Cub Reporters? Not Likely

Scouts from Pack 146 get a sneak peak at the front page of Tuesday's Mercury from editor 

Jim Wright during a visit to the newspaper offices Monday night.

So who asks more questions than reporters?

As it turns out, Cub Scouts.

The members of Cub Scout Pack 146 paid a visit to The Mercury Monday night to fulfill "Achivement 17 C," which their Scoutmaster Bill Parker, said requires a visit to a newspaper, radio or TV station.

We talked about things like how you define "news," which one helpful scout told me stands for North, East, West, South.

They learned how reporters gather stories (slowly); how we find out about spot news (photographers with scanners); how stories get checked for accuracy (closely) and how we put the stories and photos down on the page lay-out (skillfully).

They visited The Mercury "vault," downstairs, where the ghost of Mercury founder Shandy Hill is said to be seen occasionally, and looked up what was on the front page on the day they were born.

One scout found out that Hurricane Ivan was raging on the day he was born.

Then his mom told him "we had to drive through that storm to get to the hospital."

(Thankfully, his parents had enough sense not to name him "Stormy.")

But it does go to show you, even years later, The Mercury providing crucial information to area families.

They were a smart bunch.

Although they asked many questions (my two favorite were: "Why is it so hot in this newsroom?" and "How old are you?") none were tempted by the tour to answer "yes" the question I asked them -- "So, would any of you like to be reporters when you grow up?"

The silence was deafening, but not unexpected.