Thomas Hoffman, Eagle Scout (from a newspaper article in 1953): the Eagle badge, highest Boy Scout award, will be presented to Thomas Hoffman at a Court of Honor in St. John the Evangelist Hall, Sunday, November 22, at 7:15 p.m. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hoffman, young Hoffman at the previous Court of Honor in June of 1953 was awarded the outstanding patrol leader award. He was promoted to the junior leader staff and as assistant senior patrol leader was cited for outstanding individual leadership.

Death of an early camp director: [In 1953, Camp Mountaineer was opened at Massawepie, and Troop 37 attended Mountaineer its first year. Thomas Rowe, a member of the professional staff at Otetiana Council, was the first camp director, and Townsend "Towny" Childs was as program director. As described in the following newspaper article, Mr. Rowe died in a car accident shortly after camp opened. Towny Childs replaced his as camp director for the rest of the summer, and a picture of Mr. Rowe hangs over the fireplace at Mountaineer.] A requiem Mass will be celebrated Saturday for Thomas C. Rowe, 24, of 85 Sawyers St, Rochester, Boy Scout executive, who was killed Tuesday night when his car crashed into a tree near Lake Placid. The Mass at 11 a.m. in St. Monica's church will follow a funeral service at 10:30 in the C. F. Scheuerman Sons Funeral Home, 712 Main St. W.  Burial will be in Holy Sepulcher Cemetery. Mr. Rowe had been director of Mountaineer Camp, one of two operated by Otetiana Council at Massawepie Park in the Adirondacks. He was on his day off when the accident occurred.

Camperships in 1953 (from a newspaper article): A total of $500 in "scholarships" to Boy Scout camps will be given to four members of Troop 37 of St. John the Evangelist Church, thanks to the Scouts' mothers. Group members' mothers raise the money for the Scouts, which will be presented at a Court of Awards Sunday night in St. John's Hall. The top award will go to David Doyle of 125 Dalkeith Rd.  The 16-year-old Aquinas senior, who also will get his Eagle Scout award, will spend 36 days at Philmont N. M. Scout Ranch for the national advanced training course. He was adjudged outstanding boy leader of the troop. Two weeks at the Schiff Scout Reservation in New Jersey will go to Dick Corbett, 75 Browncroft Blvd., selected as the troop's outstanding junior leader. The 15-year-old is an Aquinas sophomore. A freshman at Aquinas, Tommy Hoffman, 14, of 81 Merwin Ave, will spend two weeks at Camp Massawepie. He was named outstanding patrol leader. Two weeks at Massawepie, too, will go to Billy Gallagher, 11, of 296 Yarmouth Rd. A sixth grader at St. John's school, he was named outstanding younger Scout.

Scout-o-Rama 1953 (from a newspaper article.  The event probably took place in Edgerton Park): . . . Camped next to the Explorer Scouts were eight patrol leader trainees from Troop 37, aged 12 to 15. Under the direction of Scout committee member Walt May, the boys rouse themselves about dawn to mutter over Elmer's noisemaking and to prepare breakfast. The menu was composed of dehydrated foods, in line with a camping experience. The boys had oatmeal, rice, apricots, dehydrated milk, and frozen orange juice. They were quick to point out, however, that Mike "Wacky" Wade, a 15-year-old who drew up the menu, neglected to provide sugar and salt. The group included Dick Connors, Billy Whitnack, Sandy Barry, Tim Ecker, Paul Wagner, Joe Rabideau, and Zeke Coyles. Zeke proved himself the heartiest of the lot by sleeping in an open lead-two. The others took to the warmth of tents.

Dave Doyle, Eagle Scout (from 1953 newspaper article): David A. Doyle, 17-year-old Eagle Scout, was selected last night to represent Rochester on a two-week trip to Sweden, Norway and Denmark in October. He was chosen from eight other Otetiana Council Boy Scouts, themselves top-notchers among 2500 others. . . . David is a member of Troop 37 of St. John the Evangelist Church, which last year chose him as outstanding boy leader. He is a staff member of Camp Mountaineer this summer, acting as a chief trail guide. A graduate of Aquinas Institute, he will attend Allendale preparatory school in the fall.

100% Advancement (From 1954 newspaper article) An unusual Boy Scout Court of honor will take place at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in St. John the Evangelist Church. Every one of the 103 scouts in Troop 37 will receive an advancement award. Thomas Ecker, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. Harold Eckert will receive the single Eagle Scout badge from Joseph Geraghty, group committee chairman. Also to be awarded will be 3 Life, 5 Star, 114 First Class, 20 Second Class, 7 Tenderfoot, and 126 merit badges." (From a follow-up newspaper article): Apparently that was quite some Court of Honor at Boy Scout Troop 37, at St. John the Evangelist Church, had the other night. It marked the first time in Western New York Scout history that every boy in a Troop had received an advancement award. There were 176 awards distributed among 103 scouts, and scoutmaster Louis Langie Jr. and chairman of awards Ed Tallmadge can now relax.

Tom Ecker, Eagle Scout (from a 1954 newspaper article, probably the Catholic Courier): Recipient of the highest award in scouting was: Thomas Ecker, 11 Stonehenge Rd, at St. John's. . . in the impressive ceremonies at St. John the Evangelist's Hall, for Troop 37, every boy numbering 103 received advancement awards, said to be one of the largest number in this area in Catholic scouting. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. John B. Sullivan, pastor, after Benediction in the church when the boys had assembled in the parish hall, recalled the year 1917 [the year St. John's was founded] in his message. Monsignor Sullivan citing the parish's development and said that the grandest gifts of all to a pastor are not the edifices of stone and brick that rise as tribute to God, but the little monuments of souls being molded into man to serve God and mankind well.

W. Stanley Macklem, Otetiana Council president appealed to the boys for continued leadership. He told the present-day leaders that "out of these youthful ranks come tomorrow's citizens of leadership, they too in their time must catch the torch and hold it high." Presentation of the Eagle award was made by Chairman Joseph Geraghty with the assistance of Scoutmaster Louis A. Langie, Jr.  Success of a ceremony, in which the 103 boys were all advanced, was attributed to Langie in cooperation with the Scout Leaders and Mothers' Auxiliary. 

Mike Wade, Eagle Scout (from a newspaper article June 1954): Mickey Wade, 16-year-old son of Mr. & Mrs. Harold F. Wade, 58 Woodland Park, received the Eagle Award, highest decoration in Scouting at a Court of Honor Sunday, June 29 in St. John the Evangelist Church. He is a member of Troop 37 and has completed five years in the Scouts. At the end of his first year he was “Outstanding Scout,” and second year, “Outstanding Patrol leader”. Last fall he made a trip with Louis Langie Jr. Into Canada and was the first [non-Indian] boy to reach Sioux Falls Lookup in the Dominion.