By Jeff Kenney Citizen editor
Cub Scouting isn’t new to Culver by any means, but if you’ve noticed a new level of visibility and activity to Culver’s Pack 290, it’s no coincidence.
In the last few years, the program has been reinvigorated in Culver, and that’s good news for area boys from first grade through age 10.
Donna Vela, one of those responsible for the current vibrancy of the local Pack and the Scout Master until recently, notes the boys last year went camping every month, attended a Silver Hawks baseball game, and participated in both the Memorial Day Service and Lake fest parade here in Culver. She says Pack 290 became involved in the Scouts’ “Good Turn” project, doing a “good turn” in the community each month. That included collecting canned goods for a needy family in November, canned goods for the local food pantry, picking up trash down a country road, going caroling, and donating food to the group home in Culver.

Some of the Scouts, says Webelos Two den leader Chuck Dilts (and also a major force in the Scouts’ recent success), also journeyed in the past year to radio station WTCA, the Fulton County Historical Museum, attended a South Bend Bowl-a-Rama, camped out at Rice Woods in Starke County, held a pinewood derby, attended both day and resident camps, and “adopted” Culver’s Indian Trails to pick up trash as a conservation project. With a total of 27 Cub Scouts in the Pack, participation is surely at an all-time high, at least in recent memory.
Vela recalls son Josh starting as a Tiger Cub with Pack 290 during the fall of 2004, when the McTavish family was heading up the group. Former town manager Jon Guenin was a popular Tiger den leader at the time, she recalls. At that year’s annual Blue & Gold ceremony, Joe and Nicky Dilts were introduced as new Cub Masters. Urged to become Cub Master throughout 2005 and 2006, Vela finally agreed to the task.
“By the end of the Scout year of 2007,” she says, “We had eight boys in the Pack. The Roundup flyer was passed out at school for the 2007-2008 year (and) I started to receive a lot of phone calls from interested parents of boys that wanted to join the Pack. I received one very important call from Chuck and Ruth Dilts. They were interested in starting a Pack themselves and wanted to know if I would like some help in Pack 290. I accepted their help with much enthusiasm.”
The Dilts’ son Alan, now nine years old, wanted to become a Cub Scout, says Chuck Dilts, so jumping in with both feet was a natural option for them. The Sept., 2007 Roundup netted around 20 new signups (this year’s Roundup netted another 10 boys).
“Donna and I decided we wanted to provide the best program we could,” recalls Dilts, “so that night at the (2007) Roundup, we asked the parents there who wanted to help. We got a full slate of leaders. That night, we put together a committee that oversees the entire program.”
The Cub Scouts’ program, for the uninitiated, includes Tiger Cubs (age seven), Wolf Cubs (those finished with first grade, or age eight), Bear Cubs (boys who have completed second grade, or are age nine), Webelos (third grade completed or age ten). Cub Scouts beyond Webelos age transition into the Boy Scouts of America, of which Cub Scouts is a part.
Over Cub Scout Packs are Districts (Culver falls into the Algonquian District), then Councils (Culver’s is the LaSalle Council), and Regions, before reaching the national level. Each “Den” in the Pack has an adult leader, who ideally expands his or her skills by attending training, an effort the Dilts and Vela both felt was important for themselves and others heading up Dens in Culver. They and Wolf Den leader Jim Coiner attended a number of seminars, workshops, and other training opportunities over the past year.
“We made the decision,” explains Dilts, “if the kids earn it they’re going to get it. If they earn their rank, their badges, they’re going to be awarded it. That’s expensive. Our budget comes from fund raising, with the biggest (being) popcorn sales, which we’re just now finishing up, and there’s other fundraisers and private donations. It’s not cheap.
Part of the problem (with the local program) in the past was, kids were not getting the awards they earned. Kids get enthusiastic about that stuff; they’re proud to wear those (badges) on their uniforms and belt loops on their belts.”
Dilts adds the $750 the Pack received from the Marshall Co. United Way helps greatly in that it covers almost six months’ worth of the badges and other awards earned by the boys.
Pack 290, he explains, is owned and operated by Wesley United Methodist Church, at which the group meets (a non-profit, non-governmental organization – such as Culver Academy, which has its own program, Pack 209 -- must act as charter for a local Pack).
Plans are in the works to resurrect Culver’s local Boy Scout Troop starting next spring, he says. St Mary of the Lake Catholic Church has agreed to re-charter that Troop and host it as a joint effort with Wesley, sharing equipment and working together with the Cub program. Jim Coiner is slated to be Scout Master there.
Other new plans for the Cub Scouts include the annual Pinewood Derby on Jan. 31 (to which the public is invited; it will take place at the Elementary School gym), enhancement of the Indian Trails including placing bird feeders and benches there, as well as a sand table allowing Scouts to study animal tracks. All of this besides the ongoing activities Pack 290 has offered in the recent past.
“It’s never too late to join,” notes Dilts, who says the Pack is also seeking interested adults who would like to help out. “Our vision is to offer a quality program here.” Interested persons are asked to contact the Pack at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Dilts himself at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
And, though she resigned as Cub Master in September to take care of her family, Donna Vela’s boys are still actively involved, and son Josh joins fellow Webelo Malik Guerra in planning to transition next year into the Boy Scouts proper. “The leaders are doing very well this year,” she says. “You can tell walking into a meeting that everyone is becoming (a) family and working as one unit to make this work. And what’s more, the boys are having a blast.”
Dilts concurs. “I like the lessons the Scouts offer,” he says. “And I like the ideals of Scouting. I also like the outdoors side of it. It gets the kids out of house…it’s healthy to be out running around and hiking in the woods. It’s also learning how to do certain tasks: to tie knots, pitch a tent. And you’re learning teamwork; you’re learning how to be a friend. I think those are important lessons kids still need to learn.”