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Cub Scout Pack 119 has Lots to Celebrate
Arrow of Light and Crossover-March 29
The end of March brought much to scouting in Springfield Township for the Cub Scouts Pack 119 and Boy Scout Troop 119. The Cub Scouts celebrated a reception of the Arrow of Light for 9 boys from the pack, as well as the Crossover to Boy Scouts for the same 9 boys and their Cubmaster.
On Saturday, March 29, Pack 119 held its celebration of the Arrow of Light for the 9 Webelos 2 from Den 2, lead by their den leader Mrs. Beverly Mansfield. Five years ago she thought she would have an evening by herself a couple times a month when her husband and son would leave for scout night. She and her family became very active in Pack 119 from the start and have left their mark on Pack 119. Mrs. Mansfield talks about the first den meeting and how 7 of these 9 boys were together from the start as Tigers in her den. She has watched them grow from little boys to young men. She fondly speaks of how the parents of her den have helped over the years and have become close friends to her family. She was very proud of the fact that 13 of the 18 parents were registered leaders with the pack, and the others who were not leaders, were very active parents in the den activities.
The Arrow of Light and Crossover weekend was a celebration like no other for these boys and their families. It was held at Camp Stambaugh in Canfield, OH. The boys and their parents planned the ceremony along with Mrs. Mansfield, and shared a memory of a special time in their boys' lives together. The following boys spent their last night as a Webelos in Pack 119 on Friday, then participated in a day of activities around camp on Saturday, then prepared for their ceremony, and spent their first night as a Boy Scout after the ceremony. The boys who participated in the Crossover to Boy Scout Troop 119 were: Joey Angelo, Jeremy Blackson, John Danks, Alex Grantonic, Dennis Mansfield, Victor Scott, Neil Sofranec, Brian Swansiger and Walter Hilderbrand. Pack 119 wishes these boys a lifetime of achievement, success, and good fortune as they continue to use the values and traits they have learned with us in Cub Scouts.
Along with the boys who participated in the Crossover, their Cubmaster, Mr. Dennis Mansfield became an adult leader with the Boy Scout Troop 119 at the Crossover. He shared some memories about his time as Cubmaster of Pack 119.
A Cub Master's Last Minute with Pack 119 -A Fond Farewell
Mr. Mansfield is a scout thick and through. It runs in his blood and he will always be a kid at heart. I suppose this is exactly what is needed to lead a group of growing, impressionable boys, who need to see what fun is all about and Mr. Mansfield never fell short of setting a wonderful example of fun times for the boys.
With so much history behind him and scouting experience, the Boy Scout Troop 119 is gaining a wealth of knowledge and bundles of laughs with the Crossover of Mr. Mansfield.
His scouting adventure began as a youth in 1963 in Campbell at Marrion Heights Methodist Church on 6th street. His entire family was involved in scouting, where his mother was the Den Mother and his father was the Cubmaster. He has two older brothers who were also scouts in Troop 96, which he joined in 1966 and met up with his two older brothers and father, who had become the Scoutmaster. Mr. Mansfield received his Eagle Scout award in 1970 and still has his Eagle Scout card signed by President Richard Nixon.
In 1973, Mr. Mansfield left scouting in order to move around with his job. When his son Dennis was born, he could not help but remember all the great times his family had in scouts. Mr. Mansfield brought his family to join Pack 119 in April of 2004. With the older boys in Pack 119 moving onto Boy Scouts, Mr. Mansfield had 9 other Tigers and 6 wolfs looking for a leader. A friend of our pack, Mr. Lewis ended up leading the wolf den and Mr. Mansfield took the role of Tiger Den Leader, both of which realized quickly that they had no clue what they were supposed to do. He attended many training sessions and roundtables and quickly found himself in the role of Cubmaster. As he prepared for his meetings, and prepared for the pack outings, he watched as the boys in his den ran like Indians all through the echoing basement of Petersburg Presbyterian Church, and realized that this was what boys do. He quickly learned that having fun was the road to learning and much became clearer and easier thereafter.
Over the years, Mr. Mansfield became more and more involved in Cub Scouting. He became a member of the Whispering Pines District Committee, the Chairman of the Scouting Activities Committee, a member of the Roundtable staff, the current BB Gun instructor at Resident Camp and held the position as Camp Director for the Cub Scout encampment at the Scouting Expo 07 in Painsville. He attended the National Camping School and was Camp Director for the Boardman Park Day Camp for four years and became part of the property committee at Camp Stambaugh, spending much of his time growing with the weeds and trees. He attended the Woodbadge training, which is one of scoutings highest levels
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of adult training and received his Woodbadge beads in March of 2007. He was awarded the District Award of Merit by the Greater Western Reserve Council in 2005.
Mr. Mansfield remembers many fond memories about being Cubmaster of Pack 119, but sadly pinpoints missing the enjoyment of shaking the hand of each scout as they receive their patches - patches are one of his favorite things in scouts! He says that he will miss the quiet campfire time, sitting around talking with many of the parents of the scouts, who are now close friends of his own. When asked what his last thoughts were about being Cubmaster, he had this to say. "I am very humbled that the Lord has found this place for me to serve in. The rewards are so great and have left a deep impression in my life." The same goes for Mr. Mansfield's impressions left on Pack 119 - they are deep and great and we wish him continued fun and many fond memories as he continues his scouting experiences with his family in Boy Scouts. Pack 119 would like to thank you for your time, dedication and service to Cub Scouting and Pack 119.
