Gone Fishin'

We held our annual summer fishing event at Frisco Commons last Saturday, 7/12. It was just great to see everyone who showed up--I've been missing all of you!

I heard that we caught 50 fish, but I don't know who was keeping count. I do know that I saw lots of folks hauling them in. Danny Spencer even caught a turtle, which he gingerly let go. None of us know if Texas turtles have the tendancy to bite or not.

Keep having a safe and fun summer. We'll let you know when the Raingutter Regatta is.

Cheers,

Ryan, Cubmaster, Pack 298

Teamwork!

Once again, I am so proud of our pack I can barely stand it!

On Saturday, February 16, in the cold, rain, and wind, our pack of determined young men set out to do our National Good Turn and gather food for Frisco Family Services. Last year, we were the top gathering unit in the entire district—going up against much older boys—and we aced them all. Not to be outdone, this year we topped last year’s effort by almost doubling the amount of food we gathered. Well done!!!

Everyone in this pack is a winner. We show up, keep our commitments, and we don’t give up easily. But sometimes you get to say you’re part of a team that made it to the very top. Once again, you can say it this year because we not only put forth great effort, we got unbelievable results.

This kind of teamwork requires participation from all levels, and we certainly experienced that again this year. Our visionary and strategist was our Committee Chairman Kevin Dinger, who was supported by our Pack Committee. Kevin, you do such a great job of organization, not just for this event, but for the entire year. It is so much easier to find volunteers, gain momentum and move forward with a strong organizer at the helm. When I say thank you to Kevin, he usually responds with his typical “aw shucks” attitude and expresses how great it is to work with such a good group of volunteers. Amen, Kevin, but thanks anyway for your outstanding leadership! Again.

To Kevin’s point, nothing is going to get done without a couple more parts of the team. It was inspiring to see all the adult leaders that showed up, ready to make a difference, taking on the tactical planning of how they were going to attack their zones, and motivating the boys to get out and make a difference. The men and women who spend so much time with our boys can’t be beat. Thank you all!

Finally, our remarkable foot soldiers: the boys, siblings, and parents who got out there and did the work. We’re blessed with a great bunch of people. Some are smart, some are cute, some are strong, some are handsome…but they’re ALL determined. Boys, thank you so much for all your work. Once again, it goes to show that younger guys like you can make a giant sized difference to our town. The food collected by all the Scouting units will feed 250 families for a month!

Great Start to The Year

Welcome everyone to a new Scouting season.

Thanks to our terrific committee, we have a great year planned. Our campout at Lake Ray Roberts happens October 5, 6, and 7. You can come for all the days or just some, but either way your going to have fun. As part of our tradition, Saturday night we will hold a campfire. The night will be filled with corny skits, bad jokes, silly cheers, and toasted marshmallows--maybe even a cobler cook-off. This will be a family campout, so grab your bunch and head out to the lake on Friday night...or whenever you choose.

This coming weekend on Sunday, September 30, my wife and I will celebrate our anniversary by shooting off rockets at Chuck Green's property in Prosper--and you're invited. Okay, maybe it's not just to celebrate our anniversary, but we'll be there with you for this event that always turns out to be a lot of fun. There is no judging and no contest. Just build a rocket, buy a ready-made one, or dig one out of the attic. Make sure you have engines, wadding and igniters and we'll supply the launch facilities. If you'd like to contribute a launcher, I'm sure we won't turn you down.

School Night for Scouting was tremendously successful, with almost 30 boys joining and a number of new leaders and helpers. I'd like to say thanks to all the boys for wearing their uniforms and telling their friends how cool it is to be a Cub Scout. I'd also like to thank the adults AND boys that did so much at the event to make it a success.

I look forward to another great year of Scouting with you and your families.

Watt atten choo!

Space Camp Rocked!!!

Many thanks to Laura Cooper and Rochelle Langford for their work in running the Space Camp event this past weekend at Space Center Houston. There are all kinds of headaches getting all the people paid for, accounted for, and matched with the souvenir items they ordered! As usual, they handled it all with grace and style.

A number of other adults deserve our thanks for helping to carry this off. Kudos to:

John Bannerman
Kevin Dinger
Rob Beatty
Scott Perry
Steve Smith
Will Sowell

If you were on the trip, make sure to give these folks a thanks, pat on the back, or hug, as appropriate.

If I missed anyone, please let me know. If you had pictures, please send me a couple of your best and we'll put them here on the page.

Cheers!

Ryan Yuhas, Cubmaster

Spring Campout at Cub World!!

My special thanks to Rob Beatty and Steve Smith who planned our campout at Cub World this past weekend. They and their sons, along with Scott Riegler and his son, went down and secured our spot on Friday night—and I heard that paddling was involved (rain, rain, and more rain).

Rob and Steve had to go through special BB gun training in order for us all to shoot targets, and do it in a safe a responsible way. In addition, Rob braved a cold during the weekend, but was still there to perform his duties and enable us all to have a great time (that’s dedication). Thanks to all of these gentlemen for their efforts above and beyond the call of duty.

I would also like to thank Laura Cooper for all the event coordination work that she has been doing behind the scenes. Getting all those forms collected for Twilight Camp alone is a real nightmare.

Another behind the scenes person has also been performing her duties as Treasurer without much notice, and that’s Mary Phelps. Thanks to Mary for filling this vital function that we could not do without.

If you have pictures of the campout, or of some of our recent events, send them to me please—I’ll post some of them when I get a chance (I heard there were some really juicy ones from Blue and Gold).

Thanks,

.Ryan

Frisco Cub Scout Pack 298 receives recognition

From Dallas Morning News Neighbors, Frisco Edition

February 24, 2007

Boy Scouts of America sponsors a National Good Turn each year by organizing Scouting for Food. This is an event aimed at gathering canned food for local food pantries. As the event wrapped up Feb. 10, Frisco Cub Scout Pack 298, chartered by Frisco’s First United Methodist Church, was recognized for gathering more food than any other Scouting unit in BSA’s Arrowhead District.

The Arrowhead District includes much older troops, and covers the cities of McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Melissa, Celina, Fairview, Lucas, Prosper, Anna, Farmersville and Blueridge. Pack 298 would like to thank all the residents living in the Arrowhead district for such a spectacular response, especially those in our area around Curtsinger and Shawnee Trail elementary schools. These areas really put the pack over the top.

Sylvia Perry, whose Cub Scout den gathered the most food for Pack 298, said, “It’s great for the boys to win at something that does so much good for others.”

It just shows that even very young people can make a big difference despite their size. Pack 298 collected 2,254 pounds. The total collection efforts for all Frisco units netted 11,503 pounds, which goes to Frisco Family Services.

Happy New Year!

Hey there, Scouts and Parents:

Well, we made it through another calendar year and tonight it's the start of 2007. What a great Scouting year we had in 2006! This autumn's events were particularly great, highlighted by a wonderful family campout, door decorating, pumpkin sale and excellent fundraising efforts.

Why is our pack doing so well? It is because from the most visible leaders to the behind the scenes contributors to the individual Cubs, we're working as a team. "The Cub makes the pack go," and at no time has it been more evident than this year. Thanks Cubs, for all of your good work.

Moms and dads, I know you've each made contributions to your dens and to the pack. Thanks for getting the scouts to their events, pitching in on the special projects, helping out on den meetings and crafts, and volunteering for the bigger events. Thanks, too, for keeping the grousing to a minimum--there's not much whining out there, and that's appreciated. All the complaints I've heard have come in the form of constructive criticism--the best kind.

To the committee and committee leaders--and I'm including the den leaders and assistants--you all have been fantastic. Organization has been established at the top by our esteemed Committee Chairman, and further organization and execution has been outstanding as provided by the committee members. I'm not naming names to keep you all off of the Internet. If you ask me in person, I'll give you a litany of contributors who are so very much appreciated.

Thanks to all for a wonderful 2006. We're on a roll, and I expect 2007 to be just as exciting--maybe even better.

Happy New Year!