Merit Badge Conclave A Success For Boy Scouts

Merit Badge Conclave hosted by Boy Scout Troop 71 at William Penn University. (submitted photo)

On Saturday, March 17, Oskaloosa Boy Scout Troop 71, chartered through the Central United Methodist Church, held their annual Merit Badge Conclave at William Penn University. None of the adults currently active with the Troop know exactly how long Troop 71 has been providing this service to area Boy Scouts. Some estimate at least 25 years.

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 over 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 had 288 Scouts from 48 different Troop, representing 3 different states registered, and not to forget, the more than 75 adults that accompanied them. The Troop also used the help of 32 different volunteer merit badge counselors, teaching 27 different merit badges. These area professionals included firemen, lawyers, engineers, nurses, and businesspeople, again just to name a few of those areas of expertise represented. This year’s group of Scouts represents the largest number ever registered.

“We really couldn’t have accomplished this year’s Merit Badge Conclave without the assistance of all the volunteers involved,” 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 Boy Scouts in helping them earn these merit badges. We moved this year to William Penn because we had simply outgrown the Central United Methodist Church’s facilities, where we’ve been since the conclave started, in order to make an even better learning experience for the scouts. And we want to thank William Penn University staff for the great facility and event on their campus, and especially the PAC staff for their work in setting up, as well as Sodexo for catering lunch.”