This is a rough draft of the notes taken at Troop 1776’s committee meeting on February 17, 2022. They will be read in and approved at next month’s committee meeting.
Scoutmaster’s Corner
Scoutmaster Tareq spoke about the troop’s recent trip to Klondike. A total of 21 boys and leaders attended. The troop had a great time.
The next campout will be at Scoutmaster Blake’s cabin in Scofield. The troop will use this campout to invite boys to attend to recruit Scouts. They plan on going ice fishing. All boys attending should bring $5 to use to purchase burgers on the way home.
The PLC meeting was held earlier this week. They elected Zeke Villamar and Ole Butler as patrol leaders. At the PLC meeting, the boys expressed enthusiasm for the jerky sales as a fundraiser.
Scoutmaster Tareq mentioned that the troop is attending Camp Loll for the summer camp. He expressed the need for the troop to get a trailer before summer camp. There is a possible source that they are pursuing.
Scoutmaster Valeriia introduced herself to the committee. She is the COR for the girls’ troop. The girls’ troop currently has five registered girls and three prospects.
Four girls attended Klondike this year, and they had a great time. The girls’ troop is also attending the campout in Scofield.
They are looking for additional assistant Scoutmasters for the girls.
Finances
Jeff Cutler reported on the state of the troop’s finances. The popcorn sales brought in $3736.00. After paying for Klondike and registration fees, the troop’s balance is $3610.00.
Upcoming expenses include about $6000 for Camp Loll. The troop also paid for the registration fees of the Scouts. We are going to use fundraising to offset these costs. We also discussed asking parents to pay for a portion of their Scout’s registration.
A question was brought up about why should the troop pay for even part of the registration, seeing how outside of Utah, parents are expected to pay for registration in total. We talked about how when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was the chartering organization, they paid for fees in total. Many parents may not be expecting to pay for all the fees. We also discussed how traditionally troops collect monthly dues to offset costs, and our troop does not collect dues.
We determined the following:
- The troop won’t require dues
- Any fundraiser that we do, the Scout will get funds, and a percentage will go to the troop.
Instead of having a fixed percentages for all Scouts, we will evaluate funds on a case by case basis.
We discussed the possibilities of registering the troop as a 501c3 (non-profit), but Rusty said that the council prohibits individual troops from registering as a non-profit. However, if the chartering organization registers a non-profit, that could be a possibility for us.
Suzzanne said that she would send out emails to the parents.
Funding
We discussed fundraising efforts. While we were very successful with the fundraiser, the troop only gets 33% of the profits. Other fundraisers that we discussed were dinners with a silent auction and power washing garbage cans. Those fundraisers would be more profitable. We also discussed yard sales, but upon reflection, found that the yard sale was too much work for the return.
Advancement
We discussed the need for an Eagle coach. Scoutmaster Karl volunteered to be an interim Eagle coach. The committee agreed that we need a team of Eagle coaches, and that Karl would be one of that team, and would help train additional Eagle coaches.
Miscellaneous
It was mentioned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints organizations, such as BYU, are competing for Scout camps. So troops should sign up as soon as possible.
Scoutmaster Karl mentioned the benefits of Order of the Arrow. He recommended that our troop have an OA election each year to give the Scouts the opportunity to be elected to this prestigious position.
Next committee/parent meeting will be held the third Thursday of March.