Webelos?

Leave it to Times- Standard columnist, Tim Martin, to remind me of Webelos. For those that don't know, that's some upper level you achieve in the Cub Scouts. I wouldn't know of the word except for spending a short stint in Cub Scouts myself.

We lived in Mexico at the time. Not sure how old I might have been but old enough to join Cub Scouts. I think my parents enrolled me but it seemed fun enough what little I remember of it.

I only remember one meeting. It was raining real hard and the adults weren't sure what to do- the rain having ruined whatever plans they'd made previously. One of the den mothers (that's what they call the female adults in charge) came up with a fun idea.

We went over to someone's house and opened their garage. We were given large soup cans, the big ones of over 30 ounces. We cut the end off one side, then used a can opener to punch triangular holes around the other side. I forget how we did it but we also made a big square hole in the side with the end removed.

Then what you do is take newspapers, roll them up and stuff the in the square hole. You light them and when they're burning well enough you take hamburger patties and lay them on the top to cook.

We made hamburgers that way with our own makeshift stoves. A good time was had by all as I recall. Good enough for me to remember it, anyway.

The only other thing I vaguely remember doing in Cub Scouts was going on some camping trip of sorts. We all drove to some really pretty valley with a creek running through it and had any number of activities we'd participate in. 

I don't recall doing the activities. I just remember finding a piece of quartz in the creek that had yellow specks on it. I showed it to my dad figuring it must be gold. He seemed as excited as I was about it, or so he made me think, but that didn't earn me that Webelos badge. You had to really work for that one.

Any Webelos out there? I'm wondering what the word originated from?