Adding girls to the den

Girls now learning what b oy Scouts has to offer

by an D rea n OV e L bu CK

PHOTOS by DaVID ba LL ar D PHOTOG ra PH y

They’re changing the face of Cub Scouts across the Northland.

Since May, more than 100 girls, ages 5 to 11, have joined Cub Scout packs in the Voyageurs Area Council’s Arrowhead District, which serves Cook, Lake and parts of St. Louis County, including Duluth, Hermantown and Two Harbors.

Anna Skoglund knew she wanted to join Cub Scouts as soon as she heard the news in 2017 that girls would be allowed to join. That winter, she informed some of her Girl Scout cookie customers they would need to find a different supplier for Thin Mints, S’mores and Shortbreads and hinted that her younger sister could fill the gap. “She was,” she whispered to one, “joining Cub Scouts.”

Anna officially joined Pack 3107 in Hermantown and Thea Stauffenecker’s all-girls den on May 1. She and three other Webelos-age girls earned their Bobcat ranks over the summer: learning the Cub Scout oath, law, sign, handshake, motto and salute, as well as how to fold the American flag. They chose Wild Webelos for their den name and yell and designed a den flag complete with zebra stripes. This fall, she attended Webelos Action Camp, experiencing her first overnight campout as a Scout.

“I carved a duck out of a soap bar,” she said, noting that she earned her whittling chip, an award that’s given after a Scout learns and demonstrates knife care and safety, along with a new pocketknife.

Hiking In Pack 3107

Gretta Skoglund decided to join when she heard about “all the cool stuff” — riding a zipline, canoeing, learning first aid, archery, overnight camping — her older sister Anna had done at camp. Both girls have attended some of their brother’s Boy Scouts meetings.

A Wolf in Pack 3107 all of one week, Gretta picked up trash at the Pike Lake baseball and soccer fields one chilly afternoon in late October. She had just bought her uniform and was working to complete the Bobcat rank.

After their community service work, Gretta, Anna and Quinn Stauffenecker helped identify the “six essentials” of Cub Scouting: a filled water bottle, a flashlight, a whistle, a first aid kit, trail food and sun protection, and participated in a Pack discussion about the “Leave No Trace” outdoor principles.

“My daughter knew the Scout oath and law before my son did,” Thea Stauffenecker said, noting that many girls joining Cub Scouts are the sisters of boys already in Scouts. Often, they tagged along to meetings, campouts and other events.

Quinn joined Cub Scouts to be with her friends and do the activities she enjoys: whittling, tying knots, crafts, canoeing, camping and hiking.

Making slime was fun, Alyssa Stepan added, arriving late but just in time for a three-mile hike in the Pike Lake School Forest.

With a reminder to “always have a buddy” and a list of trees, birds and wildlife to find, the four girls, their leader and a parent, set off on a trail into the forest. As dusk settled in, the girls differentiated between spruce and white pine, birch and aspen. They spied woodpecker holes in some old trees and a deer’s hoof print in the mud. They paused at a log structure to eat some trail mix. Depending on their shoes, they tromped through or tiptoed around the edges of muddy sections of trail.

They emerged from the woods about 40 minutes later, cold and a bit tired, with their flashlights on to light their return path.

Celebrating In Pack 3025

A few days later, Cub Scout Pack 3025 held a Court of Honor and its Halloween Party in West Duluth’s Elim Lutheran Church.

April Respler, a Wolf, happily accepted her Bobcat rank. Leah Welsh and Serenity Sherman received their first belt loop — the Lion’s Honor, for showing good sportsmanship and teamwork while playing a game with other Scouts and participating in a Scouting outing, in addition to demonstrating the Cub Scout sign and salute. Kindergarten-age, Lions are the youngest Cub Scouts and part of a pilot program started in 2016.

When Boy Scouts of America announced in October 2017 that girls soon would be able to join Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, it cited “years of requests from families and girls.” The 109-year-old organization touted the “historic decision” as a way to help busy families consolidate programming for their children.

Leah joined Scouts because she liked how much her brother John liked Scouts. Now a Wolf, he started teaching her the Scout oath and law right after he joined. They took turns selling popcorn door to door this year. She loves camping and that they get to sleep in tents.

“What I like is I don’t have to put them in two different programs. It’s one night a week,” Leah’s mother Jenna said. Jenna’s four older brothers were in Scouts, and she tagged along on campouts and other events. She was a Girl Scout when she was younger but wanted more camping so briefly became a Venture Scout.

Serenity, another Lion, wants to catch a fish during her Scouting adventures. Her grandmother Pam Virkus is the Lions’ den leader. “I think it’s going to be a good thing,” she said. “The girls have been coming anyway and doing the same things.”

More Opportunities For Girls

In February, girls ages 11 to 18 (or 10 if they have earned Cub Scouting’s Arrow of Light), will be able to join Scouts BSA, formerly known as Boy Scouts. Arrowhead District officials, like Tom Meyer, are working on the logistics of forming an independent all-girl troop in Duluth or several sister troops linked to already established boy troops, working with sponsoring charter organizations, and recruiting Scout leaders. And while there’s a lot to be done, Pack 3107’s Quinn is more than ready to join Scouts BSA.

“I want to be the first Stauffenecker girl Eagle Scout,” she said. Her Dad, two uncles, a brother and a cousin all earned Boy Scouting’s top award.

Andrea Novel Buck, a professional journalist for 25 years, is a Duluth freelance writer and Youth Education Director at Temple Israel.