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FAQ

Troop 57 Court of Honor Dec 2019

FAQ

The Boy Scouts of America, which started in 1910, is now the largest scouting organization and one of the largest youth organizations in the US with roughly two million youth participants and roughly one million adult volunteers. Its main programs include Cub Scouts for ages 5 to 11 years, Scouts BSA for ages 10 to 18, Venturing for ages 14 through 21, and Sea Scouts for ages 14 through 21. The four primary aims of the Scouts BSA program are: Leadership Development, Citizenship Training, Character Development and Personal Fitness. Troop 57 and Troop 4057 Starting in 1933 as a Boy Scouts program, Troop 57 (Boys-only) has a long and rich scouting history of training and developing outdoor and service minded young men within the Palo Alto community. Starting formally in February 2019 and in conjunction with the rebranding of the Boy Scouts program to Scouts BSA, we launched Troop 4057 (Girls-only) with 10 trailblazing girls who attend public and private secondary schools in Palo Alto. Up to this point, T57 and T4057 have recognized over 350 Eagle Scouts. Today, Troop 57 has over 100 scouts organized into six patrols, and Troop 4057 has over 35 scouts organized into three patrols. In 2020, we re-incorporated our scouting program as a California 501(c)3 non-profit organization named “Troops 57 and 4057 of Palo Alto” (TaxID: 84-5168202) in order to best position our program for long-term growth . Our board of directors consist of five members: Chartered Organization Representative, Troop 57 Committee Chair, Troop 4057 Committee Chair, Troop 57 Scoutmaster, and Troop 4057 Scoutmaster.
Today, Troop 57 has over 100 scouts organized into six patrols, and Troop 4057 has over 35 scouts organized into three patrols.
Although Troop 57 (Boys) and Troop 4057 (Girls) are distinct and separate troops, they operate under the same corporate entity ("Troops 57 and 4057 of Palo Alto"), share the same administrative and adult volunteer teams, and jointly plan and offer outings, service projects and other scouting activities. While troop and patrol meetings are separated by boys and girls, all of our optional outdoor and service project activities are offered on a co-ed basis with sufficiently trained adult supervision with at least one registered female adult in attendance if there are Troop 4057 scout attendees.
  • Parent/Troop/Patrol Meetings: The first Wednesdays of each month are parent-only meetings from 8-9pm and the remaining Wednesdays of each month (outside of holiday weeks) are troop/patrol meetings at 7-8:30pm. Typically, our parents and troop meetings are held at the Lucie Stern Community Center (1305 Middlefield Road, #2, Palo Alto, CA 94301) and each of our patrol meetings are held at various locations - typically the home of the Lead Assistant Scoutmaster for each patrol.
  • Troop/Patrol overnight camping (2x per semester) at nearby camping sites.
  • Holiday events: Scouting for Food (food collection for Bay Area food shelter), Wreath Sales (our primary fundraising activity), etc.
  • Other optional activities: We offer a wide variety of weekend events including but not limited to: hiking, camping, kayaking, climbing, white water rafting, conservation service projects at nearby nature preserves, leadership development classes, merit badge camps, etc.
  • During the summer, we actively participate in two camps - Camp Oljato (mid-late July) and Camp Emerald Bay (late July/early August), as well as high adventure camps like Philmont and Northern Tier.
To get a feel for our typical outdoor outings, please go to our prior events page under the events category, which includes pictures.
We do not have any paid staff/employees. We are a volunteer-run organization. In order to provide a high quality program, we expect at least one scout parent to register with the BSA and actively volunteer and support the program. For a list of volunteer opportunities, take a look at the adults page in our website under scouting or take a look at the upcoming events.
Annual registration fees are determined by the BSA and Pacific Skyline Council and are paid directly to them each year on your annual BSA registration anniversary date.   Fees consist of:
  1. An adult registration fee paid to the BSA for each registered adult on their anniversary date.
  2. A Scout registration fee paid to the BSA for each scout on their anniversary date.
  3. A Pacific Skyline Council Good Turn Assessment fee paid to the Troop each year.
  4. Troop dues paid to the Troop during annual Troop registration.
As of 2024 the annual BSA registration fee for a scout is $170 and the annual fee for an adult is $130.  The Pacific Skyline Council Good Turn Assessment fee is $120 per scout and annual troop dues are roughly $100 per scout.  Contact the troop registrar at registrar@troop57.net for more details about fees. In addition to these fees, you should expect the following one-time/upfront expenses:
  • Roughly $150 for the scout uniform (shirt, pants, socks, belt), uniform badges, scout handbook and ten essentials (e.g., compass, poncho, water bottle, etc.). These items can be purchased at the BSA Store located at 1305 Middlefield Road, #2, Palo Alto, CA 94301. The store attendant should be able to guide you through all of the basic purchases.
  • Equipment expenses that you will need during overnight camping trips (backpack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, pillow, tent and footprint, etc.) if you don't already have these items.
If you have serious interest in joining our troops, we recommend that you complete our Interested Scout Form, and one of our adult leaders will contact you, at which time, they can answer any questions that you may have, help schedule participation at an upcoming troop or patrol meeting, and introduce you to our troop registrar who can help with scout registration if your child decides to join one of our troops.  We also offer open houses for each Troop in the spring which interested families can attend.
For the 2023-2024 academic year, we have two co-Scoutmasters for Troop 57, Dave Wiener and Chris Eberle. We have two co-Scoutmasters for Troop 4057, Michael Cashman and Hua Ai.
ASM - Assistant Scoutmaster, BoR - Board of Review, TLC - Troop Leadership Council, APL - Assistant Patrol Leader, PL - Patrol Leader, YPT - Youth Protection Training, SPL - Senior Patrol Leader, SMC - Scoutmaster Conference, OA - Order of the Arrow, BSA - Boys Scouts of America, PLC - Patrol Leadership Council,