About Us
Welcome to Troop 423! Our troop is blessed with enthusiastic leadership that adheres to the principles and values of Scouting. Our primary objective is to have fun, and in the process each Scout develops the leadership skills and values that are the heart of Scouting.
Our history
Troop 423 was founded by members of the then-new community at Holy Name of Mary in San Dimas over 50 years ago, and the parish remains our chartered organization today. Generations of San Dimas Scouts have earned their ranks here, including a long line of Eagle Scouts stretching back to 1970.
A youth-led troop
Troop 423 is run by its Scouts:
- Meetings are led by youth leaders; adults handle a few announcements and a short Scoutmaster’s minute
- The Patrol Leaders’ Council (elected Scouts) plans the program monthly and builds the annual calendar
- New Scouts join a new-Scout patrol from crossover through the summer, with experienced Scouts and an Assistant Scoutmaster to guide them
- Outdoor program is diverse: district and council camporees, historical trips, backpacking, climbing, aquatics, canoeing, skiing, and summer camp
Aims and methods of Scouting
The Scouting program has three specific objectives: character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. The methods by which those aims are achieved — each equally important:
- Ideals — the Scout Oath, Scout Law, motto, and slogan. A Scout measures themself against these ideals and continually tries to improve.
- Patrols — small groups where Scouts experience group living and participating citizenship, placing real responsibility on young shoulders.
- Outdoor programs — Scouting is designed to take place outdoors, where skills practiced at meetings come alive with purpose.
- Advancement — a series of surmountable challenges; each Scout plans their advancement and progresses at their own pace.
- Personal growth — service projects, Good Turns, the religious emblems program, and regular conferences with the Scoutmaster.
- Leadership development — every Scout has the opportunity to learn and practice leadership in real situations.
- Uniform — visible commitment to Scouting’s aims, and identity in a worldwide community of youth who believe in the same ideals.
Faith and Scouting
As a parish-chartered troop we take the twelfth point of the Scout Law — a Scout is Reverent — seriously. Scouts of all faiths are welcome; the troop supports Scout worship services and the religious emblems program. All adult volunteers complete both Scouting America youth-protection training and the Archdiocese’s safe-environment program — see Safe Environment.