PUHI — The Olympic Games got one last breath Saturday when 130 Cub Scouts from packs throughout the island participated in the Cub Olympics at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. “This is great,” said Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. who helped the
PUHI — The Olympic Games got one last breath Saturday when 130 Cub Scouts from packs throughout the island participated in the Cub Olympics at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.
“This is great,” said Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. who helped the event by bringing in the torch as well as leading the corps of Cub athletes and their families onto the games arena laid out on the open playground. “With all the attention being centered around the recent Olympic Games in London, I’m glad you can use the interest generated in London to help you exercise and be healthy.”
Carvalho told the Cub Scouts, one program of the Boy Scouts of America, Aloha Council, that when everything is done, it does not matter the color of uniform you wear, we are all neighbors and friends.
Paul Curtis, an Aloha Council Kaua‘i leader for the Boy Scouting program, said a lot of the credit for pulling the event together goes to Paul Keep of Cub Pack 270 who utilized his own ‘ohana and friends, including Cub Scout Commissioner Ulu Perreira, to ensure the success of the day-long event.
Among those helping, Keep’s daughter Taegan, a community basketball player with the Kaulupono basketball program, was helping at the Pole Vaulting Angry Birds. The announcement of that event was applauded enthusiastically by the young athletes.
“This was quite a challenge,” Keep said. “I couldn’t figure out how to do a pole vaulting event and this was the closest I could come up with.”
In the Pole Vaulting Angry Birds, two adult volunteers served as anchors for a human slingshot, in which the Cub Scouts would place a plush Angry Bird toy and take a shot at targets, manned by Taegan Keep.
The Cub Scouts were treated to 10 different Olympic-style games geared to their age levels and appeal. These included the Olympic Rings Race in which the competitors would accumulate inflatable swim rings on a run down a course — and then have to return with the rings in a race against the clock.
The High Jump into Bed was a variation of the traditional track and field high jump event. But the Cub Scout version varied in that the boys jumped over a bar headfirst onto a fluffy bed.
The Coconut Shot Put used a coconut instead of the weighty steel ball, and the 100 Meterorites Race saw the Scouts scrambling against the clock in a race to collect 100 Meterorites.
During the Up and Under Hurdles, the boys ran and jumped over hurdles, turning midway and returning by crawling under the hurdles they earlier jumped.
In the Paper Plate Discus, the brisk tradewinds challenged the Scouts’ ability to toss paper plates the farthest distance.
Similarly, the wind toyed with their efforts in the Pool Noodle Javelin toss, a variation in which the standard track and field javelin was replaced with a pool noodle floatable.
In the Long Frog Jump, Scouts did not assume the standing long jump position, but instead assumed the position of a frog before leaping for the furthest distance.
To cap off the day of activity, the Scouts had a blast on the 1,500 Meter Slide. A section of sheeting was wet down and the Scouts raced against the clock to see who could get down the (water) slide the fastest.
The Cub Scouts program, part of the BSA Aloha Council, is open to boys in the first through fifth grade, or ages 7 through 10 years old.
Visit www.scouting.org for more information on the Cub Scouting program.
