Posted by Chuck Chase on Jun 16, 2017
A Member Moment was given today by one of our newest members, Jacob Maxson, who is the Unit Service Executive with the Boy Scouts of America, Michigan Crossroads Council - Lenape District. He said he was born in Kalamazoo, graduated from Grand Valley HS and then went on to Miami University of Ohio where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. He worked at a camp in Kalamazoo after graduating for seven summers as a Business Manager as well as a Program Manager before joining the Boy Scouts of America.
 
Jacob recounted that he’s been in the scout’s organization ever since the first grade and continuing all the way through to his senior year when he became an Eagle Scout! To earn your Eagle Scout designation, Jacob said, you have to be a Boy Scout. Jacob said that only 3% of all scouts ever achieve the status of Eagle! In our club we are proud to have both Greg DuMars who became an Eagle Scout at 14 and Chip Moore. Through scouting there are some 126 Merit Badges a scout can receive which include Citizenship, Personal Management, Environmental Sciences, First Aid, Lifesaving, just to name a few.
 
Having been with the Boy Scouts for 9 months as a professional, Jacob said he is responsible for basically three things: raising money, finding new members and finding volunteers to help further the programs of the organization. In terms of statewide membership, he said, the total number of scouts has reached 16,000. Nationwide, however, the organization is nowhere near the heyday of the ’60s and ‘70s, he added.  
 
The geographic areas he is responsible for are Hillsdale and Lenawee Counties within which are 28 different Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs. By the end of last year, Jacob said that there were 685 registered members. The organizations is looking at adding about 5 more units to the area – 3 of which will be Cub Scout Packs in Lenawee County and 2 more Boy Scout Troops at the Maurice Spear Campus – one for the boys and one for the girls. One of the Cub Scout Packs will be started at Madison Elementary School and our club will be its sponsor, Jacob said. The school had a unit there up until the end of last year but the pack folded due to lack of volunteers. It should again, however, be back up and running by November, Jacob said.
 
In terms of eligibility, a child can begin his scouting career at an early age. The Cub Scouts is for children of kindergarten age through the 4th grade. Boy Scouts takes over and goes from 5th grade through senior year. The Boy Scout program consists of 7 ranks but kids work at their own pace. The cost to be a member, he said, falls in the $100/Year range, Jacob said, and therefore relatively inexpensive considering it is a year-long commitment compared to involvement in, say, a high school sport which is about the same price but only a 3-month commitment.
 
Thank, Jacob, for a very interesting presentation!