Pack 346 scouts bridge over to Boy Scouts

The seven scouts from Pack 346, Den 6, received their Arrow of Light Award and bridged over to Boy Scouts on Sunday, Feb. 25. The scouts who participated in the ceremony were Gavin Dalton (five years in Cub Scouts), Arthur Keene (two years in Cub Scouts), Aidan McColley (five years in Cub Scouts), Luke Remley (five years in Cub Scouts), Luke Thomas (5 years in Cub Scouts), Matthew Thomas (five years in Cub Scouts) and James Woodward (three years in Cub Scouts).  Four of these scouts have been together in Pack 346 for their entire five years of scouting. The other scouts were recruited by these boys to join Pack 346 over the years.

The Arrow of Light is the highest award a Cub Scout can earn and is the only rank patch from Cub Scouts that a scout can wear on his Boy Scout uniform. Each scout was presented a plaque to commemorate their years in scouting with a personalized Arrow, hand wrapped to display each award they had received in their two to five years of scouting.

Two of the scouts, Matthew and Luke Thomas, received their Super Achiever award, which was earned by completing all the Webelos/Arrow of Light adventure pins over the past 18 months. Nine of the 27 adventures in the Webelos/Arrow of Light program were core adventures and three were electives required to complete Webelos and Arrow of Light ranks. Matthew and Luke Thomas earned 15 additional electives during the program. They also completed the Parvuli Dei religious emblem during their Bear Scout year.

All of the Den 6 scouts went above and beyond the requirements of rank, earning additional electives, shooting sports awards and other special patches. Scouts Gavin Dalton, Aidan McColley, Luke Remley, Luke Thomas, Matthew Thomas and James Woodward all completed the advanced award of Outdoor Ethics in Action during their Bear Scout year.

The scouts of Den 6 also completed additional service projects during their years in scouting, including the Lion’s Club Pancake Breakfast, beach cleanups and clean up hikes, and regularly participated in the Canyon Lake Fiesta Day Parade and the Canyon Lake Veteran’s Day Ceremonies.

The Arrows of Pack 346 most recently built and presented a flag retirement collection box to the community, which is now housed at Pack, Wrap & Post in the Towne Center.

To celebrate the scouts’ Arrow of Light, the Order of the Arrow Scouts of Troop 2011 performed a traditional Arrow of Light Ceremony. The parents, family and other Akela’s of each scout were on hand to support their scouts in their final event as Cub Scouts.

Following the ceremony, the scouts bridged over to Boy Scouts and were welcomed by their new troop scoutmaster and scouts with new neckerchiefs and hats.

Their Den Leader Kenneth Remley and Assistant Den Leaders Susan Thomas and Brent Dalton, as well as Cubmaster Steve Sidwell, were on hand to celebrate their graduation and encourage their continued success in scouting with a goal of completing their Eagle Scout. All seven Scouts chose to continue their scouting journey with Troop 2011 in Wildomar.

Pack 346 serves Canyon Lake, Canyon Hills and Tuscany Hills and is for boys in kindergarten through 5th grades.  For more information, email socalpack346@gmail.com.