A limited selection of Merit Badge sessions will be offered on select Mondays, starting this Monday, September 30.

Merit Badge Mondays start at 7:00 PM and take place at the McKeen's house, 29 Steeple Chase Circle, Westford.

• September 30
• Family Life badge with Mrs. McKeen
• Citizenship in the Community badge with Mr. McKeen
• October 21
• Personal Management badge with Mrs. McKeen
• Mr. McKeen will run another Eagle-required badge
• November 18
• December 16
• January 13

Other badges that we may offer include Personal Fitness, Cooking, and Photography. To sign up for any of these sessions, please email Mrs. Evangelista at bevangelista1@gmail.com ASAP and provide the name of the Scout, the date they will attend, and the name of the badge.  Please also include any other badges that they are interested in.

Due to logistical difficulties, we have made changes in the October and November trips.

October - Unfortunately we are not going to be able to make the trip to Acadia on Columbus Day weekend as planned.  Instead, we are pulling forward the High Ropes trip originally planned for the spring to the weekend of October 19th.  More details about this trip will be published soon.

November - Because the October trip is moving out one week we are also moving the November trip out one week to the weekend of November 16th.  This allows us to avoid a trip on Veterans Day weekend.  The trip theme remains a pioneering trip to Camp Resolute in Bolton.

The Troop dues for the new scout year are $30 per scout.  These dues help cover the operating costs of the Troop including awards, supplies, and other expenses in running the Scouting program.  

Please submit your dues on or before Thursday, September 26th.  Payments can be made via Venmo, check, or cash.

Please note: Scouting America (BSA) is starting to collect registration fees for Scouting America membership directly from families - the Troop will no longer be handling these membership fees.

The Troop 437 Committee does not want any Scout or adult to miss out on anything Scouting has to offer due to an inability to pay.  If any fee is a hardship for your family, please reach out to one of the Scoutmasters, Committee Chair, or Troop Treasurer to discuss available options. Any requests will be kept completely confidential.

This week is the kick-off for the Troop elections.  The SPL will present an election overview and then open up nominations for next year's SPL.  On October  3rd the SPL candidates will present their visions for the Troop and then voting will commence.  Once the SPL is elected the patrols will elect their patrol leaders for the coming year.

All the newly elected leaders will take office starting at the Fall Court of Honor.

What is changing:

This year Scouting America (BSA) is changing the way they register and re-register members.  In the past, the Troop has collected membership fees and passed them on to the local council to process the BSA membership renewal.  Starting now, Scouting America will be notifying families directly when membership renewal is due and directly collecting the membership fees.

What you can expect:

A couple of months before your registration expires you will receive e-mails asking you to complete the re-registration process online. Re-registration must be completed before your membership expires so the Troop can continue including you in its activities and process advancement.  If a scout's or adult's registration expires, they will be automatically removed from the Troop roster by Scouting America and we will not have any access to the records until the membership is renewed.

The Troop 437 Committee does not want any Scout or adult to miss out on anything Scouting has to offer due to an inability to pay.  If any fee is a hardship for your family, please reach out to one of the Scoutmasters, Committee Chair, or Troop Treasurer to discuss available options. Any requests will be kept completely confidential.

The Boy Scouts of America is changing it's name to Scouting America.  This name change reflects the organization's evolution to support all youth in our community.  For more information see the official announcement and the Aaron on Scouting Blog Post