Founded in April 1921, this month we celebrate 100 continuous years of Boy Scouts Troop 3 at St. Thomas!!! We continue to hope and pray we’ll be allowed to host a celebration to commemorate this tremendous milestone sometime this summer. We cannot thank enough all of the church leadership, Scouts, adult leaders, and parents that have supported Boy Scout Troop 3 through the years. If you know one of these Scouts or leaders, please extend our thanks to them.
   
    In the fall of 1920, Rev. Raymond Heron became the third Rector for St. Thomas and brought with him a focus on youth ministries. While his main focus was on development of the Church School, the increase in youth brought about the desire for additional youth groups and activities. U. E. Gibson, James Kimberly, and A. E. Arnemann formed the initial Scout Committee and founded Troop 3, with Rev. Heron serving as the first Scoutmaster. This was only 11 years after Scouting was introduced to the United States in 1910 and was done shortly after Troops 1 and 2 were formed in Appleton.

    The original charter members were: Harold Arnemann, Kenneth Asmus, Emery Blenker, Floyd Burrows, Roy Casperson, Howard Chirstofferson, Roy Darling, Tokm Darling, Kenneth Dean, Winfred Fenske, Urban Gibson, Earl Gonion, Maurice Hall, Neal Klausner, Kendall Leudtka, Alfred Moore, Fraklin Oits, Robert Schwartz, and Henry Stowe. In 1923, Mr. J.C. Kimberly purchased land across the lake, near High Cliff, for use by the Church as a Church camp. Scoutmaster Heron led a committee of the fathers of the boys in the Troop to build a cabin on the property. By 1924 a one room building was completed and placed in service. In the 1940s, the original cabin burned down and was replaced with a larger cabin; however, the fire place from the original cabin remains and serves as a chapel on the property.

    Kellett Cabin continues to be used by Scout Troops from the area as a gathering place to work on Scout skills, team development, and enjoy nature. St. Thomas grew a lot during the 1920’s and 30’s, and with each new building or addition to a building, the needs of youth ministry program, and Scouting in particular, were considered with ample space being provided for the Scouts. Troop 3’s first Eagle Scouts were Robert Reddell, Jack Gonsenbach, and Barrett Miller; awarded in 1923. A total of 148 Scouts have earned Scouting’s highest rank, the Eagle Scout, as members of Troop 3. As you see on the chart below, Reverend Heron’s early efforts lead to a lot of Eagle Scouts in the 1930’s and then we spiked with 35 baby boomers earning their Eagle during the 60’s.

    I am excited to share that we have four Scouts one step away from earning their Eagle rank, so stay tuned for more exciting news this summer! Troop 3 remains active and, as you have seen through our articles for the last several months, is growing. In April we have two camp outings scheduled where we will spend a lot of time on rank advancement and Scout skills development. This time is primarily to welcome our newest Scouts to the Troop to begin their adventures and become part of the “team”. Our current leadership team looks to build upon the legacy started 100 years ago. With this in mind, we are also excited to announce that St. Thomas is again chartering a Cub Scout Pack!

    The Scouts and leaders of Pack 3050 have joined St. Thomas. We look forward to getting to know these young Scouts as they get started. One last interesting St. Thomas factoid related to Scouting. In November 1938, Reverend Albert Chambers organized the first Girl Scout Troop, Troop 1, in Neenah-Menasha. Miss Lucile Rusch served as the Scout leader and Mrs. John Kimberly served to secure funds and community support. These leaders continued to support Scouting and lead the way to creating of the first Girl Scout Council in the Fox Valley area just a few years later.