Troop Information
What does MO-2215 mean?
Each Trail Life troop is identified by their state abbreviation and a number of their choosing. Our troop is identified as MO-2215. 2215 comes from the Bible verse of 2 Timothy 2:15 which says '15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.' Our hope is to instill in our Trailmen the desire to always do their best at whatever they do no matter if it's working on a Trail Life badge or project, their homework or any other task they may pursue. The leaders involved with our Troop strives to lead by example in everything we do as we lead our boys.
When do we meet?
Typically our troop meets every Tuesday night. Our meetings start at 6:30 pm and last until 8:00 pm. We recommend everyone arrive a little earlier in order to go through our check-in process. You can see our calendar of events by clicking the link on the right column of this page.
Check-in process.
As a part of our meetings we check-in each of our boys and their parent or guardian. This process before our meetings helps us track each boy being present and that they are picked up by the correct person after the meeting. We also meet for a closing after which the boys will be release to their parent or guardian.
Where do we meet?
Our troop meets at Grace Bible Church, 601 Blue Ridge Rd, Columbia, MO 65202. For our meetings enter the church from Blue Ridge Rd.
What do we do in a meeting?
At 6:30 we all gather for our opening ceremony where we post colors and recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag and the Christian Flag. After a short opening lead by one of our troop leaders, we will break out into the different patrols to work on the activity for that night. We will either meet indoors or outdoors if the weather allows.
Parent Involvement.
It takes a lot of dedicated people to run our Troop. If you are a parent or guardian of one our Trailmen, we need you. We are in need of people, especially dads, to do many of the tasks for operating our Troop. We are required to have 'two deep leadership' any time our boys are meeting, whether it is in a weekly patrol meeting or on a Hit the Trail or a camp out. Often times this doesn't require any special training or skills but you do need to be a Registered Adult. If this is something you think you would be interested in, please see one of our Troop Leaders at a meeting to start the vetting process. Please consider being involved with your boy and their Troop activities.
What is a Registered Adult?
This position is for registering parents or guardians who, while not serving in defined position, may want to have a more active role with their boys in the program. They pay the regular registration fee with Trail Life USA through the Trail Life Connect site, agree with the Statement of Faith, submit to a background check, complete the Child Safety Youth Protection Training and are approved by the Troop Ministry Liaison. An RA will receive an ID card from the Home Office that identifies them as a Registered Adult. This then allows the local leadership to confidently request their assistance at Troop activities, but doesn't obligate the Registered Adult to any specific service role. This member is regularly involved and (if over 21) helps to meet the two-deep safety supervision requirement.
There is a $10 per Trailman in the family reimbursement for any parent or legal guardian who becomes a Registered Adult for Troop MO-2215 through Trail Life USA.
We also need adults to take on some of our Leadership roles. These roles are needed to properly run our Troop. Adult members who are Registered Adult and are approved by the Core Committee members to be qualified to hold a leadership position with Troop MO-2215 are eligible for partial reimbursement of their registration fees with Trail Life USA . RAs who performs the duties and expectations of a leadership position for Troop MO-2215 for a year or more, may receive a $30 reimbursement after renewing their registration for Trail Life USA through Trail Life Connect. To see a list of our Leadership positions go here.
Trail Life Registration Fees and Troop Dues
Trail Life Registration Fees
Trail Life requires all Trailmen and Registered Adults to pay an annual registration fees of $33.25 for Trailmen and $38.00 for Registered Adults as of August 2023 (these fees may change depending on Trail Life USA updates). Parents who are not Registered Adults will not be required to pay these fees. Fees are paid directly to Trail Life USA for each individual youth and adult member when they submit their initial membership application to Trail Life USA through the Trail Life Connect website and annually there after on the anniversary of their membership with Trail Life. Each member will start receiving a reminders about a month before the annual TL fees are due. You will need to log in through the Trail Life Connect site in order to pay these fees.
Troop Dues
At the beginning of our Troop year we will start collecting Troop dues. Yearly youth member dues per family are $80 per member for the first two Trailmen (boys) and $40 for each additional Trailmen with a family maximum of $200. Troop dues are collected at the beginning of Troop’s year which is in August. If a new member joins the Troop MO-2215 midyear (January or later) Troop dues are reduced to $40 per member for the first 2 Trailmen and $20 for each additional Trailmen with a family max of $100. Dues are for boys only, parents, guardians and Registered Adults do not pay Troop dues.
With these changes in Troop dues, our Troop will now provide the first Trail Life Handbook for all new members of our Troop. Plus we have always provided Troop Standards to new Navigators and Adventures. The Trailman will need to pay for either the handbook or standard if either needs to be replaced. Replacement costs for handbooks are $17 and standards are $50 each.
Troop dues can be paid to the Troop Treasurer at a meeting by cash or check made out to 'Troop MO-2215'. We also now have an online method to pay Troop dues. This can be done by visiting our online Troop store.
These Troop dues stay in our local Troop and help to cover the operating cost for meeting supplies, awards and other various Troop expenses. Troop dues also will go toward helping reduce the cost of individual events like camping and Hit the Trails.
Uniform information
Uniforms and other Trail Life items may be purchased by going to the Trail Life USA website. Here you should be able to use your log in ID and password you have created for Trail Life Connect. If you have not done that, you will need to follow the process to create your credentials on the Trail Life USA store site. In the store you will see all the items available for uniforms and other 'non-uniform' and apparel.
The various Troop uniforms are:
Troop Uniform – button down, green collared uniform shirt with all appropriate patches, awards and shoulder loops, any OD green pants or shorts – standard for all regular troop meetings (optional for summer meetings). Our Troop has relaxed the requirement for official uniform pants and will allow dark green pants in the style of the uniform pants as an appropriate alternative.
Trail Uniform – any Trail Life logo T-shirt with shorts or pants. This uniform would be the summer meeting uniform unless otherwise noted, Hit the Trail activities year-round and on-site during campouts.
Travel Uniform – Official Trail Life Polo in appropriate patrol color (Woodlands green, Navigator gray, Adventurer blue), OD green pants or shorts. Troop uniform can be substituted for Travel Uniform.
To get started we ask that all Trailmen and Leaders at least have Trail Uniform or the Travel Uniform.
Ultimately, each Trailman and Leader will need to have a Troop Uniform to display the pride of being a part of our Troop.
Occasionally we receive used uniform items that we will offer for sale at reduced prices from their original costs. If you are interested in purchasing used uniforms, you can see what we have at one of our Troop meetings. Availability is based on what we receive so some items will may not be available.
Fundraisers
Doing fundraisers are a means for us to raise funds in order to supports the activities of our local Troop such as meetings, Hit the Trail events, and camping, in order to make these events little or no cost for our Trailmen. We will limit the number of fundraisers each year as we don't want our Trailmen and parents to be tied up with money raising activities but be able to remain focus more on activities related to their Patrols and earning badges.
This year we will be selling and other merchandise from Driven Coffee Roasters. Our Troop is in the process of putting together and information packet for our Trailmen to be disseminated at a future Troop meeting.
How do I get more information about joining the MO-2215 Troop?
If you are interested in more information in our local Troop please, use the 'Find a Troop' map to locate our Troop on the map in Columbia, MO. Click on the icon for our Troop and then use the 'Connect with Troop MO-2215' button to bring up a form for you to fill out. One of our leaders will contact you with a follow-up email or call.
More general information is available on the FAQ page on the Trail Life USA website.