TROOP 2020
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Updated 01/01/2023
WHAT IS TROOP 2020? Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will no longer sponsor Scout Troops after December 31, 2019, Troop 2020 was organized for those LDS boys and families who still want the Scouting Experience.
WHO MAY JOIN? Every boy is welcome to join, whether LDS or not, if he will commit to live by the standards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Scout Oath and the Scout Law. We want boys who are proud to be Scouts. Proud to wear the Scout uniform. Proud to tell their buddies they are Scouts and proud to invite their buddies to join the Troop.
WHAT IF A SCOUT JUST MISSED GETTING THE EAGLE RANK IN HIS WARD’S TROOP? CAN HE FINISH UP IN TROOP 2020? Yes, we would love to have older Scouts working on Eagle. But remember that you must (a) live the Scout Oath and Law, (b) proudly identify as a Boy Scout, (c) actively participate with the Troop (we think 50% attendance at any combination of Troop activities qualifies as “active”), (d) serve in the Troop when asked, and (e) demonstrate to the adult leadership of Troop 2020 (who will be the ones vouching for you—not your former leaders) that you have genuinely earned the Eagle Rank. There will be a Scoutmaster Conference and a Board of Review from Troop 2020. Remember, with your age and experience, you are the kind of youth leader that the Troop would love to have after you get your Eagle and until you finish high school. Think about our Troop as a way for you to blossom as a leader, and not as a fall back because you didn’t finish your Eagle on time.
WHAT WILL IT COST MY FAMILY TO JOIN THE TROOP? The following paragraph talks about the annual fee which the Troop is not presently collecting. But, in addition to the annual fee, every Scout will have certain expenses. (a) Every Scout must pay the registration fee of $133 for a year (which can be prorated for a partial year) without Boys Life Magazine, or $144 with Boys Life Magazine (subject to proration for a part year); (b) Every Scout must obtain a complete scout uniform (the shirt for the formal Scout uniform is about $39.99 without insignia and the Scout pants are about the same price; we also have a Troop T-Shirt which costs $25). However, the Troop also has a large bank of used uniforms you are welcome to look through; you should be able to put together a complete uniform. We will wear the formal Scout uniform proudly at all Troop Meetings and whenever we travel or represent Scouts and Scouting. You can find a used uniform at thrift stores for very little. (c) Every Scout needs to buy his own Scout Handbook ($19.00). (d) Every Scout needs a sleeping bag and a ground pad (between $50 and $200, but you can get by with a $50 bag). (e) Every Scout needs personal outdoor shoes and outdoor clothing (don’t go crazy buying new gear—there’s a lot of great used clothing in thrift stores, including Scout shirts). (f) Every Scout will have to pay a $20 “Reservation Fee” to go on Troop Outings; the Reservation Fee pays some of the costs of the outing, and must be paid in advance; this payment reserves a Scout’s place on the Outing; the Troop pays the costs of the outing in excess of the reservation fee. If an outing is unusually expensive (shooting, Palm Springs tram, Scout Camp) the reservation fee is higher to cover your share of the costs.
There are a lot of other things you will want to buy which are not really necessary or which the Troop can lend you: the “Outdoor Ten Essentials” (pocket knife, flashlight, first aid kit, fire starters) , a tent (use a buddy’s or use a troop tent), a back pack (the Troop has loaners), fancy Gore-tex water proof rain gear (a $10.00 poncho will usually do just fine), cooking gear (a tin can will do if you know what you’re doing), and a water filter (borrow another hiker’s). Don’t worry about that extra equipment for now.
HOW WILL THE TROOP FUND ITSELF? WILL MY FAMILY HAVE TO PAY DUES? The Troop did not originally charge monthly dues or joining fees. The Troop intends to finance itself with fund raising projects. The pandemic put an end to our major, planned fund raising events (the Laguna 10K Run and our Merit Badge Day), so we are feeling our way down the road. We may ask every family to pay an annual fee of $50 for the first Scout in the family, $40 for the second Scout in the family, and $30 for the third Scout in the family. It all depends on the needs of the Troop, but there is no present plan to assess an annual joining fee. Now that we are past the pandemic, we intend to fund the Troop with our planned fund raising activities. Every Scout and parent will be required to participate in our fund raisers in lieu of dues and every family must actively support the Troop. As pointed out above, every Scouts will be required to pay a “Reservation Fee” to hold their place on Troop Outings.
