Re: BSA: Troop number uniqueness
alan houser (houser@CEDR.LBL.GOV)
Thu, 1 Dec 1994 10:18:21 PST
Bob Condon writes:
>Troop 1, Acton (oldest troop - 1916) no longer wears the council patch
>but instead uses the old patches stating we are from Acton,Mass.
Here in Berkeley, there are some oldtime Scouters who have not forgiven
nor accepted that the Berkeley Council merged in the 50's into Mount
Diablo Council (now Mount Diablo Silverado Council) and they still wear
the Berkeley strip. When I joined Troop 24 with my son in 1990, they
were still handing out the Berkeley strip. I have to admit it looked
sharp with the red shoulder patch, the shoulder loops, and the red necker-
chief.
But, many of the Berkeley Troops have walled themselves off from the rest
of the District and Council activities. They do not participate in Round-
tables, they do not get trained (except for Basic Backpacking because it
is required for them in order to do their 50-milers), and they do not offer
anything back to District and Council. Only a handful even participate in
Camporee. It is not surprising then that the rest of the Council considers
them snobs.
By the way, only one of those Troops has what I could call a successful
program. The others have all faltered, and this month, the oldest remaining
Troop from the Berkeley Council days is officially dead; it will not be
rechartering.
A few of the Berkeley Troops have been dragged, kicking and screaming into
the nineties. And their programs are reviving. I count Troop 24 among
those, and we now wear the Mount Diablo Silverado strip.
Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** arhouser@lbl.gov
** Troop 24 WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
