Troop 425 celebrates 110 Eagle Scouts
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Scouting America Troop 425 in Minot has surpassed 100 Eagle Scouts, reaching 110 this year as the organization continues to teach leadership, service and life skills to each generation.
George Smith, former troop master and current committee chair, has been involved with Troop 425 since 1993 and describes the achievement as a milestone.
"I never thought that would happen," Smith said. "My first Eagle Scout was the 15th. We’ve have a new scoutmaster for the past two years so the last handful have been under his leadership."
Over the decades, Smith has had the opportunity to watch young Scouts develop from shy beginners, to confident leaders and successful adults.
"That’s the amazing thing, you watch them mature," Smith said. "Not only in height but also their character. They start thinking about others and not just themselves."
The troop began in 1964 with 11 Scouts. Carl Behrens was the Scout with the troop to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Behrens said he currently lives near Bottineau but was born in Minot and joined the program when he attended North Hill.
"My first rank that I acquired at North Hill was first class," Behrens said. "You go first class, star and then Eagle. I progressed very quickly through my merit badges. I was awarded my Eagle Award when I was 13, but had to wait until I was almost 15 before in 1975."
Troop 425 currently has a lower number of Scouts than previous years as they regularly saw on average 20-30 participants, according to Smith. Smith said declining participation has affected the number of youth becoming Eagle Scouts. He explained that with year-round athletics and other activities, it can affect the commitment and effort youth put into Scouting.
Despite the low numbers Behrens and Smith said there are still lessons the youth can take away from Scouting America as they continue to modernize to meet new needs.
"There’s life skills and character building in the program," Smith said. "We had a dad one time, he had two boys in the troop. Usually when the boys get in eighth grade they want to quit. He said to them 'you guys can quit under one condition. Find an organization equal or better with character building.' They couldn't find another one so they stayed and became Eagle Scouts. One has stayed active as an adult."
The troop has multiple activities throughout the year including their annual camping trip. They also have life skills learning opportunities through badges.
"There’s badges like citizenship in the community and nation. Citizenship in the world and a lot of history things," Behrens said. "It was kind of like social studies in school. Learning governments and things like that. There’s also pet and animal badges, gardening and it gives you a wide range of things to learn."
The Scouts annual camping trip is a highlight for Smith and Behrens. Smith said now with technology, it’s harder to get boys to sign up for the trip but once they do they end up loving it.
"The new boys, they want to sit with the TV and play video games. That hurts our camping because our camping numbers go down and they don’t want to go out," Smith said. "But it seems like when they go out one or two times, they really like it. It’s something different."
"The camping was my favorite," Behrens said. “The camporees too which have spring, fall and even winter camps. During summers there was always Scout camp which was a week long. It’s not just your regular weekend camps, you go canoeing, rowing, swimming, shooting and it really opens up a lot of experiences."
Smith explained that one of the biggest misconceptions is that Scouting is only outdoors. He said while there are outdoor aspects, people miss the character building. The Scouts with the troop have learned about cars and have even built a basketball court in memory of a former Scout who passed away.
Smith said he wants the main takeaway participants have from the program is being a team player.
"Being patient with one another, accepting our differences and working together as a team,” he said. “If they follow those points of Scout law, that is going to help them in life too."
Smith said Scouting is an outlet for boys, especially now, to disconnect from technology and have a place they can go to connect with one another, learn life skills and pick up good characteristics to become men.
"That's the thing I liked to see, boys helping others without being told. The slogan in Scouting is do something good without being told or asked,” Smith said. “You saw somebody that needed help and offered your help. There’s 12 words that should define their character. To be trustful, loyal, helpful, friendly, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
"It's just nice to see boys grow up and become mature, good citizens Some have become doctors, assistant principals, they work in education, pediatricians, a pastor and we have one who’s a doctor of music. Some have gone on to do bigger and better things so it’s good to have groups and organizations like this."
Another aspect of Scouting Smith said is community service. The Scouts do their own projects for the community and participate annually in the city initiatives. Recently, Smith shared that one of the Scouts built duck houses at Minot North for the science department.
"We do the fall clean up and we do the one in the spring," Smith said. "We collect food in March. We take our aluminum canoes to the marketplace stores and the boys stand out there. All of our food items we collect and money goes to places like Peace Lutheran Church in Burlington. They have a food pantry there and we do it because sometimes the smaller towns get overlooked,"
Smith said Scouting is a program that relies on adult volunteers to keep it running. More volunteers allows Scouts to participate in additional activities while giving the leaders the ability to divide the Scouts into groups based on experience and skill level.
"They should keep supporting Scouting," Smith said. "Even encouraging others to join, it helps out. We need the youth and we need the adults. We need some help because our numbers are low, we need volunteers and more members."
Smith said Troop 425 meets on a weekly basis on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. during the school year and in the summer the program is biweekly.
Behrens said his experience with the troop has allowed him to grow and explore new interests throughout his life. He said he has been able to use his personal experiences and interests as opportunities to connect with younger Scouts.
"It's given me the experience to expand and not be afraid to pursue anything I desire," Behrens said. "They ask me to talk about my mushing days where I was running a dog team and my current hobbies like buckskinning and mountain man reenacting. The biggest thing I learned was to expand your knowledge."