By Pamela Lambert and Tyler Wright
A 1st Ferny Creek Scout group cub has achieved the highest award possible in the Cub Scout Section.
Eddy Lee, 11, was recognised at a ceremony on Thursday 19 October at the Ferny Creek Scout Hall for achieving the Grey Wolf Award in a show of dedication, resilience and persistence.
In order to achieve the peak award, a cub needs to complete six projects in at least two areas.
Eddy excelled in a special interest area and an outdoor and outdoor adventure journey; building nesting boxes from timber for birds and possums impacted by the June 2021 storm event across the Dandenongs, and a family walk in the Grampians in which he witnessed graffiti on rock and cave walls.
Upon his return, Eddy made a poster and gave a talk to the Cub Unit on how to respect indigenous rock and cave sites.
Despite changes to achievement pathways and the introduction of peak award components, Eddy – who became a cub in November 2019 – remained determine to earn the Grey Wolf Award with leaders Akela (Sven Edquist) and Baloo (Brendan Peacock) introduced after lock down.
“When I started doing cups, my brother got his Grey Wolf Award and I thought that that was pretty cool,” Eddy said.
“It was a challenge getting things done and getting things done the right way.
“Hard things are just going to be hard. There’s no easy way around it. You’ve just got to deal with it until you get it done.”
Eddy’s mum, Sam, said it was satisfying and reassuring knowing Eddy got a level of resilience and independence from achieving the Grey Wolf Award.
“The Cubs have to basically design their own program to some extent for the special interest areas that they get to pick to work on,” Sam said.
“It’s really up to them… it’s nice to see him being able to visualise and set a goal and then work towards it and then achieve it.
“It was tricky at times because lockdowns made everything very difficult and there were also some administrative changes within how Scouts Victoria run these things.”
Eddy had some encouraging advice for other Cubs considering earning the award.
“Definitely go for it,” he said.
“Even if you may not get it done in time, It’s still a great thing to do to get the life skills.”
