“Dogs and cats… living together… MASS HYSTERIA!”

Remember Bill Murray uttering that famous line near the end of the 1984 film, “Ghostbusters?” Of course, we all do.

But do you also remember how that was essentially the reaction from many a naysayer, much more recently, when Cub and Boy Scout programs across the country underwent a seismic upheaval? Boy Scouts of America became Scouting America – and girls were welcomed in. Lots of adults – “traditionalists,” let’s call them – were definitely not on board with these dogs and cats Scouting together.

Elaina Augason (not her actual nose) has been Cub Scout Pack 4996 Cubmaster for three years. (Photo courtesy Elaina Augason)

Now, a couple of years on, kids involved in Cub Scouting today are oblivious to that controversy. And leaders – like Taylorsville Cub Scout Pack 4996 Cubmaster Elaina Augason – report all is well. The supposedly cataclysmic change has not resulted in mass hysteria.

“Boys and girls working and having fun together in the same Cub Scout pack is wonderful,” Augason said. “I grew up with brothers in Cub and Boy Scouts. As a girl, I always felt so left out. I wanted to camp and do the other things they were doing. Now, all of our kids are together – and their parents are involved too. We’re a family organization – and the change has been completely positive.”

Wednesday afternoons, at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Taylorsville (2700 W. Builders Drive, about 5150 South), you’ll find Augason and her 25 to 30 girls and boys working together to learn Scouting skills. For the record, her current mix is about 3 to 2, more boys than girls. Point is, no one cares anymore – doesn’t matter.

“We live in Magna; but I volunteered to be Cubmaster for this particular pack about three years ago because 4996 was the Cub Scout Pack my husband was in years ago,” she added. “Most of our Pack members live in Taylorsville. We have a couple from Kearns. I think our family lives the furthest away in Magna.”

Another big change from decades gone by… Cub Scouts now go on weeklong camps. At least one parent is required to join them. Later this month, Pack 4996 is off to Camp Fife, nestled along the Bear River, northwest of Logan. The kids will participate in activities like archery, BMX bike racing and scaling climbing walls – some other things Scouts at that young age (5 to 10) weren’t doing years ago.

Pack 4996 Assistant Cubmaster Richard Morrey is known to his young Scouts as “MOUS.” (Photo courtesy Elaina Augason)

Augason’s Assistant Cubmaster is Richard Morrey; though he says everyone in Scouting only knows him as “Mouse” or “MOUS.” 

“As a young kid, I was small and my nickname was Mouse,” he said. “Then, after a growth spurt, it changed to MOUS… for Mouse of Unusual Size.”

The now 6-foot-1 MOUS has been working with son Teagan in Pack 4996 for a couple of years. But now younger son Henry has reached Cub Scout age. So, Morrey has recruited his wife (2009 Taylorsville High School graduate) Marie to help out as a Den leader. She’s another female who wishes the “mass hysteria” change had been made several years ago.

“I always wanted to be involved in Scouting when I was a kid,” Marie Morrey said. “I had a brother, two years older, who went camping, rock climbing… he did a big cleanup on the Jordan River for his Eagle Scout project. I wanted to be doing those things.”

However, Morrey is also quick to add, she believes this change is not just good for girls.

“It is so good for boys at this age to be around girls,” she added. “When I was young, boys and girls never mingled until junior high. Those dances were so awkward. Getting the girls and boys doing things together at this younger age is such a good thing for all of them.”

Finally, you can add one more female supporter to this change that’s not particularly foreign anymore.

Cub Scout Pack 4996 boys and girls enjoy our Utah mountains on group hikes. (Photo courtesy Elaina Augason)

 “I attended a fundraising dinner for the Scouts and then was invited back a couple of weeks later to speak with them about citizenship in the community,” Taylorsville Mayor Kristie Overson said. “Scouting certainly looks different than it did five years ago. The boys and girls seem to work together well. I’m very excited we still have a thriving Cub and Boy Scout program here in Taylorsville.”

Girls and boys are now eligible to join the youngest Cub Scout groups, “Lions,” at age 5. For information on joining, reach out to Pack 4996 Cubmaster Elaina Augason at 801-898-7197 or [email protected].

She may not be “old school” when it comes to boys and girls together in Scouting… but, come on, “Hotmail?”