PANOLA – On July 5, Gov. Bob Riley named today Scouting Awareness Day in the state of Alabama.

At this moment, troops, parents and friends are probably enjoying some great outdoor fun.

However, parents and young men in the Panola area are working to reestablish Troop 243 at Galloway Baptist Church.

“The boys are excited and the parents are even more excited,” pastor Bob Little, who will serve as troop leader, said. “This is the first time there’s been a Boy Scout troop here in 20 years.”

“They got a grant from the Black Belt Action Commission to start the troop at the church in Panola. They’ve been chartered and everything is getting set up. The fees are below what we thought they’d be so we have some money left over to purchase the equipment they need,” Birmingham assistant Scout Master Tom Byars said. “We want to have at least 10 students to start the troop so we are recruiting young boys ages 10 and up.”

Any young men who reside in proximity to the church are able to participate in the program said Byars who is helping the troop get on the right track.

“The boys are really excited,” Byars said, “and it’s going to be a great thing because the community sees the new troop as a spark of new hope.”

Little hopes the establishment of a Boy Scout troop will diminish negativity in the community and teach the young men how to be quality citizens in addition to teaching how to enjoy nature.

“I look forward to being able to nurture young men back to where they need to be.

The Boy Scouts will teach them about integrity, awareness, respect and responsibility,” Little said. “A lot of these young men don’t have any positive role models and people in the community never understood the magnitude of what it dies if you just reach out to one person. A lot of negative things will be deferred.”

Little plans for Troop 243 to be in action by early September. For more information, contact pastor Bob Little at (205) 454-5703 or at the church at (205) 455-2304.