Scout BSA Troop 908 has been in existence since 1946, although our recent records show Eagle Scouts from Troop 8/908 back to 1923! Our Scouts attend Duneland, Portage and Valparaiso Schools mainly, with kids from Discovery, St. Pat's and homeschool programs in the mix.
We are notable to be a camping-focused and adventure-focused Troop. Our Scouts meet with leaders quarterly to work with us to create the upcoming events for the Troop. This month do we want to ski? Bike ride? Rock climb? Have a camping cookoff competition? The meetings are led by the Scouts with Scout Leaders supporting them while trying to keep adult announcements to a minimum.
Our Troop focuses on the trilogy of Scouting ideals: Service, Adventure and Scout Skills. We work on local service projects with neighboring environmental projects in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park as well as service projects at our charter, St. John's United Church. There are also substantial service hours provided by the Scouts working toward their Eagle Rank. With regards to adventure, we are known to travel to Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan and other states for yearly Scout Summer Camp and rotate yearly High Adventure trips between such destinations as Philmont Ranch, Sea Base, Maine and the Boundary Waters of Wisconsin and Minnesota. We work to keep our Scout Skills fresh and mundane working on them at campouts and meetings with quizzes, competitions and demonstrations.
Our largest annual fundraiser is the Spaghetti Dinner in March each year at St. John's United Church. The Scouts welcome, seat, serve and clean up a terrific plate of spaghetti and meatballs. The money raised is used for gear such as tents, lanterns and our Scout BSA Troop 908 Trailer.
