It provides an opportunity to see multiple Troops and their functions. This will hopefully give you a good understanding of the help your son in determine which troop he would care to join.

It gives our scouts the opportunity to show how they organize meetings, and will hopefully gain new membership to the troop.

Youth Leadership – Troop 7 is a "scout" led troop. There are bi-annual elections, which determine the Senior Patrol leader, Patrol leaders and troop positions. All these positions will create the troop PLC (Patrol Leader Council). It is the job of the PLC to determine the direction and types of activities the troop will participate.

Adult Leadership – The adults in the troop are there to provide: a safe scouting experience, opportunities to experience a wide range of topics, and teach the scouts leadership abilities according to the seven methods of scouting. We also provide ideas to the scouts when they get bored with the “same old thing”.

Finance – the Treasurer, Committee and Committee Chair control Troop finances. Troop 7 follows a “pay as you go” policy. Each activity is paid for and re-reimbursed. Every scout who signed up for a function will be charged an equal portion of the cost. Should a scout have to cancel after the time any non-refundable items or food are purchased, the scout will be charged for the event.

Activities funding – Each scout will have his own account. All activities will draw from this account when expenses are incurred. The troop committee will decide on fundraising opportunities throughout the year and this in turn will give your son a way to earn money to go into his scout account. Each patrol will have an account to use for specific activities. The amount of expense per year a scout would normally incur would be: $45/year for troop and registration fees + $220 for food and camping (10 trips) + $180 for summer camp + some money for various patrol outings = $350 to $400 a year

Patrols – Troop 7 presently has two patrols of 9 scouts. These patrols will meet once or more a month to plan/conduct activities and plan for Troop meetings/campouts. We encourage the scouts to fully participate in these and to share the workload. There are several patrol positions available, which will you son responsibilities and leadership opportunities. Should your son decide to join Troop 7, he will be placed in one of the two patrols until the troop is of sufficient size to create a third patrol. We try to ensure that every scout has at least one friend in his patrol.

Service – To obtain rank in scouting all scouts are expected to participate in Troop Service programs. Depending on the rank, a different “total service hours” are required. This information is contained in the scout manual.

Meeting Times – Troop 7 meets every Thursday of the year excluding spring break, Thanksgiving and Christmas Weeks. The meeting place will be at the UMC “Scout Building” at 6:30pm to 8pm unless otherwise noted.

Uniform – The scouts are required to have a full class “A” uniform to wear to the weekly troop meetings. The class “A” is to be warn for every function which is community related or for the Troop Court of Honor. A class “B” uniform can be warn during weekend campouts and troop meetings when allowed. Below is a partial list of the uniform requirements:

	Class “A” Green BS pants (under review), BS Tan shirt, BS socks, Tan-Green BS belt. Non-open faced shoes
	Class “B” Troop pants, Troop 7 shirt/sweatshirt, BS socks, Tan-Green BS belt. non-open faced shoes

Camping – We plan for one weekend camp a month. The places for these could be distances from 10 to 500 miles depending on the adults available and cost. We do not generally plan a campout in December. Campouts will be held as long as there are at least 2 scouts in attendance.

Summer Camp – We Spend one week a year at a Boy Scout Summer Camp. This will usually occur either the 2^nd or 3^rd full week in July. This year we will be going to Camp Friedlander in Cincinnati during the week of July 18^th. This is overnight camping for the scouts and there will be one evening where the parents can come visit.

Summer Camp selection – The PLC will make the decision on the camp for the year given certain criteria. 1) We must have enough adult leadership available (vacation time) 2) Time slots are available for the Camp and 3) the selected camp provides a wide variety of opportunities for every scout in the troop. 

Parent involvement – We are always in need of parent involvement. We have several adult positions, which require from very little to greater time commitments. The greatest time commitment is the position of Assistant Scoutmaster.  The smallest time commitment is to be a member of the Troop Committee. We must have at least one Asst. Scoutmaster for each patrol in the troop.

Communications – We communicate to the scouts about upcoming activities every week. However, this information does not always make it to the parents. We will have handouts on the file hangers inside the door and you can also get up to date by attending the Committee meetings, which are held the 1^st Thursday of every month at 8pm. Each scout will also be given a "Troop 7" email address which will be redirected to your home email account.