Athens Cub Scout Pack 24, chartered to Athens First United Methodist Church, has been approved to once again be together in-person beginning in October after an admittedly tough year in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to Athens Cub Scout Pack 24 Den Leader Dana Henry.

“COVID really did a number on cub scouting,” she said. “It’s just because of the nature that it’s more leader led. We had restrictions placed on us about how we could meet and where we could meet because of COVID.”

Henry said those restrictions were the result of national concerns as well as local.

“We have always had a great relationship with Athens City Schools for letting us use their schools for meetings,” she said.

Those meetings, held weekly throughout the year, couldn’t happen last year. Up until 2020, the Cub Scouts would meet Mondays at 6:30 p.m. at SPARK Academy at Cowart Elementary, and that’s where they will continue to meet in 2021-2022, pending final approval. Prior to that, meetings were at HEART Academy at Julian Newman Elementary, according to Henry.

“We are not going to able to recruit in-person, like have classroom visits at the schools like we have in the past,” she said. “But they (ACS) are going to help us out tremendously sending virtual handouts for them to post on their social media and receive emails.”

Pack 24 is an all-boys pack with kids ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade, divided by grade level. The boys participate in Cub Scouting activities that include campouts, hikes, service projects and much more.

“Each grade level has a curriculum they follow for the year. The activities are designed to meet the criteria of awards the boys can earn as they complete work,” Henry said.

In the past, according to Henry, she has had her packs build model rockets, stomp rockets, take visits to nature centers, knot-tying, science experiments as well as outdoor and indoor cooking.

The new Cubmaster will be Charles McMurtrey, and Assistant Cubmasters will be Deb McMurtrey and Lee Williams.

“Ordinarily, we are up and running by this time, but because we’re waiting on some information, we’re a little bit behind,” Henry said. “We hope to be meeting back in-person in October.