About Us

Scouts BSA Troop 27 and 4027 of San Mateo, are in the Redwood District of the Pacific Skyline Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Troop 27 was founded in 1951 by the Hillsdale United Methodist Church. The Congregational Church of the Peninsula became our sponsor in 2022.

Troop 27 has a rich history of providing youth with the opportunity to learn, grow, and hone skills that ultimately make for a more rewarding life. In 2019 a girl’s troop was added, Troop 4027, to the Troop 27 family.

Troop 27 has an active outdoor program that is based on canoeing and water-oriented activities during the warmer months. Our summer camp is the envy of many – we use old-fashioned Scout skills to build a High Sierra camp from scratch, and afterward return our camping area to the condition in which it was found, or better. Other activities include backpacking, bicycling, caving, skiing, snow camping, target shooting, and a variety of others. Adventuresome “fun with a purpose” is an important objective that is achieved in a safe, youth lead manner and helps the Troop fulfill its mission of teaching timeless Scout values.

Troop 27 provides our community with a variety of service that includes helping those who don’t have a place to live, memorializing our veterans, and collecting food for local food banks. Numerous Eagle Scout projects add to the variety of community service projects our Troop regularly performs. We look for opportunities to share the experience of satisfaction in serving others and prove the wisdom of humility and thankfulness.

Advancement and leadership in Troop 27 are important functions. The Troop has advanced hundreds of youth through the rank of First Class and has one of the best records anywhere of graduating Eagle Scouts. Ultimately, every youth in our Troop has an opportunity to lead others whether it’s as a Patrol Leader or in other leadership roles. Troop 27 alumni continue to be active in Troop leadership well into adulthood and provide a unique perspective that is appreciated. We are fortunate to have many Eagle Scouts as adult leaders in the Troop; however, every adult leader is trained to ensure the best possible experience for our youth.

Please come visit us – we’d love to see you explore what Scouting has to offer, and how Troop 27 can help you achieve your goals. Contact our Scoutmasters for information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about Troop 27 and scouting.

Q1When and where does your troop meet?
A. Troop 27 meets on Tuesday nights from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Q2. How often has your Troop achieved Quality Unit status in the last 5 years?
A. Troop 27 has achieved Quality Unit status every year for the past 5 years.

Q3. How old is your troop?
A. Troop 27 was founded in 1951 and celebrated its 70th anniversary in September 2021.

Q4. How are new Scouts handled? Are they mixed in with existing patrols or put into a new scout patrol?
A. New scouts join an existing patrol.  Our patrols are reasonably balanced in age and rank, which works well for inter-patrol skills competition and games.  Our oldest scouts are in a separate patrol.

Q5. How do new Scouts learn what to do as Scouts (camping skills, patrol activities, advancement, etc.)? Will they have an experienced adult leader working with them?
A. The new scouts will learn from the older scouts, their Troop Guide, the leaders, and by reading the scout handbook. Many requirements are covered in group instruction at troop meetings and on camping trips. They are mentored by an assigned Assistant Scoutmaster.

Q6. How many registered leaders are there? What is their attendance history at regular meetings and on outings?
A. Troop 27 has over 30 active leaders. Typically we have 9-10 attend regular meetings and 5 or more on outings.  At Summer Camp 2013 we had 25 adult volunteers and 40 scouts for the week.

Q7. What is the scout/leader ratio at meetings and on outings?
A. Usually 4 scouts to each leader.

Q8. Do you have an active outdoor program? How often do you camp?
A. Troop 27 has outings 11 months of the year: generally 2 snow trips, 2-3 canoeing trips, 3 regular camping trips, Treasure Hunt, Camp-o-Ree, and a week-long summer camp. On two of these the scout’s family is invited.

Q9. Where do you camp?
A. We have camped at national, state or county parks, BSA Scout camps or KOA’s.

Q10. What are the plans for summer camp?
A. Each year we pick a wilderness area in the Sierra for summer camp. The camp is built from scratch by the older scouts and experienced adults. Each day there is swimming, games, crafts, hikes, rank and merit badge work, and a campfire program each night. We camp on a lake and make good use of our canoe fleet.

Q11. What is a typical Troop meeting like? Do you work on merit badges? Do you play a lot of games?
A. The first 15 minutes is gathering and sometimes a game. Patrols are assembled and then we have the opening flag ceremony. Next comes announcements followed by a presentation or work on a merit badge, skill building or rank advancement. The last 15 minutes is often a game, then we have the closing ceremony which includes the presentation of awards (rank and merit badge).

