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 History and Heritage Helping Build a Better Community through Citizenship and Service |
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Scoutmaster Roll Call Warren DeWildt1987-1997 Jack Lutz 1997 Lenny Andrews 1998-2001 Brian Nichols 2001-2003 Gary Adams 2003-2005 Tim Allen 2005 Jim O'Loughlin 2006 Dave Walker 2007- Troop 338 in the News 1988-South Berwick has new Scout Troop 1989-S. Berwick Scouts winners in Klondike Derby 1992-1st Eagle Scouts in new Troop 338 1995-Dover Teen Achieves Eagle Jonathan Bradstreet hits it big in Hollywood 9/2001-S.Berwick vigil draws hundreds 2002-South Berwick Scout earns rank of Eagle Scouts in Action! You've read about them in Boy's Life, now read about Troop 338's own heros 2002-Student scales triple-decker 2002-SpiderMan Honored 2002-South Berwick hero becomes Eagle Scout 2009-South Berwick Teen touted as Hero 2003-Scout soars to top rank 2004-South Berwick teen makes Eagle Scout 2005 York District Spring Camporee 2005-Scouts Honor Military 2006-York District Award of Merit 2007-Town-Forest Trail 2007-Old flags retired with respect in South Berwick ceremony 2007-Taking care of Old Glory 2007-Thomas Fogarty Memorial 2008-Scout Achieves Eagle rank 2008-South Berwick camporee keeps Scouts busy 2008-South Berwick marks Veterans Day 2009-Teen leads bridges project at South Berwick forest 2010-Four Scouts earn Eagle rank |
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In The Beginning from the archives of Pine Tree Council In 1931, Troop 338's Chartered Organization was listed as the I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) at Olive Branch of South Berwick. From 1936 to 1940 the Chartered Organization was still listed as the Rotary Club, but the Troop was referred to as "Local Troop 3". From March 1940 to March 1955, Troop 338 was chartered to the Rotary Club, but records end there. It appears that Troop 359 may have been the only active troop in South Berwick after that, until the early 1980's, when it disbanded. In October 1989, Troop 338 was re-founded with St.John's Lodge #51 as the Chartered Organization, until February 1993. Since March of 1993, Troop 338 has been chartered to the South Berwick Rod & Gun Association, whose generous support has helped our Troop to flourish. from the archives of Pine Tree Council From 1969 to 1980, Troop 359 was chartered by the South Berwick Memorial Post # 5744 VFW. From 1980 to 1985, Troop 359 was chartered by the VFW and St.John's Lodge #51, and disbanded in 1985. as told by Warren Dewildt, founding Scoutmaster Part way through the year, I started researching past troop history in town and meeting with Council to see about starting a troop in town. At one time there were two troops in town; a Protestant one and a Catholic one. Both were unfortunately disbanded in the early 1980's. I found out that Paul Roberts had been the past Scoutmaster of Troop 359. I got in touch with him and discovered he still had some equipment, including a Troop flag, a camping kitchen, some two-man tents and two Baker tents. They also still had a checking account with a couple of hundred dollars in it! He and his wife, Carol, were happy to see an interest in Scouting again and volunteered to be on the committee. When I met with Council about starting a troop, they said I needed to: 1) find a sponsor, 2) have a Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster and 3) have a Committee. The most important thing about the sponsor, was that they needed to provide a meeting place. Many of those I approached had a problem with this. I finally was able to get St.John's Lodge #51 to agree to be a Sponsor. They would allow us to use the building for Courts of Honor only. As Webelos, we met at the Town Hall in a basement room, and that is where we continued to meet as a Troop. I decided to be the Scoutmaster and Richard Raitt agreed to be the Assistant Scoutmaster. Gail deWildt accepted the Committee Chair, Paul and Carol Roberts and Percy Story joined as Committee Members. I set up a meeting in April of 1987 with council members, sponsor members and the new Troop adult leadership, to sign papers and set up a charter, and pick Troop numbers. We decided to use the same numerals as the Pack, to provide continuity to those crossing over. With that done, we were off and running! The first year saw camping trips, summer camp, leader training, advancement, and press releases at a rapid pace. There were Courts of Honor every other month, and a feast was held at each one. The troops first service project was to take care of the garbage for the town's Strawberry Festival. The troop continued to provide this service for a number of years. The word was out, and soon even boys from surrounding towns came to join our troop. Two boys from Dover and one from Eliot joined our troop, and all eventually became Eagle Scouts. Along with one boy from Dover, came his dad. This was Jay Stephens who took over the Assistant Scoutmaster roll. Being an Eagle scout and Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, Jay proved to be a valuable asset to the troop. The first winter, the boys were in the paper offering to do snow shoveling to anyone who needed. That winter was also our first experience in the Klondike Derby. Never having been to one nor seen one, the boys did well; building a sled, outfiting it and competing, to come in 3rd place and to win best sled! As the troop grew, so did the number of sleds and trophies. Around 1989, I was talking with people at a Rod and Gun Club meeting, and they expressed an interest in helping the Scouts. Initially, they