SCOUTING promises you:

--the great outdoors. As a Scout, you can learn how to camp and hike without leaving a trace and how to take care of the land. You'll study wildlife up close and learn about nature all around you. There are plenty of skills for you to master, and you can teach others what you have learned. Everyone helping everyone else-that's part of Scouting, too.

--friendship. Members of the troop you join might be boys you already know, and you will meet many other Scouts along the way. Some could become lifelong friends.

--opportunities to work toward the Eagle Scout rank. You will set positive goals for yourself and then follow clear routes to achieve hem.

-t-ools to help you make the most of your family, your community, and your nation. The good deeds you perform every day will improve the lives of those around you. You will be prepared to help others in time of need.

--experiences and duties that will help you mature into a strong, wise adult. The Scout Oath and the Scout Law can guide you while you are a Scout and throughout your life.

Adventure, learning, challenge, responsibility - the promise of Scouting is all this and more.

To find out more about the Scouting program, visit The Scout Zone², or contact the Scoutmaster.

Below you will find some basic information on our unit. If at anytime you have questions, please feel free to ask any of us.

 Join Troop 50 | Meetings | Camping| Summer Camp | Service Projects | Parents | Cost | Recycle

1 "The Promise" is on page 1 of the 1998 edition of the Boy Scout Handbook
2 Clicking this link will take you away from this website. Please report broken links using the "Contact Our Troop" link at the top of the page. For further detail, please see our Disclaimer page.

Section last updated/reviewed 07 Sept 12.
Please note that the images and logos here, as on all our pages, are (copyright) their respective owners and used by gracious permission. See our Special Thanks! page for details and links.

The Boy Scout Program is for boys ages 11-17. Cub Scouts is for boys 6-10.

There are many youth organizations to chose from, especially in Happy Valley. Sports, service clubs, educational programs--you name it. As volunteers, we salute all these programs and organizations for their work with young people.

The Scouting program, however, goes above and beyond programs offered by these other organizations.


Scouting reinforces the skills and values we want our sons to learn while they're having fun. Our goal at Troop 50 is to continually develop a program that will challenge the youth of our community to make a difference in the environment they live. Scouting goes far beyond camping, canoeing, hiking, earning merit badges, rank advancement. Scouting is a way of life, a set of values and standards we try to teach these young men.

If we are able to influence our youth with the right values, morals and standards now, this will become their way of thinking which will govern how they make decisions in the future. At some point in our future, these same young men will be making decisions, judgments, laws, and other life changing actions that will affect our lives. Those decisions will be in our best interest if we have given them the proper foundation to build their way of thinking and reasoning.

Specific requirements are here.

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Location - Park Forest Village United Methodist Church  MAP^*

Time - Monday night at 7:00 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.

Most units follow a school schedule. Some meet all year. We generally follow the school schedule with activities throughout the summer, but not every week. We believe scouting is a full time way of life. In order to help support that belief, we feel that the scout needs to have regular contact with other scouts to help each other. This builds bonds and strengthens friendships. We also believe that family time is important and we recognize that many Scouts, especially the older ones, are frequently involved in sports that have intensive late summer schedules, so the summer months have a more open schedule to allow for family vacations and those sports.

We are a fully youth run unit. This means your son will vote on an election night as to who he would like to lead him from his peers in his troop. The elected youth will plan, organize, and conduct the meetings with the mentorship of an adult leader. Adults do not take control of meetings.

*Clicking this link will take you away from this website. Please report broken links using the "Contact Our Troop" link at the top of the page. For further detail, please see our Disclaimer page.

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Please note that the images and logos here, as on all our pages, are © (copyright) their respective owners and used by gracious permission. See our Special Thanks! page for details and links.

As a general rule, we camp once a month except December. Yes, even in winter. Scouts learn how to properly camp in cold weather. There may be a month where we are committed to a service project, and due to personal schedules of the leaders, we may not be able to get in a camping trip.

When we camp, we ask that each scout brings their personal gear to the meeting before a campout. This allows us to pack all gear and equipment ahead of time. On the Friday night of camping, we meet at Park Forest UMC and carpool to the campsite. On Sunday, we return to the church at 12 noon. I know all of us have churches we attend on Sunday morning. However, we can not get into the meeting room until after church, and we need everyone’s help in unloading equipment. These campouts are for the scouts. The scouts should assist in storing what they take to the field. Speaking of church, we have chapel services and other reminders of a Scout's Duty to God throughout the event.

Camping fees are always minimal. We average $7 - $10 for meals for an entire weekend. We may or may not provide meals on Friday night, so they might need to eat at home, or bring it with them as they head to the campsite. The scouts do their own meal planning and cooking. All cooking is done over campfire or stove.

