Cub Scout Pack 135 of Niles

Happy Monday, everyone!! At tonight's meeting, yours truly will be distributing information regarding this year's Popcorn Sale. This year's sale runs from today, Monday, September 21, until Monday, November 2. As some of you may know, the popcorn sale is the biggest fundraiser of the year to help fund different activities and supplies for our scouts.

I know many of you are interested in knowing how much money can we make from this sale, so here is the breakdown:

* 30% base commission

* 5% in youth prizes

In previous years, it stopped there, but this year we have the opportunity to earn

BONUS COMMISSION!!

We have already qualified for a 1% bonus by registering our unit by the stated deadline, and the Cubmaster and I attending the Council Popcorn Kickoff meeting back in August.

Now, we have the opportunity to obtain an ADDITIONAL 1% bonus commission if at least 75% of our registered scouts sell 3 items or $50 worth of popcorn!! As of last week's roundup, we have 22 scouts enrolled with our Pack - that would mean that at least 17 of our scouts would have to sell the required amount in order for us to be eligible. Do you know what I think would be awesome?? If we had 100% participation!!

Now, there are a few different ways to sell popcorn -

Traditional: Door-to-Door; Asking family members and close friends; Parents taking order forms to work, etc.
Show & Sell: We have 2 Show & Sells scheduled at the Eastwood Mall Community Booth. Our first one is this Saturday, September 26, 2015, from 10am until 6pm; the second one is scheduled for Saturday, October 10, 2015 at the same times. During the Show & Sell, we will have a display set up that will have popcorn that patrons can purchase and take home that day. Scouts show up for their assigned time (sign up sheets will be available tonight) wearing their Class B t-shirts, and help sell popcorn to shoppers. I will keep track of the popcorn sold per hour (there's an app for that!), and then at the end of that hour, I will add up the sales and divide them by the number of scouts present at that time. It's a great, easy way to add sales to your scout's account.
Online sales: In this day and age of social media, online sales are another great, easy way to earn money & prizes! I have already set up each scout with an online seller ID. Parents can either email family members (I have a form letter that I would be more than happy to send anyone!) or set up an "event" on Facebook, giving friends and family who may not live nearby the opportunity to support your scout. All they have to do is follow the link, enter your child's ID number, and the popcorn will be sent directly to them. Pretty simple, right?

Important Dates

Mon Sept 21 First Day of Sale

Sat Sept 26 Show & Sell at Eastwood Mall Community Booth, 10am - 6pm

Fri Sept 25 Fill Up a Sheet Drawing (turn in completed sheet by Wed, Sept 23)

Fri Oct 2 Fill Up a Sheet Drawing (turn in completed sheet by Wed, Sept 30)

Thurs Oct 8 Fall Fest at Niles Intermediate School, 5:30pm - ??

Fri Oct 9 Fill Up a Sheet Drawing (turn in completed sheet by Wed, Oct 7)

Sat Oct 10 Show & Sell at Eastwood Mall Community Booth, 10am - 6pm

Fri Oct 16 Fill Up a Sheet Drawing (turn in completed sheet by Wed, Oct 14)

Fri Oct 23 Fill Up a Sheet Drawing (turn in completed sheet by Wed, Oct 21)

Mon Nov 2 Orders, Money, & Prize Selections Due

Fri Nov 6 $1000 Sales Club Drawing

Mon Nov 16 Delivery Date

Fri Nov 20 Registration Deadline for Q For A Day

Show & Sell Guidelines

Class B shirts are to be worn.
You must stay in the pre-designated area near the booth - no chasing down potential customers!
No food is permitted in the booth, only drinks.
Sales will be tallied per hour, and divided among the scouts there during that time.
We would like parents to stay within the vicinity of the Community Booth, and at the very least, on mall property. If for some reason you will not be staying near the booth, please leave a contact number where you may be reached.

Safety & Selling Tips

Wear your uniform.
When selling popcorn in your neighborhood, always have an adult or friend with you.
Do not sell after dark unless supervised by an adult.
Never enter a stranger's house without an adult.
Keep cash & checks in the envelope given to you at kickoff.
Respect people's property, and walk on sidewalks when possible.
Always be courteous - Smile, Be Polite, and ALWAYS say "Thank You!!"

