New Troop

[Its Me]

 

Last night eight Boy Scouts walked into an American Legion hall and a new troop was born. The old hall with faded pictures of our country''s heroes, a bingo machine on stage and a bunch of wobbly ceiling fans came alive. The boys over-talked each other picking a summer camp, scrambled for markers to create a flag, said their oath and their law and played manhunt all before I gave my first scoutmaster''s minute. In other words a normal meeting. The senior patrol leader did a great job for his first day on the job.

 

I have great friends who make up the parents of the troop and sometimes I feel like I am just hanging on more than leading.

 

The story of how we got here is an interesting one, but I hope it pales in comparison to the story we are about to write.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lisabob]

Congrats to you and the troop! May you have many more successful meetings to come.

[Slouchhat]

Hello,

congratulations and good luck for the future!

 

best regards,

Volker

[SemperParatus]

IM,

 

Way to be! So Mr. Scoutmaster, let's hear the story so far.

[frank10]

Start traditions now! Don't miss your chance.

 

ashes from the first fire. A log book signed by every scout ever in the troop. Yearly charters all stacked in one frame. That Elvis/Chuck B./ Beatles song you blast on your way back from every camp out/cabin trip/summer camp/klondike. Shaving the SM's head every time the troop has a new Eagle.... What ever, nows the time to start!

[Ohio_Scouter]

Congratulations, Its Me. I can't wait to hear some good Scout stories.

[Its Me]

The story going forward:

Next week we have a court of honor to capture all the awards these kids earned since May. (old troop took too long to hold a CoH, then kicked us out once they heard we were forming a new troop)

Over the next two weeks we do cooking work

In four weeks we go camping

on the fifth week we hold an offical PLC meeting

In Decemeber we do Pioneering

In january we take two Webelos dens camping to do some pioneering projcets

In feb we go to Kennedy Space center

 

and the beat goes on.

 

 

[AvidSM]

Way to go IM! Sounds like you're having fun!

[eolesen]

Ditto on the ashes. Keep a small metal container with some ashes from your fire. At the next campfire, add them, and refill the container after the fire. Document which fire's ashes are in the container -- that way you can point out the history of that campfire, and how your boys are sitting at the same campfire that's been burning for 5, 10, or 15 years.

 

At my Woodbadge course, each participant there got a container of ashes from our campfire, and a geneology. The history dated back to the 40's, and had ashes mixed from several Jamborees, units in Germany, Japan, England, and Mexico, etc. It was pretty cool, and I wish our unit had set up that type of a tradition when it was formed.

[SMEagle819]

Congrats Its Me!

 

As many of the other posters have stated, start the traditions now. Some other ones you may want to consider:

 

- Father - Son campout in the spring

- Start a scrapbook - pictures, newspaper articles about the troop, etc.

- Have a customized neckerchief designed and wear it proudly. A new scout earns it when he earns Tenderfoot.

- Get a group picture of the "original" members of the troop, and hang it on the wall. Just like those of the heroes, this will be a reflection of a new chapter in these boys' lives.

 

 

[gwd-scouter]

Congrats Its Me on a successful start for your new Troop. Am curious about the reasons for starting it though. I remember early in the year you were posting about visits you had with different Troops and how disappointed you were with their meetings (Note to Boy Scouts - your meetings look boring to Cubbers). Is that what led you to start a new Troop?