Assistant executive John Lubbers with the BSA's Great Alaska Council out of Anchorage helps prospective Cub Scouts try on gear for size during a recruitment drive on Monday at Evergreen Elementary. The Great Alaska Council is the product of a merger between the Western and Southeast Alaska councils back in 2006, and oversees Scout programs over most of the state.
The Cub Scouts held a recruiting drive at Evergreen Elementary School on Monday evening, with a number of boys and their parents stopping by to express interest.
The purpose of the Boy Scouts of America is to promote youths to do things for themselves and for their communities, instilling among other things values of patriotism, courage and self-reliance. Part of the broader Scouting movement, Cub Scouts is geared toward elementary school boys from kindergarten through fifth grade. A pack is broken up by grade into dens, in ascending order Lions, Tigers, Wolf, Bear, and finally Webelos for fourth and fifth graders. The latter is a backronym for “We’ll be loyal scouts,” thought to have derived earlier in the 1950s from the first letters of the Wolf, Bear, Lion and Scout ranks.
Scouting in Wrangell has seen a bit of a lull, with the last members of Cub Scouts Pack 39 moving up to the Boy Scouts six years ago. Troop 40 has also been on hiatus for a couple of years, with last member Curtis Wimberley having to earn his Eagle Scout status through a separate program in 2016.
Leeann Martin wanted to see the program return, now that her own son is the right age for scouting. In her view, the program keeps kids busy with constructive projects, while teaching useful skills, building good relationships between friends, and involving parents in activities.
“I’m hoping in a year or two we’ll bring back the troop,” commented Shirley Wimberley, Curtis’ mother and a scoutmaster for Troop 40. Along with assistant Scout executive John Lubbers with the Great Alaska Council, Wimberley and Martin gauged interest among potential participants Monday evening with an informative presentation and some activities.
Wimberley explained that Scouting is not only for youths, but that a key component to having a successful program is parental involvement. The Wrangell group will be looking for leaders and committee members, and each den will require at least two registered adults in order to operate.
Those interested in learning more about the program can visit the GAC page at http://www.scoutingalaska.org, or can contact Martin at wrangellmartins@gmail.com for details on taking part.
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