Chester County Council
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The Chester County Council is a Boy Scouts of America service council that serves members of the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturing programs in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Northeastern Cecil County, Maryland. It is one of the oldest councils in the nation, and is one of three single-county councils left in Pennsylvania, the others being the Bucks County Council in Doylestown, PA and Chief Cornplanter Council in Warren, PA. (Philadelphia Area Council was a single-county council, covering Philadelphia County, but has since became part of the three-county Cradle of Liberty Council).
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[edit] History
The Chester County Council was formed by a charter by the National BSA Council in 1919, and was charged with overseeing the Scouts in Chester County under the leadership of Dr. Arthur A. Schuck, who later became the third Chief Scout Executive in the BSA and who had previously been Deputy Chief Scout Executive under Dr. James West. In the early years, the council, forming in the wake of the armistice ending World War I, was able to consolidate the independent troops, despite most of the adults that were qualified were off in Europe.
In the 1920s, the council, under the leadership of Charles Heistand, underwent a metamorphasis that resulted in the acquisition of a new Scout camp, and the formation of its own Order of the Arrow lodge. Prior to the acquisition of the Reynolds Farm property on the Mason-Dixon Line near Rising Sun, Maryland and Oxford, Pennsylvania, Scouts attending summer camp were loaded up onto military trucks, and then shipped out to Camp Rothrock, the council's old summer camp property located near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The council longed for a camp closer to home, and after being rejected by the former Philadelphia Area Council as being "too far," the council acquired the Reynolds Farm, then a moonshiner haven, and the new camp, the Horseshoe Scout Reservation, opened its doors in 1928.
Just a year before, Mr. Heistand inquired about starting an Order of the Arrow lodge in the council, and contacted Dr. E. Urner Goodman, who was then serving as the Grand Lodge Chief (now the National Chief of the Order of the Arrow). After a failed attempt in trying to get the Philadelphia Council's OA Lodge, Unami Lodge, to install its chartered members, Dr. Goodman himself conducted the first induction ceremony, at Camp Hillsdale, near West Chester. Mr. Heistand, Joseph Brunton (who later became the National OA Conference Chief and Chief Scout Executive), and several other members were inducted, and Octoraro Lodge #22 was born.
Since the opening of the camp, and the founding of the OA lodge, the council has seen its fair share of growth throughout the county, eventually extending down into Cecil County, Maryland with the formation of several Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs as far south as Port Deposit, Maryland. Most of this achievement was under the direction of Lewis Lester, who was the longest serving Scout Executive of the council (in the 1940's and 1950's), and was influential in expanding the facilities at both Camps Horseshoe and Jubilee (later to become Camp John H. Ware, III). More recent additions to the council included the relocation of the council service center from downtown West Chester to an office building just off of the U.S. Highway 202 bypass in Westtown Township, Pennsylvania, and the opening of the new "Cub Town" facilities at Camp Ware in 2004.
[edit] Order of the Arrow Lodge
The council's Order of the Arrow lodge, Octoraro Lodge #22, was formed in 1927 under the leadership of Charles Heistand and Joseph Brinton, with its first members being inducted by Dr. E. Urner Goodman himself. Octoraro #22 celebrated it Diamond Jubilee in the 2001-2002 season.
In 1946, in the spirit of the lodge's chartering by Dr. Goodman, members of the lodge traveled south to Norfolk, Virginia and inducted the first members of Blue Heron Lodge 349. Both Octoraro and Blue Heron share good relationships and invite members to each others fall fellowship weekends in September (Octoraro Lodge) and October (Blue Heron).
Octoraro Lodge, which takes its name from the Octoraro Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River, uses the Canada Goose as its lodge "totem" or symbol. Early lodge patches and pocket flaps had white geese, with the "W.W.W." stitched in the center and bisected with a horizontally-facing arrow, but since 1971, all flaps used real-colored geese, and a horseshoe (representing the Horseshoe Scout Reservation) diagonally bisected by a red arrow. Prized flaps include the "Cut-Edge Blue," which is the very first pocket flaps issued by the lodge in the mid-1950s, and the gold-bordered 50th Anniversary flap, issued in 1976 for the lodge's golden anniversary. Both flaps fetch over $1,000 at auctions.
[edit] Horseshoe Scout Reservation
The Horseshoe Scout Reservation is a B.S.A. camp owned by the Chester County Council, and is located on the Mason-Dixon line separating Pennsylvania and Maryland near the small town of Rising Sun, Maryland. The name of the camp derives from a 4-mile horseshoe-shaped meander created by the Octoraro Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River.
[edit] Notable People of the Council
Because of the council's rich history, most members have gone onto higher office at the Area, Regional, and National levels of the BSA. A list of those who served at the national level, or in public office, is listed below.
- Arthur A. Schuck – 1st Scout Executive, later the third Chief Scout Executive of the BSA
- Joseph Brinton – 1st Lodge Chief of Octoraro Lodge, later National OA Chief
- Bill Folger – President of the American Society For The Adoption Of The Metric System
- Hon. Owen J. Roberts – Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
- Hon. John H. Ware, III – U.S. Congressman from Oxford
- Harris A. Butler – former Council and Area President, served, along with his wife, as a host couple for the annual "Report to the President," in addition to serving on the committee that created the new "21st Century Wood Badge." He recently became the council's most recent Silver Buffalo recipient.
- William R. "Bill" Hess – Former Horseshoe Scout Reservation Director, has served in various positions at the Area and Regional levels. A new trading post at Camp Horseshoe was named in his memory.
- Dick Vermeil – Retired NFL coach and member of the council's executive board. His annual "Dick Vermeil Invitational" golf tournaments bring in over $1 million each year to help with council operations.
[edit] Districts
- Diamond Rock District
- Horseshoe Trail District
- Lenni Lenape District
- Octoraro District
