(FREE) Scouts in Ponca City Learn, Explore and Grow: Troop 524
(FREE) Scouts in Ponca City Learn, Explore and Grow: Troop 524
Story by Chelsea McConnell | Staff Writer
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According to their website, “The Mission of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.” The Scout Law has 12 points as goals for each Scout to strive to each day. They are to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. The Scout Oath is, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”
Jay Wagner began volunteering with the BSA when his oldest son got involved with the program. At the time, parent volunteers were needed, so Wagner stepped up to help. What began as a volunteer position has turned into a passion for Wagner. He began as a Tiger Den Leader and is now Scoutmaster of Troop 524. The Scoutmaster’s role is to work directly with the scouts to provide direction, coaching and support. The overarching goals of the Scoutmaster are to provide youth leaders with tools and skills to run the troop, make sure the rules of the BSA are followed and to be a good mentor and positive role model for the youth. Although Wagner admits to initially being reluctant to raise his hand as a volunteer, he says being a part of BSA “has been a rewarding experience. I’ve loved every moment of it.”
Troop 524 currently has 24 scouts. The young men in Troop 524 take part in many activities each year as part of their participation in the BSA. They also stay heavily involved in volunteering in our community with nonprofits and other organizations. In 2023, the Troop completed over 180 volunteer hours with events including DXDT, Arts Festival, Veterans Day Parade, Christmas Parade, Scout Sunday church services, Bear Creek Cove trash clean-up, Monthly Friendship Feasts, Post Office Food Drive and welcoming soldiers home from their tour in Africa.
Each year the Troop does several campouts around our state and region. Currently the Troop is making plans for their 2025 campouts when they will use the weekend excursions to tour Oklahoma. They are still in the discussion stages but hope to hit many of our state’s natural highlights during those campouts. Wagner explains that while the parents are involved in making decisions, Scouts is meant to be “parent-guided but boy-led.”
Each year the Troop also attends an out-of-state summer camp. Wagner believes travel is important for the young scouts. “Giving these boys the adventure and traveling and understanding that this place is bigger than just Oklahoma is the number one calling I’ve got with Scouting. I want to make sure they get to see something else; to know there’s something else out there. We’ve been to Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota.” Parent leadership is required to attend camp with each Scout group. Once there though, the youth are largely on their own to create their own schedules and pursue paths of learning that most suit their interests. Wagner shares that scouts can earn merit badges in over 135 areas of study. The badges “give them an idea in a field of interest somewhere, whether that’s hiking, cycling, swimming or fishing. It could be hobbies to jobs. You can learn agricultural stuff, dentistry, film making. You don’t become an expert by any means, but you get an overview of what that field is. They help introduce the scouts to many opportunities as they’re growing to give them ideas for what they may want to become or do later in life.”
While activities like summer camp are fun, they aren’t free. Each scout is responsible for raising funds to pay for campouts, camping supplies, merit badges, dues, etc. Troop 524 has come up with a number of clever ways to help raise funds for their various needs. One program they facilitate is called Flags Over Ponca City. For $50 each year, citizens can subscribe to become a member of Flags Over Ponca City. Troop 524 will come to your house and set up a 10-foot flagpole with an American flag in your yard on five holidays throughout the year. Holidays include Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day. Scouts who help set up flags can earn money for their account to help pay for summer camp. Subscriptions for Flags Over Ponca City are closed for this year but will reopen in the spring as they solicit more subscriptions for next year. Currently, scouts are setting up flags in over 100 yards throughout our community.
Another way scouts can raise funds is through helping with parking during Wildcat home football games. Scouts are given the opportunity to work shifts during the games managing parking in the First Lutheran School parking lot. The scouts charge five dollars per parking spot, and all the funds go to those scouts who work the event. The scouts also host an aluminum recycling drop-off site. This site is located in the parking lot of First Lutheran School in the northeast corner. Anyone is welcome and invited to drop off their aluminum cans to help support Troop 524.
An exciting thing on the horizon for the Troop is the Venturing Crew they are starting. While it’s still in the early stages, Wagner is excited about this new effort for the Troop. Venturing is limited to scouts ages 14-20 and designed to be more adventure based. These groups are less about earning badges and advancing in rank. They are geared toward encouraging youth to plan adventures with their fellow scouts. The adventures they choose to go on are entirely up to the scouts.
If you or a young person you know are interested in becoming involved in scouts in Ponca City, visit: PoncaCityScouts.org to learn more. Subscriptions to the Flags Over Ponca City will reopen in spring 2025. You can sign up at FlagsOverPoncaCity.com. You can recycle your aluminum cans with Boy Scout Troop 524 at their drop-off location at 5th & Liberty.
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