If there’s enough local interest, Fort Frances could end up being home to its very own branch of Scouts Canada, thanks to a father who was looking to enroll his son in some extracurricular activities where he could learn new skills, but found there was no branch of the organization in the district.
Jared Morelli was disappointed to learn that while Thunder Bay, Dryden and Kenora already have established scout branches, the Rainy River District does not.
“Dryden has a group, Kenora has a group, and I just figured that since Dryden is roughly the same size as Fort Frances, it’s a bit of a shame that we don’t have one here,” Morelli said. “There’re nearby reserves and surrounding areas that it’d be accessible for too. I mean, people travel to Emo for their kids to play baseball, people are travelling to do sports out of town. So, it’s not just the people here, but also the smaller communities that could travel to town.”
Morelli rolled with the idea and began speaking to the Scouts Canada organization about the possibility of starting a local branch. As it turns out, they were receptive to the idea.
Nicole Donadio, a council relationship manager for Scouts Canada, told The Times in an email exchange that getting a branch started in town is eminently possible.
“The likelihood depends on whether enough volunteers come forward to help establish a new group in the community. If we have enough folks come forward, it is absolutely likely,” Donadio wrote.
“Recruiting volunteers is the main effort to get started. Once we start the conversation, we hope to engage enough people to get the ball rolling on opening the group. Ideally, we would recruit a minimum of four volunteers to run a weekly program for youth of different age groups (called sections: Beavers, Cubs, so on).”
“We’d also need volunteers to operate the group committee. Volunteers are trained and screened to ensure readiness and in keeping with our safety culture, but we help all new volunteers along the way as they are onboarded. If we start to collect interest now, it is not impossible to have this off the ground by the fall.”
According to Donadio, once enough volunteers have committed, the next step is to begin looking at the costs of venues where Scouts’ activities can take place.
Morelli said he has contacted the Rainy River District School Board, which was open to discussing using a school as a hosting location to provide a safe venue with volunteers who have passed background checks. The ages that will be eligible for a local branch could vary depending on the interest of both volunteers and members.
Scouts Canada is a co‑educational national youth organization that offers programs for children and young adults with a focus on developing confidence, leadership, outdoor skills and community engagement. There are four different age groups: Beavers at five to seven years, Cubs at eight to 10, Scouts at 11 to 14, Venturer Scouts from 15 to 17 and Rovers from 18 to 26.
The organization operates through local groups supported by regional councils and a national office, with more than 13,000 volunteers delivering programming across the country and more than 42,000 youth members nationwide, representing communities from coast to coast. Boys and girls participate equally—Scouts Canada has been fully co‑ed for decades—and the organization continues to position itself as one of the country’s largest and most accessible youth development programs.
Anyone interested in getting involved with the formation of a Scout branch in Fort Frances can submit an expression of interest form online at https://bit.ly/4ysbEZ8.
