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Serving Potatoes
Troop 21 Scouts and adults serve baked potatoes, chili, and several other toppings at the Putnam troop’s Sixth Annual Baked Potato Buffet. The Scouts raised more than $700, to pay for camping gear and Scout summer camp. Photo by John D. Ryan.
PUTNAM — Try this recipe: Take 160 large potatoes, bake for an hour, add some special home-made Creole and French chili and a few other toppings – and you send a Boy Scout to summer camp.
It’s not magic; Troop 21 in Putnam did just that Feb. 10, when Scouts held their Sixth Annual Troop 21 Baked Potato Buffet, in the basement of St. Mary Church of the Visitation. Adding in the evening’s sale of candy bars, and the event netted Troop 21 more than $700.
Scoutmaster Peter A. Lombardo said the Scouts need the money. “Troop 21 never turns any boy away for financial reasons,” said Lombardo, a Putnam resident. “This money will help us to buy needed camping equipment and send our boys to summer camp.
The successful buffet was held the night before Troop 21 celebrated the annual Scout Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s, when Scouts in uniform marched in carrying the American and troop flags and received a blessing from the parish’s Parochial Vicar, Rev. Thomas P. Griffin.
Since the Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910, Scout Sunday has been observed around the country every year, during the month the B.S.A. was founded, in February. It’s part of putting into practice the 12th and final point of the Boy Scout Law, “a Scout is Reverent.”
“It’s great to see that Troop 21’s Scouts are following their Christian faith and being ‘fishers of young men,’” said St. Mary’s Pastor and Troop 21’s Chaplain the Very Rev. David P. Choquette, himself a former Scout. “Troop 21’s Scouts are practicing what being reverent means in real life. It’s still a priority for them, no matter where they are or what the circumstances. That’s a great example for everybody.”
Chartered to St. Mary’s, Troop 21 is open to any boy aged 11 to 17. Scouts do not have to be Catholic or be members of the church. Troop 21 includes a mix of Catholics and Protestants, so the Scoutmaster said that needs to be taken into account.
“We’re taught that ‘a Scout respects the beliefs of others,’ so we make sure that we ask the parents’ permission first and that when they’re out with us our Scouts are allowed to worship God as their parents see fit,” Lombardo said.
The Scoutmaster noted that a Boy Scout troop’s operations are run by the boys themselves, with the adults overseeing transportation and making sure everyone is healthy and safe.
“Right now, Troop 21 needs more Scouts and more adult leaders,” Lombardo said. “We have an active, fun program here in Putnam. We do the kinds of things that many boys wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. We help our young men to develop character and leadership and have fun doing it. We’re looking for boys, their parents and members of the community to come and join us. We’d be happy to have you.” For information about joining or volunteering to help Troop 21, call Lombardo at (860) 963-0171 and leave a message.
Among other activities, Troop 21 started its year in September, helping out on-site at the annual weekend “Circle of Fun” carnival at St. Mary’s, followed by a weekend living aboard the USS Constitution and a hike on the Boston Freedom Trail, a science and technology program for Scouts at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London and the troop’s Christmas party and a Providence Bruins hockey game.
Lombardo said there’s more to come by the time the troop’s program ends with a week of Scout camp in July, with Troop 21 preparing to go winter camping, a food drive for local needy people, a weekend camping in New York at the 56th Annual West Point Scout Camporee at the United States Military Academy, camping with many other local Scouts at the 2018 Nipmuck District Spring Camporee on the grounds of Roseland Cottage in Woodstock and the troop’s fishing and wilderness survival weekend, in June.