Q12. What is your philosophy on uniforms?
A. On the first meeting of the month the scouts must wear their class A uniforms (scout shirt and pants). Class A is also required for flag ceremonies at summer camp and other outings, Courts of Honor, Scout Sunday and Memorial Day Grave decoration. For other scout events any scout shirt (including Troop 27 T-shirts) may be worn.

Q13. What is your philosophy regarding advancement (at what pace are the ranks earned)?
A. Troop 27 encourages each new scout to earn their First Class rank by the end of their  second year. After that the scouts work at their own pace and usually earn their Eagle between their 15th and 18th birthdays.

Q14. Are your Scouts able to balance Scouts with other activities such as sports, band, church, etc.?
A. Yes. Many of our scouts have other activities and we understand they are not able to attend all of our scout functions. But they still can progress as scouts in Troop 27.

Q15. What kind of program do you have for the older scouts? Are there any high adventure activities?
A. The older scouts have their own patrol, serve as instructors at our summer camp and may join Venture Crew 27, which is an outdoor adventure scout group for boys and girls ages 14-20.  The crew youth choose a monthly outing that in the past has included activities like canoeing, sailing, hiking, climbing, and skiing.  They camp out for many of these outings. Every summer they take a 10-14 day Super Trip to places such as Costa Rica (2012) and Yellowstone (2013).

Q16. Is your Troop “scout-run” or “adult-run?”
A. About half and half, but our goal is to be more “scout-run”.

Q17. Are Troop meetings and activities planned: a) by the scouts? b) for a full year? c) at a patrol leaders meeting?
A. High-level planning is by scouts and adults for a full year and events are listed in our on-line T27 calendar. Campouts and other activities are planned in detail at monthly patrol leader meetings.

Q18. Does your Troop have a limitation on size?
A. No.

Q19What equipment do you have? Is it in good shape? Do you have enough if several scouts join your Troop?
A. Troop 27 has tents, tarps, stoves, cookware, canoes, life vests (PFDs), a CPR dummy, first aid kits and a merit badge booklet library. We plan for new scouts so we always have enough gear in good shape.

Q20. What kind of fundraising do you have?
A. Troop 27 encourages, but does not require, scouts to participate in popcorn and Christmas wreath sales. We occasionally have other fundraising activities.

Q21. What are the financial obligations for each Scout for dues, outings and summer camp?
A. Dues are $25 each quarter. Camp outs vary from $25 for a simple overnight to $75 for a two-night ski trip (plus lift tickets). The week-long summer camp costs around $275. Part of the money from fundraisers goes into each participating scout’s impound account and can be used to pay for dues or outings. We have a limited amount of money for “camperships”. We also have some “experienced” uniforms that can be borrowed by new scouts.

Q22. Do you pay for or subsidize training for the scouts (National Youth Leadership Training, Den Chief training, etc.)?
A. Yes, if requested.

Q23. How active is your Troop at District and Council events?
A. Troop 27 supports the District and Council by participating in the Klondike Derby, Camp-o-Ree, Scouting for Food, Webelos-to-Scout open house events, and Merit Badge Midways. Many of our youth have been asked to be staff at the Council’s annual National Youth Leader Training program. Some of our adult leaders have positions in the District and we always have one or two attending the District Roundtable meetings.

Q24. How many current leaders are trained in: Youth Protection? Scoutmaster Fundamentals? Woodbadge?
A. All T27 leaders are trained in Youth Protection. The Scoutmaster and most ASM’s have taken Basic Scout Leader Training and some have Advanced Outdoor Training. Several leaders have their Woodbadge and a few more are working on it. Many leaders also have Red Cross CPR/First Aid certificates and Safe Swim/Safe Boating training.

Q25. What are the expectations/requirements of new adults/parents to this Troop as assistant leaders, committee members, special event chairpersons, event workers, or merit badge counselors?
A. Troop 27 does not have parent requirements, but as we operate on volunteer labor we encourage all adults who are able to fill any of the above positions to do so. Once a month we have a meeting to keep parents informed about current and planned troop activities. Also, we like each parent to go on at least one camp out a year.

Q26. Does the Troop pay for any/all adult leader registration and training?
A. Adult leaders pay the $10 registration, but the troop pays for the training if requested.

