About Us
Troop 47 was founded in 1964 and has been operating continuously ever since then. We currently have about forty youth, and take pride in our regular activity, high attendance, and strong Eagle culture.
We value a welcoming and pro-actively inclusive atmosphere. We are proud to have begun a sister troop in 2019, began integrating it in 2024 when the Family Troop pilot program began, and formally integrated in 2026 when the pilot was adopted nationally. We will not turn away any person who wishes to join us.
We strive to maintain a rigorous and informed safety culture. In addition to the safety standards and practices mandated by Scouting America, we also have among our volunteers two professional camp operators, several lifeguards, and a Wilderness First Aid instructor. In addition to physical safety, we also strive for a comprehensive social-safety environment. We believe that Scouting is about challenge, not hazard, and work diligently to ensure that our only harms are the sunburns and sore muscles we signed up for.
Charter and Community Involvement
Scouting units do not stand on their own. We are chartered by Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, who generously provide us with space to meet, store equipment, and park trailers. We are thrilled to have been with them for decades, and look forward to many more.
We are also thankful to the Sun Prairie Lions Club, who provide our primary local campground and our current trailer.
Why Scouting?
There are any number of youth recreational, outdoor, or civic clubs that we could be. We choose to be in Scouting America because we love its robust set of outdoor skills, its network of camps, and its plethora of opportunities. We value the sense of civic participation it engenders, the leadership, planning, and team formation skills it teaches to our youth, and we believe in the community and environment it holds dear.
Many of our adult members were Scouts in their youth, and can personally attest to the positive impact that Scouting has had on their lives at the time and ever since.
High Adventure
Scouting uses this term to describe activities more challenging and rigorous than the tent-camping you’re likely familiar with. We strive to do one high-adventure trek a year, such as a ten-day canoe expedition in the Boundary Waters, or a week on a sailboat in the Florida Keys, or a four-day backpacking trek in the Rockies with only the materials we can carry on our backs.
Because these are more physically and mentally demanding, high-adventure treks are for youth aged 14-21, and carried out through our shadow unit, Venture Crew 2047. The Venture crew is all the same people using all the same skills and resources as the Scout troop, but focused specifically on these treks. If you are already in a Scout troop in Dane County and want to do a high-adventure trek that your troop does not offer, please talk to us about joining only our Venture crew, and only for that year! Many hands make light work.
