fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Bob Cote, veteran local leader of the Boy Scouts, believes in instilling self-confidence

by Christina Coulter
January 3, 2019
in Community
0
Bob Cote, veteran local leader of the Boy Scouts, believes in instilling self-confidence
Bob Cote and troop.

In 2019, the Boy Scouts of America as we have known it for over a century will cease to exist. As the national organization considers filing for bankruptcy in response to a wave of lawsuits from sexual-abuse victims, many are left wondering how the traditions of scouting will adapt in the years to come. In Saugerties, assures local scoutmaster Bob Cote, things will remain essentially the same. 

You may have seen Cote of Troop 36 selling Christmas trees at the annual tree drive, picking up bags of non-perishables for the troop’s annual Scouting for Food initiative, or selling garlic-and-butter-slathered corn on the cob during the Garlic Festival, as he has done for the last 15 years in his leadership position. Regardless of concerns at the national level, Cote marks the Boy-Scout experience that he knows from his childhood as being all about imbuing young people with confidence.

“There’s a gap in our youth involving leadership. In Scouts, they’re allowed to fail in a [safe] atmosphere,” said Cote. “I find it heartwarming to watch them fail and learn from it. No one is getting upset or yelling about it. There’s no grade. Scouts revolves around that – winning is important, but it really revolves around letting them fail in a safe and comfortable zone. From that, they learn a ton and they become better and stronger.”

Currently, Troop 36 has sixteen active members. Four scouts to date have achieved the rank of Eagle under Cote’s guidance. Having achieved a Life Scout rank in his youth, Cote was reinitiated into the fold of the Boy Scouts when his son, now 19, entered the organization, ultimately achieving an Eagle rank himself.

“The one thing I would say [about the Boy Scouts] is that it’s more than just being outdoors,” said Cote. “People think that it’s just camping and buses. It’s much more than that. That’s one avenue to get the Scouts out and get them moving. We camp four times a year, but we do twelve events a year. Eight of them aren’t camping. It’s much, much more than that. A lot of young men come in and only want to camp. Well, okay, go camping.”

Cote’s favorite badge is the first one a given Scout earns: “It builds their spirit and starts them on a path they don’t want to stop going down. It tells them, Hey, I’m good. It could be the hardest or the easiest merit badge to earn, but it shows them that they can do it.”

Cote was fast to point out that scouting has always been affected by social and cultural changes. A good scoutmaster is able to work around those changes to ultimately fulfill the educational aims of the organization.

“Scouting’s role, in my opinion, has to change,” said Cote. “When I grew up, you couldn’t bring your little transistor radio because you couldn’t have music. Scouts today have a unique problem where electronics are part of their life. Disconnecting them creates more of a problem than teaching them how to stay connected. Now, boys are learning how to become an outdoorsman with the technology available to them without being distracted. Scouts today can Google things or go to YouTube and look for a video. I’ll watch the video and learn the skills from it.”

Although girls will be allowed to form patrols within boy-scout groups starting in February, it is uncertain whether such a patrol will be formed in Saugerties. A group of girls would need to step forward and a willing woman would have to volunteer to serve as their scoutmaster.

Local scouts, Cote noted, are protected by the “two deep” policy. No adult involved in the organization is ever permitted to spend time alone out of view with a child. More stringent background checks, awareness training, and educational outreach have also been implemented at the administrative level. Despite the national controversies, Cote’s faith in the aims of the organization, and in the importance of Troop 36 for the children of the community, has not been shaken. He remains optimistic.

“We live in a world that is very connected. Everything that happens we know about. These problems that the Scouts have been having have existed for a long time,” explained Cote. “As a society we know much more than we used to. Now we can do something about it, get these people help, and help the children that were hurt. I don’t think it’s a Scout problem so much as a society problem.”

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Christina Coulter

Related Posts

Traditional chicken barbecue in High Falls this Saturday
Community

Traditional chicken barbecue in High Falls this Saturday

July 10, 2025
The Saugerties Fourth of July parade tradition continues
Community

The Saugerties Fourth of July parade tradition continues

July 9, 2025
What New Paltz can be
Community

What New Paltz can be

July 8, 2025
Party with Congolese dance music in Kingston this Saturday
Community

Party with Congolese dance music in Kingston this Saturday

July 4, 2025
A busy July 4 week in Saugerties
Community

Guide to 4th of July events and fireworks in Ulster County

July 1, 2025
Detained
Community

Detained

June 26, 2025
Next Post
Kingston After Dark: Tubby’s the new kings of Broadway

Kingston After Dark: Tubby's the new kings of Broadway

Weather

Kingston, NY
73°
Partly Cloudy
5:28 am8:34 pm EDT
Feels like: 73°F
Wind: 2mph SSE
Humidity: 84%
Pressure: 29.96"Hg
UV index: 0
FriSatSun
88°F / 70°F
86°F / 70°F
86°F / 70°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing