EDITORIAL
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Maplewood Elementary School here in Waynedale to help recruit Scouts for Boy Scout Troop 44, Cub Scouts for Cub Pack 3044, and Girls for Girls Scout Troop 850. I was impressed with the smooth way the school was being run. Of course some of the students were a little exuberant but then I think they wanted to show off a little for the visiting uniformed Scout leaders, Troop 44 Scoutmaster Jack Shepard and Miami District Exec Dave Kinnee. Of course I was along to answer questions and to act as photographer so they acted a little different around me; must have been the old ‘ham it up for the photographer’ routine. We’ll be publishing some of those pictures from time to time in the paper.
I arrived at the school office around 11am to sign-in and was greeted by a smiling Pam Brown, Maplewood office secretary, not the person in charge but the person who definitely knew what was going on. She sure has a big ol’ friendly smile. She was very helpful in directing us around.
Next I met the principal Steve Ecenbarger. I learned that he was once in Cub Scouts, and later went on to join a Boy Scout Troop. He told us his son Justin had won the Pinewood Derby when he was in the Cub Scouts. His son is now in his 20’s so we took a guess as to how long ago that was. Steve was eager to talk scouting and to help us with our recruitment program that was to take place while each class was eating lunch. Thanks for the help with the flyers Mr. Ecenbarger and come on down to the Scout Cabin anytime you get homesick for S’mores, Dump Cakes, or Bug Juice.
Lunch, by the way, consisted of French Toast, two Smokey Link sausages, a carton of milk, Heavenly Hash (I think), a cookie, and syrup. Food sure has changed since I was in Grade School back in 19 and “cough cough’. Back then we got food like an overdone hamburger (I could use it to patch my shoe sole), the bun was so fresh you could break it over your knee, mashed potatoes (thickened library paste with lumps), and an unidentified vegetable of some kind. Dessert might be a piece of cake with icing (it didn’t matter if it was chocolate, lemon, spice, or white it all tasted the same – bad) and it had lemon sauce poured over the top. Oh and we would get a bowl of soup; sort of. It was usually a bowl of Cream of Green Stuff, Cream of Brown Stuff, Cream of White Stuff, or Homemade Chicken Noodle (actually dumplings) with soggy bread cubes floating on top. Vegetable soup was made with whatever the cooks couldn’t give away at the other meals during the week. I carried my lunch and ate a lot of bologna sandwiches during those years.
The children were very attentive and listened eagerly as Dave Kinnee talked about Scouting and how much ‘FUN’ it was. He gave 5 presentations to 5 different groups. He adjusted his talks to the age group at hand. 4th and 5th graders have different questions than 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. I estimated that Dave talked to around 300 students in 5 different groups.
Jack Shepard was kept busy at his display table explaining about Pinewood Derby’s and trophies that can be won for participating and winning. Building Pinewood derby cars is a great way for Moms, Dads, and Sons to spend quality time together.
I met some nice students there also. I talked to Markquil Daniels from the 4th grade and Daunielle Voigt from the 5th grade who told me they were Conflict Managers. I learned that it was a different name for Hall Monitors that we used to have, only our monitors usually supported cut lips, black eyes, and skinned knees from being pushed around by the older kids. We had 6th graders that could have qualified for the high school football team.
I watched Paula Simons as she led the 1st Graders into the lunchroom. A more, well-behaved group I have never seen. They were extremely quiet and a real pleasure to be around. Of course Dave, in his eagerness, got them to laughing and shouting back answers to questions he asked them. I do hope she got them settled back down and into their routine again after we left. Sorry Paula but thank you for being patient with us.
Thank you everyone at Maplewood. Our efforts paid off. Waynedale has another Cub Scout Pack. Pack 3044 is alive and well and will be meeting at the Scout Cabin at the corner of Lower Huntington Road and Ardmore Avenue. The Committee will be meeting to figure out a schedule for their Den and Pack meetings. The Cubmaster, Committee Chairman, and Den Leaders will be announced in the next issue of THE WAYNEDALE NEWS.
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