Troop 3 Scouts: After 50+ Years of Singing Beach Parking Fundraiser, A “Thank You”

To the Editor,

For more than a half century, Troop 3 Scouts have managed and staffed what is now the Harbor’s Point beach parking lot every summer.  More than 2,500 Scouts learned life-long customer service and business skills, directing beach goers where to park while riding bicycles around the parking lot armed with the Troop’s walkie-talkies.  

On April 15th, the Harbor Point Condominium Association informed the Troop that we would no longer be running the parking lot.

As our largest annual fundraiser, the money Troop 3 raised by parking cars every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day allowed the scouts to attend scout camp every summer, hike throughout New Hampshire's White Mountains, paddle New England’s rivers and the Canadian Boundary Waters, trek Philmont Scout Ranch in the southern Rocky Mountains, attend national Scout Jamborees across the country, SCUBA dive in the U.S. Virgin Islands and even experience the thrill of dogsled trekking during Minnesota’s extreme winter.  

This fundraiser also allowed Troop 3 to rebuild Scout troops in Gulf Port, Miss., and Elberon, N.J., decimated by hurricanes Katrina and Sandy as well as take care of our own Scout House at 74 School Street.

Troop 3 Scouts is incredibly grateful for having benefited from this unique fundraising opportunity, a mutually beneficial partnership for decades.  We thank Manchester-by-the-Sea for its support both past and future.  We are a vibrant, now co-ed, scout troop with boys and girls from Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex, Beverly and Hamilton.  This year, 19 scouts will be attending summer camp in Connecticut—one of the largest groups we've sent to camp in years.  

At more than 110 years old, Troop 3 is the oldest youth organization in our town.  Our numbers have grown consistently since COVID-19, and our scouts continue to provide tremendous service to the community.  More than 155 Eagle Scouts have grown into leaders across our nation in the military, business and government. 

Thank you once again for all you do for your youth and the Troop.  If you are interested in learning more about Troop 3, check us out at http://www.troop3mbts.com/ or stop by any Monday evening during the school year.

We look forward to the next century of service to the community and nation.  We hope to see many of you at our annual Christmas Tree fundraiser.