JORDAN – Until the end of the month, the proprietor of a Jordan coffee shop will be raising money for the local Cub Scouts through a drone giveaway.
Ernest Hamm, who runs the Clinton Street Cafe, has decided to hand the controls of the remotely piloted aircraft over to whoever guesses closest to the amount of coffee beans contained in the urn by the cafe entrance.
People who stop in are encouraged to make as many estimates as they wish. Each time they do so, their guess is written on a slip of paper along with their name and phone number. That slip is then stapled to the required $1 contest entry fee and dropped into a separate two-gallon jar.
Once Nov. 30 rolls around, the drone will be presented to the lucky guesser and the entirety of the money gathered in the till will be donated to the Jordan-Elbridge area Cub Scouts to cover costs associated with their organized activities.
“This fundraiser helps us and the families pay for these Scouts to stay in the program and learn all the valuable lessons we can teach them,” said Jeremiah Jaeger, the bear den leader and spokesperson for Cub Scout Pack 102. “It’s nice to see the community is giving back.”
Jaeger said the program gets the participants outdoors and momentarily away from electronics while teaching them about the use of pocket knives, fire building, proper campsite selection, and the checklist for essentials to bring on a hike.
He said that depending on the amount of funds raised, the donation will potentially go toward the three summertime camping trips the pack has planned, its pinewood derby scheduled for March and the advancement ceremony that sees its young members earn their ranks.
The recreational drone being given away is a quadcopter equipped with a camera for aerial photography and video recording. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allows such drones to fly as high as 400 feet, but Hamm recommends keeping them at an elevation below 125 feet so that they remain visible to the person at the helm.
According to Hamm, himself an FAA-certified drone pilot, the aircraft’s flight time hovers around 21 or 22 minutes. Batteries and a charger are included, but a pair of AA batteries need to be supplied by the recipient for the control device.
“In the event of a tie, then we have a coin flip to see who gets the drone, or we’ll decide it somehow,” said the 78-year-old Hamm, who spent time as a Cub Scout several decades ago. “Maybe we’ll make them wrestle – I don’t know.”
The shop owner intends to hold another, similar fundraiser through December to benefit the community’s Boy Scouts troop.
The Clinton Street Cafe is located at 2 Clinton St. in Jordan. Closed on Tuesdays, it stays open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. every remaining day of the week.
