Scouts in Caribou County—Wendi Young

February is National Scouting Month, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger supporter of scouting in all its forms than Wendi Young.  Currently, she leads the Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts in Caribou County, and fills a critical leadership role with the Boy Scouts as well.

Over the years, Wendy has seen participation in the scouting programs ebb and flow.  Currently, numbers are down, and fewer memebers than there have been in the past.  But that doesn’t mean that those numbers won’t increase down the road.

The scouts are involved in all kinds of activities during the year, from the youngest Cub Scouts working to get their Whittling Chips to the senior Boy Scouts working on their Eagle projects.

Last week, the Cub Scouts spent the evening learning to bowl.  For Wendi, it was important that the lesson not just be about strikes and spares (and let’s be honest, gutter balls and bumper lanes), but about sportsmanship and dedication.

The scouts meet in the Scout House, located downtown next to the Soda Springs Library and the County Courthouse.  The building has served a number of roles over the years, most recently as youth center.  An arrangement between the City Council and the scouts was reached, whereby the scouts are responsible for building maintenance and repair in exchange for a place to house their activities.  The city pays for utilities and internet.  Wendi is in the process of trying to replace flooring inside the building, and she and the other leaders have worked on the electrical wiring and painting inside as well.  “We’re basically fixing it up so that whenever we are done with it, the city can have someone else use it or sell it and it will be ready to go.  Before the scouts started using it, it was a teen center.  It had games, and things for teens to do.  They used to go there just to hang out. Another thing we do at the Scout House is I have a group of kids from the school come in and do gaming for a couple of hours a week.  They play “Dungeons and Dragons, and Magic Cards.”

“I’ve been approached by some of the girls to use it for dance practice for drill team,” Young continues.  “If they move some of the tables there is enough room to practice some of their routines in there.”

As to the scouts, they “do a lot of hiking, snowshoeing, fishing.  The Cubs can’t camp overnight until they’re twelve, but we have a three day girl camp.  Basically anything you can think of that Scouts do we do.  Knot tying, pocket knives, pine wood derby, raingutter regatta, space derby.  For the Boy Scouts, we’re currently working on the Paul Bunyan award.”  

The Girls Scout camp takes place during the summer.  “We do a three day camp every summer that is just our service unit, and we try to do it in our area.  We call it Clark Park, but its official name is Peace by the River Park.  Our stake president Wade Clark owns a house at the end of this road with a big piece of property that goes down to the river.  It’s got a pond, with some rocks that he’s put in, and he lets people use it for free.  You have to schedule it with them.  They do weddings, and all kinds of things there. It’s a safe place to camp, and it’s close enough for all of our younger girls.  Their parents can go and check on them.  And if, you know, they’ve never spent the night outside before they can call them and have them come visit or even take them home if they need to.”

As the leader for all of the Scout programs, Young has been the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts Charter Organization Representative for the Grand Teton Council for five year for Troops 500, as well as the Service Unit Organization leader for the Silver Sage Girl Scouts Troop 504.

“I have grandkids in scouts.  I started with one of my older grandchildren who is now 18.  He started in Cub scouts when he was six or seven,” she says.  There are currently six Boys Scouts in the program and three Cub Scouts.  Twelve Girl Scouts make up their organization, with one member enrolled in both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

“We used to have twenty some girl scouts, but once they hit a certain age they get involved in so many things it’s hard to stay in.  In fact, my one granddaughter she’s in scouts, but she’s also on the drill team.  This year she comes to meetings for about 30 minutes, then goes to school and does drill team, and then goes home and does her homework for school and scouts,” Young explains. 

Young also helps her daughter out at the bowing alley in Soda Springs.  “My oldest daughter manages this place,” Young says, putting on bowling shoes.  “And they’re short handed right now, so I can help cover for her and do my troop meeting.  Small towns, you know, you have to wear a lot of hats.

“As far as the Cub Scouts, I’ve got to plan a Blue and Gold Banquet.  February is the birthday of scouting, and Wendi is in the process of scheduling the traditional February celebration.  “I’m basically running all the programs.  I don’t have any other leaders helping me with the Cub Scouts.  Besides the Charter, I’ve got my daughter who steps in when I need her.  You always have to have two leaders.  She’s usually running around with her kids so she can’t always help with the planning, though she does do a lot of my girl scout planning,” Young says.

For the rest of this month, the Boy Scouts are working on their Paul Bunyan 

Award with their leaders, Mike Nalley and Chris Guetes.  The Bunyan award requires the earning of the Totin’ Chip, permitting the scouts to use axes, saws, and knives.  This week, they are finishing making sheaths for hatchets.  Then they will learn how to repair and sharpen them.  And after they pass all that off, they will get a hatchet to keep in their pack.  It’s similar to the Whittlin Chip for Cub Scouts.

Wendi and her husband both grew up in Grace, where they went to school together and dated in high school.  They were married right afterward, and have been married for forty years.  She has been involved in Scouting for much of that time due to her grandkids.

Two recent Eagle Scout projects involved putting a post in the ground with a sign to help traffic make its way through 8 mile.  Another Scout went to the senior living center and got a Christmas list from the residents.  He raised money by putting together meal kits.  He used that money to buy gifts for the residents, getting all the scouts involved in the project. 

There is a Girl Scout program called 4 For Her, where parents can come in and volunteer four hours to help with the scouts without being a registered leader.  They can’t run activities on their own, but they can help out for 4 hours a week.  Currently, a number of parents help out when they are able, but Wendi reiterates that they are always welcome.

In addition to managing the activities of the three scout groups, Wendi is also responsible for managing three separate budgets.  GS is largely funded by the Fall Product and Cookie sales, as well as dues, which are used to pay for badges and supplies.  The Cubs and BS is mostly out of Wendi’s pocket, as the dues are sent to the Council.  The organizations are allowed to take donations from the community.  Right now, the boys have the opportunity to sell jerky, but they haven’t really jumped on it.  “You know, it’s such a small community that the kids are selling things all the time for school and clubs, and it’s just one more thing.”

“We tried selling girl scout cookies at the Farmer’s Market, but they turned into more of a complicated thing than we planned.  We do booths at the Scout House.  The businesses are really good—like Lallatin’s and other places—at letting us set up booths.  She has had Bayer matches in the past for around $1000.  So, we count on a lot of community support, and for the most part, people are really good about it,” Young says. 

Boy Scouts, for kids from 10 to 18, meet at the Scout House at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.  Girl Scouts, for kids beginning in kindergarten or first grade, meet at 5:30 on Mondays.  And Cub Scouts, for kids from kindergarten through fifth grade, meet at 6:00 p.m. on Thursdays.  Anyone interested in joining one of the scouting programs in Caribou County can call Wendi at 208-221-4312.  The Boys are members of the Grand Teton Council, and the Girls are in the Silver Sage Council.  Applications and information can be found online.