Make a Donation

The Girl and Boy Scout programs are budgeted to receive $5,200 each from Pratt County United Fund. A portion will be paid directly to the local Scout Foundation, and the remainder to regional councils.
Make checks payable to Pratt County United Fund and mail to Cannonball Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross, 114 N. Main, Pratt, KS 67124.
Letters, containing return envelopes, have been mailed to county residents.
 

Most people know Scouts go camping, either overnight or for the day. They sell cookies if they’re Girl Scouts or popcorn if they’re Boy Scouts. They work on assignments to earn badges. They help with community service projects, like collecting for the local food bank, helping with the luminary ceremony at the annual Relay for Life, and participating in recycling and clean-up activities.
In the process, they’re learning skills that will make them productive adults and capable leaders.
“It (Scouting) gives them some good guidelines on growing up. If they go through the program, it helps them learn to be a leader,” Brett Houdyshell, Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 201, said.
The characteristics set forth in the Boy Scout Law — trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent — underscore all of the troop’s activities.
The troop currently includes 11 Boy Scouts, but the number will nearly double in April when the fifth graders move up, Houdyshell said.
The younger boys, in first through fifth grades, are Cub Scouts. They are a growing group in Pratt, Committee Chair Linda Loomis said, with 72 boys this year, compared to about 50 a year ago. She attributes the growth to the quality and commitment of adult leaders. She cites family participation as a strong point of the organization.
“The program doesn’t work for families who want to drop their kids off and pick them up when it’s over,” she said. “Those whose families are involved really reap the rewards.”
The mission of the Girl Scouts is building girls of courage, confidence and character that make the world a better place — lofty goals that start with simple activities for girls in kindergarten through high school. They benefit from positive female role models and good interaction with other girls, Angela McGraw, leader of Junior Troop 50185, said.
Her girls are working through their badge books that include lessons on looking better and feeling better, cooking, cross-generational activities and activities with younger children. At a recent meeting to help members earn a theater badge, each girl’s individuality was a focus.
“Research shows that out-of-school programs, such as Girl Scouts, offer significant benefits,” said Shelly Chenoweth, CEO for Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. “Among the important outcomes are avoidance of risk behaviors, improved social and emotional skills, and better academic performance.”
About 70 girls are enrolled in Girl Scout troops and the junior high troop is one of the biggest in several years, McGraw said, expressing the hope that the program, and especially the retention of older girls, is on the upswing in Pratt.