By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer

HELENA – Helena’s Boy Scout Troop 532 will host a special pancake breakfast with a special expected guest on Saturday, Dec. 2.

On the morning of the Helena Christmas Parade and before the event gets underway, Helena residents will have the opportunity to grab a pancake breakfast and have their pictures taken with Santa Claus before he makes his grand appearance atop Helena’s firetruck.

Scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and run until 11 a.m., the pancake breakfast will be held at the Helena Sports Complex and will seek to raise funds for the troop and to provide a fun and festive kick off for the holiday season.

This event will serve as a replacement for the Helena Boy Scout Troop’s Christmas tree sale, which was discontinued in 2021 after 15 years due to dwindling tree supplies and rising transportation costs brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are a boy-led troop,” Scoutmaster Michael O’Brien said. “Overwhelmingly, our scouts kept telling us that they wanted to figure out some other way for us to try and be a part of the holiday tradition. So, we came up with a pancake breakfast with Santa.”

With the goal of selling several hundred tickets to the event, the primary hope for Troop 532 is to raise money for their general fund, which will allow the troop to offset the costs of the program, purchase equipment and continue to promote scouting for future members.

This fundraising event comes at the cusp of a major change for Troop 532, which will be changing chartered organizations after the start of the new year. Since 1985, the troop has been chartered by the Helena Methodist Church but this will change on Jan. 1 due to the church’s disaffiliation with the United Methodist Church and their subsequent decision to discontinue their support of scouting.

After Jan. 1, the troop, which currently stands at over 60 scouts strong and which has produced 28 Eagle Scouts since 2020, will be chartered by the Church at Cahaba Bend.

“We are looking forward to becoming another part of their growing family and outreach starting Jan. 1,” O’Brien said. “The troop is excited about the future and is looking forward to continuing to serve the Helena community.

Troops leaders always encourage the growth of the troop and want the community to know that spots are always available. Boys who are interested in joining the troop can contact Scoutmaster O’Brien at obrie007@bellsouth.net.