A longtime institution in Wood County could be disappearing soon.

Boy Scout Troop 385 in Mineola is the last known Scouting organization in Wood County, and in a year it could well be gone.

There are four boys left in the troop, three of whom are on schedule to become Eagle Scouts next fall.

But the troop has lost its charter with the First Methodist Church in Mineola, and there is no longer a local Cub Scout pack – which usually serves as the precursor to the Boy Scouts.

Longtime troop leader Chris Jennings said he is willing to meet with parents interested in re-starting Cub Scouts. It would take a minimum of five families to initiate that.

The Cubs disbanded when the last leader’s son aged out.

As with many volunteer organizations, the Scouts have been battered by the winds of change.

A nationwide scandal involving sexual misconduct going back for decades has taxed the Scouts not just financially, but in its standing within society.

The decision to add girls to the traditional all-boy program was not met with universal acceptance.

Jennings said the nearest all-girl troop (they are not co-ed) is in Longview and is going strong.

Also in play is the United Methodist Church which has been heavily involved in Scouting as one of the organizations that has traditionally chartered thousands of Scout troops for decades.

But as part of the Scouts’ bankruptcy filing, brought on by sexual abuse settlements, the United Methodist Church (which contributed funds to the bankruptcy settlement) has changed its stance on Scouting and will no longer charter packs and troops, although a separate agreement can be reached that still allows Scouts to use local church facilities.

Jennings said the troop is working on such an agreement, but without a charter organization, once the current Scouts age out, Scouting in Wood County will be a thing of the past.

The Mineola Methodist Church has also disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church and is joining the Global Methodist Church. Jennings said the GMC is not supporting Scouting, and no information about Boy Scouts appears on the organization’s website.

Jennings said he thinks most people don’t realize what all the Scouts do for the community. They raise and lower the flags at home football games and can be seen at the head of every parade, bearing the colors. They assist with the annual Marine Corps ball and were on hand to help load vehicles last week for the annual Caring and Sharing Christmas food distribution.

And no telling how many Eagle Scout projects have blessed the community over the decades.

But Scouting’s primary charter, to train young men to become good citizens, will perhaps be the greatest loss.

If no group steps up to charter the Scouts, the troop will disband Jan. 1, and the existing Scouts will continue under a program that allows individual Scouts to finish their work.

And once that is completed in the fall, that will be the end of the trail.