Scouts come to Broad Channel

The wait is over for the boys of Broad Channel.
After roughly three decades, Broad Channel once again has a Boy Scouts troop to call its own. Cub Scout Pack 282, which was established in May, currently has 40 members and is expected to become one of the largest packs in Queens by the fall. While there is no official Boy Scouts troop yet, the minimum membership requirement has already been satisfied and the induction process is nearly complete.
Southern Queens has been a focus area of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for the past year, due in large part to low membership from that region. Therefore, when Fred Ciappetta, a co-founder of Pack 282, had the idea to start a troop in Broad Channel, the BSA was more than happy to oblige.
“It usually doesn’t happen this way,” said Jason Tewes, District Director of the Queens Council Boy Scouts of America. “Usually, we have to go and find parents, but these were people that really wanted to get their kids involved. These parents came out and said, ‘we want to be volunteers, and we’ll do whatever you need us to do to be leaders.’”
Tewes, who has chartered nearly 20 troops, said Broad Channel has been by far the most successful one he has been involved with.
The first step in becoming a certified troop was obtaining a sponsor, which Pack 282 found in the form of the Broad Channel Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Once a sponsor was established, parents interested in being leaders had to submit their applications and participate in two mandatory training exercises: Youth Protection Training and Basic Cub Leader Training. The entire process lasted approximately five months.
Ciapetta, who is in charge of a swim team in Broad Channel as well, says the idea for the troop came to him when boys began leaving the team to join the Boy Scouts in Howard Beach. In order to recruit scouts, registration posts were arranged at St. Virgilius Roman Catholic Church after Sunday mass and at the neighborhood sports field.
“There are a lot of kids hanging out on the corner, and they have nothing to do,” said Ciappetta. “So this gives them something to do and it keeps them out of trouble and away from drugs. It teaches boys to respect themselves and the neighborhood, and it teaches them a good way of life.”
Pack 282 was co-founded by Joe Panetta and Rick Sorrentino as well. The three co-founders all have sons who are members of the troop.
“The experience alone is something you won’t find anywhere else,” said Panetta, Cub Master of Pack 282. “Things you learn in Boy Scouts you hold onto forever. It molds you into a better person later on in life. The values you learn you carry every day, and the experiences are priceless.”
Panetta, who is an Eagle Scout, said that his Cub Master training brought back many terrific memories from his childhood, making him certain that starting the troop was the right choice.