After 89 years of partnership with the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church, Waterville Boy Scout Troop 436 began 2023 with a new chartered organization.

“Fortunately, we didn’t have to hunt too long as we found the Waterville Masonic Lodge #33 as our new chartered organization,” Scout leader Bruce Rueger said, according to a news release from Chuck Mahaleris, district chairman for the Kennebec Valley District of Scouting.

A chartered organization is a community-based group whose objectives, mission and methodologies are compatible with those of the BSA. It agrees to use the Scouting program to further its mission to serve young people.

The partnership is intended to be deeper than a sponsorship arrangement between a youth baseball team and a local business. In signing an annual charter agreement with the local council, the organization agrees, among other things, to follow BSA rules, regulations and policies; maintain and support a unit committee made up of at least three persons for each unit; and ensure appropriate facilities for regular unit meetings.

“They celebrated our new relationship by presenting the troop with a new Troop flag recognizing our 90 years as a member of the Boy Scouts of America,” said Rueger.

The Scouts received their new flag on March 21.

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