In addition to our regularly scheduled speaker we had some visitors from both Pack 312 and Troop 209 both of which we chartered. Cub Master Mike Worley presented the update from Pack 312 first. Membership has stayed consistent at around 52 cub scouts with 15 leaders. Eight of the nine Webelos are joining Troop 209 which is fantastic. He rattled off a bunch of service projects they are involved with including Operation Gratitude, Toys for Tots, Pack the Pantry, and several others. And they continue to have the typical camping trips, Yorktown trip, Pinewood Derby and this year they invited some special needs kids to play with the cars and track after the derby was finished – what a nice touch!
Next we had Scout Master Byron Shaefer from Troop 209 provide an update. This is his 6t year as Scout Master! The troop has about 55 scouts which is down slightly (due to the pandemic year low enrollment most likely). But the scouts are recruiting more of their friends than in previous years which is a great sign and it is good to see that scouting is growing in popularity again. As always, there will be some scouts and leaders aging out so there is some turnover expected. In the past two years there have been nine Eagle Scouts and 14 new Life Scouts. And, like the cub scout pack, the Troop 209 boy scouts are involved in so many activities it was hard for me to keep up. These include some high adventure events and service activities.
The Troop has done some repairs on the scout hut, too, and funded a lot of that on their own which is excellent news. The even built some new Patrol Boxes for their camping trips which was a long overdue project!
This past year the scouts did a great job helping with the Lions State Fair project, too. We appreciate their help there as always!