The Scouts Canada program in Sundre has been successful for its first year, after returning to the community in the fall from a hiatus of numerous years.
The first year attracted two active age groups, including Beavers, aged five to seven, and Cubs, aged eight to 10, with about eight kids in each group.
The Beavers completed their program last week, but the Cubs program will run until the end of June, according to group commissioner Jaime Marr.
The groups have been meeting every Monday since September and the Beavers participated in a lot of crafts and songs.
“It was really teaching the kids about Scouts. So getting them into a uniform and understanding the Beaver motto and the promise and sort of what Scouts was. Getting them into a group and trying to teach them obedience and sharing,” explained Marr.
Both groups participated in the Sundre Legion's Remembrance Day service in November.
The Cubs had an overnight campout in October and the Beavers joined them for an evening campfire, but they were too young to stay overnight.
“We had a fireside and played some volleyball and told stories,” said Marr.
The Cubs also volunteered for the Sundre museum's Winterfest celebration in February, where they manned the kids' activities station.
They also participated in a Cub Cars Rally earlier this month.
“What that entails is each Cub builds their own car out of wood and we hosted our own Cub Car Rally,” she said.
Both groups sold popcorn in the fall, where they went door to door and also set up a table at the Sundre Arena during the Christmas family skate.
“Scouts has one fundraiser each year and that's our popcorn sales. We did very, very well,” she said.
The groups will be participating in the annual chamber of commerce parade in June, where they will recruit more people to join in the fall. They are also looking for more volunteers to become leaders, she said.
“We are actually looking at making some changes. We're probably looking at focussing more on the Cub and Scout groupings,” she said.
“The ages are a little bigger, which would allow the leaders to do a lot more outdoor activity and sort of a little bit more creative survival skills. The beavers we found were just a little bit too young to engage in a lot of outdoor stuff.
“It was more of an arts and crafts song. And Sundre really is interested in getting outside, being more community minded and focussing more on the leadership role, and I think it will be easier for us to do that with the older kids.”
Even though there were only two active groups, the program was successful and there are currently six active volunteers, she said. As well, businesses in town donated funds to the club throughout the season.
The Sundre Elks Club is the official sponsor of the Sundre Scouts, and Scouts cannot exist in a community without a sponsor, she noted.
Officials of Sundre's Family and Community Support Services championed the return of the program in the fall. A lack of volunteers forced the closure of the program in town numerous years ago.
Scouts Canada offers programs throughout the country and has been around for more than 100 years. There are five categories for ages five to 26 – Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers.
For more information, visit www.scouts.ca
As well, if anyone is interested in volunteering with Scouts or have any skill sets they would like to share with Scouts, they are asked to call Marr directly at 403-638-7980.
