Dragons, castles, shields and the sword in the stone took cake form to be sold at the Cub Scouts’ Creative Cake Auction. The Cub Scouts, ranging from first to fifth grade, created cakes to be sold at public auction on Tuesday, March 31 to raise money for their pack.
This was the Creative Cake Auction’s second year back after a hiatus and the cakes were created based on a medieval theme chosen to coordinate with the theme for the Cub Scout summer camp this year.
“Really, the creativity of ordinary people is amazing,” said Stacy Turley, the main organizer of the event and a Cub Scout pack leader.
The auction raised over $1,000 for the Cub Scouts, according to Turley. This money will help the Cub Scouts pay for various expenses, such as the supplies to have a rain gutter regatta where the Scouts make small boats to be raced in rain gutters. While fundraising is important to the pack, this is not the only benefit of the event.
“It is a fundraiser but it’s also just fun,” Turley said. “We raise money but [the Cub Scouts] also get to make the cakes and they get to see the auctioneering and in some cases they get to participate. … Most times when kids go to an auction they don’t get to participate, so I think that’s different.”
The Creative Cake Auction featured local auctioneer and Grinnell College Equipment Room Supervisor Roger Bauman. Bauman uses his skills as an auctioneer at local benefit auctions. This was his second year auctioneering for the Cub Scouts.
“I just like helping out the guys. I see what they do and the imagination it opens up,” Bauman said. “And if I can give to them a little bit and help them out, it’s fun. That’s what I like.”
Bauman keeps his audience in mind as he auctions off items, joking with the Cub Scouts and the audience.
“I just kind of get the mood lighthearted,” Bauman said. “I probably should have been a clown rather than an auctioneer because I like making people laugh. For those few seconds that they’re laughing, they’re forgetting about any problems they should have.”
The Cub Scouts also provide the elementary-age boys with a wide variety of experiences and skills, unlike many other activities available to their age group.
“We try and do a little bit of everything. We do a little sports, a little outdoors stuff, a little making good choices. It’s just a good all-around look at a lot of different areas before get older and start making choices about what they are interested in and want to pursue,” Turley said.
The Cub Scouts are also committed to including children from every socioeconomic background and use money from the auction left over after necessary expenses are paid to assist those who need it.
“There’s always boys that don’t come from as advantaged of backgrounds as other, and we try as much as we are able to assist paying for camp fees and registration fees,” Turley said. “We don’t want anyone not to be able to participate because they can’t afford it. Overall, Cub Scouts is a very inexpensive activity for boys to participate in compared to other extracurriculars like baseball or gymnastics.”
Turley also sees the Cub Scouts as a positive way for young boys to gain both skills and confidence.
“In other areas, school or sports, they’re not necessarily rewarded for their efforts if they’re not the winners. So for Cub Scouts, that’s not that way and I like that,” Turley said. “The motto in Cub Scouts is ‘Do your Best,’ and then the program is set up that way so that if you try any of our activities—if you try playing soccer or you try cooking over the campfire—as long as you’ve tried and you’ve done the best that you can do, you don’t need to be the winner.”
