Do you want to be overwhelmed? Join a Boy Scout Troop…. But wait, I know, you have been a Cub Scout for five years, you know how this Scouting thing works. Don’t you?
Every year we are very lucky at Troop 945, in Damascus. We get to include several new Scouts into our Troop. The older boys call them Newbies, only because that is what they were called when they were new. They arrive with big eyes, mostly excited to “hang out” with all of the older boys.
The issue is that we are a fast-moving bunch. A lot goes on in a Troop of 60 boys and all of the existing members of the Troop understand the flow and activities that are ongoing. When my son bridged over, I was in the same boat. I was a veteran Webelos Leader. I understood exactly how Scouting worked…….. Wait a minute? Why is there a 14-year-old boy up in front of the Troop meeting? Who is the adult in charge? What do you mean, we are camping next weekend, how and where do we meet for that? What do you mean mulch day is tomorrow? 13,000 bags to deliver????? The list of questions goes on and on…..
With all of these questions going on in my head, my son was blissfully unaware. He was enjoying the Troop meeting, he signed up to go camping, he was ready to deliver mulch. He was fully integrated into the Troop. It took five minutes for him. But who would answer my questions?
Of course, all my questions were eventually answered and here I am four years later, presenting all of that information at this years new parents meeting. This year I put together the Troop 945 New Parent Meeting Slides to provide the new parents with all of the information I think they will need.
The meeting is tonight and I hope I can answer all of the parents questions. As for the Newbies, they helped deliver 15,752 bags of mulch this past weekend and can’t wait to go on their first camping trip.
Scouting in the Great Outdoors 