Scouting Programs at St. Peter Teach Leadership, Teamwork and Faith

Here at St. Peter, we are blessed to have an organization that encourages independence in some of our youngest parishioners while providing their parents with a wonderful resource for helping their children and teenagers grow in character and virtue — the Scouts BSA, represented in our parish by Cub Scout Pack 5 and Boy Scout Troop 5. Participating boys benefit from these programs as they learn outdoor survival skills, participate in community service projects, and forge lasting friendships with their fellow scouts.

Jeff Wilson is the Scoutmaster for Troop 5 and father of Eagle Scout Louis Wilson. As both a leader and a father, Jeff has a great appreciation for the many life lessons made available through the Boy Scouts.

“We basically try to teach them life skills and things that will make them upstanding citizens,” he says. “It’s especially important in this day and age when the boys seem to gravitate toward video games and that sort of thing. Our troop in normal times typically does a monthly camp out, where we go out on Friday night and come back Sunday morning. It’s great just getting them off their devices, outside and learning skills like cooking and how to clean up after themselves and be more self-sufficient. As they get older, by doing all the different merit badges, they might even find things that interest them later in life.”

According to the Scout Law recited at the beginning of all meetings, a scout strives to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” In Boy Scout Troop 5, this last character trait — reverence — takes on a particularly Catholic component. In addition to praying together as a troop, the scouts may earn special religious medals.

“We do the Catholic religious medal program in the Troop every other year for the new kids,” Jeff says. “They put in 40 hours to get the Ad Altare Dei Catholic award. When we do campouts, we try to get back in time for the 11 o’clock Mass on Sundays, and when we go to summer camp, we go as a troop to Mass before we go to camp.”

Another way the scouts live out their faith together is through service. They volunteer with the Parish Picnic each year, and many of the boys are altar servers at St. Peter. Before the onset of the pandemic, they participated regularly in a local service project by wheeling veterans from the Veterans Home to Mass on Sundays.

Having witnessed firsthand how much the Boy Scouts mature during their time in the program, Jeff views the benefits of his son’s participation in scouting to be truly priceless. Because the Boy Scouts are boy-led, the scouts teach and lead one another. Those who make it through to earn the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout, especially, grow in leaps and bounds during their time in the program.

“I was a scout way back, and for me, it’s been a lot of fun watching Louis grow,” Jeff says. “We started out with Cub Scouts and it’s been great watching him go from third grade to a freshman in high school earning Eagle rank. It’s fun to see all the boys go from these scrawny little guys who can’t walk from camp to the bathroom to young men at summer camp going here, there, and everywhere. It’s been pretty amazing to watch them grow up and turn into young men.”

Boy Scout Troop 5 is grateful to our parishioners for all the amazing generosity they have shown our scouts over the years. Thank you for supporting these boys as they make the journey from childhood to men of faith!

October 2020 Camping at Siloam Springs State Park. (From left) Ryan Bergman, Alex Stegner, Cameron Gill, Lucas Ohnemus, Peter Damm, Evan Krohn, Gavin Frese, Louis Wilson, Devin Bradfield, Christopher Gill and Austin Haskins. The bridge was built by Gavin Frese as his Eagle Scout project in 2019.

Are you interested in finding out more about Boy Scout Troop 5? Please contact Jeff Wilson at 217-653-9256 for more information.

Camp Jayhawk Summer Camp, July 2020. (From left) Evan Krohn, Rohan Dighe, Louis Wilson, Matthew Boudreau, Kyle Krohn, Ben Brown, Peter Damm, and Jeff Wilson.

October 2020 Camping at Siloam Springs State Park. (From left) Ryan Bergman, Alex Stegner, Cameron Gill, Lucas Ohnemus, Peter Damm, Evan Krohn, Gavin Frese, Louis Wilson, Devin Bradfield, Christopher Gill and Austin Haskins. The bridge was built by Gavin Frese as his Eagle Scout project in 2019.

First weekly meeting of fall 2020 at the newly completed GaGa Ball Pit that Louis Wilson constructed in South Park, Quincy, for his Eagle Scout project.