Detroit Lakes Boy Scout Troop 674 to host recruitment open house at Becker County Museum on Friday night

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Detroit Lakes Boy Scout Troop 674 will be holding a new recruit open house at the Becker County Museum on Friday night.

Lance Akers, scoutmaster for Troop 674, said they have a dedicated troop of nearly 20 kids who participate in everything from hiking and outdoor skills to trips to the Boundary Waters together. Adding, just this year, four scouts have achieved their eagle scout rank, the highest rank in the Boys Scouts of America.

“Just this year alone, we have had four eagle scouts receive their award,” said Akers. “We currently have another seven getting through the final stages of their process and getting their eagle. So, we’re having a good year.”

He also said this group of scouts really dedicates themselves to scouting, which can involve educational guest speakers, as well as service opportunities in the community.

“By the time we are all said and done, we will have had about 60% of our scouts attaining their eagle just within the last year,” he said. “It’s amazing how these kids have really dug in. We have a very successful program. We are very active with our camping and our hiking … we do a lot of conservation work. If you’ve ever been down to South Shore Park, a lot of our scout’s work went into that with native plantings, tree plantings, and a whole lot of other stuff.”

Akers said the recruitment open house on Friday night is a way to inspire more kids to join scouting and keep the Detroit Lakes scouting program strong.

“Our recruitment night starts at 6:30 p.m. and runs until 8 p.m. at the Becker County Museum,” said Akers. “We’re going to have a bunch or our gear and equipment out there and people can walk in, take a look, talk to some of our scouts to see what we do and what it is all about.”

The Boy Scouts of America is made up of more than 1 million scouts ages 5-21 nationwide. Additionally, there are more than 628,000 volunteers who operate the local troop councils across the United States and its territories.