Meals are planned two meetings before a campout. This is a group effort. If your son has particular likes and dislikes, make sure he is there to voice his vote. If your son is allergic to a food, make sure it is on his health form and tell the leaders about his allergy. This will definitely affect meal planning. We accommodate health issues. We do not accommodate picky eaters who do not come to the meetings.  And speaking of health issues, if your son has any other allergies, health concerns, disabilities, etc. that will impact troop function, please let us know. Making the appropriate accommodation for them is part of how we make sure the best possible program while also maintaining the highest standards of safety.

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Please note that the images and logos here, as on all our pages, are © (copyright) their respective owners and used by gracious permission. See our Special Thanks! page for details and links.

Summer camp is a big part of your son’s scouting experience. Not only will be advance in rank and merit badges, but he will also grow as an individual and grow with other scouts as a unit.

A big part of the payment for summer camp has come from fundraisers. We believe if a scout wants to participate in an activity, he needs to have invested in that activity. We sell popcorn and hold other fundraisers to allow the scouts a chance to earn their way to summer camp. Get your scout involved in these activities. Any money we raise goes directly back into the program to enhance it more for your youth. Check our Fundraising page for more information.

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We are here to make a difference in our community one project at a time. We have participated in a wide range of service projects. If we do not get the scouts active in our community, they will never see that they can have a positive impact on a negative situation for someone. We want them to see they can make a difference if they will just do something.

While we will do our best to insure that each scout receives credit for service hours (needed for rank advancement), there are service projects that may not count toward those hours. Sometimes you just have to do what's right, whether or not it "counts" for something personal.

A Scout is Helpful. A Scout is Friendly.

As Henry David Thoreau once said: "The reward in a job well done is to have done it."

(Getting recognition for what you do is cool too!)

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Without commitment from the parents, we would not have a troop. By commitment I mean being committed to bringing your son to each meeting. If you miss a meeting, you will miss something important about upcoming events. By commitment I mean being committed to being aware of what is going on in terms of activities and events. By commitment I mean being committed to getting your scout to work on advancements at home.

While you do not have to commit to being a leader, you can commit to being an active scout parent. We can teach your son how to make decisions and be independent, but unless you are aware of what we promote, you can not help enforce that at home. It all goes back to scouting being a way of life, not just a meeting and a campout. We need you to help us make this a full circle in your son’s life. We as leaders have nothing to gain. You, as a parent, have a lot to gain.

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Please note that the images and logos here, as on all our pages, are © (copyright) their respective owners and used by gracious permission. See our Special Thanks! page for details and links.

At Troop 50, we strive to keep scouting affordable to everyone. We want to reach as many youth as possible in an effort to train them as individuals, a team and future leaders. All you have to do to join is simply come out to any of our meetings and talk to us. We will have applications available to fill out at any time.

Currently, the cost of a yearly membership is set at $50.  This money is spent as follows:

 -- National BSA registration is $15.00 and includes insurance.
 -- Scouting Magazine (Boy's Life) costs $12.00
 -- Remaining money is used by the Troop to cover the costs of awards, patches, and other expenses incurred throughout the year.

We also conduct fund raisers throughout the year to help cover those costs.

The final cost of providing your son a quality program is less than $4.00/month.

Uniforms may be purchased at the Scout Shop in Reedsville^*. Or shop online*. We hope to be setting up a uniform closet to help reduce the costs of starting up, which can get to be pretty amazing--uniforms, fees, equipment. We do our best to shop frugally without sacrificing quality--and never safety! If finances are a major concern, let one of us know and we'll do what we can to help.

You can download a shopping list for a uniform under the Forms page of our website. There are many other sources for looking for uniforms, just ask us for suggestions.

*Clicking these links will take you away from this website. Please report broken links using the "Contact Our Troop" link at the top of the page. For further detail, please see our Disclaimer page.

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Please note that the images and logos here, as on all our pages, are © (copyright) their respective owners and used by gracious permission. See our Special Thanks! page for details and links.

Hi Scouts!
One sure thing about being boys are those constant growing spurts!  Finding out lately that your Class A fits a tad more snug than it used to? Or perhaps your Class B shrank from a Lg to a Sm? Or maybe your scout socks no longer cover your entire foot? What does this all mean?  Simple answer - you are growing up! And in most cases that means that your uniform no longer fits!  

Guys - don't toss out those old uniforms!
Remember! A scout is THRIFTY!  Donate your gently used clothing to the Scout Supply closet for another scout who might need it!

Oh, feel free to donate other items such as good hiking boots, water shoes, camping equipment (you get the idea!). 

Your contributions make help available to your fellow scouts!

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Section last updated/reviewed 07 Sept 12.
Please note that the images and logos here, as on all our pages, are © (copyright) their respective owners and used by gracious permission. See our Special Thanks! page for details and links.