“This is a recap of the information about Troop 264 that I could remember during my tenure as Scoutmaster
from 1969 through 1975.
“I took over as Scoutmaster in the Fall of 1969 when the troop was going through
some hard times. There were only about a dozen boys in the troop at that time and the
current Scoutmaster, Lou Oldani, was moving to Texas. No one else volunteered. I agreed [to be Scoutmaster]
only that the committee let me set it up my way. I set up requirements for attendance, for participation
by parents and scouts, for advancement, for financial responsibilities, etc. The number of scouts dropped to six (6)!!!
“Fred Young was the first Eagle. The membership soon swelled to 60 scouts with a waiting list
of over 20 boys. We had many Eagles after Fred. We had a very active program, camping once
a month, year round. Summer camp at different locations: primitive camping in Pennsylvania,
beach camping on Assateague Island, Camp Tuckahoe north of Frederick, MD, and going to many locations in the
area. The troop adopted a song, “Whad Ot En Choo,” during camp at Tuckahoe. Our first summer camp at
the scout camp in Virginia was a disaster in that we were threatened by a troop from D.C. After that we never
went back. Adult participation was exceptional. Paul Angel, still on Lafayette Drive
[in Olney, MD], was our interface with Legion Post 68. George Bidinger and Charlie Haas were assistant
scoutmasters. Our monthly calendar was compiled by myself and duplicated by Gloria Sullivan (Westminster, Cal),
and Don Wrublick’s wife (can’t remember her first name, on Sir Walter [Road, in Olney, MD]) did the newsletter. Our
funding was raised by selling Krispy Kreme donuts every third Saturday of the month starting at 0730. People
expected the donuts to show up to have coffee and donuts. We were selling over 300 dozen each month and
it only took an hour. The routes in the area were chosen so that pairs of scouts could cover the
distance easily. Almost all merit badges were counselled by adults in the troop. We were pretty much self-sustaining.
“When I left the troop in early 1975 to become the neighborhood commissioner for the 5 units in the area and
then to start an Explorer post in Olney, the troop had over 25 Eagles and a very active program. Jasper Holt
(moved to Tampa, FL) took over for me. Paul Henry was then the committee chairman.
“Some Eagles that I can recall were Fred Young, Owen Englander, Ronald Cutlop, Jerry and Ronald Lavalle,
Jeff Graham, Tom and his brother Kusterer, to mention a few. I have a set of coffee mugs at home that
were presented to me when I retired, that have the signatures of each of the scouts and adults on the outside. I’ll
get a list of them for you. Also I have many photos of our activities and will try to get them mounted
on a board for the banquet [the 100+ Eagles Celebration on December 21]. I do plan to attend the banquet. I
tried my old uniform on but as it goes, the material around the middle has shrunk!”
~ Regards, John Fuch 12.19.2014
