By Kyle LoJacono
Parents and scouts would have had to cancel a camping trip the weekend of Oct. 23 without the help of Alex Murphy and Club Connerton in northern Land O’ Lakes.
Cub Scout Pack 323, based in Land O’ Lakes, had scheduled the trip from Friday to Saturday to work on various achievements, shoot off rockets the children had made and end the day with a campfire. Unfortunately for the group, the site they were assigned to was double booked.
The other group “made the area less than desirable for a Cub Scout trip,” said Pack 323 cub master Bryan Gifford. “The parents decided to call it off because of the environment. I went into scramble mode and sent a text to Alex at Connerton at 1:30 in the morning. She got right back to me and said to show up in the morning.”
Murphy is Club Connerton’s activities director. She said the space was available and did not want to turn down the group, especially because Gifford is a member of the club.
“We want to support the whole community and create the sense of community in the area,” Murphy said. “A lot of those families are residents or attend Connerton Elementary and it feels great to be able to help a worthy organization.”
The trip was the first outing for Pack 323 for the year and Gifford was worried the experience would end some of the kids’ time in scouting.
“We had 55 kids going on the trip and I was afraid that some would drop out because of this,” Gifford said. “The kids were all excited because it was our first of the year and without Connerton’s help, we might have lost some scouts. It’s amazing to live in a community where people will help a youth group in a pinch.
“They took a situation that would have had 160 disappointed people and made them 160 happy people,” Gifford continued. “We didn’t spend the night there, but we were able to shoot off the rockets and have a good time.”
Gifford’s youngest son Dakota, 6, is a Tiger Cub in the group. He said he likes camping for the hiking, skits and campfires.
“It was fun,” Dakota said of the Connerton trip. “I liked chasing the rockets.”
Gifford’s older son Skyler is a Webelo scout in the group also. Pack 323 has 88 registered scouts and meets at Myrtle Lake Baptist Church, 2017 Reigler Road off SR 54 in Land O’ Lakes, each Monday at 7 p.m. Anyone interested in joining the group can show up at any meeting or e-mail Gifford at .