Prizes

As with most fundraisers, there are prizes to be won by those selling. In addition to the prize selections enclosed with the packets, there are other promotions that scouts may be eligible for:

Fill Up a Sheet: Forms must be received in the Greater Western Reserve Council Coleman-Miller Service Center by 5:00pm on Thursdays (Sept 24, Oct 1, Oct 8, Oct 15, and Oct 22), which means that they must be turned in to ME by the night before (Wednesday) so that I can be sure that all paperwork is correctly filled in before submission. I will submit any completed forms that I receive by the deadline, and they will be entered in a "Fill Up the Sheet" drawing for a special prize! The drawings will be held every Friday during the sale (Sept 25, Oct 2, Oct 9, Oct 16, and Oct 23). All entrants will be eligible for the Grand Prize drawing on Monday, November 2, 2015.
$1000 Sales Club: Any Scout who has sold $1000 or more in popcorn will be able to enter their name into a drawing for an Amazon-Kindle Fire HDX - 7" - 16GB tablet on Friday, November 6, 2015. A Scout will be able to enter into the drawing for every $1000 sold (i.e. $2000 in sales = 2 entries in drawing).
$2500+ Winners Circle: Any Scout who has sold $2500 or more in popcorn gets to choose one of these amazing prizes!

Apple iPod Touch 16GB MP3 player with Bluetooth Headphones
GoPro Hero HD Waterproof Action Camera with 16GB Card
Chromebook 11.6", 2GB, with 16GB Flash
Bluetooth Robot Insect Mini Drone with Case
Fibit Wireless Activity Tracker + Sleep Wristband
Nintendo Wii U Bundle
40" LED 1080p HDTV
Magellan eXplorist GPS
$200 Best Buy Gift Card

Q For A Day:

Sell $550, and sign up to received the Sports Package, which includes:

1 free ticket to Lake Erie Monsters Q For a Day on January 30, 2016
Exclusive Boy Scout T-Shirt
Exclusive Q For a Day Scout Patch

Sell $750, and receive the Grand Prize package, which includes:

Everything in the Sports Package, PLUS

An Exclusive $750 Club Patch
A Special Grand Prize!!

I know that this is a lot of information to take in at one time, so I encourage you to ask questions if you need clarification about anything! I can also be reached by phone at (740) 317-1959 (call or text), Facebook, or email (ryaltier.rn@gmail.com).

Let's get POPPIN' to make this our most successful sale yet!!

Thanks much,

Raelyn

Hey there, fellow Cub Scout parents, family members, and supporters! Please allow me to introduce myself - my name is Raelyn Altier, and I will be taking over the blogging duties from Mrs. Amanda Macik. I am also the Popcorn Sale "Kernel" (see what they did there!), and a member of the Parents' Club and Pack Committee. My husband, Jim, is the cub master, having taken over the reigns from Mr. Tom Stripe.

Jim and I could not be from more opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to scouting. I have next to no experience with the Cub Scouts organization - I have a younger brother who was involved with Scouts back in my hometown, but my memories are pretty limited to the Pinewood Derby that was held annually at the local mall. My husband, on the other hand, began his scouting career when he was in the 3rd grade. He worked his way through Cub Scouts, then went on to Boy Scouts, and finally earned his Eagle Scout while in high school. After that, he and his parents continued supporting the local council here in Niles in various capacities for years.

With the guidance of the former leaders of the Pack - Tom, Craig, Amanda, & Allison - Jim and I, along with Steve & Christina Signor, have been working to try to come up with ways to keep the boys of Pack 135 enthusiastic, motivated, and engaged in helping to make this our most successful year yet! We can't do it alone, though - we encourage all of you to get involved!! I can't stress this enough...we need your help!! They say it takes a village to raise a child - the same can be said for Cub Scouts, as well. We realize that everyone is extremely busy these days...with multiple children in multiple activities (ours included), we know just how chaotic life is. The Pack meets just once a week for an hour. We do occasionally have other outings that we schedule on weekends, but we try to spread them out over the year, so that we don't overwhelm anyone.

So, let me tell you a little more about myself. As you may already know, I'm a wife, mother/stepmother, and a registered nurse. What you may not know is that I'm an amateur motocross photographer, a wannabe Food Network star, and I want to be Ree Drummond (AKA "The Pioneer Woman") when I grow up. I was born and raised in a small town named Toronto (and you can bet I've been asked my whole life if I'm from Canada). It's right along the Ohio River, between East Liverpool and Steubenville. I moved to Niles in 2014 - right after I graduated from nursing school and right before Jim and I were married. I have a son, Brandon, who will be entering 4th grade in a couple days (yay for routines!!) and who will be one of our Webelos this year. I also have 3 bonus sons - Jimmy, 25, and Chris & Mike, 14 year old twins who are currently freshmen at Lakeview High School - and another of the canine variety - our miniature beagle, Sprocket.

Anyhow, enough about me. Tell me about you!! Please let me know if there is anything that we can do to help you and your scout! I will try to keep the blog as up-to-date as I can during the year. I will be updating soon with details of our popcorn fundraiser and a calendar of events. Hope to see y'all at this year's roundups - please stop by and say "hi"!!

Looking forward to a great year!!
- Raelyn