Starting a troop from scratch is a completely different experience from stepping into a functioning troop as Scoutmaster.

We’ve had our third meeting in four weeks. We are using the First Aid track of the BSA meeting plans for new troops. At the first meeting, I showed the girls the initial meeting plans from the Hiking and First Aid tracks and asked them to choose.

Right now, meeting planning is more Den Leader style but breaking in to pairs for them to teach each other from the handbook or other materials.

At the second meeting I brought some parachute cord for knot tying. We cut it into lengths, then I set up a camp stove to fuse the ends, with a cup of water to cool them off. They spent over a half hour melting rope and getting it just right. Big fun.

4014 is not chartered yet. We have a commitment from the charter org and we are linked with Troop 14. We had four 11 year old girls on Tuesday. We have a line on one more, plus two 5th graders who are interested. They’ll “age in” at the end of the school year, but I’ll probably invite them as guests. We have a guest female ASM/mom from another troop and two moms who we can probably sign up.

The Scout rank is a lot harder than the old Scout badge used to be. It used to be a one-meeting badge.

I’m astonished that whipping the ends of a rope is required. I’ll have to go buy some laid rope and whipping twine. Didn’t climbers start using kernmantle rope in the 1960s? Wow.