What did the late Theodore Durgee and Charles Baker have in common besides both having local schools named after them? They were affiliated with Baldwinsville’s Boy Scouts Troop 80. Durgee was a Scoutmaster in 1933 and Baker was a committee chair in 1941.
BSA Troop 80, one of the oldest Boy Scout troops in the area, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Festivities commenced last month with a picnic. About 75 people attended.
Famous for its annual live Maine lobster fundraiser at Mercer Park (which is coming up Sept. 13), the troop is also known among local boys for its year-round camping (particularly the Frozen Chosen who camp in lean-tos during the winter months) and community service efforts.
“We are big on community service,” said Beth Healey, head of the Booster Committee. “One of the service projects that we do regularly is place the flags in the Onondaga County Veterans Cemetery. We do that every year. We place about 3,000 flags.”
The troop, which currently has 27 active members, just began placing flags at Riverside Cemetery in Baldwinsville, too.
In addition to its Memorial Day preparation, the scouts also work with the Baldwinsville-based Cpl. Kyle Schneider Foundation in packing and sending care packages to service men and women overseas.
“It’s nice to see [the boys] come in as very active 10-year-olds and see them grow and become leaders,” said Healey, whose son Ryan is a current member. “We are a genuinely boy-led troop.”
Boy-led, Healey said, means that the boys elect their own leaders and run the meetings; they decide what outings they want to go on, and have input on the service projects they want to do. Each year, a couple boys are also chosen as scholarship recipients to attend National Youth Leadership Camp.
“You get to go out and do things that you can’t do on a team sport,” Healey said about belonging to a Boy Scout troop. “You achieve your own goals [and set the rate at which you want to achieve]. Everybody helps you, but it’s more of an individual process.”
“Boys that get elected as leaders in the troop – some of them start at 11 years old. They’ll be a patrol leader and then they work their way up to senior patrol leader who runs the troop meetings and plans the activities. He has a lot of responsibility and it’s hard when you’re 15, 16 years old to do that, but they really rise to the occasion and it helps them later on.”
On average, about 30 percent of the boys who join Troop 80 also become Eagle Scouts. Once you attain that rank, you are considered an Eagle Scout for life.
Troop 80 is always is always welcoming new members. Those interested in learning more about Troop 80, can contact Beth Healey at 315-254-0350.
