Boy Scout Troop 173 is marking its 60th anniversary this year.
This year has given Scoutmaster Chris Muggeo a chance to reflect on his scouts, their service and what it means to be part of a six-decade legacy. He said the anniversary will be recognized with a proclamation at the Town Board meeting on Oct. 7. While the proclamation honors many years of service and the boys deserve the recognition, Muggeo told Yorktown News that the real mission—and the heart of Scouting—is doing “good things not to get the praise. You do good things because it makes you feel good inside.”
Muggeo was never a Scout himself growing up, but got involved because his sons were. He recalls his older son, who once couldn’t tie his own shoes, moving up to the rank of Eagle Scout. It’s a sense of pride that brings visible emotion to Muggeo’s voice and expression.
“Watching him grow and progress through those years made me say I could get behind this, because it's changing my son's life. It changed my life,” Muggeo said. “I was very much a lawn-mower dad, always hovering and afraid of mistakes, until the Scoutmaster told me to step back. Let him make a mistake. Let him fail. Failure is the first step in learning. It's OK. I realized I could relax a little, and it taught me to be a better dad myself.”
What makes scouting so important in Yorktown—a community with a number of troops—Muggeo said, is the families.
Muggeo has seen boys grow into men. And while they may not fully understand what it means to be part of a 60-year legacy, he’s trying to teach them.
“It's about being the best version of you you could be. What we try to do is we try and take a good boy and make them a great man, and that's something society kind of needs today,” he said. “It's not about being an uber man or a toxic man. It's not. It's about learning about the outdoors. It's about duty to God and country. It's about learning what it means to have Scout spirit.”
The scouts meet in the parish center at St. Patrick’s Church, below the main sanctuary. Muggeo discovered a plaque honoring every Eagle Scout through 2010, a display case filled with awards and original paperwork, and boxes of photos. He encouraged the scouts to take on roles, including a historian position to preserve and expand the troop’s history. Over the past year, they earned several awards, including a cooking competition in New Jersey, where they made homemade ravioli in the woods and beat larger troops.
Muggeo recalled the troop’s victory at the Greater Hudson Valley’s winter Klondike. It was their first win in 11 years, achieved through teamwork.
And for them, it’s much more than a win or a trophy.
“It's to show that we're continuing the history of where we started—the legacy lives on,” he said. “We're still here, and we have a legacy. We have history. We have ties to the community, and I think the ties now are going to get even stronger. We love helping.”
Muggeo isn’t going to be scoutmaster forever, and he said he is always thinking ahead to who he can pass the “neckerchief” to. He wants someone else to have the experience.
“I don't think I'll ever quit, just the way the kids, when they Eagle, they don't quit. I think I'll always be there because it's added so much to my life,” he said, adding, “someone else should have this experience too.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here