I saw a bumper sticker once that said, "When life hands you lemons, grab the tequila and salt." This, of course, is a whimsical way of saying that when the unexpected happens, roll with it and you never know what might happen.
When we first moved to Menifee in 2010 from Escondido, we found ourselves driving back once a week to take Jeremiah to his Cub Scout meetings. We continued until the summer campout, when he earned his final rank badge that year. Then I started calling around, looking for a local Cub Scout Pack to join.
One day I got a call back from someone at the California Inland Empire Council office, asking me to help them start a new Pack. I hesitantly agreed, and I’m glad I did.
For parents new to scouting, Cub Scouts are boys in first through fifth grade. The whole group is called a "Pack," which is divided up by age/grade into "Dens". There are Community Packs and LDS (Mormon Church) Packs. I’ve always been involved in Community Packs, which are generally sponsored, or chartered, by a local organization, like a church, PTA, or business.
Community Packs generally confine their recruiting efforts to a certain number of schools. This way, the same boys who attend the Scout meetings will also be likely to band together in their schools and neighborhoods, and hopefully set an example for other children when it comes to citizenship and leadership, thereby creating positive peer pressure.
That fall I attended several recruiting efforts at Ridgemoor Elementary, and Pack 374 was born. Originally we had about a dozen boys with their families, with me as the Cubmaster. Our charter organization at the time was the Kiwanis Club of Menifee and we did well with them, got our paperwork processed and had a decent program. I served as the Cubmaster and Kiwanis served as our charter organization from 2010 until 2012.
Unfortunately, the Kiwanis Club of Menifee folded just as I handed the Cubmaster duties to another dad, which made it hard to do all the paperwork that was required, from insurance to individual boy registration. The Menifee Youth Foundation came to our aid as a temporary solution. I say temporary because they were already chartering another Cub Scout Pack, as well as a Boy Scout Troop (boys ages 11-18) and a Venturing Crew (boys and girls ages 14-21).
Then I had an idea for a local business. Why not our own Menifee 24/7? I called Doug Spoon and we had a meeting with the current Cubmaster, and together we decided it would be a good fit for all involved. We got the paperwork filled out and we are all official.
We will be having our Kickoff to Summer Pack meeting on Tuesday June 25 in the evening. If you are interested in finding out more, please log on to www.pack374.org and click Contact Our Pack and we can get you the exact time and location.
On behalf of the boys of Cub Scout Pack 374, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Doug Spoon and the entire Menifee 24/7 team for joining us on this adventure.
David Baker, our Man About Menifee, writes about his adventures in and around town every Friday in this space. You may leave comments for him here or email him at manaboutmenifee@gmail.com.
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