best to keep the Cub Law." And he was already sorting them out. Some jabbered away and didn't listen to the rules. One put his foot over the starting line. "Ready, steady, GO!" John shouted, and off they went.

Very soon, some of them were yelling and swearing at the prickles. In the swamp, some gave up, pretending they were hurt. One boy thought he would be clever and sneak along the bank instead of swimming across the river.

A small boy caught his foot in a floating branch and thought it was a crocodile. John didn't blame him for yelling, but noticed a red-headed boy swim back to pull the branch free. Then he saw a white hand shoot out and duck a black head. That settled the white boy's chances, but the black face came up smiling and the boy swam on without complaint. On the tree bridge, there was a good deal of bumping, some by mistake and some by mistake-on- purpose.

Only 20 boys finished the race, and the first 12 home were sure they would be chosen. But the Scouts put aside those who had cheated or taken short cuts, those who had pretended to be hurt, and those who had sworn or lost their temper.

John chose only boys who had done their best to keep the Cub Law. There were 11 of them. For the 12th, he chose a boy named Peter who was watching but hadn't taken part in the race. John knew his mother was ill. She'd asked Peter to look after the younger children to make sure they didn't fall into the river, and he did it without a grumble.

And who do you think he asked to be his sixers ? He chose the red-haired boy who had turned back to help with the crocodile that wasn't a crocodile, and the black boy who came up smiling after being ducked.

And that's how the 1st Koolamunga Pack began. If you'd been there, would you have been one of the 12 chosen ?

-- Leader Magazine, January, 1989


Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Den Leader Pack 69
Frontier District, Denver Area Council
NSJ '05 Youth Participant '10 Subcamp 7 Youth Staff
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

The Power of a Cub Scout

Here is a short online story published by James Garner about a Cub Scout who joined a pretty much full Den already and taught the group the meaning of what it was to be a human and how everyone should be treated. So here it is how you enjoy it:

My Biggest Hero Was Nine Years Old.
By: James Garner

When my son was in second grade I was the leader of his Cub Scout Den. Before his third grade school year started, a Cub Scout Pack leader called and asked if I would take on another boy. We had a large group and I knew it wouldn't be easy, but so did everyone else in this age group.

The kicker of the deal was that Tray was a cancer patient and an amputee, one leg at the knee. I had a hard time making up my mind about exposing "my" boys to what I was almost positive would surely end in a lot of anguish and sadness for all of us. I finally decided to take him in, but before I said yes to our Pack leader I called all my parents to let them know what I planned to do and get their feedback.

To a person, they all supported my decision. Only one mother verbalized the fears I had for the emotional well being of my little charges, but she too supported my plan. We felt like it would help teach them compassion and generosity, it did and us too!

When Tray came to us I found out that not only did he have severe health and physical problems, his family was incredibly poor. But they wanted Tray to have all the experiences he could in what would most likely be a short life. His parents did their very best to provide it.

Tray was without a doubt the most enthusiastic member of my scout den. There wasn't anything he wouldn't try to do. When we did the things for all their little badges he was right in there with us, and most often excelling. ALL of my boys encouraged him and helped whenever they could, this carried over into their school life as well.

Even the physical fitness segment of our program he did well in, better than most other boys save for the broad jump. Tray just couldn't get far enough to match the standards the Cub Scout Manual said had to be met to achieve this badge. I passed him on this one because I deduced that the skills were written for boys with two legs and since Tray only had one his goal should only be half that of the other boys. Tray acheived that half and a great deal more, in fact was only just a little short of the minimum anyway.

We all progressed along through Tiger, Wolf, Bear, and Lion ranks and went on to Webelos. Over the years our Pack's leadership made sure that somehow Tray had all the hats, uniform parts, etc. that was necessary for him to be just like everyone else. Most of the time I knew that some of the things required weren't in his folks budget but they found ways and when they couldn't we found ways to make sure it just happened.

We all suffered with Tray on days he had just come from chemo and was so sick he couldn't go 10 minutes without a trip to the bathroom. But he was in there with all of us and insisted on coming to meetings when any one of the rest of us, child or adult, would have been too ill to go.

