OUR MEETING PLACE AND CHARTERING ORGANIZATION

St. Andrews Episcopal Church ("St. Andrews")
4816 Glen St., La Mesa, CA 91941
We are located at corner of Glen & Lemon Ave.,
across from Lemon Ave. Elementary School.

Scouts meet: Each Monday nights, 6:45pm
Assistant Scoutmasters meet: 3rd Thursday each month, 7pm
Parent Committee meets: 4th Thursday each month, 7pm
See Contact Us page for Map & Contact Info.
See Calendar page for Events/Trips/Special Meeting times.

OUR TROOP

We have a medium sized troop, with about 40 registered scouts, 5 active Scout Patrols (5 to 8 in a Patrol) and a Venture Patrol for older scouts who enjoy High Adventure outings. We have weekly scout meetings where the boys have fun, play games, and work on scout skills. Each month we go on exciting outings and do fun activities choosen by the boys, including lots of camping and hiking, and every year we attend a Summer Camp together. Our Troop has been in existence for over 14 years, with 20 of our scouts earning the Eagle Scout rank, and 2 more currently working on their Eagle project. Our scouting program encourages and helps boys to earn rank advancements from Tenderfoot all the way through Eagle Scout. We rely on strong parent participation to make this possible and to provide our boys with an exciting and rewarding scouting experience. We have a great group of trained adult leaders and friendly parents, and a terrific troop of boys who are fun to be with and who support and assist each other.

THE SCOUTING PROGRAM

Through the scouting program, boys advance through the Boy Scout ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and Eagle. To reach Star and above, a scout earns various merit badges in things like First Aid, Camping, Swimming, Hiking, Personal Fitness, and many others, some of which are required for the Eagle rank and others being electives, all of which demonstrate proficiency in a wide range of useful skills and knowledge. Our troop is operated on a Boy Led - Boy Run scout philosophy, meaning that the boys are in charge of their program, run their meetings, and plan their activities and outings. They even plan their own meals and cook for themselves while on campouts! The boys are organized into Scout Patrols, with a rotating Patrol Leader for each Patrol, and an elected Senior Patrol Leader for the troop. These scout leaders form a Patrol Leaders' Council to plan Scout Meetings and activities, campouts and other outings. They are helped along by the Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmasters (trained adult leaders), and parents, who are there to assist and give guidance, teach skills, and provide merit badge counseling. Parents are organized themselves, through their Parent Committee and Assistant Scoutmasters, who meet regularly to provide the structure and program support to make it all work.

SCOUT MEETINGS & ACTIVITIES

Scout meetings are fun - with games as well as instruction or practice in scout skills, which may be for advancement, a specific merit badge, or other things the boys are interested in. We have regular outings - lots of camping, hiking, and backpacking; annual events like camporees and scout fairs; and other activities like swimming, canoeing, rock climbing, astronomy nights, cookoffs, and other fun stuff. We also do many service projects to benefit the community, and have fundraising projects, like popcorn and bread sales, to earn money for activities.

SUMMER CAMPS & TREKS

Our Troop goes to a week-long summer camp each year. Our 2005 summer camp will be at Camp Maluhia, in the Hawaiian island paradise of Maui. In 2006, we will be at Camp Kern, on Huntington Lake in the High Sierras of California. In 2007, we will be at Cherry Valley on Catalina Island. Summer camp provides a great opportunity for scouts not only to enjoy the Boy Scout Camp experience, but also to be able to earn a wide range of merit badges.

Our 2005 highlights (so far) have included the 16 mile Old Salty Rat canoe trek around San Diego's Fiesta Island, camping trips to Joshua Tree National Park, the Navy's San Clemente Island, desert backpacking at Canon Sin Nombre, the International Camporee in Tecate, Mexico, rock climbing, kayaking, swimming, 10 mile hikes, and lots more. Our upcoming treks include river rafting on the Kern River, backpacking into the Grand Canyon's Havasu Falls, camping & hiking at Zion and Bryce National Parks, a winter trek to Death Valley, camping in Mexico's San Felipe, snow camp at Camp Emerson's Klondike Derby, an overnighter on the Midway aircraft carrier, Astronomy campouts with Observatory tours, biking, hiking, backpacking, and many other activities (see our "Calendar" link for upcoming events).

JOIN NOW!

To be eligible to join Boy Scouts, boys must be either:
a) At least 11 years of age (but under age 18), or
b) Have completed 5th grade, or
c) Earned the Cub Scout Arrow of Light award.

Join our troop and begin the experience of a lifetime!
For membership info., contact us by clicking here: Troop 319.