Troop 50 recognized as council 'trailblazer'

In January 2021, Troop 50 was among six units — four troops and two crews — recognized as a "trailblazer" unit in the Chattahoochee Council. The Trailblazer Program recognizes units that sustain and grow their membership in 2020. Units qualify for this distinction if:

• their 2019 membership was below the council's average unit size (18 Scouts, for Boy Scout troops) and their 2020 membership represented a growth of 10% gain in membership by year's end; or
• their 2019 membership was equal to or above the council's average unit size and their 2020 membership was at least the same by year's end.

Troop 50 has long prided itself in maintaining its growth in a managed manner and in proportion to current and projected resources and volunteer support. Troop leaders believe this "managed growth" approach helps ensure every Scout and his family have a positive experience.

The troop provides information about how to join and its membership process on its website. Second-year Webelos or other prospective Scouts wishing to visit a troop meeting should contact Scoutmaster Andrew Baird at scoutmaster@boyscout50.org. Scheduling a visit is especially important during the pandemic so we can brief visiting families on our public safety protocols, as well as keep you informed in meeting plans change.

Journey to Excellence

       For the sixth straight year (which is every full year of the troop's existence) Troop 50 has achieved gold status in the BSA assessment process known as Journey to Excellence. The program is a self-evaluation which allows units, districts, and councils to measure their strengths with a goal of continual improvement. The unit scorecard contains eleven objectives in the fields of Planning and Budget, Membership, Program, and Volunteer Leadership; and rates various metrics at bronze, silver, and gold levels.

       In 2018, Troop 50 met ten out of eleven objectives. We received gold scores in recruitment (due to a 19.2 percent growth for the year), retention (91.7 percent of the scouts remained in the troop at

year's end), advancement (71 percent of our scouts advanced by at least one rank), and leadership & family engagement (due to our large number of registered leaders and parental involvement). We also scored in the silver range for our camping program, consistent use of the patrol method, and our Webelos to Scout transition plans. We received a total score of 1250 points to achieve gold status, which required us to meet at least eight objectives with a collective total of 1000 points.

       The troop has much to be proud of in 2018. Our scouts collectively earned ninety-nine merit badges and had thirty-five rank advancements. This included three new Eagle Scouts and six Eagle Palms. In fact, we now have four Eagle Scouts who have each earned Bronze, Gold, and Silver Palms. Scouts and adult leaders together spent 408 nights of camping, hiked 154 miles, and gave 971 hours of service to the community. These numbers not only reflect on the commitment by the scouts to the program but also the high level of support that we receive from adult volunteers, parents, our charter partners at the Auburn Rotary Club, and the members of the First Presbyterian Church and Auburn United Methodist Church. This meaningful support gives us what we need to meet the troop's mission to GATHER young men into a quality scouting program, GROW them into servant leaders, and GO into the community in service and fellowship.

2016...by the numbers

Troop 50 Scouts and leaders had a great deal of success to be thankful for in 2016. Eight monthly campout outings and a week-long summer camp fueled Scouts' efforts to sharpen their Scouting skills, earn merit badges, and advance in rank. These, and the troop's service-minded focus, enabled it to qualify as a 2015 Gold Unit under the Boy Scouts of America's "Journey to Excellence" program.

A tradition continues

From left to right are Aiden, Creighton, Everett, Luke, and Jason.

On Friday, April 8, a tradition continued as Troop 50 welcomed its newest scout from Pack 29 during the pack's annual Arrow of Light ceremony at Auburn United Methodist Church.  Luke (the one pictured with the troop hat) becomes the latest of a long line of scouts coming from the pack.  Four scouts and four leaders from the troop were present to welcome Luke into our family.  We are very happy to have Luke's family as part of our troop as well. 

Another very unique tradition continues with Luke's addition to Troop 50.  Pack 29 has an annual scout spirit award called the Jimmy Stewart Award.  This award is presented to a scout each year based on the scout's spirit and work ethic in scouting and beyond.  It is a huge honor among Pack 29 scouts to receive this award and Troop 50 has had the distinct pleasure to have all four of the Jimmy Stewart Award winners as part of our troop.  Winners are Mark (2013), Nicky (2014), Hunter (2015), and Luke (2016).  We are so honored that these excellent scouts have chosen to be a part of our troop.

Luke joins six scouts who have joined the troop in recent months.  The troop will round out its new scout class next month as it welcomes a new scout from Pack 811.  The troop's continued growth of new membership is important as we lose several more members this year who will be moving on to college and careers.

The new 'Troop 50 Five' achieve milestone Scout Rank

The troop's five newest members arrived at Monday's night's meeting as official members of the troop — having crossed over from Pack 29 to Boy Scouts on April 10 — and left the meeting with not only their patrol assignments, but with the Scout rank in hand. The five received their Scout rank patches from Senior Patrol Leader Andrew and Assistant Patrol Leader Will at the conclusion of the evening's meeting.

Our newest Scouts, flanked by ASPL William (far left) and SPL Andrew (far right),
are (left to right): Trey, Carl, Zach, Hunter, and Miles.

Carl, Trey and Hunter are now members of the Carnivorous Pandas Patrol, and Zach and Miles are members of the Outdoorsmen Patrol.

And, for our parents who may not know where to put the newest patch in their sons' collection, here's a hint!

Webelos bring new 'light' to troop during crossover ceremony

Arrow of Light awards in hand, five Pack 29 Webelos Scouts crossed the Scouting bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts on Friday, April 10, thereby becoming Troop 50's newest Boy Scouts. While they are new additions to the official troop roster, their steady attendance at recent troop meetings has already made them familiar faces at troop activities.

