The Carmi Rotary club got an update on the local scouting program on Thursday from scout master Spencer Coe. It is not an understatement to say that scouting is alive and well in Carmi and White County!
Spencer told the Rotarians that a lot has been going on in the past few months. The biggest news of the day was the announcement that the recent recruiting night resulted in TWENTY new scouts. And even more importantly, as of today all twenty are still active and excited about scouting.
Spencer also commented that this year’s group of leaders are outstanding, and the scouting parents are equally strong and excited. He said that when he told the regional folks in Evansville, they were surprised and happy about the enthusiasm.
One of the big goals for this year is to do better with community service. Last year, the Carmi group missed earning their community service award by a total of three hours! That will not happen this year. Already, the local group has helped the Carmi Library with the set up of the book fair, and will be helping with set up for the Library’s Veteran’s Day program. The scouts had a great turn-out for Corn Day, and Spencer wanted to publicly thank his wife for making the Lion that was featured on the scouts entry.
Another community service project was an extremely touching one. The scouts went to Wabash Christian Retirement Center to read to the residents. After a while, it was discovered that one of the residents switched places and was reading to the scout. The staff at the center told Spencer that this particular resident was alone most of the time and that her grown children and grandchildren rarely visited her. The staff member said that reading the book to the youngster was the most animated and happy she had seen that resident in a long, long time.
The scout popcorn fundraiser is wrapping up, and Spencer had set a goal of $4000 for his troops. He told them if they could hit that lofty goal, they would have a meeting dedicated to games and pizza. As of Tuesday, the scouts had raised $4,300, so the fun night is on.
Lastly, Spencer told about his recent trip to West Virginia for the national scout jamboree. He said there were scouts and leaders from all over the USA, and he got to meet and get to know several. He said the theme of the event was: Semper Gumby. This meant that to be successful, scouts and scout leaders had to be flexible!
Coming up for the scouts are several fun events. The group will be carrying the flag at an upcoming Evansville Thunder Bolts hockey game, they will be selling street tacos at the Crossville Winter fest, and will be holding a “lock-in” at the old Crossville high school in December.
It’s a great time to be a scout in White County!
In club business, the members spent a little time discussing the upcoming Fall Trivia contest. This year’s event will be a little earlier than usual due to a scheduling conflict. The Fall event will be held on Saturday, October 28th at the American Legion on Oak Street in Carmi. The first question will be asked at 6:00pm and the night should wrap up around 8:00pm.
As in year’s past, the cost for a four-person team is only forty dollars, and can be paid the night of the contest. There will be four rounds of ten questions each, with the questions getting harder and the point totals increasing in each round. The questions will cover such topics as: History, pop culture, the Bible, food, language, geography and a few more thrown in for good measure. There is even going to be a surprise category this year!
There will be plenty of food and drinks on hand, provided by the Rotary club.
The club has a goal of finally hitting the sixteen team mark this year. Twice in the past there have been fourteen teams on hand, so it is not a big stretch to reach the goal. If you’ve played in the past, by all means plan on being on-hand this year. If you’ve never played, you are missing out on a great night of fun and a chance to win some cash. The first place team will have $100, second place nets $60, and third place gets their entry fee back with $40.
Teams can be made up of any group of four people: Families, coworkers, neighbors, friends, church members, politicians, you name it, you can form a team out of it.
Help the Carmi Rotary club hit that sixteen-team goal – and more!
The next Rotary fundraiser will be close on the heels of the trivia contest, as the club will be selling quarts of chili on November 11th. It will be a drive-through affair, in the parking lot of Oak Street Chiropractic. More details will be out shortly about this event.
In club business, Tom Logan was named as the day’s phantom,
The Carmi Rotary club normally meets every Thursday at noon at the First United Methodist Church on
Main Street in Carmi. Anyone wishing to learn more about this civic organization is welcome to attend a meeting or speak with any Carmi Rotarian.
