3 Generations of Scouts

Heathen #1 has outgrown Cub Scouts. He bridged to Boy Scouts last week on Thursday. The Asst. Zookeeper's den all bridged into troops in the area. All seven are going on - which is an accomplishment in this day and age. With everything kids do nowadays, scouting seems to be getting cut back.

When Heathen #1 was a Tiger Cub, there were three dens of new scouts and they all had at least 6 boys each. The second year, as Wolves, there were only 2 dens - and they each had about 8 boys. They had picked up the extra boys from the den that folded. Numbers were steady through Bears. but when they hit Webelos last year, the two dens combined for a total of 10. At the beginning of this year, we lost an additional three that we couldn't talk into sticking it out until bridging.

During the bridging, I had the chance to watch the Asst. Zookeeper take off his neckerchief and shake his hand. Then he stepped past his father to his grandfather, who took him across the bridge and into the troop. Not many people have the chance to see three generations of scouts working together. It was awesome.

While we were on stage with Heathen #1, I could see Heathen #2 sitting with his Tiger Cub den. And Heathen #3 was sitting further back in the room with my mother-in-law, still too young to be a scout yet. Both of them were watching carefully, knowing that they will get their chance soon.

After the pack meeting, the Asst. Zookeeper and I took the boys to Eat N'Park for dinner to celebrate. We gave Heathen #1 a merit badge book for "Citizenship in the Community" as a bridging gift. He's happily been looking through it since. Tonight's his first Boy Scout meeting!