wanted to do merit badges, hunting safety and fishing safety. Talk continued, and when I mentioned a sponsorship, they couldn't wait. Council was hesitant about having a Rod and Gun club be a sponsor, but they consented and a terrific relationship has existed with the Club since then. The Rod and Gun club has provided a meeting place, monetary support, merit badge counseling and much more in support of the Troop. In 1990, the Troop decided to try something new for a camporee. I found out about a camporee held in Northfield VT. by the Norwich University Scouting Association each fall. This NUSA camporee was organized and run by only students, no adults or faculty members, and hosted between 1,000-2,000 Scouts. Eighteen scouts and leaders went, and were so impressed by the program, that the annual trip to Vermont continues to this day. In 1991 the Maine State Jamboree was held at Brunswick Naval Air Station. There were over 25 people from our Troop that went and endured Friday afternoon thunderstorms and high winds, watching tents and gear blow down the runway, to enjoy an otherwise fabulous weekend. -Warren by Lenny Andrews The Troop has also been able to attend all but a couple of the Norwich Camporees (due to capacity), which many talk about for years afterward. The Cadets put on an extremely well-organized event, with competitions and impressive demos, like the live mock battle, the Mountain Cold Weather / Special Ops Demo, marching excercises, tanks and vehicles for the boys to climb on, to name but a few. Mornings start with a howitzer sounding reveille, and Saturday night ends with a massive bonfire, followed by an awesome fireworks display. Even the adults who have been to this event invariably want to go back. The worst and best camporee according to the Troop, was the 1995 New Hampshire Jamboree. We camped at Gunstock Mountain in a rain so hard, you couldn't open your mouth to breath unless you had a brim on your hat. One end of our designated campsite had 3 inches of standing water, the other end, 6 inches. We bravely pitched camp anyway, with some sleeping bags floating out of the tents. A lot of new scouts and adults wondered what they had gotten themselves into on that first night! Overnight, the rain stopped and a cold dry wind came up, drying up the ground and freezing beads of ice on the tents. The sun came out like a beacon in the morning, and after a hot breakfast we went on to enjoy the day of activities. We did wall climbing, rolling down the mountain in giant innertubes, mountain biking, watching a chain-saw wood sculpter and lots of other fun stuff. One of my favorites was the '97 Fall Camporee in Lebanon, ME. We camped at huge farm with rolling fields and as one of the competitions, the boys had to build a shelter from natural materials and use no man-made items such as rope or plastic. They chose to use only downed wood and materials, and built a 10ft tall teepee-shaped shelter with dried grass and leaves for cover. It was an impressive structure, and about 4 or 5 of the boys decided to sleep in it overnight. While the rest of us shivered in the frosty air, the shelter insulated so well that some of the scouts said they had to unzip their sleeping bags because they were sweating! I vividly remember the scene across the camporee late that night...the acres of field covered with white frost, the moon with a double halo throwing an eerie glow on a thick layer of fog that hovered from treetop to about 10 feet off the ground, and all these mound shelters looming out of the mist across the fields. It looked like a scene from pre-history or the cover of a fantasy book! I joined the Troop in 1994 when my son crossed over from Webelos. At that time Warren was the soft-spoken Scoutmaster and Ed Geaudreau was the Committee Chairman. Warren told me that he needed trained adults to maintain the Troop Charter and asked if I would go to the adult leader training. With my fear of commitment running strong, I only agreed to sign on as a Committee Member and then completed training. When my card came in the mail, it was titled "Assistant Scoutmaster". I said to Warren, "I don't remember any election!" He replied with a smile, "That's because there wasn't any." I told him I didn't know anything about being an Assistant, and he said don't worry, someone will always be there to help. He said,"I've been doing this for eight years, and I need someone to take my position. You show up at every event, and that's what's important." I was still nervous, never having gone further than Tenderfoot myself, so I asked the Committee to elect someone with more experience. Jack Lutz from Pack 338 accepted the Scoutmaster position, until changing job responsibilities later that year forced him to drop out. I accepted the position of Scoutmaster with much trepidation, but with Ed Geaudreau's guidance as Chairman, and Warren for advice, we managed. Adult leaders were hard to come by in those years, and often we made events with the bare minimum of two adults. Each year, we got lucky and picked up more adults, each with their own special skills, until we finally achieved the dynamic team of leadership we have today. Members have included former Eagle Scouts, active and retired servicemen, master woodworkers, an AMC ranger, an EMT, a doctor, forestry professionals, engineers, electricians, supervisors, teachers and accountants, to name but a few. This diverse background of professionals and easy-going personalities, made this a fun organization to belong to and helped build a great program. -Lenny Andrews |
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