An exploration of Troop history and what it means to new scouts coming into a unit and how it can effect the health of the Troop or Pack.
Transcript:
I am lucky enough to be part of a troop that has a long history. Our Troop is over 60 years old, being in continuous operation since 1955.
But unfortunately, most of the troop history has been lost to time as scouts come in and age out of the troop.
Some Troops are lucky enough to have an adult leader or two that have been around for a good part of that history, and as such these leaders are a great resource that can relate stories of years past, scout adventures, trips to magnificent places and stories that get passed down about boy misadventures.
So I implore you that if you do have one of these scouters, take advantage of it, and video them recounting this history, as once they are gone it will be gone forever.
I recently received a random phone call from an old scouter and Eagle with the unit, who was very good friends with our troop’s old man of scouting who passed a couple of years back.
In our conversation we got to talking about the old days in the troop, relating stories about the troop history.
From a Troop perspective there is a troop historian, who is a scout most often taking pictures of events as they happen. Depending on how good this scout is at the task, some record of scouting history is maintained.
The problem however of having a scout historian is the perspective. Photos are taken and publicized, and you might know where the event is held, but you lose who the scouts are, as the months turn into years.
As scouts move on, they are no longer part of the moving history of the Troop, and as such are forgotten to history.
History is important.
This is why I think it is a good idea to maintain a communication channel for past scouters, through some sort of mailing list or facebook group. This really should be a committee responsibility to maintain this history, and nurture it through periodic communications.
While I don’t believe it should be a vehicle for fundraising, there is no reason why if you send out a quarterly news briefing on the troop that you can’t include the opportunity to donate for Eagle projects and such, with the caveat that this is the exception and not the rule.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this was a bit on troop history.