The troop's newest Scouts included (front row, second from the left to right) Carl, Zach, Hunter,
Miles, and Trey. They are joined by current Troop 50 Scouts and leaders — and all Pack 29
alumni — (front row, far left) Jason; (back row, left to right) Nicky, Ethan,
Chartered Organization Representative and Assistant Scoutmaster Michael Tullier, ASPL Will,
SPL Andrew, Troop Committee Chair Rob Stanford, and Assistant Scoutmaster Billy Lytle.

Pack 29 conducted its crossover ceremony at Auburn United Methodist Church, which serves as the its chartered organization. Rains throughout the day and evening on Friday unfortunately forced the pack to move the ceremony indoors, and despite missing elements like a campfire and torches that are standards for the pack's annual ceremony, pack leaders and Scouts did a great job retaining a warm Scouting spirit for all who attended. Senior Patrol Leader Andrew and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader William assisted in the ceremony as one of the principle ceremony actors and "backstage," respectively, and the troop was well represented by other Scouts and leaders present to receive our newest members and their families.

The five Webelos joining Troop 50 were among more than a dozen Webelos Scouts participating in the event and transferring membership from the pack to area Boy Scout troops. Many of Troop 50's Scouts and leaders are alumni of Pack 29. The 2015 ceremony marks the third consecutive year the troop has benefited from a strong class of new Scouts (and families) crossing over from Pack 29.

In addition to celebrating the achievements of the pack's Webelos Scouts, pack leadership also lauded the contributions of many of its leaders who were "retiring" from their Pack 29 service. Among those with Troop 50 connections were Rob Stanford, the troop's committee chair who until last year served as the pack's cubmaster, and for the past year has served as the pack's committee chair; Lysha Stanford, troop committee member who has served as pack trainer and, as Rob referred to her, "his better half"; Clyde Wikle, who served for many years has provided leadership for his son's den and organized pack activities as its outings chair; and Mary Jo Wikle, who assisted in chairing a number of pack committee duties over the years.

Please visit the troop's online photo album for more photos from the crossover event.

Troop receives top marks in national 'Journey to Excellence' program

In its first year of eligibility for a Journey to Excellence unit award, Troop 50 achieved the top-level "Gold Award" unit status through metrics designed to measure various program-related outcomes in Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troop, and Venture crews.

First implemented for calendar year 2011, "Scouting’s Journey to Excellence" is the Boy Scouts of America's performance recognition program designed to encourage and reward success and measure the performance of units, districts, and councils. The program, also referred to as “JTE,” replaces the previous Quality Unit Award program and provides an annual assessment system for Scouting units, as well as for councils and districts.

Scouts and leaders in units that achieve gold-, silver- or bronze-level awards in the JTE program are able to wear a patch designating that recognition on the right sleeves of their uniforms.

Through the JTE program, units are assessed on performance in key areas, which include increases or decreases in the amount of advancements earned by their Scouts, membership recruitment and retention rates, prevalence of required training among registered leaders, frequency of short-term and long-term camping, use of the patrol method and boy-led troop concept, frequency of service projects, Webelos-to-Scout transition, troop budgeting, courts of honor and parental involvement, integration of physical fitness programming, and timeliness of unit recharting.

Some take-a-ways regarding Troop 50's performance in 2013 include:

• 50% of Scouts advancing in rank
• 100% membership retention — 15% above the maximum required of gold-level units
• 31% increase in membership — 21% above the maximum required of gold-level units
• 8 short-term camp-outs
• active monthly PLC meetings and an annual planning meeting
• 14 service projects — 8 projects above the maximum required of gold-level units

Sharpening our knife skills

Troop 50 sharpened its knife skills with a variety of round-robin presentations during Monday night's meeting — a perfect topic for tenured Scouts and visiting Webelos from Cub Scout Pack 29 alike. After the troop's opening ceremony, visiting Webelos introduced themselves, and everyone divided into and rotated among the various instructional stations.

Assistant Senior Patrol Leader John discusses the purpose of and
etiquette surrounding an axe yard, and what Scouts
might expect to find in one.

Patrol Leader Vincent (right) demonstrates with Michael (left)
how to properly pass a pocketknife to someone else, as well
as the principles of a "blood circle" and other best practices.

Senior Patrol Leader William demonstrates proper techniques
of using, sharpening and caring for hand tools such as
axes, hatchets and bowsaws.

At the conclusion of the meeting, those who attended the troop's recent Gatlinburg ski trip recounted the outing, and troop leadership reminded Scouts about upcoming summer camp plans. The troop also welcomed new Life Scout Cameron, who transferred from another local troop, and presented the Totin' Chip card to Andy.

Troop 50 lights the way during Webelos Crossover

Troop 50 Scouts donned leggings, grease paint and headdresses Saturday evening as part of Cub Scout Pack 29's annual Arrow of Light and Webelos Crossover Ceremony. The ceremony, which took place at the Forest Ecology Preserve, involved nine Webelos Scouts crossing over into three Auburn-based Boy Scout troops -- with four of the nine choosing Troop 50.

Davis, Kyle, William and Andrew (pictured above) participated in the ceremony by appearing as Native American principals who each represented one of the four winds -- North, South, East and West. The four were aided by other Troop 50 Scouts and leaders participating in the background as drummers and "backstage support." At the end of the ceremony, Webelos were escorted to different areas where each of the troops receiving their new Scouts were stationed.

 

At the end of the ceremony, our new Scouts -- (left to right) Louis, Mark, Andrew and Michael -- joined the ceremony principals and Senior Patrol Leader Jake (far right) for a group photo. We're delighted they and their families have selected Troop 50 in which to continue their Scouting activities, and we wish them all much success on the Trail to Eagle!

View more photos from the ceremony in our online photo album.