I joined Scouts BSA [formerly Boy Scouts of America] in 2010. I don’t remember all the details of my first scout meeting. It took place at the old Greenpoint Savings Bank back when it was owned by Capital One on a Friday night way back then. Going to the meeting was very much on a whim.
My dad and I were running an errand and saw flyers advertising a Halloween party hosted by the local Cub Scouts Pack. My dad asked, “Do you want to try this?” I don’t remember how enthusiastic my “yes” was, but we ended up walking inside. I don’t recall much of the party other than it completely sold my 5-year old self. Maybe it was the soda or the copious amount of cheese balls that I ate but next thing I knew, we were back again and again.
Every week, my dad and I would walk the couple blocks to the Capital One Bank to attend a scout meeting. At first, the other scouts were strangers but as the weeks turned into months, these guys became a family away from home. It also helped that my dad and I were able to convince some of my good friends to join. A couple of whom are still in the program with me today.
Looking back, I truly thank the scouting program for helping me in three distinct ways.
Love and Respect for the Outdoors
The first is my love and respect for the outdoors. As someone who has lived in the same house in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for my entire life, seeing a tree outside of a tree pit was a remarkable sight. When you walk around Greenpoint or the rest of New York City, you see steel, you walk on concrete and you breathe in the smoggy air. It’s just how life is.
You’re also spoiled by modern amenities and living conditions. Over the years, I have had kids and parents ask why anyone would want to give that up, even for just a weekend. And to be honest, I never quite knew how to answer that question. There is just this indescribable feeling of sitting by a campfire and seeing a star lit sky, walking down a winding trail to a scenic view, or laying in a tent listening to the rain pitter-patter against the tarp. How can you experience this in New York City?
Scouting gave city kids like me a chance to see nature in her full beauty. Eagles, loons, deers, bears, chipmunks, vultures, and snakes: these are things that you’d be hard pressed to find in Brooklyn. Even if you think of yourself more as a homebody, you owe it to yourself to at least give the outdoors a chance.
Experience the Adventure
The second is all the outdoor adventures that scouting offers. During the past 12 years, I have camped endlessly. If you do decide to join my troop, you’ll learn quickly that Brooklyn Troop 26 loves camping. We also love canoeing, ice skating, kayaking, rafting, hiking, sailing, skiing; if it is something outside, we’ll do it.
Leadership
The third is leadership opportunities and the confidence that leading others instilled in me. While growing up, I was never that outspoken. I wasn’t a dominating figure or a terribly charismatic person. And yet, scouting gave me opportunities to lead. I was able to develop into someone with leadership skills through hands-on experience.
I developed lifelong skills with every meeting and every campout. It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and hear about techniques that could work but it is completely different to try different things and find out what does work for you.
Everyone’s leadership style is unique to them. Scouting provides an environment to learn what works for you. Where else would you get a chance to develop these skills? School? Ehhh. Sports? Maybe. Work? How old would your kid be by then? In this aspect, scouting is unmatched.
Friendship Bonds
The Scout Law calls for scouts to be friendly, courteous and kind. My troop and other NYC troops, that I have met, are giant families. If I need something, my scouting friends are the first to lend a hand. The older kids will take younger scouts under their wing who in turn, look up to and learn from the older scouts. These are a group of guys (and gals) who will go through everything with you. The good, the bad and the ugly. With the sheer amount of time that you spent with these guys, it’s hard to not become friends.
You’ll conquer mountains, shrug off storms, hike miles and build massive bonfires together. The shared experiences only bring the group closer and the bonds tighter. At the end of the day, that’s what it is: we are all friends.
At its heart, a scout meeting is a group of friends learning some skills and catching up every week. Through scouting, I have a core group of buddies who I know that I will always be able to count on. People would be happy to have three or four of such friends over the course of a lifetime. I know for a 100% fact that I have 9 or 10 guys whom I can call on. And they can call on me. I can’t speak for other troops but the good ones have a culture of accountability running at the core. From the 17-year old Eagle Scouts down to the 10-year old Tenderfoot Scouts, each scout is pushing each other to bring out the best within them. There are no internal cliques or clubs. Everyone is in it together. The troop is a social environment that produces capable and solid individuals.
Give it a try. I promise our scouts may get rowdy but we do not bite. We’ll resume our weekly meetings after Labor Day. Come join us! Troop 26 [boys] and Troop 1 [girls] meet at 5:30 PM on Thursdays at the corner of Driggs Ave and Lorimer Street in McCarren Park (ages 10.5 to 17 years). Lucky Pack 7 meets at 6 PM on Fridays in St John’s Lutheran Church (155 Milton Street) (ages 5 to 10.5 years).
Instagram: @troop26bk_nyc @troop1g | FB: @BKTroop26 @BKTroop1G @Pack7BK | For more info: hello@townsquarebk.org | 347.559.1410 | To apply: https://beascout.scouting.org