A Cub Scout campout took place at Springdale Art and Nature Center the last weekend of March. Cub Scout Pack 3506 from Wichita arrived and set up camp, along with a campfire container, tables, tents and more! Approximately 30 people, cub scouts, parents and leaders, had a great time. They showed up, set up everything they needed and when they left the next day, there wasn’t a trace of anything that said someone had been there.
Cubmaster Danny Blair said that six years ago the Scouting organization decided to include girls and boys, together, in their packs and troops. They call their group a Family Pack. Danny added that sometime in the 70s girls were allowed to do the Explorer level. The men at the campout had all attained the Explorer designation. Danny said that going through the Explorer program teaches responsibility and self-sufficiency, along with learning to reason and think for themselves. This group does four campouts each year. Two are set designations and two are of their choice. They enjoyed Springdale and hope to return again.
The Cub Scouts and others started out by pitching tents and a creating a cooking area. All those attending had brought a sack lunch. They got to do some exploring and found bugs and a crawdad. They also saw lots of plants and trees and tried to identify them. Midafternoon, Laura King displayed her collection of furs and skulls from native Kansas animals. The group really enjoyed getting to guess what animal’s pelt they were seeing and getting to feel. After that, they toured the house and studio and got to see Piglet’s sculptures and other artwork.
The evening meal consisted of walking tacos and cobbler. They had three cast iron dutch ovens. The cook said it was going to be a high protein dessert because he was using four eggs in each cobbler. They enjoyed apple, blueberry and cherry chocolate cobblers. Ingredients for each were a cake mix, the eggs and a can of pie filling. They sat the dutch ovens on top of coals and waited 35-45 minutes until they were done. After the meals they set up a station to wash dishes. Each person washed their own dishes.
After their evening meal they had an awards ceremony. Danny said that he has been handing out awards each month when they hold their monthly meeting. The awards are made to wear on belt loops. He added that doing the awards each month seems to work better for their group, instead of waiting until the last meeting of the year. That way they can enjoy their awards a little longer.
Covid took its toll on the Cub Scout Pack. They ended up with only four kids. Now they have 38 and hope to have more. Some of the Cub Scouts have younger siblings that attended the campout and who are looking forward to being Cub Scouts, themselves. With most of the dads having been Eagle Scouts, it’s very likely that the Pack will continue to grow. Children can be Cub Scouts from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade.
Danny said that he is 70 years old and going to retire at the end of this year. He said it’s time for someone else to step in as Cubmaster. He said “You are what you make of yourself.” Hopefully, one of the other dads will try to fill his shoes. He enjoys the kids and adventures as much as they enjoy him.
