Troop 80 Parents,
I am honored to be the Scoutmaster of Troop 80. Let me share with you a little of my background in scouting.
I was a Boy Scout in Troop 136, Central Ohio Council (now part of Simon Kenton Council). We did car-camping on various local farms, attended camporees several times a year, and had a one-week summer camp at Camp Lazarus. I also went on two high-adventure outings at the Charles L. Sommers Wilderness Canoe Base in Minnesota. With my parents' support, I made Eagle Scout and even earned a palm. I still remember my Scoutmaster, Mr. Miller.
I thought it was cool that my dad would help out by camping with the troop. I did not find out until much much later that Dad thoroughly detested camping, having had quite his fill of that as a draftee in WWII. He never let on. It does rain quite a bit in Ohio.
My last two years in graduate school I got involved in Boy Scouts again through my church. This troop was an urban outreach and many of the scouts had never seen raw hamburger before we showed them how to cook it. After I graduated and came to California, I realized I had nothing to do on the weekends, so I looked around for a troop to help. I found Troop 80 and its Scoutmaster Jim Galbreath. I learned about backpacking from Troop 80 and enjoyed many trips in the Sierras.
Over several years I completed all of the Boy Scout adult leader training culminating in Wood Badge. This definitely solved my problem of empty weekends. However, after five years I decided it was time for a social life, so I reconfigured my schedule to pursue other interests, as they say. In due course this resulted in a wife and kids. Eventually my son joined the Boy Scouts, and here I am again back in Troop 80.
Troop 80 has an active outdoor program planned and led by the scouts. Now, if you detest camping, I'll understand if you don't volunteer to go camping with the troop. But I still need your support in other ways, such as driving scouts to campouts. With the support of all the parents, we can make the troop's program a reality and provide a great learning and leadership experience for the scouts.
Scoutmaster,
Tom Rodeheffer