Frequently Asked Questions
Below are a few questions we get asked about Troop 1861, BSA, Campouts and Meetings.
Scoutmaster: David Inbody
Charter Representative: Megan Reynolds
Committee Chairman: Chris Hunter
Peace Lutheran Church
2201 Rio Grande
College Station, Texas
Every Tuesday at 7 – 8:30PM
We participate in a few fundraisers each year to help our Scouts do all of the awesome things we get to do! A few to note are Popcorn Sales, Texas A&M Football game ticket scanning, the MS150 at Kyle Field, and Profit Share nights at a few restaurants in the B/CS area. We try to participate in “smart” fundraising and not require too much time from our volunteers.
Generally, your Scout will need the following:
- Backpack
- Sleeping Bag
- Uniform
- Flashlight
- Knife
- Drinking Container
There are really a lot of things that Scouts need, but generally the above is what each scout will need over time. Please check with the troop as items are donated every year that can easily be re-used. For a full list of items recommended for a campout, please refer to this comprehensive list.
For the most part, your Scout will just mainly need a “Class A” uniform which is the tan scout uniform that you can get from the official Scouting store in the Bryan/College Station area – Burdett & Son Outdoor Adventure Shop. We do have uniforms that have been donated though as Scouts tend to outgrow their uniforms quickly, so we suggest you check with us before purchasing a new uniform.
Troop 1861 is in the Arrowmoon District in the Sam Houston Area Council.
The yearly dues for BSA, the Council, District, and Troop are currently $160 per year per Scout and $90 per year per adult.
Generally speaking, for Trailer campouts (where we take all of our equipment in the Troop trailer), the campout costs are $10 per Scout and $20 per adult. This money is given to the Grub Master (Scout in charge of purchasing the food) to purchase food for the campout.
For hiking campouts, there’s typically no cost as each individual is in charge of packing and cooking their own food. Don’t worry, we generally will help provide support on what to bring and how to cook it.
Troop funds typically pay for the campsite fees.
*High Adventure campouts that Scouts 14 years and above attend are handled a bit different and will vary depend on the trip.
Youth can join a Scout troop who have earned the Arrow of Light rank and are at least 10 years old, or have completed the fifth grade and are at least 10, or who are 11, but not yet 18 years old.
If your son is below that age, we recommend that he join a Cub Scout Pack nearest to you so that he can join his friends.
Here’s a list of the Packs in the College Station area along with where and when they meet:
http://arrowmoon.shac.org/units-1
Absolutely! We encourage every adult to participate and help support the troop! It takes many hands to make our boys successful!
Absolutely! We invite every adult that’s a registered adult in BSA and has taken the BSA Youth Protection Training to come on camp outs!
This is a common question we get and while we’re not an “Eagle Factory”, we have several Scouts that attain the highest rank in BSA, Eagle Scout, each and every year. Currently, we have had over 100 boys achieve Eagle Scout in the lifetime of our troop.
Our troop is a highly motivated group of boys that help each other advance on a weekly basis. It’s a common occurrence at each weekly meeting to have a Scout (if not several Scouts) advance in rank.
We typically have around 10-12 campouts per year (one per month). Some of them are trailer campouts – meaning that we bring the troop trailer and have all of our equipment. Some are hiking campouts where we hike into our campsites. Some are summer camps where we spend seven evenings at a BSA approved summer camp.
And once the boys are above 14 years old, they can go on high adventure trips and go to some awesome places like Philmont Scout Ranch, Florida Sea Base, Summit Bechtel Reserve or Northern Tier.
We take a minimum of four adults on every campout. However, there are several favorite campouts (such as Webelos Woods, Camporee, Enchanted Rock and Floating on the River) where we have a lot more than that. It’s common to have upwards of twelve adults at these campouts.
We currently have around 50 active Scouts. There is an ebb and flow of Scouts as they get involved in sports, school and extracurricular activities so this number goes up and down depending on the season of the year. There are currently two patrols and we are looking to add a new patrol in the upcoming year.
Currently we have around 40 active adults. There are a lot of adults that still help the troop out, even though their scouts have long moved on. It’s a great troop to be active in and volunteer your time!
While we highly encourage parents to be involved in the troop (as well as camp with us), it’s definitely not required. We usually have adequate adult supervision to ensure the proper safety of the boys.