Happy 100th Anniversary BSA

In 1998, The Boy was in 2nd grade. He came home from school one day with two fliers. One was for soccer and one was for Cub Scouts. He was so excited and wanted to do both. We had agreed that he could have two extracurricular activities throughout grade school, and we knew he wanted to learn to play guitar eventually, so that meant that he had to make a choice...soccer or Cub Scouts. He played soccer in kindergarten. It was precious to watch, however, his future wasn't in soccer. So, I talked to him and encouraged him to choose Cub Scouts. I told him that he would get to go camping and other fun adventures......and since socializing was his strong suit, he would excel in Scouting.

So, The Man and I took The Boy to the informational meeting. We learned that since he was in second grade, he would be a Wolf Scout. I called the Cubmaster after the informational meeting to find out who The Boy's leader would be and he told me there was a slight problem. There was no Wolf leader....yet. So, I did what any loving mother would do, I volunteered right on the spot. I knew nothing about Cub Scouts, but I've worked with children my entire adult life, so how hard could it be, right? The Man and I became den leaders and we held the meetings in our home once a week. We worked on skills, played games, and made crafts. We had so much fun as leaders. We started that first year with three boys, and our little den grew to nine boys by the end of the year.

The Boy and some of the boys in our den at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

The following year, the Pack needed an Assistant Cubmaster. So, again I took on that position, as well as Bear den leader. A year later, the Cubmaster moved on, so...you guessed it, I became the Cubmaster while leading our Webelos den with The Man. He did a lot of the work for Webelos I and II since the skills got more technical and well, I wasn't a master at knot tying.

The Man is an Eagle Scout, so he has had much experience with all things Scouting. He helped me plan our Pack meetings, which we held once a month at a local church. I planned fun gathering activities to keep the boys busy before we started the meetings. We built an amazing time machine in our garage for a skit at one of the meetings. We sang songs, did skits, and just had a great time. It was a lot of work, but it was worth every minute.


The Boy at the crossover ceremony

In February of The Boy's fifth grade year, he crossed over to Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts has been another wonderful adventure that we have enjoyed as a family. The Man and I were on the committee for many years. I served a term as committee chairperson and The Man was the advancements coordinator for awhile. He is now assistant Scoutmaster and is having a great time.


The Man and The Boy at Scout camp


The Boy at Cache Lake in Canada


The Boy at Scout camp

Nick achieved the rank of Eagle shortly before his 18th birthday. That day was one of the proudest days of our lives as parents. Watching him grow through Scouting...watching him work at Scout camp....watching him become such a wonderful young man has made us so proud! His experiences in the Scouting program are priceless.


Eagle Court of Honor cake



The three of us after the Eagle ceremony

Looking back through the years, we have had a lot of fun in Scouting. Even though running a den and a pack was a lot of work on top of having a full time job, it was worth every minute. Spending time on the Boy Scout committee is rewarding and a great way to give back to the community. Scouting makes a positive impact on boys'...and adults' lives.