It's going to be a great year!

Hi there, and thanks for stopping by my blog!  Let me tell you a little about myself.  My name is Dave and I'm a Cubmaster here in Southern California.  Like many of us I was sort of volun-told into the position, but I intend to make the best possible program for the boys.  Of course I can't do it alone.  Thankfully I have some wonderful parents participating this year who are really dedicated, despite the fact that none of them have much prior scouting experience.

I started in scouting way back before the turn of the century in 1988 as a Fourth Grade Webelos Scout.  I learned a lot from Mr. S, my den leader.  I continued on to earn my Arrow of light, and move into Boy Scouting.  I advanced through Tenderfoot, Second Class, then First Class.  I had even served as a Patrol Leader for a brief period of time.  I didn't realize it then, but I was learning some valuable skills.  I was working on my Star and Life requirements when I dropped out.  I let other social concerns distract me.  This is one of my greatest regrets in life. 

Then in 2000 at the age of 21 I got my second chance.  My oldest boy turned six (for those of you who are really good at math, yes he was my step-son) and started the First grade.  Right away I enrolled him in the local Cub Scout Pack.  We had a pretty good program and I volunteered the next year as the Wolf Den Leader.  I figured why not?  The Cubmaster told me I needed to go take this class called New Leader Essentials and Fast Start Training so I could get started as a Den Leader.  I went to the class and sitting there across the table leading the discussion was Mr. S, my old Webelos Leader.  I couldn't help but smile.  That's when it hit me, he was a lifer, and so was I.  Of course he knew exactly who I was right away.  He smiled and said "Welcome back."

After a few years with that first pack we moved to the other side of town and my now Webelos-age son started going to my old elementary school.  After some conversations with our old pack and my family, we made the decision to put our boy in the pack chartered by the school's PTA, so he would have the opportunity to make friends closer to him.  After we got him signed up I realized that this pack he would bridge from into scouts was my old cub scout pack.  I had come full circle, and my son was a Webelos scout in my old pack.  I was very proud watching him get his Arrow of Light that next year.  Was this how my own Dad had felt?  I wondered.

Now I live in a new town and my younger son is a Wolf and also a founding member of our brand new pack, founded during the BSA's Centennial year.  I hope our small pack grows and sustains long enough for my son to one day bring his boys back, even if it's just for a visit, and say "Look boys at what my Dad and I helped build, when I was your age."