Cub Scouts shatter popcorn sales goal, principal takes a dive

This past fall, you might have noticed legions of blue-and-gold-clad boys racing from one door to the next.

Or, you might have seen them outside two Bristow Subway shops on Linton Hall Road.

Armed with pencil, paper and popcorn information sheets, these boys of Cub Scout Pack 1384 and other local packs were working hard to raise money for scout activities and services.

One activity took the pack to the local parks, where the boys of 1384 adopted Bristow's Cedar Point Elementary School and Braemar and Clareybrook Parks as part of Adopt-a-School and Adopt-a-Spot programs. There, the Cub Scouts teamed up with local Girl Scouts to remulch the play areas.

The programs, designed by the Prince William Clean Community Council, aim to teach participants about litter control and caring for local communities.

The Cub Scout popcorn sale is an annual rite of passage for Scouts across the country. Money raised from selling popcorn is used to fund pack events, purchase pack supplies and purchase items for community oriented service projects such as those through the Clean Community Council.

Last year, Pack 1384 raised a little more than $13,000 from the popcorn sale. But this year was a little different for the boys in Pack 1384, who were given an extra incentive to meet or exceed their goal of raising $13,500 through popcorn sales.

Rebecca Miller, principal of Cedar Point Elementary School, the pack's sponsoring organization, made a deal with the boys. If they met their goal, she would sit in a dunk tank and let every Scout who contributed take a turn at trying to dunk her.

Not only did Pack 1384 meet its fundraising target, it raised a whopping $19,230, nearly 50 percent more than its goal.

Contributing to this total, 12 boys raised more than $400 individually. The pack's top popcorn seller was Bradley Skaja, who raised $1,366.

On Dec. 4, Miller, along with Wally Skaja, Pack 1384's cubmaster, perched atop the dunk tank on one of the coldest days of the year. Every Scout in the pack, along with dozens of siblings and friends, took a turn trying to hit that tiny target and send the popular principal plunging into the water below.

Skaja and Scout volunteers were proud of Pack 1384's achievement and the success of the entire district.

Its sister pack in Braemar, Pack 1383, helped shatter the district fundraising record, selling $25,000 worth of popcorn.

The combined efforts set a district record of $230,000 in popcorn sales this year.