Now begins another busy year for parents across the area, picking up children, lugging around balls of all shapes and sizes and transporting all of this stuff to practices and games. I agree children should be exposed to all varieties of sports and physical education, but I also wish to see their minds and imaginations used in the process.

I would like to offer another, and possibly the best option for boys across the area and that is Cub Scouting. What better way to help your son become a man than by learning to be a good citizen, all while camping and having fun. The Boy Scouts of America offer a program to build character, citizenship and physical fitness.

All activities are patterned around the 12 Cub Scouting Core Values: Citizenship, Compassion, Cooperation, Courage, Faith, Health and Fitness, Honesty, Perseverance, Positive Attitude, Resourcefulness, Respect and Responsibility. Each meeting will normally begin with the Pledge of Allegiance and Cub Scout Promise.

Cub Scouting is designed for boys in first through the fifth grade.

Scouting opens the world up for children to experience field trips, hikes, nature and conservation activities.

While camping, the youth’s mind and time will be filled with BB gun shooting, bow and arrow shooting, campsite preparation, crafts of all kinds and a plethora of other activities. A Cub Scout camping event will often showcase Indian dancers from the area Boy Scout Order of the Arrow lodge or old-west gunslingers.

The youth and their families also participate in service projects ranging from cleaning up an area of town to holding a recycle day for the city. Doing service projects is one way for Cub Scouts to keep their promise, “to help other people.” Most of the activities allow the children to earn patches and receive positive praise for their efforts.

Come on, support and get involved in scouting. A Cub Scout Rally will be held at the San Saba Elementary School cafeteria on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. for all parents and boys first through fifth grades interested in Cub Scouts. Free pizza will be furnished for all boys and their parents who attend. For specific information about Cub Scouting in San Saba, please contact David Harris, Cub Scout Master, Pack 55 at (325) 205-0052. Boy Scout Master Randal Hawkins at (325) 372-6014 or Jim Childress at (325) 372-5791, about how your child can participate, or perhaps even how you can become involved.

For more information about Cub Scouting in general, visit www.scouting.org or call the Texas Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America at (325) 677-2688. (This article was written by Art Veneris for the Brownwood Bulletin and printed with permission)