With one of their own hospitalized, pack brings the bridging ceremony to him

Pack 246 of Woodland Hills, Calif., isn’t just a group of Cub Scouts and their parents. Pack 246 is a family.

So when Chris L. was hospitalized with pneumonia last week, his packmates were there for him — standing right outside his hospital window with signs and the Pack 246 banner.

You see, it wasn’t just being sick that upset Chris. It was the realization that he’d be stuck in the hospital during the den’s party and ceremony to celebrate its bridging from Webelos to Arrow of Light.

“This was Chris’s last bridging with Pack 246, and we were very sad and disappointed to miss this very special event,” says Laura, Chris’s mom.

Waving and saluting

Throughout Chris’s hospital stay, families in Pack 246 had sent Chris cards and messages to wish him a swift recovery.

And then, on the day of the bridging, Cubmaster Jonathan Watts called Laura with an idea.

“He asked if he could come by the hospital and do an official bridging after the pack’s event had concluded,” Laura says.

When Watts arrived, he presented Chris with a card signed by his fellow Cub Scouts. Then he told Chris to look out the hospital window.

Across the street, Chris saw his fellow Cub Scouts and their families. They were waving the pack banner and saluting.

“They turned a day that had been feeling dismal into one of hope, friendship and cheer,” Laura says. “We felt the love and the Scout spirit!”

Thanks to Andrew Sisolak of the Western Los Angeles County Council for the blog idea.

With one of their own hospitalized, pack brings the bridging ceremony to him