The scouts run this troop
Troop 46 has been scouting out of LeClaire for seventy years. The Patrol Leaders' Council plans the year, the scouts cook and lead, and the adults stay one step behind to keep everyone safe. There are no troop dues.
Illowa Council Troop of the Year
Awarded to Troop 46 by the Illowa Council in 2026.
Scout led is the key
“Troop 46 is a Scout Led troop. That means that things are rarely perfect. The scouts are often late. Decision-making takes a lot longer. But the lessons, confidence building, and long term effects increase exponentially with the intentional structure of a Scout Led Troop.”
A scout is elected Senior Patrol Leader and actually runs the meetings. The Patrol Leaders' Council meets every month to plan campouts, teach skills, and sort out what went wrong last time.
Your son will be handed responsibility earlier than he expects, and he will drop it sometimes. That is the point. He learns to pick it back up in front of people whose opinion he cares about.
A Year in Troop 46
Troop meetings
7:00 to 8:30 PM at First Presbyterian Church. One Monday a month is a committee meeting instead.
Campouts & activities
Tents in the fall and spring, a cabin in February, and the Kittan Klondike in January. Rain and cold included.
A week at camp
At least one full week of summer camp a year, and the troop covers part of the cost for every scout.
Avenue of Flags
The troop puts a flag in front of LeClaire homes on Memorial Day, Flag Day, the Fourth, Labor Day, and Veterans Day.
What It Costs
Troop 46 charges no dues.
Not a monthly fee, not an annual fee. Instead the troop earns its money together, and then spends it on the scouts: it defrays the cost of summer camp, pays annual Scouting America membership dues, keeps the shared equipment stocked, and runs the monthly campouts.
Families who need help with a cost can ask, privately, and the troop assists. No boy is kept out of a campout over money.
What we ask instead is participation. The Avenue of Flags is expected of every family, and so are the troop’s service projects.
Three fundraisers a year
The Avenue of Flags funds the troop's general accounts. Money a scout earns on Camp Cards or Popcorn goes to his own scout account.
Service to LeClaire
Three projects a year are expected of every scout. None of them raise money for the troop; they are work the town needs done, and the hours count toward rank advancement.
Tug Fest Cleanup
Scouts and families work the grounds during LeClaire’s Tug Fest and clean up after. The biggest weekend of the troop’s year.
Community Dinner
The scouts prep, cook, and serve a dinner for the community, then clean the kitchen. Parents are welcome to help.
Vettes on the River
The troop sets up and takes down the flags for the annual Corvette show, which raises funds for local veterans through the LeClaire non-profit FOR VETS.
Scouts also turn out for each other’s Eagle projects and do conservation work on campouts. Every project is posted on the troop calendar with a time and a place.
One Hundred and Four Eagles
The first three Troop 46 Eagle Scouts earned the rank in November 1964. One hundred and four names are on the roster now, and the troop keeps every one of them.
Eagle is not the point of joining, and most boys who join do not set out for it. It is what the troop is built to make possible: a scout who has spent six years leading patrols, planning trips, and teaching younger boys ends up capable of running a project like Clayton Miller's, who put 189 service hours into a fire pit for First Presbyterian Church and won the Kittan District Eagle Project of the Year.
Older scouts mentor the new ones directly. The troop runs an Eagle-to-new-scout mentoring program.
Jobs a scout can hold
- Senior Patrol Leader
- Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
- Patrol Leader
- Quartermaster
- Scribe and Historian
- Den Chief for a Cub Scout pack
- Instructor and Troop Guide
Recognition
Carter Kiefer shot for the Henry, and won it
Across a whole summer of shooting at Camp Loud Thunder, no scout in Illowa Council outshot Carter Kiefer of Troop 46. He took the youth title in the 2026 “I Shot for the Henry” competition with a score of 84 and went home with a brand-new Henry rifle, donated by Suburban Construction Inc.
Scouts bought tokens at the Trading Post and took their shots at the Upper Camp Rifle Range during Open Shoot. The competition runs again at Summer Camp 2027.
Illowa Council announcement →
What We Ask of Parents
Support your scout
Get him to meetings, help him pack for a campout, and ask him about it afterward. Then let him do the work himself. A scout who is encouraged at home and left to lead at the troop is the one who sticks with it.
You do not run the program
The scouts do, with a trained Scoutmaster team. You are not signing up to plan meetings.
Come to the fundraisers
The Avenue of Flags and the service projects need parents, especially anyone with a truck, van, or SUV. That is most of the ask.
The committee is open
Monthly committee meetings are open to every parent and any interested citizen. Show up if you want a say.
Safeguarding Youth
Every adult who camps with the troop is registered and trained. Safeguarding Youth Training replaces Youth Protection Training, and we recommend it to all parents, even if you never camp. Get started →
Joining
Any boy 10½ or older who is not in Cub Scouting
Contact the troop at any time to visit and join. You do not have to wait for a recruiting night, and you do not need to have been a Cub Scout. You can also apply online through BeAScout.
Come to a Monday meeting
7:00 PM at First Presbyterian Church, 200 S. 12th Street. No uniform, nothing to buy. Email first so we know to look for you.
Camp with us before you decide
Arrow of Light dens are invited to the Saturday and Sunday of the September campout, the Kittan Klondike in January, and the fall Camporee. Arrow of Light dens also join a round-robin troop meeting the first Monday in December.
Cross over in February
Scouting America recommends holding the crossover ceremony in February, so an Arrow of Light scout comes to his first meeting as a Scout that month, and is welcome at the winter cabin campout beforehand. Scouting America explains the move in its Arrow of Light-to-Scouts Transition guide.
Choosing a troop is a real decision. Pick one that meets on a night you can manage, that fits your family financially, and that your son is comfortable walking into. Not every troop suits every boy, and that is fine.
Email Tom and we will
look for you Monday
Tell us your son's age and whether he has been in Cub Scouting. We will tell you exactly what to expect at his first meeting.
Where and when
Meetings
Mondays, 7:00–8:30 PM
First Presbyterian Church
200 S. 12th Street, LeClaire, Iowa 52753
Scoutmaster
Tom Resig
Unit
Scouting America Troop 46, Illowa Council, Kittan District
Scouting America Troop 46, LeClaire, Iowa
Chartered by First Presbyterian Church, LeClaire, since 1954
First Presbyterian Church
200 S. 12th Street, LeClaire, IA 52753
(563) 289-4371