BALDWINSVILLE — Just over two years ago, the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America rebranded as Scouts BSA and began allowing girls to join the fold. A few girls took Baldwinsville’s Troop 80 up on the offer, but now Troop 80G is in danger of being dissolved.
Scouts BSA requires troops to have at least five members. Troop 80G has just five female Scouts and no girls in Cub Scouts.
“We had a couple girls and then COVID hit and a couple dropped off,” Troop 80 Committee Chair Anthony DeMarchi said, adding that another member is moving out of state.
Lilly Lavalette was familiar with BSA through her brother, Michael, who is senior patrol leader for the boys’ Troop 80. Now, Lilly is senior patrol leader for Troop 80G. When BSA opened membership to girls, Lilly opted to join BSA instead of Girl Scouts.
“I believed the Boy Scouts would teach us a lot more in terms of life skills and camping,” she said.
Sarah Love participates in both Girl Scouts and BSA. She, too, has a brother in Boy Scouts and their father wanted her to experience what both branches of scouting had to offer.
Troop 80 Scoutmaster Brian Brundage said some girls are drawn to the idea of achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.
“There’s nothing in the Scout program that’s gender-specific at all,” he said.
“There’s no difference between what a female has to do for Eagle than a male,” said Pearl Lavalette, Troop 80G scoutmaster and mother to Lilly and Michael.
Lilly, who is entering 11th grade in the fall, is starting to think about what her Eagle project will be. Michael spruced up a garden in the courtyard at Reynolds Elementary, so she is thinking of following in his footsteps and doing a project at Reynolds as well.
“I’m a little behind because the boys got to start [BSA] when they were 10 or 11, and I started when I was 13,” she said.
Cub Scout Packs, open to children in kindergarten through 5th grade, can be co-ed, but older Scout troops must be separate, said Assistant Scoutmaster and Den Mother Beth Healy.
Just before the pandemic, the two groups of Troop 80 went on a camping trip, enjoying snowball fights and sledding. When COVID hit, most activities went virtual. (One boy earned 59 merit badges online, Healy said.) Now that many people are vaccinated, the troops are slowly returning to normal activities. This summer, they plan to go camping in the Adirondacks for a week.
“We lost a lot of ground due to COVID,” Pearl said. “We want to do some fun stuff with the kids and show them our appreciation for hanging on.”
“They come out of that with quite a bit of knowledge,” Pearl said. “We’re a Scout-led troop. The adults are there to keep everybody on the rails and keep them safe.”
As in-person meetings and outings resume, Troop 80 invites interested youth and their families to check out their meetings and ask questions.
Brundage said he encourages prospective Scouts to check out several area troops, but he hopes they will choose Troop 80, which was established in 1924.
“I tell them the same thing every time: Shop the rest, then join the best,” he said.
“We have quite a legacy to uphold,” Pearl Lavalette said.
To learn more about Troop 80, visit facebook.com/BSATroop80Bville/. For more information about local BSA troops, visit cnyscouts.org.
