Lots of folks who find our web pages want to know more about Troop 285. Well, you've found the right page! We've got an active and large Scout Troop in 285. We usually have between 70 and 100 Scouts, with about 30 active "Grannies" or Scouters involved. Troop 285 is a "Scout-run" Troop. The Senior patrol leader and his staff of older Scouts organize the Troop's activities, take care of most of the instructional periods, and in general keep everyone following the Scout Law. All Troop activities are adult supervised, and our Scouters always work two-deep (in other words, with another adult), so that we maintain a safe and healthy environment for the Scouts. We have been a Quality unit continuously for more years than we can remember, and usually receive our annual Troop Camping award, too. We support the National, District and Council rules and regulations, or we work to get them changed.

We've been chartered for 45 continuous years from the same Chartering Organization, Sombra Del Monte Christian Church. We have just recently welcomed our 6th Scoutmaster, so you can see we've got a little history, continuity and tradition. We are closely linked with a Sea Explorer unit, Ship 14 (which is also sponsored by the charter organization), sometimes having joint campouts. Our geographic location is in the Northeast Heights of Albuquerque, New Mexico (yes, that's in the United States), but we have had Scouts attend from as far away as the East Mountain communities and Rio Rancho, NM.

We are a full uniform troop, meaning that we require full Scout uniform (pants, shirt, appropriate shoes, knee socks if you chose shorts for warmer weather) during meetings, service projects, and when traveling to and from campsites. The Troop maintains a supply of slightly-used uniforms from which Scouts can choose, if they wish to economize on uniform costs.

We camp once a month, even in the winter, and we have a 50 Miler hike, a Philmont expedition (10 days) and a Kanik expedition (weekend) at the Philmont Scout ranch, usually each year. We've been to High Adventure camps at the Florida Sea base recently, and plan to hit others in the future. We also try to make one out of every three Long Term camps an Aquatics camp (yes, we've got some nice lakes in New Mexico!) We tend to do most of the activities with the resources we have within the Troop (including our annual week-long Long Term camp in the summer) since we are the largest Troop and can sometimes tax our District's resources.

We have a high Eagle Scout graduation rate. We have good luck helping a Scout find his way on the Road to Eagle, if he is willing to work hard. We're glad to have had several "graduated" Scouts who have been willing to return in the summers to help with our Long Term camps!

We have a lot of service projects, and a couple of major fund raisers, but we try to keep the cost to each Scout family down to a minimum.

To visit us, you can attend one of our Monday night meetings (every Monday except when we are at Long Term, or the Monday following Christmas, which we take off). We always welcome visitors! We meet from 7 PM to 9 PM each week. During our meeting, we set aside 45 minutes for merit badge instruction, so that the Scouts can work on merit badges without having to find separate time with the merit badge instructors. We also work a very active "Basic Skills" instructional program, in which all young Scouts under the rank of First Class get personalized instruction and a "fast track" to completing the first three ranks (Tenderfoot, 2nd Class and 1st Class).

We have a wide variety of professionals and craftspersons among our Scouters (we have both men and women as Assistant Scoutmasters and in other positions). We can instruct almost any of the Scouting merit badges. A current map can be found from the home page, or call the Scoutmaster (phone number also on the home page) and he'll be glad to talk to you!

There are several other great Troops in the Sandia District (follow the links on our home web page), but we still think we're "The Best of the Great Southwest", as our motto says!

Last Updated - 1998-09-09

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