If your days… or nights… involved constructing pinewood derby cars, baking cakes, and making sandwiches then you're probably involved with St. John's Cub Scouts. This winter was a busy one for the boys and their families as the group participated in a variety of activities that promoted community service and social responsibility as well as good old-fashioned fun.

A highlight of the year was the annual pinewood derby race. The boys, with help from dad and mom, burned the midnight oil constructing what they hoped would be the fastest or coolest car on the track. The excitement was palpable as the crowd counted down each race … "five, four, three, two, one…," everyone shouted. The cars barreled down the track, heat after heat, until each den had a winner, and the pack had identified its three fastest cars.

This year's den winners were: Devin Whalen (Wolf), Gabriel Benzari (Bear), Brendon Garagusi (Webeloes I), and Patrick Macklin (Webeloes 2). Paul Campion wowed judges with his Mini Cooper and won best of show. They are all eligible for the district race. The overall pack winners were: first place, Garagusi; second place, Benzari; and third place, Whalen. Parents and siblings were not left out. They also built cars and raced, with Christian Garagusi capturing the number one spot.

Comedy and Cakes
The boys also got to show off their creative as well as culinary talents at the annual Blue and Gold Dinner. The Cub Scouts host the family event each winter, with entertainment provided by the boys. The Wolves serenaded the crowd while other dens displayed their "comedic" talent by performing a variety of skits.

But it's not the entertainment that draws the crowd, it's the cakes. The Blue and Gold dinner plays host to the annual cake baking contest, making it one of the few places where you can actually have your cake and eat it too. This year's theme "Cub Scout Express" yielded a creative array of transportation-inspired confections, which won equally creative awards such as "Most Lammas" and the "Union Award" for the best combination of Cub Scout and Girl Scout (i.e. cookies) ideals.

Feeding the Hungry
The joy continued one Sunday, when the Cub Scouts came together to make sandwiches for donation to Martha's Table. It was delightful seeing the boys build sandwich after sandwich, and what a creative array. Dagwood himself would have been proud of some of the turkey, bologna, ham, Swiss, cheddar, and American cheese sandwiches topped with bread and butter pickles. Their enthusiasm was catching. Parishioners at community Sunday stopped by offering to go home, make sandwiches, and bring them back. Martha's Table predicted that the parish donated at least 2,000 sandwiches that day.

Please Join Us
If you have a son and would like more information about Cub Scouts, please contact our pack leader Joseph Barone. You can e-mail him at brim.home@verizon.net and reach him by phone at 301-754-2070; or better yet, stop by an upcoming den meeting. Cub Scouts is a great way to have fun, teach values, and be a part of the parish community. We hope to see you there.