"Many hands make light work." - "Beves of Hamtoun" ~ c.1300.

"I joined scouting in the US as a parent leader when my eldest son wanted to join in 1st grade as Tiger Cub.


No one else wanted to step up and lead a den – and in all honesty neither did I. I have a demanding job. I have 3 kids. We have no extended family nearby.  However, he’s my son and he wanted to join cub scouts and experience all the wonderful and exciting things that Cub Scouts get to do. How could I deny him that? I also wanted to enjoy time with my son, spending time on things he’s interested in to help him grow into the man he will become. That’s my main role as a father. To help my son grow into a man. How can he do that if I can’t be that man and show him how to lead?


Since joining cubs we have learned a lot of cool stuff together – and most importantly we spend time together, learning new skills and teaching each-other! We have learned how to tie useful knots, how to make a turks heads, an emergency para-cord bracelet, how to canoe, bind sticks together to carry them, we’ve been in a police car, in the jail, seen how the police take finger prints, we have been to the fire house and met the fire-fighters who serve our community – we’ve tried on the fire boots and pants, jacket and masks – we learned first aid and how to keep ourselves safe when at home and when out in the community. We’ve met a real Wolf!


We both love STEM and the outdoors and the natural world so we spend lots of time learning how to – and then doing, so we build fires, learning the best way to make fires safely, we like to build so we use our resources to build shelters and tools. We cook over our fires, we know how to put a fire out, we have gone fishing, we have tracked animals, we have observed animals, we have hiked trails and picked up litter on the trails, we have visited the local animal shelter to help feed and care for the animals there, we have visited senior homes to bring cheers and sing songs with the residents, we have collected food for food banks, we have collected worn shoes for people less fortunate. We have visited the Raptor Trust where birds are given the chance to heal and are looked after. We invent games and play them – we have ridden bikes, played soccer, learned sporting skills, run races, played outside games and done slack lining and zip-lining. We visited Morristown and visited museums and historic buildings like the home where General Washington resided and plotted his attack on the British.  We've walked miles trying to sell popcorn to raise funds for cub scouting! We have visited our local minor league baseball ground and had a BBQ there and gone on the field to lead the national anthem and parade around the ground.  We have camped outside in all kinds of weather – sometimes we wish for AC and sometimes all we wish for is a dry pair of socks! We have camped-in on the Intrepid in NYC, we have slept-in at the Museum of Natural History in NYC, the Aquarium at Camden and at the Liberty Science Museum. He learned how to use tools properly in the workshop – made gamer tags out of wood, a stool bench to sit on and use as a table. We have made our Pinewood Derby race cars together, discussing design, aesthetics and performance, we’ve enjoyed success in winning and learned the valuable lesson of losing. My son has learned that only if you take part can you succeed. One year at the Pinewood Derby he was the only one from his den to enter – that year he won first place. What did he learn from that? The taking part is what matters. Whittling tree branches, my son now knows how to make a replacement tent peg in case he ever needs a spare or replacement one.  We have visits to a Mineral Mine planned!


Watchung Cub Scout Day Camp in the summer was a great camp for both my older boys – they both earned their swimming awards and learned how to fish just using a stick, twine and hook – they learned how to shoot BB-guns and about rifle safety. They both completed advancement requirements that they probably wouldn’t have done in their dens as I don’t have the skills or the certification requirements.


My boys enjoyed learning archery at a cub scout family camporee– so we bought bows and arrows and shoot them at home too - we'd not have done that if we'd not been involved with Cub Scouts.


I don’t lead the den on my own – my wife prepares it for me and I then deliver the den meeting to my son and the other 3 boys in our den. The other dads stay for the den meetings too – it’s nice for them to hang out with their boys and do things together. It’s a great feeling to be part of the Cub Scout family. The other families in the den run den meetings too so it doesn’t all fall on me. Two or three times a month we meet as a den and learn new things. This week we are learning about the history of Scouting and looking at how life was 20, 50 and 100 years ago. We’re going to make a time capsule of life today and open it before they move to Boy Scouts to see what is different and how they’ve grown over the year.


What ever my son wants to do in life, his cub scouting experiences will help him do that. It’s a wholesome good fun program. He gets much more out of it than I put in – but I’m able to help him grow and become a better person and experience things some that are only available because we are part of the this organization. It is rewarding being the parent adult leader. You get to spend more time with your child doing – rather than watching. It makes me a better parent."


Scott Walker; Den 6 Leader, father of a Webelos, a Lion and a Bear Cub Scout


"Some of the best things about Cub Scouting are the activities the boys get to do, and the adult leaders get to watch in awe: camping, hiking, racing model cars, going on field trips, fishing, archery and BB gun shooting, making new friends, or doing projects that help their hometown and the people who live there. Cub Scouting means "doing."


