PHOTOSBY JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Pater Panuthos, a retired U.S. Army first sergeant who saw active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, accepts care package items collected by members of Cub Scout Troop 67 for shipment to Iraq during the troop’s celebration in honor of the 75th anniversary of scouting Sunday at the St. Lawrence Church hall in Laurence Harbor. OLD BRIDGE — The 47 children from Cub Scout Pack 67 and their families celebrated the 75th anniversary of scouting Sunday with an afternoon of activities at St. Lawrence Church in Laurence Harbor.
The event was the culmination of the troop’s Have a Heart for a Soldier campaign, which saw the Scouts collecting items for care packages to be sent to soldiers in Iraq. Started in October, the drive collected a large amount of baby wipes, which are sorely needed by the soldiers chosen as beneficiaries because they are in a remote part of Iraq with neither running water nor electricity. The packages, also including canned goods and toiletries, are being shipped by a New Jersey police department.
Shari Cascio (left), a co-den leader with Troop 67, and Webelo den leader Helena Sabo look on as Lenny Cascio, who was a Scout in the late 1950s, shows books he used when he was a Scout. Scouts and their families participated Sunday in a trivia contest focusing on the era in which scouting began, and also enjoyed an appearance by Smokey Bear.