Scouts ready to serve community

VERNON — Boy Scouts of America Troop 283 is ready to serve the Vernon community.
On Feb. 17, Junior Assistant Scoutmaster Sean Avery, Senior Patrol Leader Anthony, Boy Scouts Michael, Chaim, Chris, Scoutmaster Cindy Raue, Assistant Scoutmaster Jim Giroux, and parent Chris Wynn volunteered to remove the wreaths placed during the “Wreaths Across America” ceremony, which had honored over 200 veterans in the Glenwood Cemetery.
Raue said they also removed all other wreaths placed around Christmastime.
Raue officially became the new Scoutmaster in Dec. 2017 and said, anytime anyone needs any assistance, they are always happy to do it – schedules allowing.
Last year, the troop worked in the Community Garden Center, organized Bingo for the Seniors at the Senior Center, and filled backpacks with school supplies for Ginnie's House.
She added her troop is a wonderful bunch of scouts, who get along very well, and they would like to open the troop up to some new scouts.
They even have a couple of scouts who just made Eagle Rank, with one waiting on paperwork.
In addition, she said, they have a great group of parents, committee chair, and two new wonderful assistant scout masters.
She explained, their troop is a camping troop, which camps once a month. They also do day hikes.
In April, the Assistant Scout Masters are planning a 10- or 20-mile hike and camping trip along the Appalachian Trail. In May, they will camp at Valley Forge; and in June, they will camp around Barnegat, including an Olympic size pool, ice cream, and pizza parlor.
She said, her scouts said, “Oh, wow! This is going to be so great!” adding, “The boys are looking forward to that June trip. Trust me.”
In July, they camp at Adventure Camp in the Adirondacks, with canoe trip; and in September, there are plans for a kayak trip at Cheesequake State Park.
In January, they have their annual Winter Klondike tent camp, where she mentioned, “It's a little cold,” but her scouts are prepared for the cold weather. There is always plenty of hot chocolate, she said, which happened to freeze, one of the years, when they woke up the next day.
In addition to camping, they are exploring new ideas such as indoor rock climbing; and the first weekend in May, they will take a First Aid refresher through a fire department and the Patriots' Path Council – Vernon Township's governing council.
She added, their troop is scout run; and “It's all about the kids.”
Raue has been involved in scouting with her grandson since Cub Scouts. Currently, he is working toward his Eagle Rank, she said, and he loves it.
Vernon Troop 283 meets the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Thursdays, 7:30 p.m., at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church, Vernon. All interested young men should contact rauecindy@gmail.com.
In order to become the new scoutmaster, she attended classroom and outdoor leaders training for several months. The outdoor leader skills training was really tough, she said, because they were out in the field all day long, all weekend, consuming a lot of information. Thankfully, Raue said, she already knew most of it before starting.
She added, there are not many female scoutmasters; she only knows of one other in her council.