As a worldwide brotherhood of both male and female, Scouting is unique. It is based on the principles of serving others, of human dignity and the rights of individuals, and of recognizing the obligation of members to develop and use their potential. It becomes a contagious locomotion dedicated to bringing out the best in people. Cub Scouting doesn't emphasize winning as an end result, but rather the far more demanding task of doing one's best. This can be achieve by focusing the Scouts on the principal of always beating their yesterday’s best.

 

When Scouting can help nurture courage and kindness and allow boys to play, to laugh, to develop their imaginations, and to express their feelings, then we will have helped them grow. When Scouting can help replace a computer game remote control with a fishing pole, a piece of wood to be carved into a race car, a hammer to stake down a tent, a tree branch to be carved into a bow shaft, then we have helped them to be more creative, physically and physiologically stronger.  We want boys to become useful and stable individuals who are aware of their own potential. Helping a boy to learn the value of his own worth is the greatest gift we can give him.

 

With all the negative influences in today's society, Scouting provides our son with a positive peer group who can encourage him in all the right ways. Carefully selected leaders provide good role models and a group setting where values are taught and help to reinforce positive qualities of character. These positive character traits are those things that will draw others to our Scouts.  Giving them more opportunities for future success.  

 

Our society values the sports coach. Coaches can change lives, and they do. But they have only a season or two with a boy. They have a few weeks with a boy each year. A Cub Scout Leader will be with the den potentially for as many as 6 years to methodically eke out the lessons and values he is entrusted to develop in his Scouts. We have some of the most dedicated and motivated leaders in the Scouts.  They can teach congress a thing or two about working together to achieve a goal for the common good.

 

Did I mention the cool uniforms they get to wear? The Scout uniforms signifies to all who see them, “we are the same, there are no differences”.  The Scouts uniform brings all of them, child and adult, as one, to the same platform, no matter how rich or poor he or she is and thus inculcating a feeling of equality amongst those wearing the uniform.

 

The Scouting organization, which encompasses Cub Scouts and Boys Scouts, is 3.5 million strong and growing, doing good work with and through today’s generation of tomorrow’s leaders. The Scouting organization is over 106 years old. It has faced the test of time, and has unequivocally done so with not so much of a quiver. Not too many organizations can brandish that merit badge.

 

Sound like fun? Is your boy up for the challenge? Interested in becoming a Scout leader?"

 

- Adam Gioia; Den 9 Leader, Cubmaster and father of a Cub Scout


Cub Scouts is all about family and doing things together with your son. I like the fact that Scouting gives us access to try so many things that we wouldn’t normally get a chance to try on our own, including service projects for the community. Beyond that, Scouting is a great way to meet your neighbors and make friends, all while doing something positive and fun.

 

- Alejandro Flores; Past Den Leader


After spending over a decade in scouting, I have been asked by many, "What do boys do at Cub Scout meetings/outings?" and "Is it for my son?" It's hard to answer, because scouting encompasses so much, but I'll "do my best" to answer this…

At meetings and outings scouts learn about all the things little boys dream of, and many things they may not have even considered. As a parent, I got to learn right alongside them, watching their growth and development and learning a few new skills myself – it's true, because of our pinewood derby, I have mad door wedge building skills… Not every parent can attest to this.

  • In scouting the boys get a taste of: sports, art, technology, crafts, outdoor skills, science, engineering, geology, forestry, history, athleticism, first aid, and water skills and safety.
  • They learn to push their own physical limits, in a noncompetitive environment, and learn do things independently.  For my boys this was a blessing, because I was overprotective, and didn't realize what they were capable of until scouting guided me to give them independence and trust that they were capable of implementing the skills they had learned.  
  • They learn cooperation and team building skills, that take some people a life-time to learn.  
  • Scouts learn to be good citizens, to think outside themselves and into the community (giving service), and to work as a unit towards a common goal.
  • They start out as little narcissistic babes who eventually learn to be Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent young men.
  • They are all individuals, so some of these lessons take longer, but scouting reinforces each of these values, so they all come with time.
  • They have fun – with their friends, leaders, and families – and we (the leaders and families) have a great time too!!!

Is scouting for your son?

 

With all the activities, individual and group, it is for every son! Athlete, artist, or scholar – there is something in scouting for everyone.

 

So stop asking so many questions!  Join today!!!  And happy scouting – to you and your son.

 

- Jennifer Allen-Nuzzi; Past Cub Scout Committee Chair


 

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