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10/18/2017 08:30 AMChances are that Clinton residents who either participate or know someone who has participated in the Boy Scouts in the last nine years know Joe Emack, the scoutmaster and leader of Troop 55.
“I’ve been involved with the scouts since my son started in 2008,” Joe says. “My son wanted to join, so I started out as a den leader and I kept going from there,” Joe says.
Joe thinks the best part of scouting is in its leadership—and he’s not talking about himself.
“It’s a boy led program,” Joe explains, noting that this means that most of the decisions and directions the troop decides to take are made by the scouts.
Besides supervision, adults are used as resources and to provide guidance should the scouts need it.
“We empower kids in leadership roles, and help keep them on the straight and narrow,” Joe says.
His favorite aspects of being involved with the scouts run the gamut.
“It’s neat to go through some of the same things as the kids,” Joe says. “Some of the things we see as a leader are great too,” Joe says. “It’s great seeing a kid’s eyes light up when they’ve been trying something and they finally get it.”
Joe also enjoys seeing the value in the leadership roles and confidence the programs instills in the scouts.
“I’ve had one group of kids since 2008. It’s great to see them grow up into leadership roles,” says Joe.
In addition to the leadership qualities the program helps instill, Joe also shows appreciation for the educational aspect of the program. When asked to name the most important thing he’s learned since being involved with the scouts, Joe laughs and responds with an old cliché: “You learn something new every day.”
“Once you’re out of school you don’t stop learning,” Joe says. “I always tell the kids, if you don’t make mistakes, you’re not learning,” says Joe.
Joe says that the one drawback to his role with his scouts is the challenge of making sure he has enough time to dedicate to the scouts and his life outside the troop.
“One of the hardest things is juggling a busy troop life and a busy home life,” Joe says.
In recognition of his years of involvement with the scouts, Joe was the recipient of two separate awards. In April, Joe was awarded the Unit Leader Award of Merit. According to www.scouting.org, “A quality scouting experience will help keep scouts in the program, and the Boy Scouts of America created the Unit Leader Award of Merit to recognize the quality unit leaders who make that happen.”
In September, Joe was again the recipient of recognition when he was awarded The Campaign Cover. Joe says he received both these awards because “the committee wanted to recognize the hard work I had put in.”
“I don’t do this for the recognition,” Joe says, though he concedes, “It is nice though, to receive some recognition.”
Joe is a lifelong Clinton resident, and attending school in town, “from Joel all the way up.” When not busy with the scouts, Joe works at the Lee Company. Joe enjoys spending time with his wife Lisa and their son Andrew.
As for hobbies, Joe says what little spare time he has he enjoys spending time in his “man cave,” where he says he’s always tinkering on some new project.
There are two upcoming events he is looking forward to participating in with the scouts. The first is an annual event in which the scouts cook an entire Thanksgiving meal in the woods.
“There’s turkey, yams, the whole nine yards,” Joe says.
Joe says he likes the event because the scout’s families get to come eat with them.
“Their families get to see what they can do,” Joe says.
Joe says the scouts construct a tripod and what’s called a radiant oven, to took the food—”You have to see it to believe it.”
The other upcoming event he is looking forward to is an annual trip to the V.A. Hospital in West Haven. There, the scouts will help set up a room in the building where veterans who have trouble getting around on their own can go into a room that is stocked with presents, and pick up gifts they want to give to their families during the holiday season.
“It’s good to give back,” Joe says.
Joe says right now there are 28 members in his troop. The group meets Thursday nights at 7 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Clinton at 12 Commerce Street as long as school is in session. Joe says that the group is always looking for more members.
“Our door is always open,” Joe says.