Boy Scout Troop 170

A Brief History

The year was 1937. The Methodist Church of Fredericksburg (there was no "United" in the name then) had received its first charter for a Boy Scout Troop - Troop 170. It was the second troop to be chartered in the city. Fredericksburg Baptist Church had the first troop.

To help the Methodist Church troop get started, senior Scouts moved over from the Baptist Church to serve as troop leaders. One of those Scouts was Waldo H. Beck, who became Troop 170's first Eagle Scout in 1939.

Troop 170 continued operating until it was deactivated in the 1940's as America became involved in World War II.

There is not much information on the Troop from the 40's, 50's and 60's. There is evidence that the Troop was active in the late 50's and early 60's. We have various ribbons and other evidence from 1957 to 1964, but no charters, rosters, or other indications of who might have been involved with the Troop. Unfortunately, the Council lost a lot of records from this period at some point in a fire and it is impossible to get any sort of confirmation from them on the Troop's status.

In 1968, the Boy Scouts of America again issued a charter to Troop 170, listing Marion Moncure as Scoutmaster, Dee C. Ross as Troop Committee leader, and H. M. Mitchell as church liaison.

Records are fuzzy for 1970 and 1971, but in 1972, at the insistence of the Rev. Max Wicker, the Methodist Church re-established its Boy Scout program. Troop 170 has now been going strong for more than four continuous decades since it was restarted.

Over the years, 86 members of the troop have reached the coveted rank of Eagle Scout. There are generally several working on the final requirements for Eagle Scout at any one time with about 2 to 5 per year completing it.

The Troop size is currently running in the range of 50 to 60 Scouts. At the end of calendar year 2007, it was down to about 20 due to a large group of older Scouts graduating out and a lack of new Scouts coming in. There wasn't a Cub Scout Pack in the church before 2006. The Troop used to get a lot of crossovers from a Pack in southern Stafford, but a new Boy Scout Troop started up in that area and the Pack no longer regularly sends Scouts to 170. However, there was a resurgence in early 2008 with over 20 new Scouts joining from four different Cub Packs and one Boy Scout Troop. The future looks strong with Cub Scout Pack 170 now coming of age with a lot of Webelos crossing over to the Troop and good alliances with other Packs in the area. The Troop now has approximately 60 Scouts.

Troop 170 now has the honor of being the oldest troop in the city, since there is no longer a troop at Fredericksburg Baptist Church.

Present members of Troop 170 come from southern Stafford County, the City of Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania County.

Besides those who served as Scoutmaster, one adult leader who was never the Scoutmaster but had a key role with the Troop is Dr. Gordon A. Hearne. For many years, he was an active member of the Troop Committee, which is like the troop's Board of Directors.

TROOP 170 SCOUTMASTERS