GLOVERSVILLE – The city of Gloversville has become the new chartering organization for Boy Scout Troop 7.
City Clerk Jenni Mazur, the Common Council’s liaison to the Gloversville Recreation Commission, made the announcement regarding the Boy Scouts Tuesday night during the council meeting.
“We found out recently that the city’s application to charter Boy Scout Troop 7 was approved, so the city will be the chartering agency of that Boy Scout group,” Mazur told the council. “Basically, it’s going to have to be completely redone from the ground up. Where it stands, they have three active Boy Scouts in it, and no troop committee, so we’re going to be starting-over new.”
On Wednesday Mazur explained that the previous chartering agency for Boy Scout Troop 7 had been the Foothills Methodist Church for approximately the last 60 years. She said in September the city was contacted by Boy Scout Troop 7 leaders Neil LaMere and Stephen Miller who said the church could no longer perform the duties of the chartering organization and asked if the city was interested in doing it.
“We applied for it, and we found out recently that we were approved,” Mazur said. “You have to apply to the Twin Rivers Boy Scout Council. They oversee all of the Boy Scout troops.”
Mazur said to be the chartering organization for the Boy Scout troop the city must pay a $75 annual fee and she and Mayor Vince DeSantis must undergo Boy Scouts of America certification training to serve on the newly reconstituted Boy Scout Troop 7 committee, which will consist of seven members.
“Through the recreation aspect of my job, I (will serve as) the chartering organization representative, and that gives me a seat at the table on the troop committee,” she said. “We will be discussing giving them a meeting place within the city. This is going to be a combined thing where boys from Gloversville and Johnstown will be joining.”
Mazur said right now Boy Scout Troop 7 is meeting at the former Jansen Avenue School in Johnstown, but the goal will be to find a location for meetings in Gloversville with the troop rotating its meetings between the Glove Cities.
The first meeting of the Boy Scout Troop 7 committee has been scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today.
“Right now we’ve got a lot of work to do to get it up and running, but we’re just in the planning phase, and this is another step of the city of Gloversville working towards more youth recreation in the city,” she said.
Mazur said Neil LaMere, who served for years as the scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 7 has agreed to serve as the “assistant scoutmaster” going forward to assist in the transition to the next phase of Boy Scout Troop 7’s existence.
Toward that end, Mazur said the city will be helping Boy Scout Troop 7 to organize a major recruitment event and is encouraging the parents of boys between the ages of 11 and 18 who want to volunteer to serve on the new troop committee to contact the city clerk’s office at (518) 773-4542 or email her at [email protected]
