Submitted by Kate Rizzo
On Nov. 22, Haddam’s cub scout Pack 40 met at HES for the Giving Tree event and a hike of Swan Hill- with a herd of llamas. The llamas, courtesy of Little Creek Acres Farm, were dressed in their winter coats and had beautiful halters on for the occasion. The idea to include the llamas was brought up as a way to make this year’s Giving Tree memorable for the scouts.
The Giving Tree in prior years, has been a dinner event and ceremony to welcome new scouts to the pack, and doesn’t normally include llamas.
There were two scouts assigned to each llama, and after a few minutes of instruction from Donna Zurstadt, owner of Little Creek Acres, the trek began. Llamas are mountain animals and were quite good hikers with the scouts. Although llamas can carry up to 25% of their body weight, the strict rule of “no llama riding” was enforced. They showed little trepidation over the varied terrain, although the noise on the plank bridge caused one of the younger llamas to be skittish- and a skittish llama is about as cute and funny as it gets to a group of scouts.
Following the hike, Pack 40 enjoyed some refreshments in the courtyard and selected gift tags from the tree to buy gifts for those in need. While this 2020 pack gathering looked different than previous years, it will certainly be one to remember with our new furry pack friends.
A special thanks to Little Creek Acres Farm, Donna Zurstadt and the Page family for organizing.
