Scout troop marks 100th year
BUTLER TWP — The Boy Scouts in Troop 19 in Meridian have been camping, earning badges, engaging in community service projects and working toward their Eagle Scout status for a century.
The troop, headed by Scoutmaster Dave Freund for the past eight years, celebrated its 100-year mark on Saturday by inviting current and former scouts and their families to a dinner at the troop's headquarters, Meridian United Presbyterian Church on Highland Avenue.
After dinner, Mark Cecerchi, a Troop 19 scout and leader from 1967 to 1978, gave a presentation on the various possibilities of exactly when and where Troop 19 originated.
Cecerchi used archived articles from the Butler Eagle and available Boy Scouts of America historical information to form his hypotheses.
Those in attendance were also invited to share their Troop 19 memories at the church before accompanying the troop in the evening to Preston Park on South Eberhart Road, where a S'more Social was held.
The scouts also camped out at the park on Saturday night.Freund thinks there is one reason why Troop 19 has lasted so long.“We've had the Meridian community's support for years,” he said. “People have gotten involved. It's the only way an organization like this can survive.”One former scout who attended the dinner and program was Jim Diamond, who was a member from 1945 until earning his Eagle Scout designation in 1953.“I think it's incredible,” Diamond said of the troop's 100-year mark. “I had no idea it was in existence that long.”He said he carried the morals he learned through scouting into his adult life and lived by them since leaving scouting in 1953.“I guess you learn to respect people,” Diamond said, “and it's pretty much the same thing with my fellow scouts.”Jacob Thomas, 18, has earned 32 merit badges as well as his Eagle Scout designation, which he was awarded in February.
Thomas built and installed a bird wingspan display at Preston Park for his Eagle project.Thomas is thrilled that his troop has reached such an auspicious milestone.“The troop is so important to the community and it has been like that for 100 years,” he said. “It's so cool. There's that connection from the past until today.”Thomas will attend Clarion University in a few weeks to begin studying business, but he won't separate from his Boy Scout ideals.“I've learned cheerful service and how much fun it can be to serve your community,” he said.One visitor who dropped in to congratulate the troop was former county sheriff Dennis Rickard, who began his scouting career in Meridian in 1957 as a Cub Scout before moving on to Troop 19.“I got my Eagle Scout here in 1964,” Rickard said.
He recalled that in the 1960s, Troop 19 parked cars at the Meridian Volunteer Fire Department for three Sundays in a row as parents brought their children in for a dose of the oral polio vaccine.He said because of the fire department's longtime support of Troop 19, many young men became junior firefighters.“I have lots of good memories,” Rickard said of his time in Troop 19. “Lots of fun times.”In his speech before the dinner, Freund said Troop 19 has produced 73 Eagle Scouts in its century of existence.“For the next 100 years, thank you for your support,” he said.
