The tents were all set up, albeit after much struggle with supporting rods and tent poles. Inside, the sleeping bags were unrolled and most of the campers had on pajamas; outside, the campfire glowed and the preparation for that iconic cookout desert, s’mores, was already underway.

A campsite in the woods? No, the pack meeting of Cub Scout Troop 4 in the cafeteria of Essex Elementary School. The tents and sleeping bags were real, but the campfire was an electric plug-in made more realistic by the addition of some orange and red tissue paper.

Emily Taylor, one of the leaders, was preparing the s’mores, substituting a portable microwave for the campfire. Later on she would perform another ritual of campouts: ghost stories around the fire.

The Cub Scouts are looking for a few young men—and now that national scouting officials have decided women will be able to join the movement, a few young women as well. A statement from the Boy Scouts of America, Connecticut River Council promises that young girls can start joining Cub Scouts in 2018 and Boy Scout programs the following year.

Tom Ceniglio, a district scouting commissioner, himself dressed in red plaid pajamas for the camp-in, explained that there are now more activities to chose from than in times when every young boy was a Cub Scout.

“Now scouts competes with so many other options, with sports, with karate, with videos,” he said.

But he was definite about why youngsters should join: “It’s fun.”

Tristan Taylor, 8, had no trouble explaining what he liked about Cub Scouts—”Everything,” he said.

When asked to explain exactly what everything consisted of, he was adamant: “Everything, you know everything.”

Then he was off, sliding down the polished cafeteria floor to a half-completed tent, where a group of scouts struggled with tent poles far bigger than them.

Jason Obymachow, 9, agreed that Cub Scouts was fun, but had already absorbed one of scouting’s mantras: service.

“You can have more fun here and help the community, camp out, and eat s’mores,” he said.

Christopher Nunes said his son Braeden, also 9, had liked one of the Cub Scout standards: the pinewood derby.

“He and his grandfather made the car together,’ he said.

For some parents, memories of their own childhood figured in encouraging their sons to join the program.

“My upbringing was camping, hunting, and fishing, and I wanted to get the same for my children,” Charlie Leigus said.

Dean McMorran, said he had signed up his six-year-old son Trevor for cubs based on his own experiences.

“His daddy was a scout and it gets him with other kids and we are very community-minded people,” McMorran said.

Ivoryton Library’s Elizabeth Bartlett, assistant director and head of children’s services, said she liked having her son Robert Basset in Cub Scouts because “it provided a strong foundation for becoming a quality grown up.”

When the tents were all put up, Ceniglio called the boys together to start the meeting, with the Pledge of Allegiance, which he had them say a second time because there might had been a bit of confusion on some of the words the first time around. Then it was onto a recitation of Boy Scout virtues—clean, loyal, helpful, and nine more shining facets of character that any parent would endorse—and finally the scout oath.

There was some wiggling around during the proceedings. Ceniglio held up his hand for silence, but admitted that attention could be a challenge with youngsters. Boy Scouts, he added, could pay attention for at least a half hour “before turning back into Cub Scouts,” he added.

And parents?

“They are fine as long as they have their cell phones,” he said.

After a discussion what scouts needed for camping and the ghost stories, it was time to break down the tents, a challenge seemingly equal to putting them up. The reward was a s’more for each boy; a few scouts tried to claim them before cleanup was done, but, as parents pointed out, this was scouts and there was no cheating.

Cub Scout Pack 4 has a regular schedule of activities, among them a recent nature hike and a trip to a corn maze a Lyman Orchards.

“It’s hard to put into words, but there is something in scouting for everybody,” said Darwyn Azzinaro, a past committee chair of local Boy Scout Troop 12 whose son Jacob, now in college, stayed with the program long enough to become an eagle scout, the organization’s highest rank.

“Scouting is unique; it is not like something you could find anywhere else and it doesn’t mean you can’t do other things,” Azzinaro said.

To become a member of Cub Scout Pack 4, contact tomceniglio@gmail.com, or call 860-262-0688.