WILL THE TROOP PROVIDE SCHOLARSHIPS OR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE? No. But we believe no Scout should be denied the experience of a Troop Outing because of money. So, if money is an issue, the Troop will arrange paying work projects so the Scout can earn his own way. Please contact the Scoutmaster or the Committee Chairman.
IS THIS TROOP FOR LDS MEMBERS ONLY? Definitely not. All members of the community who would enjoy being around others who observe “LDS standards and values” are welcome: no smoking, no drinking alcohol, no use of marijuana or habit forming drugs, no tea, no coffee, no swearing or cussing, frequent prayers and spiritual discussions, and a deep sense of patriotism. We also insist on civility and good humor.
WHO IS THE SPONSOR ORGANIZATION? The sponsor is the Scouting Fun Foundation, a California non-profit corporation which is a “501 (c)(3)” tax exempt charitable organization. All donations to the Troop are tax exempt. We leave it to each family to determine whether any money paid to the Troop is a “donation” (which is tax deductible) or is a “reimbursement” (which is not tax deductible) as each family pays for their Scout’s participation.
WHICH SCOUTS GET TO BE YOUTH LEADERS? Each Scout and his parents are the only ones who can answer that question. If a Scout is willing to get trained, if he will observe what the adult leaders do and learn to do the same, and if a Scout will put in the time and effort to “rise up through the ranks,” a Scout will get his turn to lead in this Troop! That’s a part of the magic of Scouting!
WHERE DOES THE TROOP MEET? Troop Meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at The Elks Lodge of Mission Viejo located at 25092 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Our thanks to them. We meet in their parking lot and it has worked out very well. We start up a campfire at about every Troop Meeting. Sometimes, we use the campfire to make our own desserts for the evening. We meet on the first Thursday of the month, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Every Scout is also a member of a Patrol. The different Patrols in the Troop supplement Troop Meetings with Patrol Meetings on a separate Wednesday or Thursday at other places during the month. We will help you find a Patrol that suits your family geographically and fits each Scout’s age and rank. The Patrols will meet at a location they choose, but Patrols may use the parking lot of the The Elks Lodge if they wish.
IS THE TROOP UP AND RUNNING NOW? Definitely. Our historical, first meeting was January 16, 2020 at Linda Vista Elementary School in Mission Viejo. In 2020 we had about 80 enrolled Scouts. Most of those Scouts had just missed earning their Eagle Rank before the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints discontinued its affiliation with Scouting. The Troop has graduated about 40 Eagle Scouts since its formation. As of the revision date of these FAQs, we have about 30 registered Scouts, 15 or so registered adult Members of the Committee, a registered veteran Scoutmaster and several registered Assistant Scout Masters. One of our Scouts was chosen by the American Legion as the most outstanding Scout in the United States. The same Scout was chosen by the Daughters of the American Revolution as the most outstanding Eagle Scout in the Country! Two years later his brother was chosen as the Most Outstanding Eagle Scout in the State of California by the American Legion and this year the third son is in the contest for that honor.
We certainly are up and running. Since November of 2019, Troop 2020 has slept aboard the USS Midway in San Diego Harbor, overnighted two or three times at a flag retirement ceremony at Caspers Regional Park, overnighted three times with a ride up the Palm Springs Tram (a couple times with a summiting hike to the top of Mt. San Jacinto, once on snow shoes), backpacked twice on three day hikes at the Forks of the Kern River, overnighted twice to the Bridge to Nowhere in the Angeles National Forest above Los Angeles, backpacked a couple times for a week at a time in the High Sierras, twice we climbed Morro Bay in Newport Beach on Friday evening and on the next Saturday morning swam in the Pacific Ocean, three times we hiked into our magical secret spot in Joshua Tree National Monument, slid around the mud caves of Anza Borrego, hiked twice the Three Streams Crossing Campground in the Angeles National Forest, we went shooting shotgun Sporting Clays once and once we went to the desert for a private rifle and shotgun outing, we launched rockets on a dry lake bed, and we even went bowing one night when it was too stormy to go camping. The Troop has been to Scout Camp at Lost Valley Scout Camp and at Fiesta Island Scout Camp. The Troop has an activity every month, whether it’s an overnighter hike, a shotgun/rifle shooting outing to the desert or to a local gun club, a bowling outing or something else fun.
