Hanging onto Scouting by a thread

Vintage troop needs more dedicated members to retain charter, By Cindy Weightman Vernon — Bob Hojer started Boy Scout Troop 389 some 25 years ago and he hates to see it collapse. But it is hanging on by a thread and unless more youngsters join, Troop 389 will be no more. Hojer says he understands that kids have changed over the years and maybe they are too busy playing video games and going on the computer to join the Scouts. There are also the demands of high school sports and Boy Scouts can be a pretty big commitment, but Hojer says the skills learned through Scouting are life skills. He cites a group of Boy Scouts caught in a tornado in Iowa last year. “The ones that survived came out, rescued and treated everyone. The EMS arrived and there was nothing for them to do.” Hojer says he always tells the boys that even if you don’t use the skills for five years, some day they will come in handy. Another reason he tells them to stick with it is that making it all the way to Eagle Scout could mean a $45,000 scholarship for college. Hojer became a Troop leader when his two sons were of that age and he’s stuck with it over the years, he says, because he enjoys working with the kids and watching them grow. “I like being out in the woods. I’ve got some good memories.” Hojer recalls the time a Scout wore sneakers in the winter on a camping trip. “That’s a big no-no.” When that same boy became an Eagle Scout, Hojer presented him with sneakers encased in a block of ice to mark the occasion. “When they make Eagle, I always tell them, that’s when I get revenge.” Keeper of the flame James Bauernfeind is one of the original members of Troop 389 and a lifelong Vernon resident. He’s trying to keep the troop going. He remembers it as a time of going into the woods and learning life’s lessons. “When I was a kid, there were probably about 30 regulars, all the dads got together, everybody was best friends...our whole neighborhood got together when Mr. Hojer started the troop.” Now he says, he’s just getting back into the Scouts because his 10-year-old son Matthew wanted to join. “You know how it is...when the son makes the commitment, the dad makes the commitment.” It’s a commitment that might be a little short-lived if the troop can’t drum up some members. Hojer says they need at least five more by the end of the year or else their charter will be revoked. Bauernfeind has been trying his best to get the word out with letters to the editor, a notice posted on his profile at Facebook.com and he’s also reached out to the activity manager at the Barry Lakes Club House. A recent Monday night meeting only attracted two members, but Bauernfeind isn’t giving up yet. “I really want to see this succeed, get some new blood, do some new things.” Bauernfeind credits the Scouts with keeping him out of trouble. “It takes a lot for a kid between 10 and 17 to sit down and earn a badge and get to sew it onto his uniform.” And Bauernfeind says the skills he developed as a Boy Scout helped him most when he joined the Navy. “I already knew the knots and the military bearing.” Camaraderie is also a big part of the organization and he says he’s kept in touch with many of the friends he made along the way.

How to join
Troop 389 just barely made the membership requirement last year. James Bauernfeind is asking parents to just come check out a meeting at the Barry Lakes Club House any Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Membership is $1 a week and the uniform is just the shirt and a couple of badges.
For more information, e-mail Bauernfeind at Prkranger7@aol.com.