Pearl River Cub Scouts Crush Bridges

Cub Scout Pack 36 showed off some popsicle stick engineering Thursday evening at Franklin Avenue Elementary School in Pearl River.

The 24 kids who participated each constructed a bridge out of popsicle sticks and white glue. The bridges were approximately 18 inches long and were designed to hold as much weight as possible.

Thursday night it was time to tear them all down. Using a device called "The Crusher," each bridge was loaded until it collapsed. The bridge that holds the most weight wins. Pack 36's bridges held weight ranging from 10 pounds to 200 pounds.

The 24 participants were broken into three age groups. There were nine Tiger cubs (first graders), 10 Wolf cubs (second grade) and five Webelos (fourth grade).

The age group winners were as follows:

• Webelos - Mark Stouffer
• Wolf - Matthew Balison
• Tiger - Danny Hooker

"We had a great night," Eileen Kennedy wrote in an email about the event. "The kids were so excited. Who knew crushing bridges would be so much fun?

Kennedy provided pictures of the event, which are attached to this article. Pack 36 is led by John Fanshawe.