Troop 26 Correspondence

Service Projects! Have
a good idea for one?
Email to scoutmaster!

Website Problems? Don't be frustrated! Please email webmaster at dreisbac@
hotmail.com with page URL and problem description.
Thanks!

Press "Shift" + "Reload" to update the page (purge your cache)

Send all your friends to:

"www.
troop26bsa.
net"

Wow! Talk about payback for that “one hour a week”!

Here is some recent correspondence from Brian Dixon. He earned Eagle Scout rank in June 2000 and has recently graduated from Penn State.

From: Brian Dixon
To: Scoutmaster Troop 26
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 10:03 PM
Subject: greetings

Hello all -
I've recently become involved in a Boy Scout Troop in Tyrone PA, my current home, and am striving to give back some of what Troop 26 gave to me. I owe a large part of my desire to be and confidence as a teacher to the scouting program, and now it's time to help the future generation learn the Scout skills, both those learned as "Scout skills" and those that one learns incidentally as a scout (leadership, responsibility). Your commitment to Scouts has been a big factor in my life, and I am striving to continue that tradition.

The troop I joined was in dire straights as recently as 5 years ago, when the current scoutmaster took it over. Before Pete got there the troop hadn't been on a trip and almost lost their charter. At the beginning of the "new" troop 300, they were taking only 2 or 3 boys on each trip. With about 17 boys the troop is thriving, not bad for a town of 5,500 that has three Scout Troops. The Scouts are almost all active at every function, we had two events this past weekend and the totals were 14 for the carwash fundraiser and 11 for the 10 mile hike.

Unfortunately, in his rebuilding efforts Pete took on too many of the responsibilities of the troop himself. Of particular concern to me is the lack of "Boys leading Boys," a motto the troop has yet to embrace. However, not ever having been a scout himself, Pete has looked to me for guidance, and I proudly use my experience in Troop 26 as my guide. Since being there (only about a month so far) I've gotten the troop patrol restructured so that each patrol has multiple age groups. I've also constantly pushed for the SPL to be a more proactive leader, and tonight the SPL ran the bulk of the meeting himself, a task he is more than ready for. Pete is extremely willing to incorporate all of my ideas, in large part because he recognizes the wisdom of what I have learned.

Graduating with a degree in education, I put emphasis on each member of our society learning to be a teacher. So, I strive to incorporate leadership and responsibility into each of the boys that I see in Scouts. Woodsman skills are important, but on a day to day basis in this modern society, the confidence I got as a public speaker, leader, teacher, and responsible citizen have been far more important. I owe much to Troop 26, and I hope my involvement in Boy Scout Troop 300 in Tyrone, PA will be better repayment than anything I could offer back to the numerous people who have made me the man I am today. A large part of Scouts is investing in the future, and I'm glad so many people believed I was worth investing in, and I hope you and the Scouts continue in that fine tradition.

Brian Dixon
please share this with whoever is interested