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Troop 60 Newsletter: February/March 2026
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FEBRUARY / MARCH 2026

Namaste, Scouts & Families!


Following up on our August/September, October/November, and December/January newsletters, please read on for the highlights so far, plus important updates and volunteer opportunities for the months ahead.



SCOUTMASTER CORNER

Dear Scouts and families,

Happy new year! We were excited to launch the new semester with an awesome Klondike Derby for Troop 60G and 60B, as well as our friends from Mumbai’s Troop 74. Our Scouts advanced on teamwork, rank requirements, and leadership skills through tasks like obstacle courses, “river” crossings, blindfolded tent setups, fire starting, cooking, and archery. Let’s honor the brave scouts and adults for doing a Polar Bear plunge into the Camp Wild pool, and give a round of applause for the patrols taking on their first time cooking with a Dutch oven!

For our spring season endeavors, we are executing a sought-after safari adventure at Jim Corbett National Park — hoping to see tigers and more. We are also looking forward to another navigation course at Lodhi Gardens as well as our annual Merit Badge Extravaganza. (Parents, please reach out to us or Merit Badge Coordinator Jason Morris to learn more about becoming a Merit Badge Counselor to support our Scouts.)

Spring break is just around the corner! Consider Scouting America’s Far East Council Camp Dragon in Okinawa, a great beachside adventure week that will include two of our own Scouts as youth staff. Summer camp season is also not too far out, and we are offering Troop 60 experiences at Camp Olmstead at the Goshen Scout Reservation in June or Camp Malaysia in July. Come talk to us or sign up using the links below!

Among and across their patrols, Scouts are teaming up, acquiring skills, enjoying our campouts, and learning from each other. Our new coed Senior Patrol, the Kingfishers, was a huge success during Klondike Derby and provided a strong example of the benefits of Troops 60G and B officially merging to become a unified Troop 60, following the example of many of our peers across the Far East Council that have opted to become “family troops” this year. Hooray! If you’d like to learn more about this transition plan, please reach out to us or stay tuned for an information session we will offer later this semester.

Yours in scouting,

60G Scoutmaster Verena Leuschner & 60B Scoutmaster Anthony Hughes

UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS

Save the Dates

Events take place at AES unless otherwise stated. Please check WhatsApp or with your Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) or Scoutmaster for any additional dates that may be more specific to your leadership role or patrol.

Summer Camp 2026

Troop 60 falls under the Far East Council, which covers Scouting America units across Asia. The FEC runs several camps over the winter, spring, and summer breaks; Scouts and adult leaders are welcome to attend on their own even if Troop 60 does not have enough interest to assemble an official delegation. Troop 60 Scouts are also welcome to attend the Scouting America camps run by the Transatlantic Council (which covers Africa and Europe), but would need to pay the out-of-council rate. Please talk to your Scoutmaster if you’re interested in any of these options:

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SCOUT LEADER SPOTLIGHT

Esther Hall, 
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, 60G

ADULT LEADER SPOTLIGHT

Dan Hall,
Assistant Scoutmaster, 60G

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VOLUNTEER CORNER

Parents: Troop 60 Needs You!

The BSA Troop 60 Committee runs Boards of Review for Scout rank advancement, sets troop policies, and handles administrative functions, allowing the Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters to focus on working directly with the Scouts. We invite more parents to join us to help keep Troop 60 running smoothly, especially as we currently have a few vacancies (see below) and anticipate more with next summer’s seasonal turnover of diplomats moving on to new posts plus aging-out families. Please contact Committee Secretary Runa Gokhale if you’re interested in helping out in any capacity, ranging from helping organize outdoor activities to keeping our website updated.

Seeking Merit Badge Counselors

Troop 60 helps Scouts earn merit badges throughout the year. Helping Scouts on their journey to achieving their goals is a rewarding experience, so please take five minutes to click here to explore the merit badges and think about which one(s) you can help teach — with help from the merit badge pamphlet, of course! Questions? Please contact Merit Badge Coordinator Jason Morris.

Thank You, Adult & Scout Leaders!

Troop 60 Committee

Troop 60B

Troop 60G

MONTH IN REVIEW & PHOTO GALLERY

Court of Honor, Dec. 14

Congratulations to all the scouts who earned rank advancements and merit badges, and thank you to the families that supported their journey and contributed dishes to our post-ceremony potluck. Special thanks to emcees Ananth Gokhale (a last-minute substitution!) and Esther Hall, and everyone who worked behind the scenes on this special tri-annual event. Our next Court of Honor will be held on Saturday, May 17 — don’t miss it!


Klondike Derby at Camp Wild, Jan. 24-26

By Esther Hall, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, 60G
& Katharina Leuschner, Nightingales Patrol Leader, 60G

The Klondike Derby was an exciting campout offering numerous opportunities to practice essential Scout skills, including tying knots, cooking, demonstrating teamwork, jumping into freezing cold water, and performing campfire skits. This annual event brought more than 75 participants to Camp Wild, including 37 Troop 60B and G scouts, two Scoutmasters, 14 Assistant Scoutmasters, four Arrows from Cub Scout Pack 3060, six Scouts and adult leaders from Mumbai, and a Far East Council representative from Japan.

As part of the Derby, there were many different kinds of activity stations. The stations included a zipline, an archery range, a blindfolded tent-building station, a fire-building station, an obstacle course, first-aid, and river crossing. Patrols were given points based on their skills, teamwork, speed, innovation, and other criteria that depended on the activity.

Besides the activities, everyone looked forward to the main Derby event: the stretcher race. Every patrol worked hard to practice their knots and lashings, build their stretcher, and then run the race carrying the lightest person in the stretcher. This was by far the most difficult and most memorable part of the Klondike, but the race also promoted the launch of a brand new Troop 60 patrol: the Kingfishers, a coed Senior Patrol.

All enjoyed the different activities, camp cooking, Polar Plunge, performing songs and skits at the campfire, and learned a lot about organizing patrol boxes and doing KP correctly. It was also a great experience having Troop 74 from Mumbai visit as well as hosting Sara Ramos from the Far East Council, who also taught the required BALOO training for two Cub Scout Pack 3060 adult leaders and provided supervision for an Order of the Arrow (OA) Brotherhood ceremony.

In conclusion, the Klondike Derby was an exciting and adventurous weekend for Troop 60, complete with lots of quality time for our troop and good memories made by everyone.


Cubs Cross Over, Jan. 31

After fully participating in the Klondike Derby a week earlier, four girls from Cub Scout Pack 3060’s Arrow of Light Den “crossed the bridge” over to Troop 60G — each one joining their older sibling in either Troop 60G or 60B. Welcome, new Scouts (left to right, front row): Simran Bardis, Hope Parsons, Eloise Peskett, and Amrita Abrams!

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

Reach out via our Troop 60 WhatsApp community, email scoutmasterboys@bsatroop60.in (Troop 60B) or scoutmastergirls@bsatroop60.in (Troop 60G), or click on these links for helpful information: