Want to recruit more youth to your troop? Don’t hold a “troop open house.” Sure, it is one of the three key recruiting methods – But, I say don’t do it.
Why? Put yourself in the shoes of a 10-year old child. The words “open house” represent that night each year when mom or dad head to school to talk to their teachers. And, the last thing most youth want to do after six hours enclosed in the cinderblock walls of learning is to volunteer themselves for another 90-minutes of anything that sounds remotely like school.
So now what? Hold an event and call it anything other than an open house. Be creative and tap into the talents of your troop. Do something that will excite your membership – current and future – so you can showcase the energy of all of your unit membership.
Be wary of static displays that provide nothing for the Webelos to do. Punch up “Ye olde campsite display” with well-done campfire program and you have the beginning of a successful not-a-troop-open-house. Add some hands-on Dutch oven cobbler preparation and you’ll have an event that makes me, um, I mean my Webelos want to join your troop!
A contingent of Scouts and leaders from Troop 5 in Lima, Peru attended Camp Olmsted this past summer. Scouts and leaders traveled from 4 different countries to enjoy a week at summer camp during their winter break in the US before going back to school. Highlights of the week were rifle and shot gun shooting, sailing on Lake Merriweather and the Olmsted Olympics. The contingent enjoyed meet-ing Scouts from the US, Scouts with ties to Peru living in the US, and Zack our Staff Guide from Bogota Columbia. The three Scouts earned 16 merit badges and one attended the Trailhead Program. Plans are being made for a larger contingent next summer and a return to Camp Olmsted.
The University of Scouting, a supplemental training opportunity for all adult Scout leaders, returns to Hayfield High School on February 23. It is the one time during the year where you can find the widest variety of training opportunities in all program areas all in one place. 
Did you know there is an easy way to double the impact of your contribution to local Scouting programs? It’s called an employee giving program!
Piedmont Pack 196, chartered by St. Lukes Lutheran Church and School, is a family pack out of Culpeper, VA, and started their year off with an amazing cook out! This is a yearly event, in August, that welcomes returning and new families with plenty of fun activities and food. The Cub Scouts built and decorated raingutter regatta boats and rockets and then had a blast racing their boats against one another and shooting rockets with a compressed air launcher. All the youth had a great time getting to know their new den leaders and members and even welcomed their first girl dens!
Troop 1780 from Waldorf, MD recently had a group of Scouts and leaders go overseas to Europe on a home grown high adventure. The crew flew into Munich International Airport and spent the day in Munich at a local hotel to get over jet lag and to visit the city. Early the next morning we then made our way down to Krimml, Austria through a series of train rides lasting about 5 hours. Once in Krimml and after checking into the lodging we walked up to the top of the Krimml Falls which are the tallest waterfalls in Austria. The next day we started on the bicycle portion of the trip as we biked 38 miles to Zell am See, Austria. We arrived early enough that we had time and explored a bit of the town and ate the ‘best waffles in Europe.’ So far, we haven’t found any that have come close.