BUCHANAN — On the eve of Boy Scouts of America’s 110-year anniversary, one of its earliest troops will host a longtime dinner tradition ahead of a year of opportunity.

From 4 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, BSA Troop 541 will host a Swiss steak community dinner at its home base, First United Methodist Church, 132 S. Oak St., Buchanan.

For $8, — or $4 for those under 12 — attendees can dine on Swiss steak, potatoes, beans, coleslaw and homemade desserts. Scouts will carry out the event by directing guests, manning the kitchen and organizing food pickup.

Proceeds from the 53-year-old event will support the 93-year-old troop’s trips, projects and other activities.

Supporting the troop is always important, but especially so with big events on the horizon, said David Gusibert, assistant Scoutmaster.

Gusibert is also the High Adventure coordinator of the LaSalle Council, of which Troop 541 is part of. The Boy Scouts of America hosts four national High Adventure facilities and numerous local facilities that Scouts spend weeks preparing for and days trekking in.

Last year, Gusibert and Scoutmaster Bill Blumka — a 1982 Eagle Scout of Troop 541 — took their troop to the national High Adventure site Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. That followed with a trip to a scouting jamboree in West Virginia, where members met other Scouts from around the world.

The Scoutmasters want to continue the streak of big, fun trips into 2020, and fundraisers like the Swiss steak dinner make it possible. Blumka said he hopes to get near 450 people to the drop-by event.

Included in this year’s trip lineup is a High Adventure and a trip to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in tandem with hundreds of other Scouts from scores of other troops.

While Cub Scouts prepared First United Methodist Church’s basement for the fundraiser Tuesday evening, Bryce Placher, 16, of Buchanan, recounted his favorite experience in his decade of scouting, the Philmont trip.

After prepping with long hikes wearing heavy backpacks, he and others spent the week in groups, spending all day planning and then hiking in wilderness.

“We think of everybody here as family, and when you get there, it brings you together closer than you think,” Placher said. “It’s life-changing. A lot of kids didn’t think they could make it. Then halfway through, their whole attitude changed. You can feel it shift.”

He has also enjoyed the numerous trips in between the big ones, too. In the summer, Troop 541 spends every Tuesday somewhere outside of Buchanan, hiking, canoeing, playing frisbee golf or spending the day at a lake. Placher said few other local troops take as many trips as they do.

Placher said excursions are not only fun, they allow Scouts to put their leadership skills into practice.

Troop 541 has other reasons to anticipate 2020 outside of trips, too.

First, two Scouts will work to complete their Eagle Scout projects, bringing them one step closer to Eagle Scout status.

Placher hopes to start a project that he has planned for two years. He wants to install a pavilion in Kathryn Park in Buchanan.

“Lots of people go out there even in the spring and fall and winter and play out at Kathryn’s fields,” he said. “Benches and a pavilion would be substantial.”

Kadin Mills, of Buchanan, hopes to complete his project he began last year: creating a chestnut tree park near the Buchanan Township Fire Department.

This year could also be when Troop 541 can start its first girl troop. Two girls have joined, but one more is needed for a troop to officially form.

Gusibert said that he has seen girl troops begin to appear at national and regional events, but Troop 541’s would likely be the first in area.

Chloe Apted, 16, of Niles, joined last year. She said the decision to become a trailblazer in BSA Scouts was well worth it.

“You learn a lot of life skills,” she said. “You’ll learn people skills, leadership, a lot of basic survival stuff.”

That is, she said, so long as you can handle a few “pain in the butt” boys.