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History of San Clemente Boy Scout Troop 113
by Jeffrey Leishman, Troop 113 Historian
Troop 113 is very young. It is officially just over one year old. Our troop currently has 28 boys and many adult leaders. Troop 113 is very active and rank advancement is encouraged for all scouts.
The five original scouts of our troop were part of Troop 724 from San Juan Capistrano. They include Brayden Kubly, Tim Chetwood, Christian Kight, Dillon Keim, and Matthew Reynolds. They really liked being in this troop, but in 2004, there were almost 30 cub scouts who wanted to bridge over and join them and Troop 724 had room for just a handful! The parents of those first five scouts decided to take on the big job of starting a new Boy Scout Troop, based in San Clemente, to accommodate all the upcoming boy scouts. Those families included the Kublys, the Chetwoods, the Kights, the Keims, and the Reynolds. Troop 724 helped support the new troop by providing start-up funds and wishing them good luck!
The official founding date of our Troop 113 was December 1st of 2003. It’s also when the Troop’s Charter was issued. Our Charter sponsor is Pastor Pondo Vleisides. Our weekly scout meetings are held at the San Clemente Community Church, where Pastor Vleisides preaches.
The first organizational meeting of troop leaders and scouts was held in January, 2004, up on Big Bear Mountain. Over a winter weekend, they discussed plans and goals for the new troop and figured out how they wanted to run its general operations. It was decided that the underlying philosophy of the Troop would be to have the scouts be very active in many ways. They also wanted to make it clear that they would expect and encourage active participation by both the scouts and their parents. The boys and dads also enjoyed some fun that first weekend together as Troop 113 as they tried snowboarding at Snow Summit, many for the first time.
In February of 2004, the first 11 Cub Scouts from Pack 113 in San Clemente bridged into Troop 113. And the very next month, 10 more Cub Scouts from Pack 705 in Dana Point also bridged up.
We are very thankful for the parents who helped start our Troop and have continued to work to keep it running smoothly so far. Without them and our great leaders, there wouldn’t be a Troop 113 of San Clemente.