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.
Q1. When 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.
Q19. What 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.
Q28. How 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.
Q31. Who 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 | |
| Zachary Lee | |
| Zachary Rees | |
| 2024 | Nathan Sprowls |
| Gavin Clements | |
| Perry McHale | |
| Thomas Lussier | |
| Arthur Winter |
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.