Local Scouts Adopt Soldier Who Attended Hawley

When Hawley School Pack 70 Cub Scout Den 5 parent Kim Connolly was assigned the project of having the den prepare a care package for a serviceman, she thought it would be great if they could send it to a local resident serving in the military. She called the local Veterans of Foreign Wars, which is currently collecting photographs of servicemen and women serving in the war effort. She was told that just a few days earlier the father of a 23-year-old Marine Lance Corporal named Douglas Snow had dropped off a picture. So she called Douglas’s mother and introduced herself and asked for his address.

Susan Snow was delighted to provide information about Doug, who, it turns out, attended Hawley School. In addition, most of Doug’s teachers are still working at the school. He was also a Cub Scout. When Judy Pesce, the lead teacher at Hawley School and one of Doug’s former teachers, learned that he was a Marine serving in Iraq, she immediately began planning something for the school staff to do for him. Mrs Connolly invited Mrs Snow to attend the den meeting April 3 to tell the boys about Doug so that they would have some more information about the Marine they were to adopt.

The night of the den meeting, Doug’s parents, Susan and Glenn, and his youngest sister Nicole, all came to share their stories about Glenn and express their pride and worries over his current deployment with the 1st Marine Division, 7th Marine Regiment, 3rd battalion, 4th Marine India Company Weapons Platoon. They read a letter he had written to them and spoke about how they are constantly searching the news for a glimpse of him. Mrs Snow brought with her a large framed collage of Marine Corps paraphernalia and photos that Doug had made, as well as some photos of Doug as a child. “She had those boy’s full attention,” Mrs Connolly noted, “ and that is hard to do with 9- and 10-year-old boys. I think it was important for them to have a human face to put on the war. I wanted them to realize that it is not just about cool weapons technology and fighter jets, but about real people, with families at home who worry about them.”

“I think it’s great,” Mrs Snow said about the Den adopting her son. ‘It’s really super.”

The scouts brought a variety of items to send in the care package, such as cookies and candy, gum, chap stick, hand lotion, pens, notepads and envelopes, playing cards, and sweat socks. The boys also wrote letters to Lance Corporal Snow, telling him about themselves and asking him questions. By the time the package reaches him, the war may well be over, but its contents are sure to bring reminders of home, Hawley School and Newtown.