Q27. How often do you have “Courts of Honor”?
A. Troop 27 has two Courts of Honor each year, usually in late March and late September. These are potluck dinners for the whole family where we celebrate the achievements of the last 6 months. Eagle Courts of Honor are separately scheduled.

Q28How do you communicate with scouts and families?
A. We issue periodic newsletters (by email and on the website), supplemented by email messages as needed. Patrol Leaders call or email their patrols with reminders each week. We publish a calendar on our web site. Parents attend a committee meeting on the first Tuesday of each month, and are welcome at the monthly ASM (Assistant Scoutmaster) meetings. Our troop website also contains useful information.

Q29. How do you orient new families to scouting?
A. We have a troop handbook that is a collection of pertinent information about scouting and our troop. We review it with parents at an orientation meeting shortly after the scout joins Troop 27.

Q30. How do you feel about a Scout (and parent) visiting a meeting unannounced?
A. That’s fine, but if we have a real busy schedule that evening don’t be disappointed if we can’t spend as much time with you as we’d like.

Q31Who can I contact for more information?
A. If you would like more information, we would enjoy hearing from you.  Just send an e-mail to [email protected] to request more information about Troop 27.

History of Troop 27 Eagle Scouts

Here is a list of Troop 27 Eagle Scouts since 1954:

 Year  Eagle Scout
 1954  James Carlon
 1955  Kenneth Chastain
 Claude Fennema
 Robert Viscount
 David Caldwell
 1956  John Amend
 Everett Stinson
 Allan Long
 Robert Jakes
 1957  Robert Thallon
 Charles Cone
 Rich Houston
 George Gmelch
 1958  Robert Amend
 Eric Hill
 Eric Lundquist
 David Bjoring
 1959  Alan Werb
 Francis Viscount
 Jon Breyfogle
 Ronald Valencia , Jr.
 Austin Viscount
 1960  Glenn Pascal
 Kent Garibaldi
 Roger Werner
 1961  Boyd Levet
 Walter Gmelch
 James Bettinger
 Craig Hinkley
 Roger Spence
 Richard Steiger
 1962  Steven Hill
 William Hatch
 Robert Steiger
 Douglas Lambert
 Robert Henderson
 1963  Michael Boschetti
 Michael Reed
 James Jensen
 Samuel Horton, III
 1964  Thomas Martini
 Ronald Werner
 Richard Spence
 Dennis Goss
 Melvin Kimball
 1965  William McCalla
 Geoffrey Feige
 John Clarke
 Jeffrey Dearborn
 Harold Barthel, III
 1966  Steve Boschetti
 Richard Amend
 Leonard James
 Richard Clark
 Dana Kimball
 1967  Tim Smithwick
 Norman Arslan
 Paul Boyd
 Steve Corvello
 Ron Sandilands
 Christopher Graf
 1968  David Chin
 Robert Mahood
 Mark Stafforini
 Cameron Rolfe
 Frank Martin
 Craig Miller
 Ernie Haeusslein
 1969  Alan Conover
 Jack Graper
 Tom Merrihew
 William Amend
 David Hendrickson
 1970  Kevin Wallis
 Mark Worthge
 Michael Dearborne
 Robert Setser
 Brian Conover
 1971  Alan Lee
 Wayne Rechnitz
 Richard Chin
 Scott Worthge
 Andy McLean
 1972  Leland Louie
 William Smith
 David Shipley
 Donald Van Creveld
 Randy Zempel
 Mark Lewin
 John Burton
 1973  Daniel Zempel
 Brian Bandy
 Trey Blalock
 Kenneth Corvello
 Eric Last
 William Vertrees
 1975  Walter Worthge III
 Jeffrey Blalock
 Steve Hingst
 1976  Alan Burnett
 Kim Hale
 Kirk Hale
 David Herrington
 David Heiman
 Christopher Palmrose
 1977  Alan Lindquist
 1978  Robert Bolton
 Martin Hudson
 John Grathwohl, Jr.
 1979  John Carlisle
 Kurt Grathwohl
 Steven Merrihew
 Gregory Palmrose
 John Kretschmann, Jr.
 Charles Phillips
 Edmund O’Brien
 1980  Andrew Farris
 Steven Louie
 1981  Christopher J. Freshour
 Christopher Jensen
 Jeffrey W. Miller
 Matthew Carlisle
 Robert McLean
 Robert O’Brien
 Jeffrey Reid
 1982  Marc Rosso
 William Bittancourt
 Jon Sooy
 1983  Victor Moore
 1984  Brian Sanders
 Shawn Wienckowski
 1985  Paul Keefer
 Lee Apsley
 Andrew Miller
 1986  Robert Parkhurst
 1987  Brett Sanders
 Eric Burton
 James Shissler
 1988  Michel Hannon
 James Gough
 1989  Christopher Toy
 1990  Jonathan Taylor
 Christopher Rossetto
 1991  Stephen Shissler
 1992  Stephen McMahon
 William Miller
 Willard Folsom
 1993  Eric Hartnett
 Tim Netane
 Peter Giobres
 Matthew Taylor
 Adam Leman
 1994  Andrew Brooks
 Jason Kehl
 Marc Nix
 1995  Sean McMahon
 Adam Torgerson
 Scott Sanborn
 Brian Fong
 Nickolas Giobres
 1996  Karlis Biksa
 Stephen Taylor
 Sigurd Hartnett
 Tom Netane
 Daniel Aden
 Anthony Sigona
 1997  Joshua Torgerson
 Peter Ballart
 Kyle Takao
 Andrew Ballart
 1998  Adam Sevim
 Reid Gaskin
 1999  Luke Whittaker
 Marcus Sanchis
 2000  Michael Wallace
 Francis Chang
 Steven Brown
 John Carlino
 2001  Seth Torgerson
 Eric Sevim
 Anthony Sabbadini
 Devin Gaffney
 2002  Rodger Iu
 Andrew Hutchison
 2003  Lance Bailey
 Josh Herbach
 Marc Mendonca
 2004  Matthew Sheehan
 Michael Stults
 Seth Marra
 Eric Frydenlund
 Robbie Kavert
 Shaun Thivierge
 Ivan James You
 Evan Jochims
 2005  Barry Lockwood
 2006  Mark Ferraresi
 Matt Felton
 2007  Jesse Patterson
 Sam McCollum
 Colton Yee
 John Kaufman
 John Cole
 Ennio Villaflor-Tanakatsubo
 Chris Jayne
 2008  Kirk Hansson
 Paul Gablin
 Maxwell Mudd
 Kyle Yee
 Daniel Singer
 Daniel Barnhart
 Bryant Felton
 2009  Max Mannisto
 Bryan Pacini
 Sven Knauth
 Jordan Kelleher
 2010  Damon Chiu
 Christopher Gee
 2011  Mike Keenan
 Michael Tcheau
 Kevin Gruber
 2012  Brian Hass
 Max Moriarty
 Christian Cabuslay
 Thomas Bebbington
 Jon Horn
 Daniel Meier
 Kyle Toulouse
 Scott Schulze
 2013  Christian Yuen
 Michael Muir
 Sohun Awsare
 Nate Mooi
 Nathan Gottesman
 Brian Yeh
 Christian Tsoi-a-Sue
 Tyler Poon
 2014  Ryan Pau
 Henson Kwok
 Miles Moriarty
 Aaron Levy
 Sheal Awsare
 Philip SanFilippo
 2015  Antony Cabuslay
 James George
 Everett Yee
 Josh Levy
 Nathan Gee
 Dylan Proctor
 David Bonemeyer
 2016  Shanil Patel
 Sean Stevenot
 2017  Justin Yang
 Marc Tom
 Ryan Toulouse
 Jacob Gottesman
 2018  Walter McElroy IV
 2019  Spencer Graham
 Patrick Fox
 Marlon Fu
 Nicholas Lee
 Mayeul Carrot
 2020  Jared Chou
 Khai Kober
 Nathan Ammenti
 Callie Muhlner
 2021  Allie Rees
 Emma O’Brien
 Joshua Zhong
 Gabriel Cabuslay
 Samuel Auyeung
 2022  Theodore Kaiser
 Katie Lau
 Corey Alger
 Cameron O’Connor
 Ryan Sprowls
 Cameron Zaller
 Diego Cintas
 Lukas Wiggers
 Kheo Kober
 2023  Alexander Kaiser
 Aidan Gurskis
 Katie Yue
 Noah Dulac

Location of Troop 27 Meetings

Congregational Church of the Peninsula
751 Alameda de las Pulgas
Belmont, CA 94002

Troop 27 History

Read a web archive about Troop 27 History.

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