For more than two decades, Lars Nielsen has taken on a second identity of Akela, the Cubmaster.
Nielsen has volunteered as a leader for the First Drumheller Scouts for 20 years. His boys were involved in Cubs and Scouts, and that’s when he decided to get involved. Over the years hundreds of boys and girls have gone through the scouting experience with Nielsen as their Akela.
“I like to work with the kids, especially at that age,” he said. “They are easy to entertain and they love the challenge.”
“It’s a challenge for me too, but it is a good challenge, they keep me young too.”
Prior to being involved in scouts, he was an outdoorsman and an avid hunter and fisherman. He enjoys passing on the skills he has, especially outdoor pursuits.
Each year there are anywhere from a half dozen to over 25 in the troupe. Right now he has about 10 Cubs in his pack. Each week they work on different activities and earn badges for putting in the time to learn and perfect new skills. They go on about three or four campouts each year.
“The most important skill for me is respect. Respect for each other and respect for yourself,” he said. “A lot of kids don’t have this.”
He says sometimes it is difficult to get more volunteers. He encourages anyone to get involved. Volunteerism has its own rewards and Scouting offers the opportunity to meet new people from all over.
“If you like to teach young people new skills and enjoy working with kids,” he said. “If I didn’t like it I wouldn’t have done it for so many years.”
