Bringing youth fun and adventure

Boy Scouts of America has brought an experience of a lifetime to youth and taught them skills they can use for the rest of their life.

The organization has been about fun, adventure, community service and to instill leadership skills in boys.

"It's fun," said Lynda Sloneker, committee chairwoman for Troop 3766. "It's just cool." It has prepared boys for life skills such as meal planning, cooking, fishing, pitching a tent and wilderness survival. It has built confidence. "It's an environment where a boy can fail, and it be OK."

Boy Scout Troop 3766 is new to Siloam Springs. It started in March. The troop has been meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Mondays in the gym at Community Christian Fellowship.

Boy Scout Troop 84, established in 1949, has been active almost continuously since then. It has met the same time as Troop 3766 but in the hall at First United Methodist Church.

The committees for both troops work to ensure the success of each troop.

Sloneker has been committee chairwoman for Troop 3766 since it was started. She has overseen the committee, monthly committee meetings and "all things that make the troop go."

Scott Stinnett has served as committee chairman for Troop 84 for the past five years. Stinnett said he is mostly a consultant to the scoutmaster, who's the adult leader for the troop. Stinnett was scoutmaster for 10 years before becoming committee chairman.

Goals for Troop 84 have included to educate the boys to become leaders and give back to society, Stinnett said. Understanding and living by the Scout Oath and Scout Law have also been important.

Boy Scouts has been boy led and boy run, Stinnett said. Adults have been there to encourage the boys as much as they can to complete goals.

In the past 10 years, he said that 30 boys in the troop have become Eagle Scouts. The highest rank in Boy Scouts is the Eagle award.

"The main goal of the Eagle Scout award is to prove that you can lead," Stinnett said. By the time a boy becomes an Eagle Scout, he will be proficient at camping, hiking, cooking, have leadership skills, and understand and have participated in the community.

Stinnett, an Eagle Scout himself, shared that only 2 percent to 3 percent of all Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle.

"We try to keep them interested and keep them going," Stinnett said. "Sometimes kids need encouragement to take the next step."

Some of the fun things Troop 84 has done included camping, hiking, backpacking and canoeing, he said. The troop has also worked on merit badges, toured the newspaper office and attended city meetings.

This summer, 15 boys from the troop will spend a week at Camp Hale in southeast Oklahoma to camp, swim, hike and work on merit badges.

Every two to three years, the troop has gone on an 11-day backpacking trip in New Mexico. The troop also went to Minnesota on an 11-day canoe trip. A trip that the troop has been planning includes riding horseback the entire time, Stinnett said.

The troop has about 30 Scouts.

For those interested in joining, call 479-524-3141 and leave Stinnett a message.

Troop 3766 was started to be active and outdoors, Sloneker said. "We wanted to be a part of a troop that had a lot of options."

For example, the troop has plans to attend Trappers. It's been a January event where Boy Scouts have camped in the snow and brought handmade items to trade.

"We just want to open the doors to new opportunities," she said.

Each year, the troop has plans to go on high adventure camps for boys at least 14 years old. They would include a sea-based trip to earn scuba certification, a canoe trip along the Canadian border, and climbing, hiking and backpacking in New Mexico. She said fundraisers will be planned for the boys to earn enough money to pay for the trips.

Another week-long summer camp will be geared for merit badges. Sloneker said she wants to encourage the boys to earn merit badges that are rarer, including science, technology, engineering and math.

The troop also has looked into a shooting sports program that would include handgun, BB gun, shotgun and muzzleloader.

The troop's committed to at least one outdoor activity each month, such as hiking, camping and canoeing.

Troop 3766 has been meeting the same evening and under the same roof as Cub Scout Pack 232. If a boy wanted, he could meet in the same building as a Cub Scout in the first grade all the way to Eagle Scout.

"We saw that as a great program to build," she said.

Establishing the troop wasn't her first experience starting a scouting program. When she lived in China for three years, she set up a Cub Scout pack there. English-speaking families from throughout the world were part of the group.

"We had to really adapt things to the environment," she said. "Scouting is viewed as illegal." It's considered a paramilitary organization in China, so the pack didn't wear uniforms in public. "It was a great experience to start an organization."

Sloneker's father, who was an Eagle Scout, inspired her to sign up her sons for scouting. She's been a den leader, a cubmaster and committee chairwoman.

She is excited about the future of Troop 3766. "I think it's going well," she said. "We were concerned about growing too fast."

Nearly 10 boys have joined since it started. "We expect to double by Christmas," she said. "Our goal is not huge numbers. It's quality programming." She's also wanted it to be about community service and not just a box to check off.

"It's a growth opportunity," Sloneker said. "Give scouting a try."

The biggest achievement for the troop has been to get underway, she said. Starting out was something that took courage to do.

"We've been really blessed to have good funding," she said. Matching grants from Walmart have allowed the troop to have a good financial base.

Goals for the troop have included to grow leaders, live for adventure, and to give the boys "a real sense of I can do anything I sent my mind to -- instill confidence."

"So much of the scouting program is built on character," Sloneker said. Boys who have passed on scouting missed out on "a huge opportunity to shape and develop them."

Those who would like to join can email Troop 3766 at [email protected].