The Saddleback District is here to welcome you and your family with open arms. The Saddleback District is founded on the principle of Communities And Mentors Embracing Lifelong Scouting. AKA, Saddleback Camels. Whether your scout is 5 years old and just beginning their journey, or 20 years old and shaping their career path, we are here to support and guide you every step of the way. 

Click below to read about best practices and success stories from some of our leaders.

You added 13 new members, 30% growth since July. What do you attribute to your growth in membership this year? We have been very active in the community and despite some pushback, we do what we can with our local schools. We are at every BTSN, we have a close relationship with our PTA (even though we only have one passive member in the PTA). We hold open houses that are very active. But I would say that our membership chair is key as she contacts everyone that we meet via email and phone as a follow up strategy
 
How much involvement do you have with your local city and community events? We participated in roughly 7-12 major activities this year and I would say 60% would be community focused. This would include participating in the Lake Forest 4th of July Parade, National Night Out, Elf Yourself which is sponsored by the local chamber of commerce. During the Clean Lake Forest event, we pick up trash at our local school just to keep our exposure with them. We had a really cool event where we partnered with the local law enforcement during 911. They get a chance to watch the motorcycle team carrying the US flag and even get a chance to ride with them. 
 
How do your scouts and parents know about planned activities? We have a great website where we post everything. But I think what we do that really works is we send out an email blast every Friday night. It’s an automatic email blast to all members which spells out the activities, the pack needs, we recognize members, and a bunch of stuff. But we make sure that everyone knows what’s going on and what the expectations of them are. 
 
What do you do to keep your cubs entertained? Every pack meeting we have included an activity, game, craft, or service project. 
 
Anything specific? The kids really like something we call “pie in the face.” This is where if a scout sells $300 popcorn, they get to smack a pie in my face. Not only does it promote fun, but it also helps in our popcorn sales. 
 
One more? We have a great partnership with our local Girl Scouts. During Red Ribbon Week, they typically post all the ribbons, and we take them down. This way we stay in front of a key initiative of the local schools and communities. 
 
Last one? We work with a group of special needs kids during Halloween. During our October pack meeting, scouts decorate ‘”trick or treat” bags, fill them up and give them to kids who can’t experience “trick or treating” because of physical limitations. They are excited and our scouts get to experience another level of life. 
 
Do you always have good parent participation? Not always. We understand they are volunteers. But when we bring a parent in, we have them complete a survey of their likes. An example would be we have a father that said he really wouldn’t be active. But he loves to hike. So, we created a position called “Hiking Head Honcho.” That’s his role and he’s very active with the scouts at every hiking event. We have the same with a family that’s kind of quiet but loves to camp. So, they are the Camping Honcho’s.
 
Any concerns as you enter 2025? I’ll be aging out. I feel we’ve done a great job of thinking about this day as we bring in new families. We have some great rising leaders and I’m just hoping I’ve done everything I can to have created a positive experience for the next round of scouts. I also think that as we live in a different world today, that families, communities, and kids continue to see “scouting” as a great place to learn and develop good skills. 
Your troop added 12 new members, 25% growth over last year. What do you attribute this to? We are very honest with our scouts. They have a large responsibility for unit growth. We encourage them to reach out to their circle of friends and talk to them about scouting.
 
Where do your scouts recruit from?  Our troop is unique. We don’t have an associated school. Our members are homeschooled, in private, public, and non-traditional schools.
 
So, what do they do? Say they have a friend that they go fishing with, they’ll ask their friend “Did you know that you just earned your fishing merit badge?” Or if they ride bikes together, it’s a “Cycling” merit badge. Scouts are encouraged to fold scouting into every part of their daily life. Even for our older scouts, they can explain how merit badges provide insight to a college major and/or career.
 
How do they know what to say? We practice with role plays, skits, scripts, and anything to help them become comfortable talking about scouting whether it’s with boys or girls. We remind them that they will likely have more fun with scouting if they do it with their friends.
 
You started scouting as a volunteer and now Scoutmaster. What would you say to a new scouting parent as a way to embrace scouting? Be at every meeting! Attending meetings allows you to see first-hand how your scout interacts with others, while you gain exposure to best practices from other families. Active parents often gain new friends with like interests. If your unit is going fishing, invite a friend from work, church, or the neighborhood to join you and bring their child. Again, it’s about working, growing, and having fun with people in your circle.
 
At your closing ceremony, you asked your members to join hands and form a jellybean…not a circle. Our unit cannot make a perfect circle no matter how hard we try. But that’s OK. Our unit is made up of different channels. We are more like jellybeans which are also not perfect in shape. It’s become kind of our brand. Where we are perfect is in our consistent belief in the Scout Oath and Law.
 
How active is your unit? We participate in 2 activities per month. One is usually a campout and the other a bike ride, hike, etc. We are also active in our community. We plant trees, march in parades, support flag ceremonies, and others.
 
You just recognized your first 7 Eagle Scouts since the unit started. How did you keep these scouts committed all these years? We kept ourselves and the scouts very active in their early years. We were also committed to creating a Crew, so it gave them something to look forward to beyond reaching Eagle. Engaging a mix of boys and girls is important to us. Our Crew espouses the opportunity to grow together. It sends a message that friendship through scouting is lifelong.
 
What does 2025 look like for you?  I’m “all in” when it comes to scouting. I believe through our youth; we can build leadership in our households. If they can do that in one household, and then another, they can impact an entire neighborhood, and then a community. I also want to build a base of adults and female leaders professionally trained for the benefit of our youth.

