5

The Beginnings of All-Girl Cub Scouts Pack Nine

By Sunnie Dawn Smith

In August 2018, the Boy Scouts of America made national headlines by officially allowing girls to join their ranks to create co-ed packs or troops or even all-girl groups. This decision was met with some controversy from all sides, but what some people might not know is that BSA had actually allowed girls to join for decades before that.

Adam Wrublewski, district executive with the Arbuckle Area Council of BSA, said girls had been allowed to join the “Venture Crews” – scoutplanned high adventure trips – since as early as 1971. The decision last year to be more inclusive of girls formalized the notion that BSA could be an organization for everyone.

“On Feb. 1, we started allowing the girl troops, but we hadn’t been able to get the traction we needed until now,” Wrublewski said.

Now, these groups are taking off thanks to some local volunteers. Troop 13 – currently led by Steve Ivan – has been around since 1938 and has affected the lives of boys and young men for seven decades, and it now accepts female scouts. Troop 19 will be a standalone girl troop led by Rebecca Grein. Pack Nine will be an all-girl pack of scouts led by Jo Anna Owens.

The difference between a pack and a troop is age level. Packs are for Cub Scouts, which are for kids in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Troops, or Scouts BSA, are for students in grades six through 12. There are also other programs for different age levels that go beyond high school, encouraging scouts to get involved and stay involved. The Venture Crews are primarily scout-led high adventure and are for ages 14-20. They also have Explorer Clubs for ages 10-13, which are primarily career-oriented and bring in professionals in fields like aviation, medicine, technology and more to run these clubs and guide the activities.

Owens didn’t start off thinking she was going to lead a whole pack of Cub Scouts. She had much more modest goals in mind in the beginning, but as opportunities presented themselves, she found herself on this new path.

“I scouted as a kid, and I wanted to provide that experience for my daughter,” Owens said. “I explored options, and (Wrublewski) made himself available and was passionate about scouting. It made me feel good about joining the organization. I knew that recently they were letting girls in at the Cub Scout level. I have a first grader, and I wanted to get her involved. However, when I spoke with him, there wasn’t a real clear path yet. I had been willing to be a leader, and (Wrublewski) convinced me to start a pack.”

Owens is still looking for more girls to join her pack as well as volunteers. They provide all of the training, and much of it is online to make it easier for volunteers to get registered. Leaders keep the safety of all their scouts at the forefront and do background checks, but they also require training designed for youth protection. In addition, any pack or troop that has any girls in it has to have at least one female registered leader.

Pack Nine has joined the Arbuckle Area Council of Boy Scouts of America as its first all-girl Cub Scouts pack. PHOTO BY ANGELA MARTIN

They will hit the ground running with their popcorn sales almost immediately, which run Sept. 12-Oct. 18. Two-thirds of the money from these sales goes back into the individual units and the council. The remaining third goes to pay for the product. The council primarily uses its money to conduct marketing for its units, maintain its campground at Camp Simpson and provide free training. Some of the smaller trainings might be $10- $20 that the volunteer would need to pay, but other trainings can be hundreds of dollars, which the council will take care of these using the popcorn money.

The individual units can use their money for whatever they need. Sometimes it is to help pay annual dues or to pay for camp registration.

“There is a cost to scouting, but we don’t let finances stand in the way of joining scouts,” Wrublewski said. “If someone wants to join scouts but they are going through financial hardship, then we will find a way to get them in.”

Popcorn sales are one way to help make it more affordable.

An annual membership is $33 for Scouts, but they also prorate the amount if someone joins later in the year. As of now, the amount is $20.

For anyone interested in joining Scouts at any level, call or text Adam Wrublewski at (817) 992-1921. Even though it is a Dallas area number, he is still local to Ada. Also, if anyone is interested in buying popcorn but doesn’t know a scout, Wrublewski said he would be happy to send a scout their way.