When I tried to add an activity in the Meal Plans and Scheduled Activities part of the event, the choice list for Activity Type was empty.   Why?

You need to define the types of activities you wish to include in your plans.   To do this select Activity Types from the Site Configuration menu.

Is it possible to set up recurring events for things like meetings?

Not in the same way that you can schedule recurring meetings in Microsoft Outlook, but you can do the next best thing:  you can create a "template" event and copy it forward in time using the Copy An Event function.  For monthly meetings you can use the Copy Monthly Event function.

Can we make the calendar available to the public without logging on?

Most troops prefer to keep the calendar private to provide an extra degree of safety for the scouts.  But if you want to make the Calendar page available to the public, you can do so at Administration ? Menu Configuration ? Override Default Public Access Settings.  Put a checkmark by Calendar ? Calendar, then change the Public Access value to "Yes". Then click Save & Exit.

Alternatively, you could subscribe to your calendar from Google Calendar, and then embed your Google Calendar into a public web page.