By Pete Chiodo
HARMONSBURG — They recited the “Pledge of Allegiance.” Everyone took their seats. And then Scoutmaster Paul Lanham asked the room, “How about that Super Bowl?”
So began Monday’s meeting of Boy Scout Troop 220, Harmonsburg, held, like it is each week, on the upper floor of the Summit Township Fire Hall.
A lively discussion then followed — about New Orleans upsetting Indianapolis, about the best commercials, stuff like that.
“It’s kind of a down time right now,” said former scoutmaster and current committee member Jean Giroux. “There’s not much going on.”
The Troop held its annual Red and White Banquet the night before, where they ate and had formal presentations of merit badges. So, Monday’s meeting was kind of an in-between point in the Scouts’ usually full schedule.
Said Lanham, “We’ve got a lock-in at a church in a couple weeks and we’re just figuring out the menu for that.”
While Monday’s meeting was a leisurely one for the Harmonsburg Troop, Feb. 8 is actually a very significant day for the Boy Scouts of America as a whole. That’s the day that, 100 years ago, the organization was founded with the goal of teaching boys both how to use a compass, and how to align their moral ones.
Yet, membership has dwindled for the Boy Scouts in recent years. Current enrollment is around 2.8 million kids. That’s down 11 percent over the last decade. And the Cub Scouts — the sort-of feeder program for the Boy Scouts — is down 23 percent over that same time frame.
The Harmonsburg Troop has shrunk as well; from 35 a few years ago to 15 currently.
Why?
Well, according to Giroux, “Parents are getting pushed all over the place. Their kids are in other activities. And economically, it’s hard for them. They’re pushed for time.”
It’s clearly a troubling trend as far as the adult organizers are concerned. They feel that kids get a lot of the Boys Scouts program.
“Taking them out, having them learn things hands-on,” said Lanham. “Their maturity level, giving them the tools to survive on their own outdoors, exercising, how to handle knives — everything.”
A recent outing, called Klondike, had the scouts lugging a loaded sled across a snowy obstacle course — up a hill, across a ravine, etc. It forced the Scouts to use many of the problem-solving and mechanical skills they have developed over the years.
“It was pretty tiring,” said 16-year-old Jamie Fletcher, one of Troop 220’s members. “But most people don’t ever get to so something like that.”
Fletcher will be going for his Eagle Scout certification soon. That’s the highest level a Boy Scout can attain. And it’s a pretty rare honor. About 2 million boys have reached the rank in the organization’s century-long history.
The Harmonsburg Troop has produced its fair share of them, including seven over the last three years.
Their secret?
“I don’t know,” said Leroy Brown, whose been an assistant scoutmaster with the Troop for around two decades. “We just have a good program. That’s why I’ve been here so long.”
Pete Chiodo can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at pchiodo@meadvilletribune.com.
