Scouts Host Weekly Chamber Coffee

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The Ulysses Cub and Boy Scout Troop 186 is growing; so much so, they have added a girl's troop of the Cub Scouts designed to give girls in the community the Boy Scout experience, but geared toward girls.

“There’s three aspects of our program,” said Scout Leader Craig Hampton. “We have the Cub Scouts, which is Kindergarten through fifth grade, then after fifth grade they cross over to the Troop Level – we have two aspects of that – we have the Boy Troop, and then we also have the Girl Troop as of a few weeks ago we’re working on building. We no longer have a Girl Scout program locally, as far as we know, so we started a girl troop. They get to do the same thing the boys get to do, for merit badges, work toward Eagle, but we have the programs separated.

“We thought it was good to do that locally and have them separated at that level that way we can still teach the boys to be boys and teach the girls to be girls.”

Girls can be Cub Scouts with the boys, but once they cross over in sixth grade, they are separated.

Boy Scout Troop 186 has been in Ulysses 77 years, Hampton added, and the Cub Scout Pack for 65 years. The troop serves 35 kids with 16 registered adult leaders.

Hampton talked about the Scout House Building on North Glenn Street, which was formerly an original Ulysses Church but was donated to the city in the 1950s specifically to be used by the Boy Scouts. The Scouts meet in the building multiple times per week.

Hampton said the leaders are invested in the troop and several of the Ulysses Scout Leaders are council-level leaders.

“It’s really rare to see a council-level member at a local troop, even to see one,” Hampton said. “I think we’ve got seven or eight now in our troops just because we are very invested in the program as a whole and moving forward.”

The scouts are involved in fundraising efforts. The adults are raising money to replace the troop's Pinewood Derby track, which was irreparably damaged. The Scouts have been using a track borrowed from Johnson for recent derby races. Grant Community Foundation has helped with that.

“We’ll be starting popcorn sales in a couple months,” Hampton added. “That’s the big push for the Pack level, and the Boy Scout Troop is looking at Jerky this year.”

Fundraising is important because it costs $283 for every scout, for registration fees and uniforms. But the Ulysses Scouts charge parents $25 before any activities, camps, extra badges. The troop leaders also pay for each adult to be registered at a cost of $65 each.

“All we charge a family is $25, that makes the program affordable for pretty much everybody,” Hampton said. “We want, regardless of what the background is, we want everybody to have an opportunity to join the program.”

The Scout House building itself has been the topic of lengthy discussion in recent city council meetings as reported in The Ulysses News. Those with mobility issues cannot enter the building without assistance.

“We’re working with the City trying to figure out what we want to do,” Hampton said. “It needs some love, so we’re trying to figure out logistics there.”

The Scouts painted the walls and remodeled the bathroom through fundraising without asking the city taxpayers for help.

City council member Mark Diaz, speaking on behalf of himself and not as a city councilman, said the building has been neglected.

“I think that we, as a group, or myself as a person because I can’t speak for the city, we need to take care of these kids,” Diaz said. “I think we need to make a great investment.”

Diaz said the Scouts have made a great investment in the community and he is willing to help.

“I think we just need to do whatever we have to do, myself as a city leader, I think we need to step forward and assist these kids in whatever we can,” Diaz added. “It’s not about politics, it’s not about that, it’s about the City of Ulysses and the kids and the people because this is our future, and they do a lot.”

Also during the Coffee, Chamber Director Marieta Hauser gave a brief rundown of upcoming events, including applications for Citizen of the Year. Applications are due to the Chamber office by Noon June 30 and are kept on file for five years.

Also:

•Women of Purpose is partnering with the community in July for the Grant County Library Diaper Bank to provide families in need with a supply of diapers. Donations can be dropped of at the library and Women of Purpose all community donations.

•Grant County Fair is July 19-26 with the parade kicking things off at 10 a.m., July 19. Fair Books are available around town and at the chamber office.

“One of the things that makes our fair great is we do have a lot of open class entries,” Hauser said.

The next Chamber Coffee is June 27 at Carquest, 902 East Hampton Road.