History of Troop 746

Boy Scout Troop 746 was initially chartered in September 1952 and has been sponsored continuously by St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Fullerton MD.  The first Scoutmaster was John Poedel. The first Committee Chairman was Paul Raphel, Sr. and Jack Klein was the first Secretary-Treasurer. Other original committee members were Pete Kraus and Bill Christ.

The first Eagle Scout from our Troop was Paul Raphel, Jr. and there have been over 100 additional Eagle Scouts in the 65+ year history of the Troop.  (Full list - here).  We have had sixteen Scoutmasters over that timeframe.  Of these, the man who served the longest was Arthur (Art) Williamson who retired in 2000 after twenty-four years of service to the Troop.  Art also served as an Explorer Scout Advisor to an Explorer Post that was previously attached to St. Joseph Church. (Full list - here).

Over the years, the Troop has gone on many weekend camping trips and summer camps.  Some of these trips included; canoeing the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers, biking on the C&O Canal and trails on Maryland’s famous Eastern Shore, hiking the Appalachian Trail in various states, visiting many historic cities and battlefields, skiing and tubing at Liberty and Roundtop resorts, fishing trips out of Crisfield, and yearly Camporees.

The Troop has attended summer camp in Maryland (at Rodney, Broad Creek, and Henson), in Pennsylvania (at Treasure Island, Horseshoe, Hidden Valley, Ockanickon, and Resica Falls), in Virginia (at Ottari and Powhatan), Buffalo Bill in Wyoming, Raymond in Arizona, Bear Lake in Utah, Peaceful Valley in Colorado, Meriwether in Oregon, and T.L.Storer in New Hampshire.  Recently, the Troop visited Camp Daniel Boone in North Carolina.

Every three years the Troop sends a contingent of scouts and leaders to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico and/or to the BSA National Sea Base in Florida or The Bahamas where they participate in high adventure backpacking and sailing.

In addition to these High Adventure trips, the Troop also takes long range trips every three years, such as touring National Parks in Utah, the Grand Tetons in Colorado, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park, Arizona and the Grand Canyon, the Pacific Northwest, and New England.

Here is a listing of the Troop's summer travels (as best we can recollect).

Many of these trips are funded by our primary fundraiser - the Fruit Sale.  The Troop typicallly holds 3-4 fruit drives per year between November and March.

We would like to sincerely thank St. Joseph Parish for sponsoring the Troop since 1952.