After more than 40 years using Latimer Lane School as its weekly meeting place, Simsbury Boy Scout Troop 174, sponsored by the Civitan Club of Simsbury, has moved to new quarters at the Simsbury United Methodist Church (SUMC) at 799 Hopmeadow Street in the center of Simsbury. As a result, all three Simsbury Boy Scout troops are located in downtown Simsbury making participation in any of the troops convenient for residents in all areas of town. Troop 174 meets weekly at SUMC on Wednesday evenings at 7 PM during the school year.
Boy Scout Troop 174 is the smallest of Simsbury’s troops with about 45 active scouts. Our troop prides itself on its comprehensive “boy led” program overseen by a large group of 15 dedicated and highly experienced and trained adult scout volunteers who provide individualized coaching and instruction to the boys for advancement through the Boy Scout program. All boys have the opportunity to learn leadership skills and build self-confidence as they advance through the scout ranks.
Because of our troop’s size and cohesiveness, each scout has many opportunities to lead, teach, learn, experiment with new interests, and enjoy the troop’s numerous outdoor and wilderness activities throughout the year. Our monthly activities emphasize scout education with a focus on the Troop’s motto – “fun with a purpose”. Activities are selected by the boys each spring for the upcoming school year. Recent past activities have included: Block Island bicycle back-packing, West Point football game and camping, New York and Boston urban hike, USS Intrepid, Gettysburg, winter sports at Lake Placid, Tuckerman’s Ravine spring hike and skiing, regional rock climbing, white water rafting in the Adirondacks and West Virginia, backpacking on the Appalachian Trail and the White Mountains, Scuba Diving in Honduras, Summer Boy Scout Camp at Camp Workcoeman in New Hartford, High Adventure backpacking at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico – plus many more fun activities and trips. Our scout program is designed to help boys grow mentally, physically, socially and spiritually. Boys progress at their own pace and are rewarded for their achievements and rank advancement.
Resulting from the troop’s diverse monthly activity program, Troop 174 has an incredible history of producing Eagle Scouts with over 100 boys earning the rank of Eagle in the troop’s history. We are proud that our Class of 2012 had 100% of scouts earn the rank of Eagle!
Troop 174 also works to minimize the cost of scouting to families. All scouts earn money to pay for their trips and activities. The troop generates sufficient funds to cover troop expenses by raking leaves for Simsbury residents in the fall, and selling Christmas trees in December. By working these fundraisers, Scouts also earn personal “escrow” funds that can be used to defray Scouting related expenses and equipment.
Troop 174 understands that boys can have many interests and activities outside of scouting. We encourage your son to participate in sports and other school activities. We believe in a healthy balance of extra curricular activities including boy scouts. In fact, most scouts in Troop 174 participate in sports whether it is at the high school level, Little League, Babe Ruth, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and football as well as activities and volunteering like marching and jazz band, robotics club, TopSoccer and many others. Boy scouting need not be all consuming. The boys are welcome to come to meetings and activities after practice or games.
Troop 174 encourages all Webelos 2 scouts and boys considering scouting as well as new residents to visit our troop at any of our weekly meetings starting at 7PM on Wednesdays at the Simsbury United Methodist Church. If you have any questions, please feel free to visit our website at www.troop174.org or call our Scoutmaster John Burrows at 860-408-1459 or jtburrows@comcast.net or our New Scout Chairman, Al Bitzer at 860-651-7685 or alan_s_bitzer@sbcglobal.net.
Original article posted on the Simsbury Patch, by John Lucker.