On the rebound: Boy Scout troop fighting back from stagnancy

Community outreach, active leadership and an aggressive local presence are just a few of the tools the leadership of Scout Troop 4014 is using as the Elma-based troop works to grow its numbers.

Setting up a monkey bridge at the Grays Harbor County Fair as an exercise for the Scouts, the troop staked out — and tied, and lashed — its presence for all to see.

“We got the monkey bridge that the Cub Scouts put on,” said Scoutmaster Matt Beauregard in an interview. “That’s to show off the pioneering skills.”

As kids of all ages came out, a fair few made it across the bridge, even early at the fair on Thursday afternoon.

“We’ve had 55 kids going across the bridge,” said Mark Brasel, cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 4014. “About 10 are interested in joining the Scouts.”

Beauregard came on as scoutmaster last year, he said. A former Eagle Scout, he got involved to help keep the pack from withering on the vine after former leaders stepped down, their generation of children graduated and moved on.

“You got to have a committed leadership. You got to have parents that step up,” said Brasel, whose Cub Scouts were looking at not having a Boy Scout pack to graduate to. “That’s why we’re thriving so much. We pulled Matt out of Eagle Scout retirement.”

The Cub Scout troop feeds into the Boy Scout troop when the younger boys graduate from the Cub Scouts around fifth grade.

“Boy Scouts is boy-run,” Beauregard said. “They’ll help train and teach the youth that come in.”

A larger troop means more opportunities for Scouts — with more support, the Scouts can go to bigger events, to have more meaningful experiences, Beauregard said.

“We can go to more events, more summer camps. Bigger summer camps. More jamborees,” Beauregard said. “They needed stuff for kids to do in the community. There’s nothing positive to do.”

Moving forward

Growing the troop and its possibilities isn’t as easy as wishing it so, Beauregard said. But it has seen rapid growth over the last year with community support.

“We had five boys in November. Now we’re up to 16,” Beauregard said. “The pack started last year just brand new. Now they’re up to 32.”

On Beauregard’s to-do list is to spin up a girl’s troop within the Boy Scouts, led by a female scoutmaster, to give girls a chance to learn the lessons and experience the same outdoors activities as the boys, far more plentiful in the county than in more urban environments, Brasel said. .

“We can do a lot more community service in the national parks,” Brasel said. “We can do a lot more fishing and camping, it’s not as far a drive. We can do a lot more oceanography stuff.”

Parent involvement in the troop is key, Beauregard said. Another is to increase financial support for the troop.

“Financial support is a big one,” Beauregard said. “We need money to take ‘em camping, to do their merit badges. We’ve been doing everything we can to keep costs down.”

Consistent troops at both the lower and higher levels give the kids a clear through-line as they seek to rise in the ranks, Brasel said.

“If they start young into the pack, they’ll know the skills they need to know in the troop,” Brasel said. “It gives a lot more opportunities, if we have a bigger troop and a bigger pack.”

As the pack grows, the opportunities for the kids get bigger and bolder, Beauregard said.

“Why can’t Grays Harbor have a powerhouse troop out here? Go to Philmont. Go to the Grand Canyon. Go meet Scouts in other countries,” Beauregard said. “If you don’t dream big, you’re never gonna make it.”

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.