Nathan Wendt

As one of our outings last month Nathan’s Cub Scout Den paid a visit to Light Up Middletown: The seasonal lighting display at Smith Park in Middletown Ohio. The visit had been scheduled for the week earlier but because of single digit temperatures it was postponed till after Christmas.

We met up in the parking lot at 6:30 and from memory only 5 of the scouts and their parents made the journey. Which I am not at all surprised because this was a walking visit of Light Up Middletown and like your average December night in Ohio the temps were in the 30’s.

So with five first grade scouts and about ten parents we took off for our walk around the pond, which is the core of the park, and the shortest path to see the lights. It had been a while since I had taken a walk at night. To my surprise even with the lights from the display the park was rather dark and something about getting older is not working out so well with the walking, or driving, at night anymore.

But a good time was had by all and it was nice to chat with the adults while on a nice walk. I hope we get that chance again soon. Or perhaps in a few months when it’s a bit warmer!

Cub Scout Pack 28 in Madison Township of Butler County Ohio had their monthly pack meeting last night (12/15/2008) at the Madison Primary School where my son Nathan Wendt received his Bobcat badge in a traditional “turn the scout upside down” ceremony.

Thanks to Cub Scout Pack 28, The Middletown Police Department, and Nathans mom, we were treated to a guided tour of the Police Department last night. The boys and parents met up at the lower level of the Middletown City Building at 6:30 last night, a typical cold, freezing rain, miserable sort of December in Ohio night. As we waited in the lobby by the elevators, which is entirely cement from top to bottom, I was reminded of the noise a group of first graders can make. But the wait was not long, and just so you don’t get the wrong idea, the boys were all really very good and very well behaved.

Our tour guide arrived around 6:40 and things got under way with a visit to the briefing room. The officer explained that every day for a police officer starts with a meeting in the briefing room and that it’s there of course that the officers discuss the goals for the day and chat about any bad guys they might be trying to catch.

Next we went down the hall to the dispatch area. There were 3 dispatchers on duty at the time and with all the high tech hardware in that room the boys were all filled with questions. The senior dispatcher gave a brief overview of the job they do there and the officer showed the boys some of the fancy hardware at their disposal. For example we were shown a very large display monitor with a map of Middletown. That monitor is apparently used with the computer based 911 system to help locate the exact house where a 911 call might originate from. Also located in the dispatch area is the emergency early warning system. This is the system that controls the tornado sirens that have been installed all over town. This was also a computer based system but with a traditional sized and much less eye catching monitor.

Following the dispatch area was a brief chat in the records department. The officer explained how officers on patrol dictate reports onto cassette tapes and turn them in each night along with any tickets they have written. The tapes are of course processed by the staff in the records department and transcribed into the computer system for further processing.

Next was a stop in the weight room. From memory I think there were two to three treadmills and about eight other machines for weight training. The kids of course loved that room, but for us adults were pretty much thinking it looked like a weight room and smelled one too.

The last stop was the police garage where the boys met Ajax the police dog. Ajax is a two year old German Sheppard who has been on the force for about a year. We learned the police dogs work for around six years before they retire. Ajax was obviously well trained and his handler let a few of the boys throw his chew rope for a quick game of fetch. Click here to see a YouTube Vide of Ajax the Police Dog.

After Ajax went back to work the tour finished up with the boys being shown the inside of a police cruiser. Luckily were told that this particular curser was one that was not used to transport any bad guys and whose back seat had never been thrown up in. Yep it’s the small things in life that make parents happy.

A few months back Nathan came home from school and told us he wanted to join the Cub Scouts. After attending a few meetings he stuck to it and now Pack 28 has another Tiger Cub, my son Nathan Wendt. Last weekend the pack had their first monthly outing since Nathan joined. The outing was a visit to Toms Maze in Germantown, Ohio. It was about a 20 minute drive out into the country and when we arrived around 4:30 the parking lot was perhaps at only one tenth of capacity. We met up with the rest of the pack members and the nice Cub Scout lady, Elizabeth, who went to Madison with Nate’s mom, was there passing out the tickets and keeping things organized.

Of course they sold all sorts of Halloween things there, such as pumpkins, gourds, and other nick knacks. The setting sun made for a few god shots of the produce with the old digital camera we bought when Nate was born.

After getting our tickets from Elizabeth we walked on back to the camp site the pack had reserved. There a dozen or so scouts and parents were gathered around a camp fire roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. After a few hot dogs and marshmallows were finished off we headed to the maze.

The maze itself consists of roughly 3 miles of trials cut out of an 8 acre corn felid. The point of the maze was not simply to find your way in and out, but rather to find 12 camouflaged mail boxes set in with the corn. Each mailbox contained a piece of a map. Once all the pieces were collected you then had a complete map of the maze. Simple, fun, and only about 30 minute’s worth of walking.

Also worth mentioning is the “pumpkin gun” they fire off every hour. To picture this you need to start out by imagining an old fire truck from the 60’s. Then imagine its got a 16 foot 8 inch pipe for a cannon on top of it. The cannon was operated from an air compressor that filled a giant tank on the back of the truck. Once the thing was under full pressure it could launch a pumpkin about 1/2 a mile. Which I most certainly believe as I quickly lost sight of the pumpkin as it headed skyward. From the sounds of the crowd it took about a full 5 seconds or more to make impact. At night I am told they use a “glow in the dark pumkin” for an extra special crowd pleasing effect.

Not sure if a corn maze is worth a visit every year, but Toms Maze was very nice and well kept, and certainly worth the visit this year. Should the pack go back next year I would gladly take Nathan.