Members of Cub Scout Pack #31 and Boy Scout Troop #31 raise the flag together at their cabin located in Cop’er Canyon in Bristol. Pictured front row, (left to right): Caleb Fry, Evan Myers, Jarod Murray, Kyle Lowrey, Ryan Bell, Lance Tepe, and Edward Bailey. Back row (l to r): Steve Caligiuri, Fred Koppy, Tom Myers, Angie Lowry, and Cris Bell. (Photo by Laurie Eads)
Ms. Cris Bell, committee chairman for Cub Scout Pack 31, has announced a period of open recruitment for scouting in Bristol. Both the Cub Scout Pack 31 and the Boy Scout Troop 31 are chartered by the Bristol United Methodist Church. The church’s new Open Door Center is used for some of the scouting meetings and activities.
To assist the effort to attract new members, there will be a recruiting booth at the Bristol Homecoming for both cub and boy scouts. Boys in first through fifth grades are eligible to join the Cub Scouts, while boys of ages 12 through 18 can belong to the Boy Scouts. One does not have to be a Cub Scout before joining the Boy Scouts.
Interested boys and their families are invited to stop by the booth to learn more about the interesting and exciting activities involved in scouting. They can also obtain information about enrollment by contacting Ms. Bell online at bsapack31@gmail.com.
Cris is hoping that her recruitment efforts will be assisted by the planned nationwide celebration in 2010 of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). This historic milestone is significant in this area, since the Boy Scout Troop 31 is the oldest troop in Elkhart County that has been continuously chartered by the same organization, having been established on June 1, 1929.
Of concern to Cris and her committee is the fact that Troop 31 is in danger of losing its charter, since the BSA requires each troop to maintain a minimum amount of members. She is appealing to members of the community for help in maintaining this 80-year-old service to the youth of Bristol.
