Tuesday, Apr. 29, 2008
Scouts seeking new cubs as camp approaches
By Samantha Salas / ssalas@losbanosenterprise.com
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ReprintCub Scout Pack 58 held its last meeting Thursday since many of its members will be graduating to the Boy Scouts shortly.
"We won't have many cubs left after these older boys move up," Fundraising Chairwoman Lori Marks-Noble said.
So, the chair members used Thursday evening as a recruitment for interested boys and their parents in first through fifth grades to become part of Pack 58.
"We're limited to 50 scouts in the pack," Marks-Noble said. "But there's so very few scouts left, about eight, actually, so, we're hoping to get quite a few more boys soon."
Not only is Marks-Noble hoping for new participants in the scouts program, but also for the day camp they plan on hosting June 30-July 2, she said.
"We'll be spending two days at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the last day at Pacheco Park," Marks-Noble told the meeting's attendees. "We also plan on using the public pool."
Marks-Noble said the day camp and the scouts' events are easy to accomodate because they are family-orientated. The siblings of the scouts are always invited, even to the day camp, she said.
"We'll also be specializing in BB guns and archery," she said. "It's a three-day summer camp, without the other night part. Everything is safe and fun, and we'll be serving lunch every day as well."
The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is themed "Scouting the Seven Seas."
To get the new and veteran campers excited about attending the camp, the chair members invited Captain Hook, complete with an umbrella cockatoo, to the recruitment drive.
Within Pack 58 are certain Dens for each of the boys' grade levels, which was explained to the interested parents.
First-graders are put into the Tigers' Den, where most events require parent participation, second-graders are in the Wolves', third-graders are in the Bears' and fourth and fifth graders are in the Webelos Den, mother Allison Costa said, with Den meetings are scheduled for twice a month and Pack meetings are set for once a month.
While the scouts have endless varieties of events during the year, the local Pinewood Derby and Wawona District Derby held in Merced are some of the highlights of the scouts' year.
This year, three of Los Baños' Pack 58 Webelos were able to the attend the Wawona District races and earned a first, second and fifth place finish.
Timmy Costa, Branden Larragoitiy and Tommy Bounds were the proud winners, as they showed off their trophies and winning hand-made cars at the meeting to newcomers.
Allison Costa, Timmy Costa's mother, said the top three winners of the local derby attend the district race and compete against everyone in the county.
"They are very detailed, electronic tracks," Allison Costa said about the tracks used in the derbies. "And the times are tallied down to one hundreth of a second."
It's an art form for the Costa family, Allison Costa said. Her husband and his father were involved in the races years ago.
"It's a tradition for us," she said.
"And an art form," Marks-Noble added.
Second place district derby winner Larragoitiy said it was his first year at the race.
"I really liked it," he said. "I looked through magazines to come up with my designs for the car."
Tim Costa, Timmy Costa's father, said the boys were each given a block of wood, four wheels and four nails and creative freedom to design their own cars.
"I head the workshops for the scouts giving them tips," Tim Costa said, who also mentioned Timmy Costa is the first Costa generation to earn first place at the district derby.
"The best part about being a Cub Scout," Marks-Noble said "is that the boys aren't stuck with being only in scouts. They can participate in other sports as well."
Following the meeting's flag ceremonies presented by the Wevelos, the newcomers and their parents were informed of upcoming events, such as an overnight camping trip at the Pinnacles National Monument, as well as the Day Camp and derby races.
Awards were also presented to those scouts whoc hadn't had a chance to receive them prior.
"Patches, pins and belt loops are presented to the boys for completing various events and activities," Allison Costa said.
While the boys aren't allowed to put the patches on their uniforms, the boys, and their mothers, make either a vest, sash or blanket to hold their acquired patches from year to year.
"We've sent out 3,000 flyers to the surrounding schools," Marks-Noble said, hoping the meetings' competition with the schools' open house night hadn't prevented parents from coming to the informative meeting. "We just really need new scouts."
Enterprise reporter Samantha Salas can be reached by phone at (209)388.6562 or by e-mail at ssalas@losbanosenterprise.com