OA Website/Dues   OA Annual Pass   Trail To Eagle   Brick Campaign   Charlie Duerk Memorial   Camp Scholarships

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to us on YouTube

Old Sycamore Spotlight, June 2020            

Scouter of the Month

Curt Brookhart
Troop 95 in New Bremen
Council VP of Program

Curt Brookhart started as a Cub Scout in Coldwater but did not reach Eagle when he was a youth. Curt got back involved when son joined Cub Scouts and, when his son and den crossed over early, Curt accepted offer to be Troop 95’s new Scoutmaster. Curt spent six years as Scoutmaster where he worked to improve the troop and more than doubled the number of scouts in the troop, more than half of which reached the rank of First Class. Curt believes the most daunting part of becoming a Scoutmaster was when he realized he’d be the adult male role model for many of the young men in his troop, and that overseeing scouts’ advancement is one of the most important parts of being a Scoutmaster.

Soon enough, Curt was recruited by the Distrist Executive of that time to be Old Sycamore’s District Chair. Through working in that position, starting or restarting new units for each school district across Old Sycamore, and recruiting fantastic scouters to help at the district level, Old Sycamore was arguably and objectively the best district in the council at the time, says Curt.

After a while as the Old Sycamore District Chair, the same District Executive who’d recruited Curt to be our District Chair had taken on the Council Program Director position and asked Curt to move up to be the Council Camping Chair. During Curt’s many years as the Council Camping Chair, he led the improvement of Camps Lakota and Berry which helped the Black Swamp Area Council’s camping program become the highest-rated in the entire Central region at the time. Expanding Curt’s responsibilities on the Council level, he moved up to the Council Vice President of Program where he oversees Council committees on Camping, Advancement, Activities, Training, and more. Curt has also served on Wood Badge staff several times, getting to know not only many of our Council’s scouters but also many from Erie Shores (Toledo) and southern Michigan.

In addition to all of Curt’s commitments in the Black Swamp Area Council, he has taken on projects at the Area (western Ohio all of Indiana) and Central Region (covering W. Virginia to Kansas to N. Dakota and all area in between) levels. Curt has been part of an Area Camp Assessment team since 1997, where he visited other BSA camps wishing to be Nationally Accredited and helped those camps achieve that goal. Curt chairs a new team of Region volunteers for a Property Evaluation Committee that goes to camps upon request and makes recommendations for long-term goals. Curt was recognized for his many efforts at the Area and Region levels in May 2019 when he was presented with a Silver Antelope at the BSA National Meeting.

Curt has also served on staff at three National Jamborees and one world Jamboree.

Curt’s family has been very involved in Scouting – his four daughters all earned their Gold awards and his son earned his Eagle. Curt also has two sons-in-law who are Eagle Scouts, one of which is the current Scoutmaster for Troop 44 in Minster. His daughters have all at some point been leaders for GSUSA troops. Curt has one grandson who has earned his Eagle, two granddaughters who’ve earned their Gold awards, and two grandsons who “by golly had better get their Eagles done this year.” If you’ve attended Roundtable anytime in at least the last few years, you might’ve met our District Commissioner, Terri Maurer, who is one of Curt’s daughters. Terri was awarded the Silver Beaver in February this year for her extensive work and commitment for the units in our district.

Curt believes that Scouting continues to be an outstanding program watching what can be achieved for young people, teaching them to be self-sufficient and developing interpersonal skills and leadership skills if the program is put together correctly, and giving them opportunities to grow. Curt’s biggest passion right now is seeing more and more adult leaders learn to have the scouts run the program and make it scout-led so they can develop those skills.

It is rare to find a scouter who has done more or is as committed to the Scouting program as Curt Brookhart. We’re incredibly proud of all of his efforts for Troop 95, for the Old Sycamore District, for the Black Swamp Area Council, scouters in Wood Badge, for Area 6, for the Central Region, and for the National program. If you want a Scouter you can count on for good advice and guidance, Curt’s your man.

Know a Scouter or a unit you would like to see in a future Spotlight?
Contact Brian Botti at 
brian.botti@scouting.org or at 567-259-6201!

      

Black Swamp Area Council
2100 Broad Avenue, Findlay Ohio
(419) 422-4356