Going ‘camping’ with Cub Scout Pack 20

One half of the Five Towns Community Center gymnasium was transformed into a faux campground with Cub Scout Pack 20 as the intimate group of eight scouts learned how to pitch a tent during the weekly meeting on Feb. 17.

Scoutmasters David Dorsey and Eugene Corless and Boy Scouts Conner Corless and Jude Zack showed the scouts ranging in age from 8 to 11 how to lay down the cover sheet, match up the tent frame and take care not to poke anyone, then complete the tent with a rain cover.

“This puts me in the mood to go camping,” Eugene said as scrambled on the gym to smooth out the tent’s rough edges. Some of the adult assistants joked that it is never a Scout camping trip unless it rains. The scouts also learned that tent stakes are different gauges of thickness depending on the terrain where the tents are used.

That Thursday was misty outside but inside there was enthusiasm. Fresh off from the Pack’s Super Bowl Pinewood Derby, the scouts jumped right in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Scout Oath was led by Dylan Dorsey and the Scout Law by Samantha Vasquez. On Feb. 13, Kevin Gebauer captured first place in the race of the miniature wooden cars, Sean Becker placed second and Chase Smith took third.

Cub Scout Pack 20 feeds Boy Scout Troop 20, one of the oldest troops in Scouts BSA Theodore Roosevelt Council, the Massapequa-based group that oversees scouting in Nassau County. “I think it’s a wonderful outlet for boys and girls at this age,” Dorsey said. “It teaches self-reliance, a love of the outdoors and respect for community and country.”

For more information on Cub Scout Pack 20, email Dorsey at david.dorsey@rocketmail.com.