CELEBRATING 97 YEARS OF SCOUTING SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITIES!
Boy Scout Troop 658 has served youth from Winooski, Colchester, Burlington, South Burlington, Milton, Essex Jct. and the surrounding communities since 1923. We offer exciting, adventure based programs for boys ages 11-17. We meet Sunday evenings at Saint Francis Xavier School from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. Visit us and see for yourself what a difference you can make in the life of a young man.
Scouting's Journey to Excellence" is the BSA's council performance recognition program designed to encourage and reward success and measure the performance of our units. It is meant to encourage excellence in providing a quality program at all levels of the BSA. We are proud to be a "Gold" level unit for 9 years running.
In our first combined meeting, Troops 3752 and 658 practiced our fire safety skills and learned about how to read and use fire extinguishers to be prepared in emergency situations. We look forward to more combined scouting opportunities for the troops! Thank you to all members of the troop who donated extinguishers for the scouts to use in this meeting.
Scouts from Troops 3752 and 658 helped the Winooski Valley Park District staff in removing Asian Bittersweet at the Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington Asian Bittersweet is an invasive species that is a vine that grows quickly and strangles native trees. The Staff and Scouts were proud to have made positive impact in helping our local environment
We had a fun campout this past weekend at Underhill State Park. Scouts hiked Mt Mansfield on the Sunset Ridge Trail, with an excursion to see the cantilever rock. Scouts worked on fire building, chopping & splitting wood, knot trying, cooking, and kitchen cleanup into the darkness, as well as many rounds of "President" each evening,See https://www.bsatroop658.com/image/tid/1221
Troop 658 met this week to plan our upcoming campout, work on advancement, and welcome our new Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) J. Donerkiel and Assistant Senior Patrol (ASPL) Leader M. Everest. We thank E. Piette and J. Delaney, outgoing SPL and ASPL for their dedication and hard work over the last six months. Both E. Piette and J. Delaney are stepping into new roles as Junior Assistant Scoutmasters where they will continue to mentor the PLC and fellow scouts.
At last nights Troop meeting I had the opportunity to meet with the scouts and parents to discuss the Linked Troop concept.
As many of you may or may not know, St. Francis is the charter organization for both a boys troop (658) and girls troop (3752). The troop committee has been evaluating how best to serve our scouts and meet the organizations (St. Francis) needs of a family focused approach to scouting. I have spent a lot of time working with our Scout Executive to discuss our options as well as researching what other units across the country are doing.
The concept of a Linked Troop is the sharing of resources across multiple units, creating a family focused program while keeping the individuality of the respective units.
Back in the fall of 2020, based on the linked concept, the decision was made to merged the two troop committees as many of the committee members we serving on both committees. This driver was to limit the number of meetings the committee members had to attend and allow them more time to focus on the tasks that needed to be completed to support the troop programs. This also allowed us to minimize duplication of efforts across both units.
After we merged the two committees, we continued to evaluate what would allow us to best server the scouts and their families; i.e. resource needs, expenses, program, etc. The ability to share resources and deliver a better program was the focus. We would have more leaders present at meetings and events to help support and deliver program to meet all the scouts needs. With smaller troops, the focus on advancement is a challenge. Lack of program is another big obstacle. Many events have been cancelled due to lack of adult volunteers or limited participation. Every time we cancel an event we miss the opportunity to deliver on our program. As a direct result of these challenges we were losing scouts.
The committee has decided to merge the two programs. We are not looking to change the programs, rather enhance our offerings. The two units will remain separate on paper. There will be two SPL's and ASPL's. Camping can happen together however the scouts will camp in different sites with separate leadership. There will create opportunities to create more leadership opportunities for our scouts. For families with scouts in both units, we will be able to limit the number of meetings and events creating more balance for their families.
I have attached a copy of a letter we shared with the families of the girls Troop that further explains the Linked Troop concept. This is new territory we are embarking on. That said we will adjust as necessary. We are defining the groundwork for what many units across the state will be working towards. Our goal is to deliver the best program we can for your scout(s).
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me @ kjbell66@hotmail.com.
Regards, Ken Bell Committee Chair/Charter Organization Representative
