Scouts From Four States Descend On Oskaloosa
On Saturday, March 16, Scouts BSA Troop 71 chartered to Central United Methodist Church in Oskaloosa hosted their 30th annual Merit Badge Conclave at William Penn University. Troop 71 hosted 360 Scouts and approximately 120 adult leaders for classes, trainings, and lunch. (submitted photo)
On Saturday, March 16, Scouts BSA Troop 71 chartered to Central United Methodist Church in Oskaloosa hosted their 30th annual Merit Badge Conclave at William Penn University. Troop 71 hosted 360 Scouts and approximately 120 adult leaders for classes, trainings, and lunch.
The Merit Badge Conclave started out as an opportunity for local scouts, those in southeast Iowa, to have contact with merit badge counselors. Each Boy Scout is required to complete 21 different merit badges to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts. Thirteen of those merit badges are specifically required to reach Eagle Scout, and the remaining eight can be from the other 125 different options. Merit badges range from camping to fishing to environmental science, cooking to first aid and nuclear science, to name a few.
This year’s Merit Badge Conclave consisted of 360 Scouts and more than 125 adults from 64 different Troops, representing Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Troop 71 also used the help of 27 different volunteer merit badge counselors, teaching 26 different merit badges. These area professionals included firemen, lawyers, engineers, nurses, and businesspeople, just to name a few of those areas of expertise represented. This year’s group of Scouts represents the largest number ever attending.
“We really couldn’t have accomplished this year’s Merit Badge Conclave without the assistance of all the volunteers involved, from the counselors to all of the adults that lead and support Troop 71 here in Oskaloosa. We have a great group of parents and non-parents associated with Troop 71,” said Troop Asst. Scoutmaster Jamie Leonard. “The growth of the conclave is directly attributable to the kind of great people we have working with our Scouts in helping them earn their merit badges. We want to thank William Penn University staff for the great facility, for letting us host our event on their campus, and especially the PAC staff for their work in setting up, as well as Sodexo for catering lunch.”