Just before the end of the Cub Scout program I took them all to a Boy Scout meeting to see how it was and help them make the final yes or no decision to continue on in the Scouting program. Tray was ready. I helped him choose a Troop and introduced him to their leader and such to prepare him for the sixth grade year when he would move to Boy Scouts.

My proudest moment was to watch all my boys go through the Arrow of Light ceremony, Tray included. This ceremony marks the transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts if they choose to go on. All my other boys' interests had changed over the years and they were into sports, band and other things; not Tray, he would be my only Boy Scout.

The summer before sixth grade came and went and just before the next school year was to start Tray was taken from us. I like to think he was just asked to join another troop whose leader is far better than I could have ever hoped be.

We all learned a lot from Tray; "my" boys, their parents and me. Yes, there is a plan and purpose for us all and, I think, I am not the only one in my community who has a nine-year-old hero.

Now, when I am in difficult situations I often think of how Tray would have handled it. This makes the going a lot easier because I know he would have tackled the challenge with greater gusto and zeal than anyone else and finally succeed in the end.


Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Den Leader Pack 69
Frontier District, Denver Area Council
NSJ '05 Youth Participant '10 Subcamp 7 Youth Staff
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

Boy Scouts to Cub Scouts

Many of you may be wondering, if you are a regular reader of Scoutingmaniac why I would change from the Boy Scout Troop Level to the Cub Scout Pack Level. There are several different reasons, some of them personal, some of them based on logistics, and some of them based on units that are taking leaders where I live.

1. Personal: I knew that I wanted to stay involved with some sort of Scout Unit at all costs, I know I already joined a Explorer Post down here but still that is not a traditional Scout Unit and that is what I wanted to work with. Traditional Scout Units include Packs, Crews, Ships, Troops, and Teams. Each have a different purpose and age range but overall the message of developing citizens of high moral fiber is the same throughout the program. Also The opportunity to get to work with a Cub Scout Pack was given to me and I always wanted to work with a Cub Scout Pack as a adult leader, I definitely going to have a lot to learn in a short amount of time but learning more about my favorite activity just comes naturally to me.

2. Logistics: I am currently a college student but do not have a vehicle so the Troop or Pakc had to be close. In this case the Pack is with 9 blocks which makes it a little over a 1 mile from the University. The other Unit within the same distance was a Boy Scout Troop but they were currently not accepting new applications for adult leaders, I have never run into a issue like this, so it surprised me. This to me did not make sense because 99% of the units of I have had contact with needed more leaders to have a fully functioning committee or unit. Also I could have chosen a Troop within a differnet district that was only 25 minutes away by bus but I did not want to do this because of the logistics involved with making sure I have a ride to and from via public transportation. So this unit was my only option but I am most definitely glad that I choose this unit.

I went to my first meeting with the unit last week, they are a smaller unit with only about 15 boys in the unit but that is perfectly fine with me. I have finally gotten use to the idea of a smaller unit from my experience in Alaska. I do believe though that growth for this unit will be necessary to ensure its longterm success, so my plans while I am actively involved in the unit include helping make a better recruitment and keeping scheme for the unit. In this unit I will serve as a Assistant Den Leader, this position is a direct contact position which is definitely the type of position I wanted to have.

The meeting was a Pack Meeting that ended up being a Halloween Party and Pinewood Derby. Most units could not have gotten away with having these two events on the same night, which was exactly like the Cub Scout Pack I was involved with as a youth, but since it is a smaller unit, the combination of the two events ended up working out perfectly.

All the adult leaders had not problem with me and I hope I made a good impression and will be a good asset to the unit in the future.

Until my next report, have a great Scouting Week and good luck in all that you do. I definitely have a lot to learn but learning it will be easy with all of the resources I have at my disposal which include other leaders, A strong District staff and Commissioner, the internet, Scouts-L, and my regular readers of my blog.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Den Leader Pack 69
Frontier District, Denver Area Council
NSJ '05 Youth Participant '10 Subcamp 7 Youth Staff
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

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