Two 11-year-olds are shining bright after becoming the first girls on the Olympic Peninsula to receive Cub Scouts’ highest award, the Arrow of Light.

Earlier this month, Loralynn Chrisinger of Sequim and Lindsey Anderson of Port Angeles received the award at a special Arrow of Light Ceremony at Five Acre School.

“It feels special,” Lindsey said about the award.

She and Loralynn joined as Webelos in fourth grade with Cub Scout Pack 4850 creating their own den for them. Currently, Cub Scouts allows boys and girls in packs but only single genders in dens (smaller groups).

Loralynn’s grandmother, Amy Emett, said this is the first year girls are eligible to receive the award after Cub Scouts began allowing girls into the program last year.

“(The girls) are part of an elite group,” she said.

Initially, three girls made up the den where they worked on various requirements, such as, completing four adventures, separate elective adventures, exercises in child abuse prevention and the Cyber Chip, a cyber-safety course.

“(Lindsey and Loralynn) continued on with their Scouting experience and learned a lot and had a lot of fun,” said Lindsey’s mom and den leader Kathryn Anderson.

One of the many highlights for the girls was participating in the Mt. Olympus District’s Camporee at Camp Parsons.

The three girls’ den took first over two all-boy Webelos groups.

With a consistent rain, the girls sawed logs, threw hatchets, shot with bow and arrows, climbed a wall, built a fire and burned a string the fastest and much more.

Loralynn said many of the activities were the first time they’ve ever done them. They’ll compete once again at the district’s Camporee on April 13, which runs April 12-14 at the Clallam County Fairgrounds.

On to Scouts BSA

With earning their Arrow of Light, the girls are allowed to join Scouts BSA, formerly Boy Scouts, at age 10 instead of 11.

Some of the Arrow of Light requirements are similar to Scouts BSA’s first rank, Scout, too.

Like Cub Scouts though, the girls are both eyeing the top rank of Eagle Scout in Scouts BSA.

“(Arrow of Light) is the first step for me going toward that,” Lindsey said.

Both girls said they have family who

participated or currently participate in Scouting, with Lindsey’s uncles earning Eagle Scout, and her mom participating in the Venture program.

Loralynn looks to join BSA Troop 1498, which allows girls, and Lindsey and her mom plan to start Troop 1360 in Port Angeles and recruit in the coming months more girls.

With girls being allowed into Scouts BSA as of Feb. 1, Lindsey and Loralynn likely won’t be the first girls to achieve their Eagle rank on the peninsula, but they could be the first to achieve top ranks in both BSA and Girl Scouts.

The girls said they’d be interested in obtaining their Eagle rank and the Gold rank. Loralynn is a member of a Sequim troop and recently sold more than 100 cookies during their annual cookie drive. Lindsey is an individual member of Girl Scouts.

Kathryn Anderson said with the girls being in both programs, they can try out any number of different interests through badges and patches.

“It helps them find out their desires,” she said.

Lindsey, who loves art, said she wants to become a forensic artist, and Loralynn isn’t quite sure yet what she wants to do for a career but she wants to keep trying new things. Some of her recent experiences include flying with the EAA 430 Young Eagles and target shooting.

She said she joined Scouts “to have a little fun.”

One thing the girls hope to do more of is go camping, including trying snow camping in Scouts BSA.

For more information on local Cub Scout and BSA Scouts programs, visit https://www.seattlebsa.org/mt-olympus.

For more information on local Girl Scout programming, visit https://www.girlscoutsww.org/.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Loralynn Chrisinger of Sequim and Lindsey Anderson of Port Angeles light candles symbolizing their journey to earning the Cub Scouts’ highest rank, the Arrow of Light. Photo courtesy of Amy Emett

Eleven-year-olds Loralynn Chrisinger and Lindsey Anderson receive congratulations from their moms, Bethany Chrisinger, on left, and Kathryn Anderson, second from right, next to pack leader Paul Rynearson in early March. Photo courtesy of Amy Emett