Cub Scouts Serve Swampscott

            Saturday October 19 was a very busy day for the boys of Swampscott Cub Scout Pack 55. Cub Scouts of all ranks devoted many hours to help clean up our town and safeguard the environment.

            Pack 55 Cub Scouts began the day by hosting their annual bottle and can recycling drive at First Church (40 Monument Avenue). Through their hard work, the Cubs collected more than 1,200 cans and bottles. The boys donned rubber gloves to sort and count all of the recyclables and then loaded them for transport to a recycling center in Lynn, Massachusetts. There were so many cans and bottles on the trailer that the stacks of them stood taller than many of the Cub Scouts themselves!

            After a small break, the boys re-assembled later in the afternoon to help clean up some of the Swampscott shore line. Working in teams of two, under the supervision of the Pack Leadership Team, the boys scoured the beaches for trash which they removed and properly disposed of.

            Finally, as a great reward for all of their hard work, the Cub Scouts of Pack 55 gathered on Preston Beach and built a cooking fire. The boys, working under the supervision of Assistant Cubmaster Steve Hutcheon, followed all of the appropriate protocols provided by the Swampscott Fire Department to safely build a fire. The Cubs worked in teams to properly place large buckets of water strategically around the fire site. Once all of the safety checks were completed, the boys got down to the hard work of roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

            As part of Pack 55’s quest to earn the prestigious Boy Scouts of America “Messengers of Peace” award designation the boys extended invitations to participate in these activities to Cub Scouts from economically challenged communities.