Troop 8 - Dayton, TX

Troop 8 Scouts Adam King, Marshall Wells, Sammy Wells, Troy Griffin and Regan King talk about their Trail To Eagle Scout on KSHN's Party Line Program.  Host Bill Buchanon asks great questions about their Eagle Scout Service Projects and about the Troop's activities.

https://soundcloud.com/paul-newton-769662044/troop-8-kshn-party-line-12-27-2018

In the wake of the devastation and destruction left by Hurricane Harvey when it hit the Texas Coast in August 2017, Scouts from Dayton Troop 8 jumped into action to help those in need in the surrounding community.

Scouting Magazine is a bi-monthly national publication produced by the Boy Scouts of America. In their March-April 2018 edition, Dayton Troop 8 was recognized for their action and assistance while exemplifying the ideals of Scouting.

As featured in the report:

In the days after Hurricane Harvey in late August, things were looking bad in Dayton, Texas, a small town about 35 miles northeast of Houston.

Like all of its residents, Paul Newton, Scoutmaster of Dayton Troop 8, had a lot to worry about. Dayton is near the Trinity River, which can flood days after a major storm as the water builds and builds from rainfall north of town.

“We were at a point where most of the rains had passed by, but there was a lot of flooding going on,” Newton says. “Things were bad.”

And there in the middle of it all was Troop 8, one of the biggest units in the district. Troop 8 is a boy-led troop, and Newton wanted to see how the boys would handle it.

“My wife was like, ‘Aren’t y’all going to do something?’ ” Newton says. “And I said, ‘Just wait.’ ”

Turns out, Newton was right.

“It probably wasn’t more than an hour after she said that that I got a phone call from Marshall,” he says.

Marshall Wells, senior patrol leader, was on this day a true Scout in action. Marshall had heard people who had evacuated their homes were gathering in nearby Kenefick Civic Center in Kenefick, Texas, where they would hopefully get some basic supplies to keep them as comfortable as possible.  

“I immediately thought of calling our Scoutmaster and told him what was going on,” Marshall says. “And we called the patrol leaders, and the patrol leaders got in contact with the rest of the troop and anyone who was able to go there.”

For hours, truck after truck pulled up to the civic center to drop off toiletries, blankets, pillows, food, water and baby supplies. And for hours, the Scouts of Troop 8 were there to unload and organize it all.

“We basically stayed there until the trucks stopped coming,” Newton says.

Troop 8 Scouts traveled to Austin, Texas to participate in the annual Report To State event hosted by the Capital Area Council. During this event, Troop 8 Scouts marched down Congress Avenue to the State Capital and were able to sit in the seats of the Texas House of Representatives.

The Scouts of Troop 8 have recently built new Patrol boxes for campouts. Now all four of Troop 8's patrols have their own cooking gear for campouts.

In addition, the Patrols of Troop 8 have brand new Dutch Ovens to cook their meals in. In a recent Dutch Oven cook-off contest, our patrols cooked pizza, stew, cobbler, and hamburgers. The competition was tough but congratulations go to the Ordinary Patrol for winning the contest!