A Brief Troop History

Troop 840 is the successor of Troop 40, which began in Grafton in 1930 – only 20 years after the Boy Scouts of America was started in the United States by an American businessman, William D. Boyce, and less than 25 years after Sir Robert Baden-Powell started the Boy Scout movement in England.

The original Troop 40 was composed of 12 Grafton boys. A Milwaukee teacher and local Justice of the Peace, Mr. James LeMahieu, became the first scoutmaster, and retained that position for 4 years. Scoutmaster Walter Just took over for Mr. LeMahieu and oversaw the recognition of the troop’s first Eagle Scout – Roy Harms – whose name is now a part of our sponsor – the Rose-Harms American Legion Post. Roy Harms is so honored because of his patriotic, life-giving service to our country during World War II. Roy Harms died when his bomber was shot down in a run over the Ploesti, Romania oil fields.

The troop remained active and chartered through 1952 – being sponsored by the Lions Club of Grafton for most of those early years, until the American Legion assumed sponsorship for some of the later years of that period. In 1956 the troop was rechartered, again with the American Legion as a sponsor, and has remained active since that date. Were it not for those few years, Troop 40 and 840 would now have been in continuous existence for 72 years. As it is, the mark is officially 46 years – of which all of us associated with the troop are very proud.

The troop has a solid history of providing physical, mental, and moral growth for boys. The troop has in the past had a number of boys attend National Jamborees and has regularly challenged the boys with regular and high adventure outings – all of which become life-long memories. The fact that the troop has produced 59 Eagle Scouts, and currently has 6 boys at Life rank and working on Eagle, is some testimony to the effort, enjoyment, and rewards of boys in scouting. We hope that your son can also be added to that list someday.

Organization

For 2006 the troop is organized into five patrols. One of those patrols, The Flaming Arrow patrol is reserved for each year’s incoming scouts. This allows us to work more closely with all of the new scouts, somewhat as a group, towards learning some of the basic elements of scouting and towards their early ranks. Specific older scouts (Troop Guides), as well as an assigned Assistant Scoutmaster, assist the new scouts in adjusting to Boy Scouts and basically “learning the ropes”. Sometime after Summer Camp these boys are then scattered into the other patrols – which will be then be their permanent patrol for the rest of their Troop 840 career. We also have adult leaders assigned to each patrol to help advise that patrol and give the boys someone to consistently turn to – whether it is for advancement matters or just general help. This will help us in keeping track of the boys’ advancement status and needs. Each of the four permanent patrols has a Patrol Leader, Assistant Patrol Leader, and Quartermaster. The new scout Flaming Arrow patrol will elect their Patrol Leader and assistant after a period of time that allows them to get to know each other as well as the ins and outs of the troop.

Activities

b. Outings

1. Regular

We try to average one outing a month. About 8 of these are full troop, weekend outings – typically leaving about 6 PM on a Friday and dropping the boys off at their homes on Sunday – somewhere between 11 AM and 2 PM, depending on the outing’s travel distance. On most outings the boys will bring and prepare their own meals for at least one specific meal. The balance are prepared and served as a patrol or as a troop. This is an approach that we started about 8 years ago, and that the boys really like.

This year’s troop outings are still being detailed, but they include:
· The “Polar Bear” – at Herbert Peters Youth Center at Hawthorne Hills
· A “Parent Involvement” outing – wherein a parent gets to experience a troop outing as the scout does
· Whitewater Rafting on the Peshtigo River
· Caving – at Mammoth Cave - Kentucky
· Canoeing
· Biking
· Backpacking/ Wilderness Survival

In addition to the troop weekend outings, we encourage each patrol to have at least one outing of their own. And, the venture crew has at least two outings of their own each year. There also is a “leadership” outing late each year which allows the adult and boy leaders to review and plan the following year’s troop activities.

Regular weekend outings will typically cost each boy $10. Outings where something of extraordinary cost – such as Canoeing, or Rafting, or Horseback Riding – will cost additional. The boy’s cost of the outings can be taken from his personal “scout account” which is built up from a portion of his sales of Christmas wreaths – our annual fund raiser.
In addition to weekend outings, the boys are planning several “day trips”. Included in these are a ski night and a bike trip.

We now conduct at least two “high adventure” trips each year for the older scouts – the Venture Crew. These trips can be to one of the Boy Scouts of America High Adventure Camps, or trips that we put together ourselves. At least one of the High Adventure outings must be a challenging experience that calls upon most of the skills the boys have developed as a Scout, and at the same time is a fun experience. These trips are basically something the participants will remember for a lifetime. The primary trip is only for the “Venture Crew” – boys age 14 and up that have attained at least the rank of First Class. The other high adventure trip may be open to 13 year old boys – but still requires First Class rank.

This year’s Primary High Adventure trip is to the BSA Florida Seabase “Sea Exploring” in the Florida Keys. Last year the adventure was a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. Other recent primary High Adventure trips have included a trip to Wyoming’s Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains for some heavy duty backpacking – followed by several days in Yellowstone. We have High Adventure goals set for the next 4 years and we hope to be able to have an adventure at BSA’s Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico in 2008.

The second high adventure trip this year will be canoeing on the St. Croix River in the northern part of the state. This is the trip that will also include 13 year old scouts.

c. Summer Camp

Each year the troop will spend a week at one of the Bay Lakes Council’ summer camps. We have traditionally spent this week at Camp Bear Paw, near Mountain, WI, and that will be the camp again this year. Summer camps offer the boys a set of scheduled activities that usually result in both rank advancement and merit badges. Bear Paw has an excellent waterfront as well as a full range of other facilities. Summer Camp is usually the event that makes a boy feel like a real scout and a full member of the troop. This year our Summer Camp is scheduled for mid July. The cost for the week is approximately $200.