Cub Scout registration planned Sept. 1

Greg Hartman, district executive for the local Boy Scouts program, plants a yard sign Friday encouraging youngsters to join the Cub Scouts. Sign-ups for Cub Scouting in the Lone Star District are set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1, at local elementary schools. (HERALD photo/Steve Reagan)

By BILL McCLELLAN
News Editor
Parents who are looking for something besides television and video games to help shape their young son's lives may want to talk to them about Scouting — a program which teaches moral and family values and character building.

Sign-ups for Cub Scouting in the Lone Star District are set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1, at local elementary schools.

The Lone Start District encompasses six counties: Mitchell, Scurry, Howard, Borden, Sterling and Glasscock, and Cub Scout registration for Big Spring, Coahoma and Forsan will all be held Sept. 1. Cub Scouts are for boys in the first through fifth grades.

Registration is $20, which will cover membership through the end of the year.

“Cub Scouts lays the foundation for young men to lead a life in tune with the Scout law and Scout code,” said Greg Hartman, district executive. “In Scouting, we focus on building character, practical skills, physical fitness, developing a spirit of community service — wholesome, All-American values.”

Boys learn by various hands-on methods. They typically get together once a week: three times a month in Den meetings with boys their own age and once a month in Pack meetings, with other Dens.

Dens are usually made up of five to eight boys in the same grade. Those grade levels are:

 • Tiger Cubs. First-grade boys join a Tiger Cub den, where each boy works with an adult partner on the requirements to earn his Tiger Cub badge.

 • Wolf Cub Scouts. Second-grade boys graduate into a Wolf den. They go to weekly den meetings on their own, but their families still help them work on the requirements for the Wolf badge.

 • Bear Cub Scouts. Boys in the third grade are members of a Bear den. They also work with their families to do the requirements for the Bear badge, but boys this old have enough knowledge and skill to take on more of the work by themselves.

• Webelos Scouts. Boys in the fourth and fifth grades become Webelos Scouts. Webelos Scouts do more advanced activities to get ready to graduate into Boy Scouting.

Scouting is designed to be fun and educational, Hartman said.

“This past July we had a day camp on Lake Colorado City where boys got to shoot BB guns, practice archery skills, play table tennis and volleyball, launch water balloons and go fishing,” he said. “On the Fourth of July Scouts participated in parades and picnics. Some units participated in the flag ceremony at Pops in the Park here. During the year, we have monthly themes the boys concentrate on, plus the pinebox derby races and push mobile races.”

Other activities include Mom and Me and Lad and Dad campouts, where boys go camping with a parent at the Hughes Aquatic Base at Colorado City or the Buffalo Trail Scout Reservation near Alpine. There, many of the boys will get their first experience pitching a tent, cooking over a campfire and other activities.

There are also Scouting Nights at select Rockhounds and Jackalopes games in Midland and Odessa.

Parents and youth interested in Cub Scouts can get more information at the Buffalo Trail Council Web site, www.buffalotrailbsa.org. Those interest but who cannot register Sept. 1 can call Hartman at (432) 212-3577 or the Big Spring Boy Scout office at (432) 263-3407.

Registration for Boy Scouts will be held in October.