TROOP HISTORY

Return to main page Troop 67

BSA Troop 67, chartered to St. Stephen Martyr Church, has been in existence for 47 years.

In the beginning . . .

A guy named, Richard Higgins had the idea of starting a troop. Frank Schaefer and Bob Heeg convinced Father Weicker to "go along with it."
Father Weicker (unconvinced of the wisdom of having a Boy Scout Troop at all), bluntly told Frank Schaefer, "Your first mistake will be your last,"
would later become one of Troop 67's most diligent supporters.

At that time, the Council was named "Old Kentucky Home Council," and in July of 1963, Troop 67 was born. The first Scoutmaster was Rich Higgins.
The first Committee Chairman was Bob Heeg, and the first Advancement Chairman was Frank Schaefer. Of the seven “charter” boys registered,
three of the first four Eagles produced by the troop, would emerge.

Registration in the troop has fluctuated from the original seven boys in 1963, to 55 in the late ‘60’s, to its present average of about 20.

On July 3, 1988, to commemorate the Troop’s 25^th Anniversary, Frank Schaefer wrote:

Troop 67’s first camping trip was held in conjunction with the Mohawk District Camporee held at Camp Grayhampton in the fall of 1963.
Frank Schaefer remembers leaving on the evening of November 22, the day of the Kennedy assassination, with the temperature at
65 degrees and, not surprising, with no tenting and no equipment, although scout headquarters supplied (rented, really) explorer tents
to the troop.

Upon their arrival at camp, several inexperienced scouts and equally inexperienced leaders attempted to set up camp in the cold and rain
and to pitch their tents which, by dint of trial, error and mistake, they did. This, however, did not alleviate the miserable conditions and
had not the troop ditched their tents (in face of the council’s expressed displeasure) some felt that the troop would have floated down to
New Orleans. As it was, scouts were found running up and down the road to warm themselves and it is reported that one scout was found
by a unit leader wandering around “out of his head” (presumably from the cold rather than his being in a natural state). Fires could not be
built on the ground but rather on the gravel which cracked and popped. No firewood was available; however, the troop found some old
oak shell cases to burn and were able to keep warm, relatively speaking. On Saturday night, the temperature dipped to 17 degrees and the
rain turned to sleet. Leaders were up until 3:00 a.m. making hot chocolate scouts who were turning blue and by Sunday morning, the sleet
had changed to snow. Certainly an inauspicious beginning for a troop which would eventually celebrate its 25^th anniversary.

In the summer of 1964, Troop 67 attended its first summer camp at Rough River Reservation where they took up residence in the Thunderbird
campsite. By that time, the troop was somewhat better organized and in possession of a number of pup tents purchased at the price of $1.75
each from G&K salvage on Main Street (both the tents and G&K are still in existence) and with the completion of this successful summer camp,
Troop 67 was launched as a full fledged troop.

Throughout the years, troop activities and other memorable outings continued to take place. Arch Kimble remembers starting back one Sunday
morning from another outing at Grayhampton and stopping by one of the army’s chapels for mass. One chapel, however, looked pretty much
as did another but it was not until after the minister started preaching that the mistake was realized and one of our number stood up and
announced that “we’re in the right pew but the wrong church.” The troop marched out leaving only an estimated 2 or 3 regular church members.

During a Green Bar trip for the senior patrol on Easter weekend in 1967 at the Red Stone Arsenal, Paul Osborne, the then scoutmaster, cooked
supper and everyone took sick including, unfortunately, Doc Heine, who was unable to help even himself.

On one of the troops first hikes in territory just beyond Camp covered Bridge, Ben Cecil picked up a snake which bit him. The snake was killed
but everyone had to walk out and it was two hours or more before anyone knew whether or not the snake was poisonous. (It wasn’t)

One tale that has been retold many times concerns a trip to Buck Ridge with Paul Osborn. After settling in, some yahoos drove down the road
in a car yelling obscenities. “Os”, never a reticent man, pulled out his arsenal and proceeded to shoot over their heads. These fellows were never
seen again. However, Bob Schaefer remembers some years later camping again at Buck Ridge with the “Nerds” and talking to a fellow involved
in the incident who, not knowing Bob, related the whole story to him. As it developed, the road dead-ended and they [the yahoos] had stayed
all night in their car, afraid to go back.

Buck Ridge and Thorny Acres was used by the troop until the early 1970’s and provided a wonderful outpost for the troop.

Initiations have always been a great tradition in Troop 67 and have provided many a moment of sport. Some troop leaders recall that in one of
the later initiations, a boy who protested being “branded” finally relented but begged the seniors to put the brand on him “some place where
my mom won’t see it.”

Once in the early years, Father Weicker held a field mass at Thorny Acres and brought with him three nuns. Father said mass on a bluff
overlooking the river and “Os” got the nuns to shoot off his guns and then spirited them around in his jeep, their habits flapping in the wind.

One time when the troop was camped at Lake Jericho, Father Murphy was prevailed upon to come out to say Saturday night mass. On the way
out, Father Murphy realized that he had forgotten his prayer book and he and his partner stopped at St. Aloysius in Pee Wee Valley while his
friend ran into the church and grabbed a missal from a woman’s hands saying “Excuse me, can I borrow your book” and ran out the door.

Another story that deserves retelling should be entitled “That Damn Chicken.” One evening, during his tenure as scoutmaster, Rich Higgins walked
into the meeting with a box under each arm. From one box he took a bucket and to Dicky Higgins to go into the kitchen and to fill it with water.
From the other box, he took out a live chicken, and announced: “Boys, I’ll teach you how to prepare a chicken” whereupon he proceeded to put
the chicken’s neck on a block and to chop off its head. He then put the chicken in the box and let it flop around and then pulled the bloody thing
out and plucked its feathers. Denny Herberger says you could have heard a pin drop.

In the late 70’s and early 80’s, the troop held its summer camp for four consecutive years at Tunnel Mill
Reservation outside Clarksville, Indiana and for three of these four years, came away with “Troop of the week” awards.

In each of the 25 years of its existence, Troop 67 has held or attended a summer camp. Here are the dates and where the camps were held:
1964 - 1968 – Rough River Reservation

1969 – 1975 – Camp Covered Bridge

1976 – 1978 – Rough River Reservation

1981 – 1984 – Tunnel Mill Reservation

1985 and 1986 – Camp Covered Bridge (1986 being the last camp season for CCB)

1987 – Tunnel Mill Reservation

1988 – Camp Crooked Creek

Summer 1988 saw us camping at Camp Crooked Creek, the new council camp and not only were we there the first week, we were the first troop
to appear and register. Truly, we were the first troop at the new camp.

Also recently, we have given one of our own Eagle Scouts, Paul Kopp, to the Scouting movement; Paul is currently serving as District Executive
for the Dan Boone District.

Well, that’s the way it was from 1963 to 1988. Here’s hoping the best for the next 25. (Frank Schaeffer, 1988)

If you would like to contribute additional information, please contact Scout Master at scoutmaster@ssmtroop67.com