This month marks ten years since we re-opened our Cub Pack in July 2014. The Pack had been closed since about 1999 and we only had Scouts in our group, but as the Troop was gaining strength the committee decided to reopen the Pack and in 2014 we managed to find four volunteer parents to launch the Pack: Eltena Rethman as Pack Scouter and Viky Peterman, Margie Giddey and myself as Assistants. I moved from the Troop to join the Pack Scouter team, and although we had no Cub experience between us, we did the training and made our plans for the launch.
Finding Cubs to join the new Pack was easy: through word of mouth and parent networking we quickly found enough potential Cubs, mostly at Grove Primary (Eltena’s son Ephraim was at Grove) and Rondebosch Prep (where my son James was at school).
Our first meeting was fully subscribed and we kicked off with the basics: some fun games, making wolf masks as a craft activity, stories from the Jungle Book, and learning the Cub salute and Grand Howl. Eltena made a fantastic Akela bringing lots of energy and creativity to the role. For our second meeting, we built fires – always a favourite activity for Cubs.
After our first few meetings we invested the adult leaders and then our first 20 Cubs, in two mammoth ceremonies. This nearly doubled the size of 1st Claremont overnight.
Soon after starting we were joined by Fraser Hewson and Kath Kenyon as leaders, and Eltena stepped down as Pack Scouter as she had a baby on the way (who became a Cub a few years later!) I took over from Eltena as Pack Scouter and held that role for the next 6 years.
I’m happy to say the new Pack went very well, with a wide range of fun activities right from the start – hikes, outings, camps, badges, and a lot of fun at the hall. A few months after the relaunch, 3rd Pinelands invited us to join their Cub Camp at Hawequas – the first of many joint camps with other groups. Two years later we awarded our first Gold Wolf badges and soon after that our first Leaping Wolves, and the Pack continues to produce a long series of Leaping Wolf awards.
I’m proud to say that of the first 20 Cubs in July 2014, more than half continued to become Scouts, nearly one third remained in the Troop all the way through to the upper age limit, and we have so far produced two Springbok Scouts.
Having an enthusiastic team of adult leaders is key to the Pack’s success. Our Cub team has always worked well together, with a strong social element, and I know the leaders have always had an enormous amount of fun while doing the “job” of running the Pack. Getting involved as a leader is something I would strongly recommend to all parents in the Cub Pack and in the Meerkat Den. It’s not necessary to bring “Scouting skills” to the role when you join – it’s something you quickly pick up along the way. All that is required is to enjoy running fun activities for children.
Today 1st Claremont is one of the biggest and strongest groups in the Western Cape, and having a strong Cub Pack has been a key part of that success. The lessons we learned in re-opening our Cub Pack helped us to launch our Meerkat Den in 2020 and to assist in relaunching the 4th Claremont Fernwood Cub Pack in 2022. Personally, I have loved seeing the Pack doing so well in the ten years since relaunching, and being part of it has been a highlight of my Scout career.
SGL Ian Webb
