After various packs faded over the past few decades, scouts are striving to establish cubs in the borough.
Scoutmaster Mike McCormick remembers participating in the Pinewood Derby nearly 30 years ago alongside his father. The race of tiny cars carved from wood was a longtime activity of Cub Scouting.
Now, the leader of Troop 48 hopes to partake in such traditions with his own kindergarten-aged son, sparking his motivation to revive Berlin’s Cub Scout Pack 48.
“When you’re in your mid-30s, like I am, and you look back and remember this thing you did as a kid and it still sticks out, that’s a sign it really was worth doing,” McCormick said. “I’m starting it, because I know my son could have as good a time as I had in Cub Scouts.”
While Troop 48 has scouted around Berlin since 1964, over the past few decades, Cub Packs have come and gone throughout the borough.
Pack 48 existed in Berlin until the mid 1980s, but by the time McCormick joined in 1989, the group relocated to Voorhees, where it remained until it folded in the early 2000s.
Berlin was also home to Pack 55 for several years, but it, too, fizzled out about six years ago.
Irene Sullivan, a former den leader of Pack 55, is partnering with McCormick in his resurrection of Pack 48.
“Cub Scouting is a great experience for boys and their families,” said Sullivan, who is the new den leader for Wolves. “And it’s a shame that there hasn’t been one around Berlin.”
The new pack’s innovations simply lie in instilling of Scouting institutions.
Sullivan and McCormick share a chief objective of exposing the kindergarten through fifth-grade children to the great outdoors, planning both a spring and fall campout, as well as a series of nature walks and hikes.
“I want to have fun with the kids and see things through their eyes and introduce them to things that they haven’t seen yet,” Sullivan said.
McCormick, a social studies educator at St. Cecilia School in Pennsauken, has come to realize the importance of getting children active in nature, after spending so much time in a classroom.
“As a teacher, I know how to get off the script a little bit,” McCormick said. “And that’s what I hope to bring to the pack — to do less listening and more doing … I want these kids to go on adventures. Scouting should be about adventuring.”
Aside from tuning in with nature, Pack 48 aims to foster relations with local public servants by taking the Cubs on field trips to police and fire stations.
Immersing into both the community and topography of Berlin, the borough will serve as a comprehensive playground for the Cubs.
“It does bring a sense of community to the Cub Scouts,” Sullivan said. “It introduces them to giving back to their community and being a part of their community, something a little bigger than their own family unit.”
For those interested in joining, visit Pack48berlin.org or contact McCormick at [email protected].
Meetings are held the first Thursday of every month at the VFW, located at 34 Chestnut Ave. in Berlin.
