Boy Scout Troop 623 has been chartered by the First Congregational Church for the past 90 years. We are  part of the South West Michigan Council with offices located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The troop currently consists of Twenty-seven youth and ten adults.  We meet at the First Congregational Church on Monday nights from 7:00 P.M. to 8:30 P.M.  We meet year round except for Mondays with holidays.  

The troop raises money by selling popcorn and setting up a food booth at the Tri-state Regatta each Labor Day.  Our service projects consist of providing some yard work for the church in the spring and fall and providing service to other churches, schools and the community.

Our troop participates in campouts at state parks as well as the periodic district/council Camporees.  We also like to throw in the occasional High Adventure.  In the past we have taken backpacking trips to the Manitou Islands out in Lake Michigan; visited the Air Force Museum, in Ohio, the National Scout Museum when it was in Kentucky and gone white water rafting in West Virginia.  In May we join three thousand U.S. and Canadian scouts at the Dorchester, Ontario Can-Am Camporee and troop members have participated in and been staff members for the last five National Jamborees.  

If you asked the scouts what activity they like the best, they would tell you that it was being the Governor's Honor Guard on Mackinac (pronounced Mack-i-naw) Island.  Mackinac is a small island that was used to guard the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  The Island was very important during the War of 1812 and the nation's fur trading period.  Today the island is a popular tourist attraction with a historic fort, several historic buildings and a national cemetery.  There are no motorized vehicles on the island and all travel is done by foot, bicycle or horse drawn carriage.   Each week, during the summer, fifty-two youth from a Boy Scout or Girl Scout Troop act as the Governor's Honor Guard.  President Gerald Ford performed this duty when he was a Scout.  Duties consist of raising and lowering all the flags on the island and acting as guides at the historic buildings.  Troop 623 has been proud to perform this duty for the last forty-four years, longer than any other troop.  The above picture is our troop logo.  Visit our Mackinac page to see pictures of past Honor Gaurd contingents and for other Mackinac links and information.