A Warm Welcome to Our New Cubmaster-Mr. Seymour's Adventure Has Just Begun
One of the job requirements for Cubmaster is to be young at heart. Mr. Seymour certainly qualifies for the job. The excitement he has shown at becoming Cubmaster is like watching a young boy open his first gift on Christmas morning, almost giddy with anticipation. This excitement is what is needed to continue the Pack 119 Cub Scout program of fun. As a youth in scouts himself, Mr. Seymour was a wolf scout, with his mother being the den leader. However, he learned much about scouting mostly from his grandfather and uncle. His uncle was an Eagle Scout and his grandfather was Scoutmaster of Troop 92 and later Tomahawk District Chairman of the Mahoning Valley Council. Mr. Seymour remembers as a child, camping, fishing, and hiking over weekends and many summer vacations. His parents belonged to a camping organization and they traveled to many campgrounds throughout the year. His love of camping has carried over to his role as father to his three boys, enrolling them in scouts and looking forward to all of their own camping adventures. Mr. Seymour is the current Tiger den leader. He is no stranger to scouting, as his oldest son Russell is currently a Bear and Mr. Seymour has been very involved with Russell's group, as well as Maxwell's Tiger Group. With Mitchell, his youngest, attending every event his older brothers are in, Mr. Seymour has made him an honorary Bobcat of the pack. Mr. Seymour's wife Lynn is our committee chairperson and been involved in promoting the growth and development of Pack 119 for the last year. Mr. Seymour is Owl and Baloo trained and plans on attending other training sessions coming up.
His greatest expectation for Pack 119 is to grow as a Pack and be an organization recognized by the community. He sees many challenges along the way. The biggest in his eyes is related to the demand of our children's time. "With all the demands our children have these days, for their time: family, sports, 4-H, video games, friends, TV, etc. it is a challenge to grab their attention and attract them to scouting. Once involved as parents and leaders, it is our responsibility to keep the program interesting and dynamic enough for them to want to continue." He has many ideas planned for the upcoming year of scouting. He is currently planning our Spring Round-Up and has put much time and effort already into the events and activities that surround a fun evening of learning about Native American life. He was asked what he most looks forward to as Cubmaster and says, "Having the opportunity to work with our adult volunteers; to teach and instill the values of scouting and good citizenship to our boys. I am going to enjoy the sense of accomplishment these boys will have as they learn new skills. Skills that they will be able to use at school, home, sports, in their careers and with their families and some day their own children. I am looking forward to watching these boys grow into young men that we can all be proud of". Pack 119 extends warm wishes, much appreciation and support to Mr. Seymour as he takes on this very large challenge. We certainly feel blessed that he is willing to step up and take on this responsibility, a responsibility of making great impressions and memories with many boys in our pack. We welcome you and wish you much success!
Spring Round-Up
Pack 119 held its annual Spring Round-Up at Springfield Elementary School in New Middletown on Monday, April 14, welcoming nearly 10 new scouts to our program. With the theme of Native Americans as this years scouting program, Mr. Seymour participated in his first pack event as the new Cubmaster by sharing his knowledge of Native American folklore. The boys created bear claw necklaces and rattles. Mr. Seymour held a pow-wow at the end, after telling a story about scouting. Refreshments and fellowship were shared at the closing, as many of the boys were able to meet their new friends in scouts. We would like to welcome our new scouts. They are: Noah Eckman, Benny Chaszeyka, Hunter Jones, Vito Argenziano, Christian and Sean Thompson, Jarret and Sebastian Orbin, Hunter Huston and Nathan Scott. Any other boys who are in going into grades 1 to 5 this September, may join our pack. If you are interested, please call Lynn at 330-542-3620 or Carrie at 330-542-2640 for more information.
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Captain Penny
Years ago there was once an after school television host that was affectionately known by many children in the Northeastern Ohio area as "Captain Penny". As I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in front of the tube watching cartoons…and I must admit that good ole' Captain Penny was truly one of my favorites. Now there is one thing about the "Captain's" program that I will never forget; at the end of every broadcast he would point his finger into the camera and remarkably say: "Remember kids…you can fool some of the people all of the time! You can fool all of the people some of the time, but…you can't fool mom!" My mother was living at the time, and as I recall, there was more than one occasion that my mom responded to the "Captain's" remarks by saying something like: "Danny boy, you better listen to that Captain fellow…he's certainly knows what he is talking about."
It has been a long while since I have viewed the Captain Penny Show on television, but there certainly has been a rerun of his candid words many countless times in my heart and mind. Perhaps I have been thinking about this kind of stuff recently because Mother's Day is just around the corner. Friends, we do well to take time to honor those dear gals who have so unselfishly devoted so much of their lives to our welfare and upbringing. I've got to tell you that even before she went to heaven, I had always believed my mother was a hero, but since facing the challenge of raising children of my own…I now am absolutely convinced that my mother was not only a hero, but also superwoman and saint" as well!
Throughout my many years of pastoral ministry I have often been asked how we should honor our mothers on Mother's Day. I have offered numerous suggestions; ranging from purchasing flowers to fruitcakes, but I have to tell you that mere material things can never replace the sharing of our hearts and lives. May I encourage you to allow Mother's Day to become more than even just a special day on your planner. Let every day become an opportunity to show our appreciation for those who have always loved us so dearly. For those whose mother has already gone "Home", perhaps the greatest way that you can honor her is to look for ways of caring for others. What would have made Mom proud? Simply taking the time to do for others some of the many things that she would unselfishly do for you! When you do these things, you demonstrate that her efforts, her teaching, and most importantly; her life…has truly made an impact on your own.
Well friends, our devotional time has come to an end, but before we go…I invite you to reconsider some now more familiar words: "Remember kids…you can fool some of the people all of the time! You can fool all of the people some of the time, but…you can't fool mom!"
Be blessed dear ones! Be free! -pdc
Dan Cesene is a motivational writer and speaker with a heart to bless and encourage others. He is available to speak to your group. For more information, please call 330-307-0200 or email ynotgod156@yahoo.com.
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