DIGGING DEEPER
MERIDIAN — Next week Meridian Boy Scout Troop 19 will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. Unless, it's really Meridian Boy Scout Troop 1 marking 101 or 102 years in existence.
Things tend to get a little murky after poring over 100-year-old incomplete Boy Scout records.
At least, that's what amateur historian and author of a book about the Meridian troop Mark Cicerchi learned. His research led him to write a history of the troop, “100 Years of Scouting in Meridian, Pa.” He self-published 100 of the books which he plans to hand out at the Aug. 17 celebration of the troop's anniversary.
Cicerchi, an Eagle Scout who was a member of Troop 19 and served as an adult leader before moving away from Butler County in 1978, said, “Because of the 100-year anniversary, I had gotten in touch with Dave Freund, the scoutmaster there now for Troop 19 a year ago and let him know I knew the anniversary was coming up.
“I asked 'Are you planning to do anything?' They wanted to do something, so I said I would research some information,” said Cicerchi.
“That was the idea, to get it done before the get-together so it could be given out at the dinner,” he said.
The retired chemical engineer researched Moraine Trails Council records, newspaper files and photographs and the work of a predecessor.
“Charlie Duncil, a news editor at the Butler Eagle, put together a pamphlet about the first 50 years of the troop,” he said.
“I reconfirmed the work Charlie Duncil had done,” he said. “The more I got to do that I thought, 'Well, I will dig a little deeper.'”
What he uncovered muddied the origins of the troop.
Cicerchi found was that Troop 19 wasn't always Troop 19. It started as Troop 1, became Troop 9, was known as Troop 1 and 9 at the same time and eventually became Troop 19.
Cicerchi said the earliest mention of what could have been Troop 19 came in a Butler Eagle article in Jan. 2, 1918, reporting a special meeting of Troop 1.
But the Butler Council this troop would have been a part of went out of existence in 1919. Facts he uncovered led Cicerchi to believe the Meridian troop might have stayed in existence.
An alternative history was related in the 1970s by Waldo Murtland, who was associated with the troop for nearly 50 years. Murtland said the troop was formed in 1919, registered in 1920 and has been in continuous existence since then.
Since 1943 the Meridian Fire Department has served as the troop's sponsor.
Troop membership has waxed and waned over the years, going from 33 Scouts in the 1970s to a low of 5 in the 2010s before rebounding to the present troop strength of 14.
One thing Troop 19 was always good at producing was Eagle Scouts.
Cicerchi said, “I was able to come up with 73 Eagle Scouts over 100 years.”
“They've done a lot to encourage boys to get their Eagles,” said Cicerchi of the troop's adult leadership
Despite the passage of 100 years, Cicerchi believes a lot of Scouting has stayed the same.
“Some of the merit badges have changed. Beekeeping and animal husbandry badges have been replaced by computer and electronics badges, but it's still the same ideals,” he said.
WHAT: Meridian Boy Scout Troop 19 marks 100 years of existenceWHEN: 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 17WHERE: Potluck dinner at Meridian Presbyterian Church, 4150 Highland Ave., followed by s'mores social and optional campout in Preston Park, 415 S Eberhart Road. For all past and present Troop 19 members and their immediate families
