Scout Master Jeff Kidd
The Scout Master for Troop 209, Jason Kidd, was our guest speaker this evening. He brought great news of a thriving and growing Troop 209 and the same regarding Pack 312 – both of which are sponsored by the Apex Lions Club. The troop has 30 new scouts this year and 35 registered adult leaders serving as committee members or scout masters. The Scouts help the Lions at the State Fair, the Fish Fry and for one Roadside Cleanup event each year at the very least. This past year they have spent a week backpacking in the mountains, 10 days camping in Minnesota and had a winter outing at Camp Durant where the did quite a bit of work on their merit badges. They offered instruction on 20 different merit badges and awarded approximately 150 badges to scouts. The scouts also placed flags on all of the veterans graves in the Apex cemetery on Veterans Day.
Troop 209 thanked Lion Horace Johnson for the donation of a trailer to help them haul things they need for their trips. Jeff also presented Lion Horace with a compass he found while in India. It is a Lions Club compass and a very unique and special keepsake. The ability to pack luggage in a trailer makes it much easier to transport the scouts in fewer vehicles and enables more scouts to go on the trips. Even still, they have transportation challenges so they are keeping an eye out for a church van if they can find one. And there are some drainage challenges at the scout hut that they are working with the town to deal with as well.