Cub Scout Pack 3 - Somerville, MA

Learn More About Pack 3

Start Here: [ Info for New Cub Scout Families ]

We are Cub Scout Pack 3 based in Somerville, Massachusetts. Pack 3 is a group of families who volunteer together to run a Cub Scout program for their kids. All local children are welcome in Pack 3, once they're at least Kindergarten age.

Our "home base" is Connexion UMC, 149 Broadway in East Somerville. For more than a hundred years, Connexion and its predecessor College Avenue UMC have generously provided a place for our Somerville-area Scouting groups to meet and store all our supplies. Pack 3 itself does not have any religious affiliation, and we welcome all families regardless of their beliefs...including scouts and families who have no religious beliefs.

Pack 3 is located in the Sons Of Liberty District of the Spirit Of Adventure Council of the BSA. Spirit of Adventure Council is the local non-profit group which operates our local scout camps and scout shops, and they provide us plenty of professional and volunteer support.

Worth repeating: we welcome all interested kids from kindergarten and up--and their families--period. If anything in official BSA literature or paperwork seems to restrict your family's participation, please contact us. We likely have a time-tested way of working around it. Scouting is for anyone and everyone who wants to join in!

What do Cub Scouts do?

We have a huge amount of fun! Kids and their families do activities like camping, fishing, hiking, knot-tying, first aid, carpentry, service projects, science, skits and songs, field trips, sports, and games. They earn badges and awards for the things they finish, and get recognized for their accomplishments in front of their peers. They learn good citizenship, environmental stewardship, leadership, self-confidence, and how to be part of a community. They wear a uniform which marks them as a scout, and which shows off the badges and awards they've earned. They make friends and take pride in who they are, and in being a Cub Scout!

We have about 20 cub scouts in the pack returning from last year, and we're always excited to have new families join us. Most families join in September or October, but joining anytime during the year is fine! We welcome any child in kindergarten (the year before first grade) through fifth grade, along with their family; kids aged 6 and up can join regardless of grade. Our families come from Somerville, Charlestown, Medford, Cambridge, Arlington--basically you can live anywhere and join us as long as you can get to the meetings. Many meetings are at Connexion UMC, 149 Broadway in Somerville. We hold other meetings outdoors in local parks or at other facilities as needed. (Please do let us know if you have access to a space we could use when needed.)

Kids who have finished fifth grade, or who are already 11 years old, join Scouts BSA Troop 3. Younger kids have to wait until they're older to join—sorry!

We believe that Pack 3 was originally one of the oldest in the country. It lapsed in membership and was restarted in 2009.

[ Learn more about Cub Scouts ]

Volunteer Leadership

Pack 3 is a completely self-supporting, not-for-profit, volunteer-organized, volunteer-run organization. Every fun thing we do is organized or coordinated by the parents of the Cub Scouts. We do all have busy lives! But our families are in Cub Scouts because we believe it's important to make time to spend with other families and with our kids while they're still young, and to pitch in some of our energy toward creating a great Cub Scout program in our community.

Adults from each family are expected to attend, participate in, and even help organize almost all of our activities. Don't worry, it's fun, and you'll be working side-by-side with others who are just as busy as you, but also chose to make some time for this! We do require at least two trained and BSA-registered adult leaders at every activity, so getting officially registered as a BSA adult volunteer is a huge help. The training is informative and can be done online--ask for details if you're curious.

Our head volunteer leaders for 2023-24:

Cubmaster (acting) - Marc Tanner
Pack Committee Chair - Kristen Butler
Pack Committee Treasurer - Donna Clark

When and where are the meetings and outings?

We have pack meetings (all kids and their families), typically the 2nd Thursday of each month at Connexion UMC, 149 Broadway, Somerville. We have several “special” pack meetings or events each year: the Pinewood Derby, the Blue and Gold Banquet, the Turkey Shoot, etc. These are pack traditions which the kids love and look forward to.

There is usually an outing or activity one weekend each month. These activities might include a trip to City Hall, boating on the Charles, etc... We run at least 2 overnighters or family camping trips per year: New England Base Camp in Milton, Camp Forty Acres in Wilmington, Battleship Cove, WooSox, Museum of Science.

Each Den (one age) also meets 2-3 times per month for meetings and field trips. The den leaders work with families to find dates/times/locations that work best. Dens sometimes also have outings and field trips. The Webelos and Arrow of Light scouts (4th-5th graders) have their own camping trips and sometimes join Troop 3 for meeting and outings.

Time Commitment

For kids: There's no "mandatory attendance" or anything. That said, most kids will get a lot more out of Cub Scouts if they attend most of the den meetings, pack meetings, field trips, and outings. Plan on a 60-90 minute meeting about once a week, with a mix of talking, sharing, hands-on learning, and running-around activities. Plus a weekend day or overnight trip each month. There's no "homework" but there are plenty of things the Cubs can--and should--do at home, then bring into the meetings to show off. (Sometimes well-meaning volunteers call this stuff "homework", but it's all optional--really.)

Each scout is working on badges and awards they get to wear on their uniform. Kids are proud of what they do and learn, and proud to show off the badges they earn. Families who miss a lot of meetings and trips might be frustrated that their kids aren't earning any badges, and there's not much we can do about that....but none of this is a requirement to be part of Pack 3. Once you're signed up, you can come to as much or as little as makes sense for your family!

For adults: In addition to the meetings and outings, parents are expected to help out with organizing and running a few of the den meetings and also 2-3 pack activities each year--we do this together as a team, so we can help each other out and learn from each other. Volunteer Den Leaders also spend some time each week helping to coordinate and plan the den activities and also communicating with other families in the den. The Den Leaders and members of the Pack Committee get together more-or-less monthly to plan and coordinate the den and pack activities. All told, it's a parent commitment of about 1-2 hours each week, all of which supports your kid(s), and most of which is spent with your kid(s). What could be more worth-it than that?

Bottom Line

Come to a few meetings or activities, sign up, try it out, get involved, roll up your sleeves and help out, see if it works for your family!

Here's our flyer for September 2023...

You can download a PDF version of the flier, in English and Spanish.