IF I WANT TO BE AN EAGLE SCOUT, WILL TROOP 2020 BE A GOOD FIT FOR ME? Yes, indeed. You can see from the previous paragraph that in a short two years we have helped almost 40 boys achieve their goal of becoming an Eagle Scout. During the pandemic, we have held Zoom Merit Badge days for American Business, Citizenship in the World, Cooking, Home Repair, Personal Fitness and Rifle Shooting. We have Merit Badge Days scheduled for Environmental Science, Personal Fitness and Shotgun Shooting.
IS THIS AN OUTDOORSY TROOP? Definitely. We plan on getting into the outdoors every month. We’ll go on a combination of tailgate outings (that is, car camping; some tailgaters are for the entire family) and a combination of backpacking outings where you carry everything on your back to your campsite. We have a calendar of Troop outings which are planned all the way through the summer of 2023. As you can see by the description above of our recent outings, we love the outdoors! In fact, many of our Troop meetings will be held outdoors, rain or shine. You will learn how to dress for the weather. The youth leadership in the Troop lead the way to pick the outings; as the outings draw near, they will also plan the details.
WILL THE TROOP DO SERVICE PROJECTS? We plan to do plenty of service projects which will be planned and led by Scouts; this will give us a chance to give back to the community.
WHO ARE THE ADULT LEADERS OF THE TROOP? ARE THEY SAFETY MINDED AND QUALIFIED TO SAFELY DO ADVENTUROUS THINGS IN THE OUTDOORS? We have a seasoned, wonderful Scoutmaster (Eric Chambers from Mission Viejo) and a number of Assistant Scoutmasters who are veteran Scouters who will lead the outings and instruct at our Troop meetings and Patrol meetings. Also, many members of the Committee are former Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters or have wide experience in the outdoors. We believe the training provided to adults by the BSA is second to none and that adult training is the key to safe adventure. Therefore, any adult leaders who leads an outing will have the appropriate training. To comply with recently enacted California law, adults who spend more than 16 hours a year with youth are required to submit their fingerprints to a nationwide data base. Further, all our volunteer leaders and parents are trained in Youth Protection, which is the Scout’s signature way of protecting Scouts from physical, emotional and emotional abuse. All adults are welcome to join the Troop Committee and volunteer to be responsible for designated Troop functions. We also ask the parents who are not Assistant Scoutmasters or official members of the Committee to take temporary assignments as the need arises.
CAN MY PARENTS/GUARDIANS COME TO TROOP MEETINGS AND GO ON OUTINGS WITH ME? Yes and no. That depends on the outing. We welcome all parents at all our Troop Meetings; we will ask them to set up and take down equipment at our Troop Meetings, and supervise and even teach at Troop Meetings if they have the right skills. In fact, a member of the Committee will probably contact your parents and coordinate when they can help out. You and your parents are required to participate in Troop fund raising events (this takes the place of your family paying dues), Courts of Honor, service projects and other Troop activities. But, with respect to most of our Troop Outings, they are primarily for men and boys only because of privacy and gender concerns. Your father is welcome to come along on those Troop outings if the activity is appropriate for him, and if he has taken Youth Protection Training and if he has been fingerprinted in compliance with recently enacted California law. Your mother—and everyone else in the family–can come to the family tailgate outings, Troop Meetings, Courts of Honor, Eagle Scout service projects, service projects and Patrol meetings. You will have plenty of opportunities to work and play alongside your parents.
WILL THE OUTINGS BE TOO HARD FOR ME? We will have Troop Meetings, Patrol Meetings and outings geared toward younger Scouts and some geared toward older Scouts, so don’t worry that the outings will be too hard or too easy for you.
HOW DO I JOIN UP? Youth and adults should contact our “Registrar” who will get you started with the appropriate joining application and the appropriate consent forms. The BSA requires a standard consent form from parents/guardians for boys to participate in Scout functions. There are three forms required for you to go to Scout Camp. The Troop requires all boys to sign a photo release to allow the posting of photos and videos of the boys in Troop functions. Other permission forms may be required throughout the year, depending on the activity involved. Scout joining fees which are paid to the national Boy Scouts of America and the Orange County Council of the BSA must be paid when you submit your joining application. Adults must also pay a minor registration fee to the Boy Scouts of America with the submission of their applications to be an adult volunteer. When adults sign up as volunteer members of the Troop, they must obtain their Youth Protection Training and submit their finger prints under recently enacted California law.
OTHER QUESTIONS? If you have additional questions, please fill out the Interest Questionnaire which is at Troop2020.com and someone from the Troop will contact you. Or you can contact Eric Chambers, the Scoutmaster at erchambers@aol.com, or Warren Inouye, the Committee Chairman, at warren@warreninouye.com.