About Us

A Boy Scout Troop is only as successful as its Scouts. We expect that a Scout will follow the Boy Scout Oath and Law, not only in troop activities but also in everyday life. We will encourage each Scout to get the most out of the Scouting experience.

At Troop 494 we will have hikes, campouts, summer camp, high adventure trips, and other advancement opportunities. Our weekly meetings will normally be geared to a monthly theme culminating in an outdoor activity.

Our Structure

BSA Troop 494 is made up of patrols, groups of boys ranging in numbers up to ten. These patrols are the strength of the Scouting movement. We will encourage the patrols to help the Scout with his advancement. The Patrol Leader’s Council (PLC) will assist with that task. The PLC is made up of the Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and all of the Patrol Leaders. They set the program, i.e., monthly themes, where to camp, and what activities will take place at the weekly meetings. The Scoutmaster, Troop Scribe, and the Troop Quartermaster also sit in on the monthly PLC meeting, but have no vote, although the Scoutmaster does have veto power on anything inappropriate.

The Importance of Adults

Adults provide valuable resources for a Boy Scout Troop, such as transportation, Merit Badge Counseling, finance, guidance, and encouragement. All activities must be attended by at least two adult leaders. Adult Leader Training will help an adult understand the aims and methods of Scouting and is strongly encouraged. Adults have as much fun as the boys.

In conclusion, Scouting is for the boys. With adult guidance, the boy learns leadership through the setting of meetings, teaching skills, and the accomplishment of goals. Most of all, regardless of your age, Scouting is fun!

Current New Changes

Our troop is by no means a large group. The scouts and adults interact with each other very often and the time spent with one another is a lot more than you would get in any other Troop. That has its advantages and disadvantages: the advantages being a more personalized experience, a more in-depth look at scout topics as the Troop can afford to spend time on each individual scout, greater bonds, and stronger friendships. The disadvantages being more accountability, a higher workload for each individual leader both adult and scout, lower funding, and fewer resources. However, the disadvantages should not necessarily deter anyone from joining; as it forces are leaders to become stronger, more innovative, and more organized. If we are to stay true to the Scout laws and motto: the importance of money and workload a troop has should be negligible.

We have just undergone a troop leadership change within the last month. We have a new Scoutmaster, Senior Patrol Leader and entire cabinet in the Patrol Leaders Council. We now have two new Eagle scouts to help guide our new leaders and we are implementing a lot more structure into our meetings. We plan to engage more with the community, grow our forum and have our meetings even more welcoming and useful to our members.

Attaining Eagle

We realize that a primary motive for boys to join our troop and Boy Scouts, in general, is to attain the rank of Eagle. Anyone who joins just before or around the age of 16 has a chance if they put their mind to it. At Troop 494 we recognize that a scout to development to Eagle is the most important aspect in scouting and so our schedule and planning are very heavily geared to give the scouts in our troop every opportunity to reach the goal of Eagle.