Troop FAQ
General information
Just show up at any of our weekly meetings, and we'll get you signed up.
Troop 116 meets Thursdays at 7:30pm (from Labor Day to mid-June) in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Wyncote, PA.
The church is on Bent Road at Kent Ave. (though the entrance to the basement is around the back on Fernbrook Ave.)
For the most up-to-date requirements and information, see the official BSA website at www.scouting.org. But in brief:
To join Scout Troop 116, you must be:
- A boy or girl
- Aged 11 to 17 (or 10 and completed fifth grade)
- Willing to have fun
To join Venture Crew 116, you must be:
- A young man or young woman
- Aged 14-20
- Willing to have fun (and understand you will NOT be tenting with your girlfriend/boyfriend)
Other than the required age restrictions, we accept all applicants of every race, creed, color, religion, physical or mental capability, and sexual orientation.
So long as you are willing to work as part of the team and are ready for some high adventure fun, we're happy to have you join the troop.
Not yet 11 or 14 years old?
If you are not yet old enough for the troop of crew, there are a few choices.
Boys or girls under 11? Try Cub Scouts
For boys under 11, look into one of the many fine local cub scout pack, which are appropriate for boys in first through fifth grades (ages 7–10).
Pack 38 meets in the same church as we do Wednesday nights; you can email us for more information. You can also find the pack closest to you at beascout.scouting.org.
Webelos: Try out the troop!
Members of the older branch of Cub Scouts—called Webelos, generally aged 9 and 10—and their leaders and parents are welcome anytime at our weekly meetings.
Webelos are often invited to accompany the troop on several of our easier weekend trips throughout the year—from camping to canoeing to punkin' chunkin'—so long as at least one of the Webelos' adult leaders or parents accompanies them. (The more, the merrier; adults have fun on the trips, too.)
Contact the scoutmaster to see which trips thsi year might be appropriate for your Webelo.
Since February, 2019, girls ages 11 to 17 can officially join Scouts BSA and earn the same merit badges and rise though the same ranks all the way to Eagle Scout.
Folks in the troop and crew & a bit on demographics
Our Scoutmaster for the boys is Reid Bramblett.
Our Scoutmaster for the girls is Kurt Ahrens.
Our Troop Committee Chair is Tom Finley.
The trips program is run by Stew Lee and Reid Bramblett.
The main advisor to the Venture Crew is Stew Lee. The other adult advisors are Jennifer Brandabur, Amanda Krebs Frey, Evan Frye, and Ratana Rann.
The New Member Coordinator is Geoff Garlow.
There are many other Assistant Scoutmasters and Troop Committee members vital to the running of the troop and crew.
You can find out more about these and other adult leaders on the leadership page.
Troop 116 has no religious affiliation whatsoever.
It is an nondenominational, multicultural organization, open to people of all faiths (or none).
Every troop needs an official sponsor, however, and we are proud that Calvary Presbyterian Church has sponsored the troop since the very beginning in 1915 (and we are grateful for the continued use of its basement as a meeting room, and as storage space for our tents and such).
Contact information for adult leaders is on the Leadership page.
For general inquires: scoutmaster@scouttroop116.com
In keeping with Youth Protection principles, we will not provide contact info for the boys and girls in the Troop or Venture Crew.
If you are a Troop 116 alumnus and would like to track down the old gang (or just see some pictures of what you looked like at 15), your best bet is our "The Original Troop 116" Facebook page (for over-18 alumni only—Youth Protection again).
Yes!
Scouts BSA began allowing girls to form troops in February 2019, and were among the very first to register a brand-new troop for all our girls aged 11–18. Technically it is a separate troop, and has its own Scoutmaster, but it is still Troop 116 and we run everything as one big happy, co-ed family.
Troop 116 is a Scout troop, and therefore historically was made up entirely of boys aged 11 to 17.
However, there is also a 116 Venture Crew which is, indeed, co-ed. Venturing is another facet to Scouting, aimed at young men and women aged 14 to 20.
There is much overlap between the troop and the crew.
Several of the older boys in the troop are also in the Venture Crew, along with the young women. The crew has both male and female Advisors (adult leaders—though the crew really runs itself), and the male Advisors of the crew are also Assistant Scoutmasters with the troop.
The 116 Venture Crew meetings occur at the same times as the Scouts BSA meetings, and the two groups share several of the weekend trips throughout the year—though there are also Boy Scout-only and Venture Crew-only trips.
We also found a way to get girls between 11 and 13 involved even before 2019, with a Girl Scout troop meeting alongside us and joining us for most trips.
Of course, since February, 2019, we can officially welcome girls 11 to 17 into the Troop as well—and have more than a dozen registered already!
(Naturally, there is always both a male and a female adult Advisor present on all co-ed trips—and no, the boys and girls NEVER share tents or other lodgings.)
Trips
We have posted a an annual calendar here giving you an overview of the monthly commitments, and this year's actual troop calendar here.
Please sign up for all trips at least two weeks in advance if possible (and take your name off the list if you do sign up but discover you must cancel)—and please, please, please pay by at least the Thursday before the trip.)
Weekend trips generally cost $25–$40.
Trips that require the rental of specialty equipment (snowshoes, skis, etc.) or outfitter guides (white water rafting) cost a bit more. Keep in mind that we almost always get bulk discounts, group rates, or special scout packages on rentals, lift tickets, outfitters, airfares, and other costs, so these activities invariably costs less than what you would pay on your own.
Summer trip costs vary wildly depending on the scope and length. However, believe it or not, each boy and girl manages to raise much of the cost of these trips (in some cases, the entire cost) entirely by himself, through troop fund raisers and personal jobs (many adult leaders in the troop provide work opportunities for those without jobs).
We leave for most weekend trips Friday evening between 6pm and 7:30pm (it varies from trip to trip). We leave from the church where we meet.
We usually return by mid-afternoon on Sunday.
We have posted general trip packing lists here—though for any given trip, these might need to be tweaked.
Paperwork
First search around on our own local Council of Liberty website—or, failing that the national BSA site.
If you are having trouble finding the forms or paperwork you need, ask our Troop Committee Chair Tom Finley at the next meeting.
Your Scout BSA Handbook is your personal advancement record, including all rank requirements.
Requirements for ranks and merit badges can also now be found at the national BSA site Scouting.org (see the links page for more).
Go online to the local Council of Liberty website.
Most of the training is now done via online modules. You will need your personal scouting ID. (If you don't know it, ask Tom Finley.)
All adult leaders need to complete the YOUTH PROTECTION training, and repeat it every two years.
Adult leaders who want to be able to lead trips (and all trips need two qualified leaders) need to complete a variety of leadership, outdoors skills, and safety training modules—Hazardous Weather, Safety Afloat, Climb On Safely, Safe Swim Defense—though some are only required for certain types of high adventure trips. (Then again, this is Troop 116; most of our trips are high adventure.) Please go ahead and get these done, because Stew and/or Reid cannot be on every trip, you know.
If you wish to be registered as an Assistant Scoutmaster, you must complete the Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills program—which is actually a weekend-long course offered several times in the spring.
However, through the valiant efforts of 116, the Council now offers an annual one-day "test-out"—since, as we pointed out, it was a bit silly to think that, say, an Eagle Scout who is now an adult leader doesn't come equipped with a few basic outdoors skills.