Pack 425 Cleans the Shores of the Potomac

     - May 16, 2006 by Stu Richman

As part of the annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup event that takes place all around the Washington DC area, Scouts and their families from Pack 425 met at Smallwood State Park to help do their part to clean the shores of the Potomac River.

The day started with the Scouts listening to the Park Rangers on what to look for and certain items to pay attention too.  They provided 3 different bags.  One was for general trash, one for recyclable items, and a third was for hazardous waste (if found).  The Park Rangers also provided gloves to help protect everyone’s hands.

After listening to the Park Rangers, the Scouts broke up into small groups and headed out for the cleanup.  It was amazing the amount of trash and debris that was on the shoreline.  It was low tide so more of the shoreline was accessible.  There were many food wrappers and soda bottles found.  Also found were tires, golf balls, tennis balls and even a porcelain toilet!  The Scouts and their families collected many bags of trash and brought them back for disposal.

While the cleaning up took place, the light sprinkle of rain was turning into a steady down pour.  What could be more fun for young boys…. playing near water while it rained… and doing a great community project!   The members of Pack 425 should be proud of its help in cleaning up the environment so the local community may better enjoy this beautiful area.

Pack 425 Cruises Down the Slopes of Ski Liberty

      - January 30, 2006 by Stu Richman

On January 22, 2006, Cub Scout Pack 425 set off for a day of snow tubing at Liberty Mountain in Pennsylvania.  With the warmer than normal winter  this year, we had our doubts if there would be any snow!  The day before it was in the upper 50's back home in Waldorf.  As we approached the mountain, it was nothing but brown (no snow), but as we made the last turn toward the mountain, it was like winter, as the weather was cold enough for Liberty to have their snow making machines going.  Liberty had made about 2-3 inches of new snow on the tubing hill over night.  They were even shoveling snow that had fallen on the tubing viewing deck next to the lodge.  It felt like winter again.

The day was bright and beautiful as the Scouts and their families put on the sledding clothes inside the lodge.  As tubers began to go down the hill, they first went individually to test the speed.  Scouts felt like Olympic luge riders as they sped down  the carved lanes.  As riders became more "brave", groups of up to 6  formed and daisy chained their tubes together and flew down the hill like a run away train.  Everyone was having a fun time.  Big smiles could be seen on everyone's faces as riders went down the hill.  After the ride down , the "magic carpet" would transport you back up the hill for another ride.  When our session finally came to an end, everyone was tired and ready for a much needed rest and lunch. It was another fun filled activity for the Scouts and families of Pack 425.

Be sure to check out the Ski Liberty pictures in the Photo Gallery!

Troop 1709 from White Plains, MD invited Pack 425 to participate in a fundraiser to raise money with them for the Red Cross to benefit the victims of hurricane Katrina. On Saturday Sep 10^th and Sunday Sep 11^th a total of nearly 20 Cub Scouts from our Pack sold Krispy Kreme doughnuts along side Troop 1709 at 6 different locations around Waldorf and La Plata. We even had one scout from Troop 410 in Bryan’s Road, MD pitch in to help out. Over the course of 2 mornings, we sold 1000 boxes of doughnuts and raised $4500 in profit from sales and donations that will directly benefit the victims. 

Based on my observations all of the Scouts had a great time, but more importantly they felt they were making a difference to help those in extreme need. I spoke with one mom, whose son is in the U.S. Coast Guard stationed in New Orleans and she had tears in her eyes as she thanked me for what we were doing and she told me about what her son had gone through over the past several days. I thanked her for the work her son does everyday serving his country. 

This fundraiser was a huge success and we even received a $200 donation from one person. The fundraiser was the idea of Charlie Cox, Scoutmaster Troop 1709 and without a lot of work between Charlie and our own Mike Douglass (Cubmaster) and Joe Laberge (Asst Cubmaster) to pull this together quickly, it would not have been as successful.

Cub Scout Day Camp was held 1 – 5 Aug.  We had eight boys attend from our Pack:  2 Wolves, 4 Bears, and 2 Webelos.  We also had six parent volunteers, one junior leader volunteer, and four siblings attend.

The scouts and siblings all had a great, fun-filled week with many activities.  Most days sweat was already rolling down our backs by 9:00 am; just imagine how hot it was by noon and later!  The scouts really enjoyed the day they got to do the Cub Wash (a big slip and slide).  This helped to cool them down greatly.  The den leaders should have joined them on that day!

There were several stations that the scouts went to throughout the day.  Monday thru Thursday they went to stations such as Wood Crafts, Flag and Tag, Nature, Showtime, Fishing, Archery, and BB Guns.  The stations on Friday included Fitness, Volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, and Chess (which was Chess, Soccer, and Music depending on which group was at the station). 

On Friday, once the boys had completed the four stations, there was a family picnic.  After the picnic, the individual dens performed their skits for the parents and the other dens.  Awards were also presented for fishing (most fish caught and largest fish caught), archery (highest scores), and BB Guns (highest scores).  David from Pack 425 received the highest BB score for the Bear Den that he was part of at Day Camp.

Overall, a fun time was had by all, but we are all thrilled to be back in our air-conditioned homes and offices!

Be sure to check out the Cub Scout Day Camp pictures in the Photo Gallery!