Expect to see an increase in Scouts BSA activity this year throughout the reading area. Scouts will be frequenting communities, not only providing volunteer services, but also experiencing great outdoor adventures.
For over 100 years, the Scouts have been a youth organized program in the United States, allowing children to better understand life skills and strengthen their state of mind and physical bodies. All scouts are given support towards self-growth, learning to become their best future selves they possibly can be.
From Bridgeport to East Greenwich, with Swedesboro and Woolwich in between, there is a troop accessible to any child who might find interest in trying something new.
Bridgeport/Logan Twp. Troop 7004
Across from the Logan Township Municipal Complex, Scouts BSA Troop 7004 of Bridgeport finds its home in the Bridgeport Fire House. Established in 2018, Troop 7004 has been providing a social and educational program for both boys and girls in its combined group troop.
Scoutmaster and founder of the troop Luna White established the program so Logan Township’s youth could have a place to bond, build character, and to try new things. She thanks the Bridgeport Fire House for serving as their charter and allowing the fire station as a meeting place.
Although the troop consists of six scouts, White expects the group to grow to 10 by February or March when the Cubs cross over to Scouts. A major goal she envisions for the troop is achieving 20 total members, which will benefit future youth development in the program.
Troop 7004 is youth led, allowing children to take leadership and group decision making roles. Discussions consist of merit badge completions, monthly camping trips, and other miscellaneous activities, like fundraisers or educational day trips. White provides constructive feedback on troop decisions towards what can and cannot be done.
A notable troop activity held is its “Iron Scout” competition. Like the television show Iron Chef, the scouts are tasked to cook meals from supplied ingredients while using a secret ingredient. Food is then judged, but everyone wins in the end, as the competition also serves as the troop’s meal for an evening.
Bridgeport’s scouts actively host fundraisers, typically between fall and winter months. For example, the Bridgeport Christmas Parade sees scouts interacting with spectators by selling cookies and fresh hot apple cider. Troop 7004 typically runs popcorn programs, selling popcorn to help fund their troop, while teaching life skills in budgets and setting goals, typically earning participating scouts merit badges in the process.
The troop also holds Camp Card programs, selling gift cards for select South Jersey businesses. Purchases of cards help support local businesses but also benefit scouts since the money funds their troops program, possibly helping in trips and membership dues.
Additional information about this collection can be found by visiting www.gardenstatescouting.org/support/camp-cards/.
At the time of writing this, White said a few of the scouts are close to achieving Eagle Scout status and are working on final merit badges currently.
East Greenwich, Troop 7059
At the Evangelical United Methodist Church on West Cohawkin Road, Scouts BSA Troop 7059 of East Greenwich gathers to meet as a boys only troop. Chartered by Wicked Warriors of East Greenwich, the troop provides young boys experiences in building relations and life skills for over 70 years.
Troop and scout affairs are managed by the Committee Chair Donna Barone and Scoutmaster Gerard Maher. They provide structure for the troop and provide needs for their scouts.
Other members who run the program include Committee Member and Cub Master Brent Rathof, Advancement Chair Donna Rittershausen, and Treasurer Loiriann Anderson.
Currently, the troop has a total of 10 active scouts.
All troop meetings are youth led, allowing scouts to interact amongst one another and plan agendas. These are typically about trips, like monthly camping trips to select scout reservations, fundraisers, and working together in achieving merit badges to potentially reach the rank of Eagle Scout.
February marks an annual cook off competition for the troop. Scouts form teams to prepare and serve meals based on a regional theme. Food is then judged based on their performance.
Scouts also discuss plans on seasonal events, such as their “Turkey Trip” held every November. The troops’ boys run a cabin in the woods, preparing a Thanksgiving meal, learning how to work with budgets, organize shopping lists, and prepare food, all under the care of adult supervision.
Troop 7059 constantly holds fundraisers each year with varying purposes. Sometimes they’re charitable causes like clothing drives for the Wicked Warriors charter, or they are to support the troop, such as their annual mum sale every September.
Fundraisers held for the troop help the scouts fund their summer camps, Eagle Scout projects, and offset camping and membership fees.
