Welcome To Troop 87!
Troop 87 is a Scouts BSA Troop (boys) in the Pacific Skyline Council chartered by the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. We have members from Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Altos, and Palo Alto.
If you are interested in joining, check out this page for our membership requirements. If you would like to visit the meetings, read on and please reach out to our recruiting coordinator.
Troop meetings (feel free to visit!) are on Wednesday evenings, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple (directions to the meetings). The Buddhist Temple is our sponsoring body, but a Scout does not need to be of the Buddhist faith to be a troop member. We have a very diverse mix of boys. Parents are encouraged to stay for meetings and are expected to help in some capacity. Many parents find themselves having as much fun as the Scouts!
The first Wednesday of the month is a Troop Leadership Council meeting where the elected Scout leaders plan the troop activities for the next three months (this might not be the best meeting to visit). Following the TLC, from 7:00-8:30 p.m., the parents meet to figure out how to do what the boys want to do, among other things. Parent involvement is vital to our troop. There is a vigorous crew of assistant leaders helping our Scouts to succeed, but more help is always welcome.
Troop 87 meets all year round. We go camping, construct Scout-carrying hover craft, build and launch model rockets and airplanes, go kayaking and white water rafting, go skiing and play in the snow, set up and run a Halloween Haunted House, and more. We go biking and rock climbing, sumo wrestle in foam-stuffed cleanroom suits, build LED flashlights, play laser tag, and sometimes we stay up all night and play video games. We earn money to support Troop activities by running a Yaki Soba food booth at the Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival every spring. Special activities like trips to Washington, D.C., Northern Tier, and Philmont are supported by our annual Chinese chicken salad sale that is held in tandem with the Temple's annual chicken teriyaki dinner box sale.
We work on advancement one meeting each month, go to Merit Badge Midway, and spend two weeks going through our paces at summer camp. Rank advancement in Troop 87 is boy-driven, with lots of motivation provided by our Eagle Scouts. Ninety percent of our Scouts that stay with the Troop become Eagles. We do a number of community service projects each year such as a Scouting for Food and cemetery clean up. We also support the Temple by helping with fundraisers, such as the annual Obon Festival, and setting up tables and chairs for events. For one month each year, the Scouts are responsible for helping to lead temple services, leading up to Boy Scout Sunday. If you have been to a Cub/Parent Weekend at Boulder Creek Scout Reservation or attended Camp Ta-Ki-Ma during the session held at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple in the summer, you may recognize some of our Scouts and parents who are dedicated volunteers at both of these events.