INSIDE

It’s time to step up to the plate
before it’s too late for future Boy Scouts

By Meg Olson

The once-vibrant Point Roberts boy scout troop has dwindled to a point that the local parks board who sponsors the program is facing the end of the troop’s charter with the Boy Scouts of America.

“If someone doesn’t step up to the plate it’s going to die,” said parks board member and scouting liaison Linda Hughes at the February 3 board meeting.

Hughes said the boy scout unit today had no active members and no adult leaders. “I think it happened rather suddenly,” she said. “We lost some key leaders and then other leaders had their kids grow out of it.”
Pat Grubb was the last scout leader and he stopped last year because the up to seven boys in the program got older and were more interested in other things. There has not been an active cub scout program for two years due to a lack of leaders. “The parents who did it all got burned out because there was no help,” said Lynn VanBuskirk, whose husband Ben was one of the last lone cub leaders and stopped because of not enough other parents participating.

“It just sort of faded,” Grubb said, adding he was less willing to put in the time if his own son wasn’t involved: with new leaders he doubts it would be hard to get a unit up and running again. “You could always get the kids to come, it’s great fun,” he said. “It’s fun for the adults too but it’s a time commitment.”

The girl scout program is active today and invigorated by new leadership, Hughes said, recovering from a slump after the departure of program founder Ginger Porter. “They’re doing great with lots of girls and a solid base of volunteers,” she said. She is hoping volunteers come forward to resuscitate boy scouts. “I have a sense there are families who would participate if the program was available,” she said. At least two leaders are needed to get the unit rolling again, and Hughes said one parent had shown interest if he could get others to join him.

Michael Hawks, Boy Scouts of America executive for Whatcom, Island and Skagit counties, said they were working on a plan to get the troop rolling again this year. “It takes five adults and at least five kids to really make it work,” he said, and his office was ready with training and staff support. However, there’s a deadline. “The troop has until the end of March – then they’re gone,” he said. While it wouldn’t be impossible to have a scout troop on the Point at some later time, Hawks said it would require re-application to the scouts and an even higher level of participation to apply for another charter.

Anyone interested in becoming involved can call Hawks at 360/734-3940 or Hughes at 945-0812.