The Boys Scouts of Troop 61 had a historic display commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Boy Scouts set up at the Staples Historic Depot Aug. 29. The oldest item on display was a book from 1912 - 98 years old. From left are Boy Scout First Class Noah Han, 1950 Eagle Scout Bob Perry, Merit Badge Counselor Kathryn Edwards, 1951 Ranger Scout Don Edwards, 1955 Scout Ed Perry and Tenderfoot Garrett Schmieg. The Boy Scouts would like to thank the community members who provided items from their own collection of memorabilia on loan for the Boy Scout display. (Submitted photo by Pat Miller) EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to an error in the Staples World office, the second half of this story was inadvertently omitted from last week’s issue. It is reprinted here in its entirety. The Staples World apologizes for the error.

In June, Tom Crawford posed a simple question – would the Boy Scouts like to put together a historical display at the Depot for the Staples Historical Society celebrating the Boy Scouts 100th anniversary?

It was in December of 1938, that the local Rotary became the official charter organization and applied for Troop 61, which is the current Boy Scout Troop in Staples, to become a Boy Scout Troop. (Submitted photo) A simple question began the quest for historical artifacts and for those who have an interest in history, the search was fun and at times humorous. Scout leaders calling former scouts, a picture in the newspaper requesting historical items, and finally, leaders going through boxes in a shed donated by the Rotary in honor of Mark Evans. The shed revealed the most interesting prizes, and the search was certainly unique. Pulling a very old, dried-up, (and fortunately) abandoned beehive off the top of one box were among the lengths that leaders went, in order to find the “history of Boy Scouts in Staples.”

Boy Scouts officially began on Feb. 8, 1910, and not long after, Boy Scouts in the area began working on Boy Scout projects and badges. The earliest of the Eagle scouts recorded in Staples came from different troop numbers (that have since disbanded). Gordon Cross, Robert Carlson and Troy Sims all received their Eagle Scout badges in 1927, and were from Staples. They were followed in 1929, with Oscar Jacobson earning his Eagle and in 1931, Robert T. Cross and Edward Gillespies earned theirs.

It was in December of 1938, that the local Rotary became the official charter organization and applied for Troop 61, which is the current Boy Scout Troop in Staples, to become a Boy Scout Troop. On Jan. 16, 1939, Troop 61 was approved – 71 years ago. Since that time, many boys have gone through the scouting program and have learned much. The rare few earned their Eagle badge, which is the highest rank of a Boy Scout. Records of Eagle Scout earners in the Staples/Motley area since Troop 61 was formed are:

Harry Edgar Pierce, Jr. 1943; John Larson 1944; Douglas Johnson 1945; Francis Pierce 1945; Wayne Barker 1946; Gene L. Stapher 1946; John F. Perry 1948.

Robert E. Perry 1950; F.W. Perry 1951; John Carlson 1954; William Cross 1954; Edwin B. Perry 1955; Richard Sperley 1956; Leo Fossum 1958; Mike Gripne 1958.

Dennis R. Jenkins 1962; Donald P. Read 1963; Mark E. Engen 1964; Charles K. Page 1969; Craig Williams 1973; Thaw Davis 1999.

Durwyn Davis 2000; Erick P. Klein 2001; David Brenna 2001; Michael Brenna 2001; Christopher Holst 2001; Sam Klein 2004; Oliver Kelsey 2004.

Merit Badge counselor Barry Klein provided a historical record from past issues of the Staples World and he writes: “The Rotary Club met to organize the troop on Dec. 8, 1938. On Jan. 16, 1939, the Rotary Club filled out the “Application for Charter for New Troop.” On Jan. 26, 1939 at 11:40 a.m., our troop was offi cially born with our new charter granted in the Central Minnesota Council of the Old Region 10. The National Council Office had an address of “2 Park Avenue, New York, New York.”

“The Troop began by meeting on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall. The Charters in the 1940’s and the 1950’s show the troop meeting in the “scout room” over the Northern Pacific Depot on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. In the latter 1950’s, the troop meeting changed to Thursday nights at 7 p.m. at the depot.

In the early 1960’s, the troop met at the City Hall on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. Several years ago, the troops met at the Staples Community Center.” In 2001, the troop continued to meet between McGivern Park and Faith Lutheran Church’s basement. For a short period, the troop had no Boy Scouts and it became inactive. In approximately 2007, the Troop was re-established and has been meeting Monday nights at the Methodist Church in Motley.