East Greenwich’s troop has a history of having Eagle Scouts, along with past Eagle projects. Sean Anderson, a 2020 Eagle Scout and acting Assistant Scoutmaster, recalls his project, which was a canine memorial at the East Greenwich Police Station. The memorial supports canine units and their handlers, providing names and pictures of dogs with their handlers, and one statue of a canine with its handler.
Additional projects scouts have worked on in the past include a 9/11 memorial trail in Chestnut Branch Park. In addition, they have provided military branch flags for the East Greenwich Veterans Memorial. There is also a granite slabs etched with dates of their foundings at each poles base.
Swedesboro Troop 7013
Stationed in Gen. Charles G. Harker School, Scouts BSA Troop 7013 of Swedesboro/Woolwich runs its boys only youth group. Chartered by Kiwanis of Swedesboro, Troop 7013 provides boys with educational experiences and lifelong bonds and has been doing so for over 90 years.
The troop is managed by Clare Beatty, the troop’s Committee Chair, and Christian Benjaminson, the troop’s acting Scoutmaster. Together, they look after a youth led troop of over 30 aspiring boys, mainly composed of Swedesboro and Woolwich residents.
Troop members and an elected patrol leader meet to process goals for the troop. Members discuss monthly camping trips in New Jersey and Maryland, merit badge completions as a group, and social experiences like parties and competitions between patrol leaders.
Plans are then pitched to Benjaminson, who has the final decision on the troop’s activities. Benjaminson noted that the troop will be having a trip in February to an indoor climbing facility, as well as a to be determined camping excursion.
Community outreach projects are also discussion topics, such as Kings Things in Swedesboro. Scouts help out by handing out fliers to people in the neighborhood, run food collections along with packaging and distributing food. Beatty says that this program has a long history with the troop.
Honorable mentions of the troop’s good deeds are Little League parade and opening ceremonies, Memorial Day services, and trash cleanups in and around Swedesboro, mostly near bodies of water.
Troop 7013 also has a collection of Eagle Scouts in its program, along with accomplished Eagle Projects. For instance, scouts established a Veterans Memorial for Lake Park Cemetery in Swedesboro, right at the park’s entrance.
Swedesboro’s troop has additional Eagle Projects that were previously worked on, such as a portable stage set for Bethesda United Methodist Church in Swedesboro, picnic tables and flag poles at Tranquility Trails, and gaga pits for select Swedesboro and Woolwich Schools.
The scouts have also applied their work towards High Hill Park and South Harrison Park by establishing woodchip paths, soccer ball rebound walls, horseshoe pits, and designated walking trail maps. There is even a sensory path for small children at High Hill Park that scouts had previously worked on.
Beatty and Benjaminson recall most Eagle Projects being construction-oriented services. Beatty said that Troop 7013 tends to have two or three Eagle Projects a year, but it usually depends on what projects are pitched and their scale.
Beyond the Pandemic
When COVID-19 struck in 2020, it turned everyone’s lives upside down. Learning to compensate was challenging for children, ever more so in Scouts BSA.
Beatty recalls hearing stories of troops nationwide getting hit hard, sometimes folding under the pressure. Luckily, she recounts Troop 7013 being able to hold meetings for the kids in a warehouse, bay doors open. Giving thanks to a contribution from the community, she wouldn’t have known what to do for the troop during these trying times.
The entire council for Troop 7059 recalls going entirely virtual for the pandemic. Cook offs were held at home thanks to zoom, and camping trips happened from the comfort of home, all in individual scouts’ backyards. Digital games of Uno and outdoor movie nights were the normalcy, maintaining high morale.
As an EMT, White recalls the challenges due to strict guidelines but said facing challenges is what scouts do. Reflecting back, she claims the pandemic was a good lesson in teaching the core group what it means to prepare for uncertainty, and that scouting is the practice of imperfection due to unique challenges that everyone was facing.
Additional information about Scout BSA Troops can be found on their official website (www.scouting.org). Here, parents and guardians can find information on where troops are in your area, troop summaries, along with contact information for those interested in enrolling their children.
