Troop 61 is a boy-led Scouts BSA unit in Southwest Austin with scouts ranging in age from 5th grade through high school. We are chartered by Austin Ridge Bible Church Southwest in Oak Hill.
**See what our scouts and leaders have to say about Troop 61**
Get to know us!
The best way to find a good troop is to try one out first hand. If you would like to come see if Troop 61 would be a good fit for your scout, consider coming to one or more of the following events:
1. Visit with us at Webelos Woods on October 21st, from 9am-12pm, at Dick Nichols park.
2. Try out a troop meeting at our Webelos Open Houses on October 29th and December 3rd, from 4-5:30pm, at Austin Ridge Bible Church SW. Your scout will get a chance to meet our scouts, help out with a service project, play some games and see what Scouts BSA is all about. Parents will have a chance to hear about scouting from the adult perspective and ask any questions you have.
3. Join us on our December campout at Pedernales Falls on December 8-10. You and your scout are welcome to come up for the day or camp with us on one or both evenings.
If you would like to attend any of these events, please let us know and we’ll make plans for you to join us. We look forward to meeting you and your scout and hope Troop 61 will become your next scouting home!
For more information...
If you have questions or want to visit us, please email Joy Lobb at info@austin61.mytroop.us.
Meetings
We meet year-round, most Sundays, from 4:00-5:30pm at Austin Ridge Bible Church, 7416 W, TX-71, Austin, TX 78735. Meetings are held in-person and outdoors in the field adjacent to the church.
Camping
We camp one weekend a month during the school year. The troop carpools from the church to campsites on Friday evening and returns to the church Sunday afternoon. (Troop meetings are not held on weekends with campouts.)
Check out the amazing experiences we’ve had at some of our recent campouts!
Summer / Winter Camps
During the summer, scouts can go for a week of fun at places like Camp Cris Dobbins, Lost Pines Scout Ranch or Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch. These camps offer scouts the chance to earn merit badges and experience archery, rifle shooting, boating, stand-up paddling boarding, climbing and many other fun activities.
The location of Summer Camp in June 2024 is TBD.
Winter Camp this year will be at Lost Pines Scout Camp on Jan. 3-6, 2024. Scouts can earn merit badges and have fun in the (cooler!) outdoors.
High Adventure
For older scouts (14+), we plan high adventure opportunities to places like Philmont, Sea Base and Northern Tier. At these summer-time camps, scouts can take 50+ mile backpacking trips, 10 day canoeing trips or sailing trips as well as other adventures of a lifetime!
For the summer of 2024, the troop will send a group to Northern Tier for a 12 day canoeing trip, July 2-13.
Leadership
An important part of scouting is providing boys with opportunities to grow as leaders. The troop is divided into 5 patrols of mixed age and rank. Within the patrols, younger scouts learn from older scouts and eventually have the opportunity to become leaders of their patrol. The troop activities for meetings and campouts are chosen and run by scouts as well, with adults taking a background role as advisors and mentors.
Service
Service to the community is a founding tenet of Scouts BSA. Through Eagle projects, campout service projects and other community service projects, hundreds of hours of service are rendered by Troop 61 each year.
Dues
Our annual dues cover National BSA dues, weekend campouts, meetings, troop equipment and supplies. While National doesn’t require it, we request that one adult register with the scout as this helps to ensure smooth troop operations.
Troop History
When Margaret Covell was Cubmaster of Pack 61 at Mills Elementary School she always wanted a Troop 61 for the boys of Pack 61 to cross over. But starting a troop is a huge endeavor and the idea was just a dream.
In March 2004 Lee Molstad began his pursuit of the Wood Badge Award by enrolling in advanced training in leadership skills. To complete the Wood Badge each candidate must complete a project. The majority of his Wood Badge ticket was the creation of Troop 61.
When Southwest Hills Community Church (Now Austin Ridge Bible Church - Southwest) moved to its present location, part of their community outreach was to have a scout troop or pack at the church. At first this was to be a new Cub Scout pack, but wiser counsel prevailed, and the direction was changed to have a Boy Scout troop at the church instead.
Lee first contacted Margaret Covell; here was an opportunity for her dream to come true. She agreed to be the Troop's first Committee Chair. The next important position Lee had to find was Scoutmaster. He was lucky to be able to recruit James DuBose to be the first Scout Master of Troop 61. With these two pivotal positions filled, we were able to charter Troop 61 and hold our first meeting on January 23, 2004 with 6 boy scouts from different troops. One month later, we crossed over 16 cub scouts, raising our membership to 22 scouts.
Jim Covell became Scoutmaster in December 2006. Since that time enrollment has grown to about 60 active scouts and more than 30 adult leaders. Troop 61 currently has produced more than 60 Eagle Scouts. We camp 38 nights a year with 50% of our scouts attending. Jim continued as Scoutmaster until the end of 2011, handing the reigns to Benton Mahaffey. Benton's role was cut short when his family moved to Houston in June of 2012, and he was succeeded by Billy Riggs, who served until August of 2015. Billy passed the torch to Dave Read, who served until December of 2018.Carter Vecera was Scoutmaster from 2019 through 2021, and continues to serve the troop as an Eagle advisor. He was succeeded by current Scoutmaster Keith Dewey who also holds the honor of Eagle Scout.