Troop 66 Competitors

The Boy Scouts of America (the BSA) is one of the largest Scouting organizations in the United States of America and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with more than 2.4 million youth participants and nearly one million adult volunteers. The BSA was founded in 1910, and since then, more than 110 million Americans have been participants in BSA programs at some time. The BSA is part of the international Scout Movement and became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922. The BSA’s goal is to train youth in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations. For younger members, the Scout method is part of the program to instill typical Scouting values such as trustworthiness, good citizenship, and outdoors skills, through a variety of activities such as camping, aquatics, and hiking. In order to further these outdoor activities, the BSA has four high-adventure bases: Northern Tier (Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario), Philmont Scout Ranch (New Mexico), Sea Base (Florida), and Summit Bechtel Reserve (West Virginia). The traditional Scouting divisions are Cub Scouting for children in grades K-5, Scouts BSA for youth ages 11 to 17 and Venturing and Sea Scouting for young men and women ages 14 (or 13 and having completed the 8th grade) to 20.

Pack 55 is sponsored by St. John the Divine, an Episcopal church located at the corner of Westheimer and River Oaks Blvd in Houston. The church also sponsors Troop 55 and Crew 55. The church provides meeting rooms, but the three Scouting units are financially self-supporting.

The new school year has started and Troop 45 is already very active. In late August, we camped and canoed (see new pictures). We now own our own supply of life jackets, so there will be more canoeing in our future! Our next trip will be a backpack hike in and camp at SSR. More on that after the trip. We have made some changes in leadership in the troop. These plans have been in the works for over a year, and now is a good time to effect them. We have a new Senior Patrol Leader. Keven will take over as SPL, a job he has been exposed to for a few camping trips. Jonathan will serve as a Troop Guide. He will continue to offer leadership and help the troop grow. After six years as Scoutmaster, Mr. Jim, will hand over the patch to Mr Conrad St.Pierre. Mr Conrad has been a part of the troop for the last few years, and has been attending "Scoutmaster Training" for quite some time! For those who may not realize, Mr. Conrad is an Eagle Scout, and a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. Troop 45 is lucky to have him, and he has expressed his desire to continue our traditions faithfully. Please continue to supoort our program and assist whenever asked. Mr Jim Pratt will take over as Troop Committee Chairman, so he will not be leaving the program at all, but rather will continue to help shape and help the troop more forward with the same energy as usual. The other uniformed leadership wil continue to be Mr. Chuck Griffin, Mr Vincent Fouchi, Mr. Matt Mims, Mr. Matt Gattuso, Mr. James (Jimmy) Pratt, and Mr Brandon Broulliette. There has been a new requirement put upon the adult leadership of the troop. All leaders and adults who come in contact with scouts who meet at Catholic schools have been mandated to undergo a training and screening program administered by the Archdiocese. (This program also affects other youth programs on campus, but I will only focus on Boy Scouting.) We have strived to make sure all our leadership has done this, and will be in 100% compliance within the next 30 days. As a side note, BSA ...