ABOUT US
LOCATION: St. Stephen Lutheran Church
3725 Kent Road
Stow, OH 44224
MEETING TIME: Mondays from 7 – 8:30 p.m.
(No meetings on major holidays or snow days)
CHARTER ORGANIZATION: St. Stephen Lutheran Church. Troop 273 will be celebrating 45 years in 2011.
TROOP 273 is a scout led that follows the ideals of Boy Scouting as spelled out in the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout Motto and the Scout Slogan. The Boy Scout measures himself against these ideals and continually strives to improve. Troop 273 has a 75-80% attendance record.
PATROLS: Troop 273 currently has 6 patrols; 4 – 8 scouts in each patrol. The boys learn teamwork and leadership within their patrols and elect their own leaders. The patrols may be formally rearranged once a year as desired by the scouts. New scouts are generally placed in their own patrols.
SCOUT LEADERSHIP ROLES: The Senior Patrol Leader (SPL – elected position), Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (ASPL – runner-up), Scribe (appointed), Quartermaster (appointed), Patrol Leader (PL – elected position for 6 months), Assistant Patrol Leader (APL – appointed), Troop Guide (appointed), Librarian (appointed), Instructor (appointed), Historian (appointed), Chaplains Aide and Junior Assistant Scoutmaster (appointed). Terms are for 12 months.
OUTDOOR PROGRAMS: The Boy Scout program is designed to take place outdoors: three quarters of scouting is ‘outing’. Our troop camps, hikes, swims, and get up close and personal with bugs, spiders, animals, mud, rain and snow.
ADVANCEMENT: Scout (1st rank), Tenderfoot (2nd rank), Second Class (3rd rank), First Class (4th rank), Star (5th rank), Life (6th rank), Eagle (7th rank). Becoming an Eagle Scout is an important achievement that your son can be proud of his entire life. Advancement is something we strongly encourage but we never force – advancement is the scout’s choice and he sets his own pace but we do support the new scouts to achieve “First Class in the First year”. In the past 45 years we have had 72 scouts become Eagle Scouts and just in the past 10 years we have had 17 scouts earn their Eagle Scout rank.
ADULT LEADERSHIP: Boys learn a great deal by watching how adults conduct themselves. Adult association is also part of what we call a youth-led troop. The adults understand that their role is to create a safe place (2 deep leadership) where boys can learn, grow, explore and play while taking on responsibilities – and when they fail we encourage them to get up and try again. Our troop has a Scoutmaster and several Assistant Scoutmasters (at least 9 of the adult leaders and committee members are Eagle Scouts and 3 adult leaders are Wood Badge trained) who help with meetings and campouts. However, we are always looking for additional adult leaders to replace others that are transitioning out. Parents are more than welcome to volunteer and help during our meetings, activities and camping trips.
TROOP COMMITTEE: The committee is headed by the Committee Chair and assisted by the Secretary and Treasurer. The committee has several sub-committees which chair 1. Food/supplies 2. Court of Honor and Events 3. Fundraising and 4. Advancement. The Troop Committee meets the second Sunday of each month and parents are welcome to attend.
MEETINGS: Monday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m. unless Stow public schools are closed for snow days or major holidays.
6:45-7 p.m. the SM and SPL/ASPL meet to discuss the meeting agenda
7-7:15 p.m. opening flag ceremony and announcements
7:15-7:45 p.m. scouts skills, merit badges and/or patrol meetings
7:45-8:15 p.m. games and/or patrol competitions or catch-up
8:15-8:30 p.m. closing and scoutmaster minute
8:30-8:35 p.m. SM/SPL/ASPL critique meeting
ACTIVITIES: Troop 273 does a special activity each month, often involving camping, but the troop members also enjoy a variety of other activities including: camping at Camp Manatoc, Seven Ranges, Haliburton Scout Reservation in Canada, counsel and district Camporees, Klondike and canoeing, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (camping, museum and base visit), state park camping and backpacking, Laser Tag, Iron Chef Competition and camping, Ski days, Cedar Point, swim parties, hiking and day trips, and camping just for the love of it while learning basic skills(knots, fire-building, cooking, whittling, etc). Troop 273 participates in numerous service projects for our charter organization and the community throughout the year.
COURT OF HONOR (COH): Troop 273 holds four (4) Court of Honor meetings a year when the Scouts receive merit badges and rank advancement awards. We usually, but not always, have a pot-luck dinner before each Court of Honor for the scouts and their families.
SUMMER CAMP: Troop 273 offers 2-3 summer camp opportunities for the Scouts. All scouts are encouraged to attend our counsel camp at Camp Manatoc. This is an excellent opportunity for rank advancement, merit badges, and bonding with the other scouts. Other opportunities include Seven Range Scout Camp, Mountain Man (Venture Patrol), Haliburton (every 2 years) in Canada and various High Adventure opportunities.
UNIFORM: Like most sports teams a Boy Scout is required to wear a uniform properly when they are participating in the Boy Scout program. It is one of the methods of scouting. The Boy Scout is required to wear a Class A (full field uniform) scout shirt, with appropriate insignia, to each meeting along with green or khaki colored pants or shorts with belt loops. Class A uniforms must also be worn while traveling with the Troop. During the summer months scouts may choose to wear a Class B (activity uniform) ‘Troop 273’ or other scout related T-shirt to meetings and activities. Class A uniforms may be purchased at the Scout Shop in Akron or Kamper City in Peninsula. Class B T-shirts and hoodies may be purchased through Troop 273.
SCOUT HANDBOOK: Each scout must have a Scout Handbook, paper and pen at each meeting. Pertinent information to achieve each rank plus rank advancements are recorded in the Scout handbook. The books may be purchased from the Scout Shop or Kamper City.
MEDICAL FORMS: In order to camp or attend Troop activities, the Part A medical form is required for activities lasting less than 72 hours. Part B and Part C forms are required for all other activities and must be signed by a qualified physician. The forms must be renewed on a yearly basis. Sports Physicals are not accepted by the BSA.
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT: Cell phones, iPods and MP3 players are strongly discouraged. Cell phones should only be used to contact parent(s) in an emergency.
FEES: $45 per year which includes the cost of Boys Life, rank advancements, merit badges and meetings. Weekend camping trips range in cost of $10 – $30 depending on the activities planned. Summer camp at Manatoc costs approximately $200.00. Other summer camps and high adventure camps are priced accordingly.
FUND RAISERS: Troop 273 sells BSA Trail’s End popcorn in the fall and Malley’s chocolate candy bars in the spring. Members are asked to participate in each fundraiser or make a donation to the Troop. A portion of each fundraiser goes to the troop (to pay for equipment and activities) while another portion goes to the scout for his “Scout Bucks Account” that can be used to fund scout related activities (uniforms, fees, camps and equipment).
COMMUNICATION: A Troop newsletter is typically distributed during the first meeting of each month. It contains a schedule of current and upcoming events along with pertinent information and announcements. Our troop also has a web-site available at: www.troop273-stow.com along with a private Facebook Group for members only (you must be a member to view the content). The preferred method of communication is through email but we do provide a phone list of the various patrols and adult leaders.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
www.troop273-stow.com
Scoutmaster: Stephen Hodges 330-686-2951
Committee Chairperson: Kurt Houk 330-678-3627
Secretary: Audrey Tucker 330-677-5767
Treasurer: Eric Kovach 330-686-0580
Advancement Chair: Wendy Dyer 330-686-2590
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