Dove Hill Newsroom

Philip Sansone (Cubmaster, Pack 264)

Over three months from April to June, the boys from Cubscout Pack 264 came together to answer the call from Silver Oak Elementary Librarian, Karen Hokanson, who asked for 20 bookshelves for the school. For several years Ms. Hokanson had been out of space in the library to hold books that the community had graciously donated and was having to turn donations away. This was bad news for the passionate student readers who never got to see the bevy of donations that wouldn't fit on the existing shelves. That's when the scouts from Pack 264 got to work.

"Everyone pitched-in, from our kindergartners to our oldest Weblos Scouts" says Philip Sansone, the Pack 264 Cubmaster. The scouts of the "Lion Den," who were too young to operate power tools took the initiative to select quality wood and deliver the construction materials from the local Lowes home improvement store. Then, over the next several months, the older scouts came to a makeshift workshop to mark, rough-cut, sand and assemble the wood into bookshelves. The scouts learned how to safely operate miter saws, band saws, routers, sanders and more. They learned the carpentry skills of how to properly mark wood and cut it precisely by taking saw blade width into account. The final assembly and staining was done by parents of the Pack.

"It was a learning experience for everyone involved," says Philip. "Kids don't learn skills like carpentry and woodworking in school much anymore, which creates the opportunity for programs like Cub Scouts to show them how to build many of the things they need themselves." This principal is reinforced by many Scout activities. For example, Wolf Den Scouts (3rd graders) are taught how to carve wood and use pocketknives safely. All grade levels come together once a year for the vaunted "Pinewood Derby" in which the boys design, build, race and cheer for their own gravity-propelled cars.

In the end, all the time and money for the project was donated by the parents and children of Pack 264 to teach its boys the necessity and rewards of community service and to thank the school for the use of the facilities used to hold Pack meetings. If you have a son in grades K-5 and would like to know more about the many benefits of joining Cub Scouts, please contact Pack 264 via e-mail at silveroak.cubscout@gmail.com.