Author on Scouting books to host meet-the-author night
A former counselor at Camp Bucoco, a Scouting America camp in Slippery Rock Township, published a book that collects the scattered fragments of the camp’s century-long history.
Neal Bronder, the author of two books that cover Butler County Scouting history, is hosting a meet-the-author night at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at the Tesla Biohealing Wellness Hotel, 139 Pittsburgh Road, Butler Township.
There, he will give a presentation about the history of Camp Bucoco and its various property acquisitions throughout the years. He also will host a question-and-answer session about his newest book, “Tell Me Why: a History of Camp Bucoco.”
Bronder, a resident of Columbus, Ohio, for 35 years, grew up in Butler and graduated from Butler Senior High School and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. During his time in the county, he was a Boy Scout, Eagle Scout, a counselor at Camp Bucoco and a Scoutmaster.
In 2021, Bronder self-published “Forgotten Scout Camps of Western Pennsylvania,” a book covering the history of over 60 Scout camps that no longer exist. His most recent book, “Tell Me Why,” recounts the first century of Camp Bucoco’s history, from 1924 to 2024.
“I’m a history buff, and I think there’s a story there about the camp,” Bronder said. “History tends to be forgotten or lost, so my goal was to put it down on paper so that other people could see it.”
The book was named “Tell Me Why” from Camp Bucoco’s official song of the same name. The book explains the camp’s name is derived from Butler County Council, one of the former Scouting councils in Butler County.
Since Butler County Council opened Camp Bucoco in 1924, three other councils have overseen it: Butler Armstrong Area Council, Pioneer Trails Council and Moraine Trails Council. Moraine Trails Council has overseen the camp since 1973.
Much of the camp’s history had never been collected before, so Bronder had to undergo years of research for the project. He estimated he had read thousands of pages of records, from newspaper articles to municipal meeting minutes, during his research.
“It was challenging,” Bronder said. “I had four years of research into it. A lot of it was newspaper articles, which the Butler Eagle historic pages are in the library in microfilm.”
Bronder dedicated the book to Elmer Halburg, who served as council president from 1943 to 1959, and was instrumental in saving Camp Bucoco.
“At that point in the 1940s, camp was kind of run down and there was a discussion of whether they should abandon that and find a whole new camp,” Bronder explained. “A lot of the thoughts were since they were letting Armstrong County groups into the camp, maybe someplace closer to Armstrong County … would be better.”
At the event, “Tell Me Why” will be available for purchase for $25. Copies of Bronder’s earlier book, “Forgotten Scout Camps of Western Pennsylvania,” also will be available for $35.
Anyone unable to attend and would like to purchase Bronder’s books can contact him by email at nealbronder@yahoo.com.
