Adventure Fair Aims to Boost Local Scouting Rolls

It’s time for some old-fashioned scouting fun in Lemon Grove.

Faced with a declining membership, Scout Master Debbie Sohl aims to boost the roll call in local scouting this weekend with a free from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Lemon Grove United Methodist Church.

“Lemon Grove got hit pretty hard with the economy the last couple of years,” Sohl says. According to Sohl, enrollment in the troops she oversees, Cub Scout Pack 399 and Boy Scout Troop 108, has suffered because many parents had to make cutbacks that would help them get by. “We lost a lot of kids.”

But, now, it’s recruitment time, says Sohl.

And what better way than showing what scouting has to offer? The adventure fair features free games—many of the homemade type the scouts have been enjoying for ages—crafts, and other fun activities for the family.

A concession will have hot dogs for sale, as well as some other treats. There will also be a raffle, and the Lemon Grove Fire Department will be on hand with information and an engine for the public to learn about.

The local Girl Scout troop is also participating—so boys and girls will have the opportunity to join scouting on Saturday.

The cost to join Cub Scouts is $28 per year, from January to January, and $29 for Boy Scouts. Purchasing brand-new uniform sets are an additional expense, with separates running from $20 to $40 a piece, according to the scouting retail web site ScoutStuff.org.

No worries. Sohl has a solution.

“I’m the used uniform lady,” Sohl says. “I collect and recycle.”

Sohl provides some previously owned uniform pieces to troop members at a minimal cost.

The fair will kick off at 10 a.m. with an opening flag ceremony. Raffle tickets are $1 each, or six for $5.

has been sponsored by the Lemon Grove Kiwanis Club for 56 years. Boys age 6 to 11 are invited to join. Boy Scout Troop 108 is sponsored by the Lemon Grove Methodist Church. Boys in 5th grade up to age 18 are invited to join. The groups meet each Tuesday night at the church.

Elsewhere in Lemon Grove, meets Thursdays at St. John of the Cross Church, and there are and meeting Tuesdays at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints.

“Scouting is a wonderful way to spend some time with kids and encourage them to learn,” Sohl says. “They learn respect, they learn compassion—all the wonderful traits people should have. That’s what scouting is offering.”

For more information, call 619-583-7521.