B.S.A. TROOP 209 HISTORY

Boy Scout Troop 209 is sponsored by Woodside United Methodist Church for the Boy Scouts of America. We are in the National Capital Area Council and are located in Montgomery County, Maryland in the area known as Silver Spring. The Districts in which we have been included are Montgomery (prior to 1974), Secota (1974-83), Seneca (1984-92), Olde Mill (1993-2002), and Rock Creek (2003-Present).

The earliest records show that Troop 209 was in existence as early as 1918 which probably makes it the oldest Troop in our county. The first Scoutmaster of record was born in 1871. He must have had vision in the fledgling Boy Scout organization.

To date we have had 67 Scouts to earn the Rank of Eagle Scout and the record shows that we have our 50 th Scoutmaster. Prior to 1946 two Eagle Scout awards were earned the first in 1934, 1946-1983 34 Eagles, then we had a dry spell for nine years, and from 1992-Present 30 Eagle have been earned. Currently, we have 33 Eagle Scout Candidates.

At one time, the Troop had their own “Scout Hut” which was a separate building behind the church. According to Chad Leyson, a Troop 209 Scout in the Troop 1935-41, his “father Sgt. Webster Leyson, arranged for the moving of a WWI temporary building from Walter Reed to the rear of the parking lot” at the church which was then on the SW corner of Georgia Avenue and Spring Street. When the church moved to the present location, the “Scout Hut” was not moved. Special funds were collected for the Scouts for a new Scout Hut at the new church location. For some reason, the new Scout Hut never materialized; however, the money collected was applied to building a super Scout Room in the new church. Money left over from the new Scout Room building was used to purchase several canoes for the Troop.

History indicates that in the late 1960s there were 50 Tenderfoot Scouts in the Troop at one time. Mr. Gerald Wilson, Scoutmaster 1966-68, indicated “all those young Scouts were a handful.”

Mrs. Ray Stokeley, while her husband was Scoutmaster in 1969, hiked on foot with the Troop the entire length of the 184.5-mile C & O Canal tow path. The Troop did this over many campouts.

Past activities have included high adventures such as hiking the C & O Canal both on foot and by bicycle; taking 50-mile canoe trips on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River in Virginia; traversing the Lenhok’ Sin Trail at our Council’s Goshen Scout Reservation; backpacking and canoeing in the Adirondacks in New York State; canoeing in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada; National Scout Jamborees; and kayaking. We have done caving; rappelling; rock climbing; Scouting on the Mall; camporees; countless service projects such as First Night in Silver Spring, walkathons for the homeless, Adopt-a-Highway, and helping at the Shepherd’s Table. One high adventure took us to West Point Military Academy and to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Over the years several Scouts and crews went to the Philmont Scout Reservation in Cimarron, NM and the Florida Sea Base.

Other activities include monthly campouts, weekly Troop Meetings, service projects, aid to citizens and the community, annual program planning, model rockets and cars, bicycle rodeos, Merit Badge Day, Scout expositions, high adventures, summer camp, hosting the Webelo’s Weekend, Courts of Honor, skiing trips, winter camping, and fund raising projects such as car washes and the like.

Troop 209 has probably always operated on the Patrol Method following Scouting’s method of having a boy run troop with guidance of the Scoutmaster and other adult leaders. The Troop Committee supplies to the boys the necessary ingredients requested by the Scoutmaster from the boys to have their quality program. The end result is that Troop 209 Scouts become good citizens and leaders while growing, maturing, and having fun.

NOTE: Data for this history was researched from Council and Troop files, newspaper articles, and by interviews from people associated with Troop 209. Last update: June 2006.