Scoutmasters throughout the history of the Troop are as follows: Gerald D. Bardo, Glen Sanborn, E.C. Doll, F.W. Perry, Robert R. Belling, Francis Christianson, Wilbur Holst, Loren Benson, Don Ahirn, Nick Hasselfeldt, Earl F. Mergens, James Gorman, Gregory Reese, Dr. Ray Garland, James E. Williams, Leonard Nelson, Curtis Anderson, Jeff Barron, Tom Neznik, Gene R. Ingebritson, Lowell Brenna, and Jace Carlson.

An interesting article written by Ed Perry, entitled “Scout History by Eagle Scout Ed Perry” is below:

“My scouting career started at a very young age in North Dakota. Even though I was not Cub Scout age my dad and brothers were involved in the scout troop in McCluskey, North Dakota. My dad was the scoutmaster and they would include me on some of the scouting adventures.

We moved to Staples in 1946, and I was fortunate enough to be able to join a Cub Scout den a few blocks from my home. Donna Carlson was the den mother, and we met regularly in her basement. The pack meetings were held in the basement of the then city hall currently Nordel Graphics. A gentleman by the name of Rev. Amundson was the pack leader, and I can remember the fun it was to participate in the various quarterly themes.

One that I remember very clearly was Knights Of The Round Table, in which we made costumes to represent King Arthur’s Court with helmets made of tag board, shields of cardboard covered with tin foil and swords made of lath. The Cub Scout program was very active at that time with a number of dads. With encouragement from my Mom and Dad I was able to progress through the various ranks in the program.”

“As a Boy Scout we also met in the upper level of the now Burlington Northern Depot with three patrols each having a corner of the room where using our imaginations we could make a place to meet. The patrol that I belonged to was the Eagle Patrol and we made a tee pee as the entrance to our meeting area. The meetings were always a lot of fun with some learning times and a lot of games and activities. We participated in a number of camporees.

Summer camp was at Camp Clyde, which is now known as Parker Scout Reservation. It was a week long event where we slept in eight-man tents, and ate our meals under a large dining fly. Summer camp was a great opportunity to work on advancement, especially the aquatic merit badges. Swimming and life saving were always difficult for most of us to work on other than at summer camp. The Order of the Arrow calling out ceremony was always a highlight of the camping event. I was fortunate enough to have been selected to this honor.”

“In 1953, the Central Minnesota Council organized a troop to attend the National Jamboree at Santa Anna, California. Harry Peterson, the dad of John and Bob Peterson was the station master here in Staples, and made arrangement for a Pullman car to be used for transportation, this allowed us to have a bunk to sleep in. All of the other scouts were in coaches and they had to sleep sitting up in their seats. A number of us from Staples were able to attend this great event. Our Pullman car joined a trail comprised completely of scouts heading West.

We traveled to the Salt River Canyon on our way to Los Angeles and then bussed South to Santa Anna where we joined thousands of other Scouts. We were there for many days participating in a lot of exciting scouting activities. It was the first time I had seen the ocean and we were able to walk from our camping area to the beach.

The trip home was up the west coast to Seattle, where we took a ferry boat to Victoria Island, where we took in the sights. We stopped at Glacier National Park and Whitefish, Montana, to take in additional sites. It was a trip that has many fond memories for me.”

“After earning my Eagle Scout Badge we were fortunate enough to have the Explorer Scout Program in Staples with Duane Lund as our advisor. I did earn a silver award in this program.”

“I had the opportunity to be a part of the leadership at Camp Clyde summer camps one year as a CIT (‘Counselor in Training’), and one year as a counselor. This gave me an opportunity to get to know a number of scouts and scout leaders from all over Central Minnesota.”

“After graduating high school I joined the Army and the skills that I had learned as a scout served me well. I spent four years going to college after my two years in the Army. I then returned to Staples and became active in the leadership of the troop. My scout days will always be a highlight of my memories.”

Many boys in the area have fond memories of their scouting experiences. We realize that not all of the boys or their den leaders could be mentioned in this article but recognize that hundreds of people in the past 100 years have inspired boys to become better citizens through their participation in the Boy Scouts of America. As we prepare for this Sunday, Aug. 29, display at the Depot, we encourage everyone who has had a history in scouting to attend and view a glimpse of history through the eyes of local boys who have now grown to become men in the community.

We also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the leaders who have throughout the past 100 years made it possible for boys to have mentors to guide them through their life paths.