You’ve been in scouting since 2005, girl scouts, cub scouts, boy scouts, multiple leadership positions, and your kids have all aged out… What drives you to continue your commitment to Scouting? I love the program and the kids. There are so many ways that scouting can make a difference to our youth. Being part of that is fulfilling and something that I want to keep doing. 

If you had to say one thing to scouting parents, what would it be? Become active with your scout’s unit. Even if the idea of being outdoors or camping doesn’t appeal to you, there are a multitude of other roles on the committee that are just as necessary. In fact, the scout leaders can’t really execute the program without the committee members who provide the “back office” support.

 

Can you elaborate? For the Scout Leader to lead an overnight campout, for example, there needs to be a campsite reservation in place (usually far in advance), the funding mechanism to pay for that campsite and all its expenses (usually managed via a website, etc.), communications, transportation, paperwork regarding medical forms… you get the picture. For the Scout Leaders to focus on on-site leadership and to deliver the program to the scouts, these other logistics are handled by the committee – and are just as important.

Since you’ve been a parent of two scouts transitioning from Cubs to Scouts BSA, what have you learned that you can share with others? Knowing that packs and troops operate differently, it’s important that we, as Scouters, brief new parents and scouts entering a troop about those differences at the beginning, while also realizing that it can seem like drinking from a fire hose for them. So, setting expectations, but not overwhelming them all at once with acronyms and assumptions that they understand what’s going on and how the troop operates. It should be a welcome experience and not a surprise party.  With that said, though, it’s an on-going education during the scout’s time in the troop.

My son and I were members of your troop many years ago. And many of your leaders are still there. How do you keep the team and parents together? We try to make sure that above all, scouting is fun. And not just for the scouts but for the leaders and parents too. You have to find ways to keep both groups engaged. To that end, we typically plan a few events each year that are “family” activities, like beach days, service projects and holiday potlucks. When parents know each other (and the leaders), it’s a more family-friendly environment, rather than just a drop-off activity for their scouts.

It seems like Scouting is constantly changing. What do you do to stay current? Scouts BSA and our own Orange County Council have so many resources to keep current. In addition to reading the regular email newsletters, I attend the monthly roundtable meetings, and I also participate in various scout training programs, including the High Adventure Team (HAT), which is one of my favorites.

What does 2025 look like for you? Well, I still plan to be involved with my unit, and hopefully continue as a Unit Commissioner, where I’m responsible for three units. But I’m also taking on new roles at the district level that will tap into my past scouting experience and reach a broader audience. As long as I keep having fun in scouting and feel like I can make a difference, I plan to continue volunteering.

Twenty-Five years of scouting. Your son became an Eagle years ago and you even have grandchildren from him. Yet, you’re still a Scout leader. What keeps you involved? I love the value of scouting. I’ve seen what it does for young boys and girls as they become young leaders in our community. There is just a passion when it comes to Scouting that I don’t see in many other organizations.

How did you get involved with Scouting? My dad was a Scout and many others in my family. My dad ended his Scouting career as a First Class. I decided to continue and in 1974, I reached the rank of Eagle. I was also a member of the Ship 73 Newport Beach Explorer program where I learned survival skills on Catalina with the SEAL team. We transferred out of a helicopter into a small inflatable raft and then paddled to shore. I don’t think we can do that in Scouting anymore.

What do you think is the biggest issue for kids today when it comes to joining Scouts? I think it’s the competition for time. They have school, sports, music… There are many other programs that they and parents believe will position them for future success. What they don’t think about is that Scouting doesn’t require perfect attendance, it does not require skills with others like sports does, everyone and anyone can participate no matter what their skill level is, and they are led by well trained professionals and not just parents that were once high school or college athletes themselves. It’s just a different organization with a different purpose. In Scouting, we’re focused on growing well respected and balanced kids based upon the Scout Oath & Law, timeless values. In other organizations, it’s about winning a trophy.

So, what do you say to kids that fall into this situation? I let them know that if they are willing to invest 15 minutes per day toward Scouting, they will eventually progress toward the rank of Eagle. And the longer they stay, they’ll see older kids sharing the value of Scouting, they’ll be exposed to new skills, and if they want, they can still continue their other programs. I’m not against sports programs. My son went far in baseball, and I was a swimmer. But at some point, comparative skills will come into the picture, along with cost, and they may not have anything to fall back on. But Scouting is a comparative program. Conversely, Scouting wants everyone to succeed and at a lower price tag.

What do you think about Scout provided training? It’s the best. I’ve worked for some very large corporations that didn’t have anywhere near the training I received from Scouting. And they paid a lot of money to have those. For example, Wood badge has to be one of the best programs I’ve ever participated in.

Many Eagles leave Scouting once they’ve earned the rank. What advice do you have for those Scouts? I remind them that in almost all cases, they looked up to one of the older Scouts for direction and as a role model. Knowing that, they should realize that younger Scouts are probably looking at them the same way. If they don’t stick around, who will they look up to and be inspired to model after? I do suggest to them that now participation is on their time and encourage them to show up when they can. Balancing continuing Scouts with other demands on their time is difficult but possible. Upon earning the Eagle Scout rank I suggest that they find a quiet place and reflect on all that they have accomplished, perhaps write down their thoughts and feelings. I didn’t do that, and I wish I could have because Scouting provides so many lessons.

What would you like 2025 to look like for you and for Scouting? I would like to see us continue to get more girls involved in Scouting. I’d like to see more unit leaders participate in programs like Roundtable as there are so many great internal resources. And even visit peers outside our council. I’d like to have more parents take the time to see first-hand how their kids have grown as they climb the latter of Scouting. And last, I hope to continue to be a valuable resource to all Scouts.

×