Our Troop
Troop/Unit: 713
https://bsatroop713.com
Council: San Diego-Imperial Council
District: Rancho Coastal
San Diego-Imperial Council
1207 Upas St.
San Diego, CA 92103
Council Headquarters:619-298-6121
Council website: www.sdicbsa.org
BSA Scout Shop: 619-294-3806
Troop Meetings
Troop meetings are usually held every other Tuesday, from 7:13 to 8:30 p.m., at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church between 14th & 15th Streets in Del Mar. Patrol leader meetings usually occur prior to the troop meeting from 6:40-7:13 pm. Please arrive on time with Uniform tucked in, cell phones will be collected at the beginning of the meeting.
Scout-Led Troop
Troop 713 is a scout-led troop. The Senior Patrol Leader and their Patrol Leaders Council set the events calendar for the year, plan the troop meetings, and run all of the events. Adults are present for health and safety concerns, to assist the scouts in developing their leadership skills, and to perform duties that require an adult in order to accomplish the task for legal or contractual reasons. The scouts occasionally stumble, but scouting is a safe environment to learn from our mistakes.
Uniforms
Scouts are expected to wear class A uniforms to Troop meetings, including a scout shirt, neckerchief and slide, official pants, and socks. Class A Uniforms are required at Troop Meetings, Council Events, and while traveling to and from camping trips. Class A uniforms can be purchased at the BSA Scout Shop on Upas St. It is recommended that new scouts buy their shirts with room to grow since patches will need to be re-sewn with each size change. Class B uniforms (the red Troop t-shirts) are used on campouts and other outings and can be purchased from the Quartermaster at troop meetings.
Handbook
New scouts also need to purchase a Boy Scout Handbook. This book is your only official record of your rank advancement work. Take care not to lose it. You should bring it to all meetings when needing signatures for rank advancement. Much of the rank advancement work can be done at campouts. It is highly recommended that you “backup” your handbook by making photocopies of all pages with rank advancement signatures and other information on a periodic basis (especially prior to campouts and summer camp) in case the scout loses his handbook.
Membership
Whether you are a cub scout joining our troop, a transfer scout or brand new to scouting, you will need to fill out a Youth Membership Application and pay dues to the troop. Scouts need to pay their membership dues annually; we re-charter our membership in September. Members coming into the troop after re-chartering will pay a pro-rated portion of the dues.
Medical Forms
During signup, parents must complete Part A and Part B of the medical form for their scout. This form is accessible on both the troop and council web sites listed above. You may fill in the information on your computer and save the file (it is a savable .pdf file). A signed copy of parts A and B must be given to the membership coordinator with the youth membership application. For trips lasting longer than 72 hours (i.e. summer camp), a fresh part A and B will be needed, along with a Part C. If you were able to save the form on your computer, you can make appropriate changes, and print out a fresh copy for the summer camp file. You must print out Part C for your son’s physician to fill out. Part C is good for 12 calendar months after the exam. All three parts must be provided to the Summer Camp ASMs to go with the scouts in the medical folder.
Service Projects
Each year our troop is involved with many community service projects. Scouts are expected to complete a minimum of six hours of service per year and are strongly encouraged to do more. Only service projects that are open for participation by all troop members qualify towards the six hour requirement (example: a troop organized beach cleanup counts, picking up trash at the beach on your own or with a different organization does not). The troop tracks all scout service hours for a yearly report.
Communication
Communication within the troop is very e-mail centric. The number of troop members and the quantity of information to be shared is beyond what can be done via telephone. Additionally, Boy Scouts is an opportunity for the boys to mature and to be responsible for their own communication with leaders and other patrol members. Part of this is checking e-mail periodically, and contacting his patrol leader if unclear on what he is supposed to do. Parents should always allow their scouts to respond to communications on their own. However, parents should also monitor troop e-mail traffic for events and opportunities that might be missed by their scouts. To be added to the email distribution list, please use the Contact form and include your full name, address, and affiliation (Scout, Parent, Leader, former Troop member, prospective Troop member).