Two local scouts have recently completed a significant milestone on their journey to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout by making improvements to the camping facilities at Cullens Youth Association.

Kiran Suri of Troop 870 and Simon Corcoran of Troop 70 led teams of volunteers on consecutive weekends to make improvements to a wooded campsite on the 21-acre property on Taunton Lake Road. Both scouts considered many options before deciding on their projects, which involved rehabilitating and enhancing an old campsite that had fallen out of use.

Suri said she saw “potential for good camping grounds, but it needed a lot of work.”

Undergrowth had started to fill in the once clear site, and an old bench had decayed. An old fire pit overflowed with char and was surrounded by dry dead leaves.

“I wanted to make it safer for scouts who come up here to camp,” said Suri, who organized a group of volunteers to dig out and rebuild the pit and to construct new benches.

Working with her father, a civil engineer, Suri designed and constructed a bridge over an often wet gully, creating a safe and lasting trailhead leading to the campsite. Ben’s Masonry Supply & Hardware donated and delivered one ton of gravel for the base, and Suri secured donations from Home Depot for the lumber and nails.

Simon Corcoran was also drawn to the same site.

“Cullens has given a lot to me as a scout. I felt like I should give back,” he said. Corcoran had been a member of Troop 70 since 2019, which meets at the property every Tuesday evening. In that time, he served as the senior patrol leader and as crew leader on a high adventure backpacking trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in the mountains of northern New Mexico. There, he learned some best practices for backcountry camping, which inspired his project.

Corcoran led a group of volunteers to create what scouts call the “Bear-muda Triangle,” a system to store and dispose of items that could attract animals to a campsite. It consists of a bear hang, a wire suspended between two trees from which campers can hang their food overnight, and a sump, a partially buried pipe to dispose of wastewater. Each of these should be at least 50 feet from a camping area.

Corcoran also worked with his grandfather, Frank Pitrone of Newtown, to build a kiosk to teach campers how and why they should use these features.

The Eagle Scout Service Project is an opportunity for young people to learn lessons on leadership while benefiting their community. Both scouts had to recruit and lead teams of volunteers to support the project.

Suri reflected on the preparation needed to make an effective team.

"Before the workdays, I developed a clear plan and communicated my vision and expectations to the team, helping everyone understand their responsibilities," she said.

Corcoran also learned some valuable lessons.

“You should match the job to the person,” he said. “When they enjoy their work, the people around them will enjoy working with them.”

According to research released in April that was conducted by The Harris Poll and commissioned by Scouting America, Eagle Scouts are more than twice as likely as non-scouts to report that they hold leadership positions at work, and they are more than three times as likely to be community leaders. The report also shows a correlation of higher rates of positive feelings about life, optimism for the future, and satisfaction in relationships with Eagle Scouts when compared to those who never participated in scouting.

A New Home For Troop 870

Troop 870 began in February 2019 when the organization formerly known as Boy Scouts of America changed its rules to allow for all female troops. Originally chartered out of Newtown Hook & Ladder, the troop started with six girls, three of whom are now Eagle Scouts.

In the fall of 2024, Hook & Ladder provided notice that they would not continue to sponsor the troop, and the troop scoutmasters and committee members began an extensive search for other places for the troop to meet.

In the end, the scouts were surveyed. The majority preferred Cullens Youth Association, citing how the property could support the outdoor program of scouting. Scouts can camp on-site, cook over an open fire, canoe or kayak on the pond, explore the woods, and play games in the field. The adults voted and agreed with the scouts.

Troop 870 meets there every Thursday from 7-8:30 pm. Scouts develop leadership skills and plan for monthly outings such as backpacking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and cycling. Any girls ages 11-17 interested in visiting the troop can contact Scoutmaster Judy Hammel at hammelbsa@gmail.com.

Cullens is an ideal place for young people to develop as leaders in the outdoors. Open to any youth group, it has a special connection to scouting in Newtown. It is named for the late Paul Archibald Cullens, minister at Newtown Congregational Church and Eagle Scout. In 1928 Cullens led the organization for Troop 70, the oldest of the five troops in town.

The two troops, 870 and 70, are separate organizations. Though they share a chartering organization and location, they meet on different nights and plan their own separate trips. Scouting America, the new name for that national organization, does allow for what it calls "family troops," which are troops with girls and boys participating together. The girls of Troop 870, some of whom have brothers in other troops in town, have always wanted to stay independent.

The girls of Troop 870 have a record of success as scouts. Half of the founders earned the rank of Eagle Scout, while historically only four percent of scouts have earned that rank. Many of the girls have joined the scouting honor society, and some serve as staff at Camp Sequassen and National Youth Leadership Training.

In February of this year, seven years after scouting opened up opportunities for girls to participate, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said, " Ideally, I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men."

Two weeks after Hegseth’s remarks, on March 14th, the girls in Troop 870 competed against many other troops in the region, boys and girls, in the Aquila District Klondike, the winter scout skills competition. They took first place.

Scouting America's national leadership has stated that it will continue to support the over 200,000 girls in scouting.