controversy when it comes to compromise
or lack thereof, but they have held firm to
their values and have emerged even stronger.
In the Cape Fear Council, which includes
New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, Scotland,
Hoke, Robeson, Bladen and Columbus
counties, their numbers remain solid, with
more than 5,000 scouts paired with 15,000-
16,000 volunteers.
The Boy Scouts’ national organization
has a storied history, beginning with its
founder, William D. Boyce, a multi-mil-lionaire
Counterclockwise from above: Kyle Davis has set up 11
lifejacket loaner stations, including this one at Seapath,
as part of his Eagle Scout project. Spencer Lewis, Evan
James, Rhett Freeman and Will Bernard, Boy Scouts from
Troop 232, help landscape the South Channel Park on
Saturday, August 26, as part of an Eagle Scout project
organized by Jonathan Mincher. Weston Gainey and
other boy scouts from Troop 212 of First Presbyterian
Church install a Simmons Sea skiff exhibit outside of
Wrightsville Beach Museum on Saturday, April 18.
Gainey took on the project, which included building the
skiff, to earn his Eagle badge. WBM File Photos.
businessman. Boyce discovered the
Boy Scouts while stopping off in London
en route to Africa in 1909. While there, as
legend has it, Boyce got lost in the dense,
London fog and was guided to safety by a
Boy Scout. Impressed by the boy’s sense
of duty, Boyce learned more about the
organization and imported it to the United
States. The Boy Scouts incorporated in
February 1910, when 34 national represen-tatives
of boys’ work agencies met in tem-porary
headquarters in a New York YMCA.
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WBM september 2010
Along the way, there have been many
milestones. In 1911, the Scout Oath and
Scout Law were adopted. The Order of
the Arrow, BSA’s honor society, was intro-duced
in 1915. Cub Scouts was formally
launched in 1930. By 1980, there were 30
million Cub Scouts.
Scouts have a long history of service during
difficult times. They were called on during
the 1918 influenza epidemic and again in
1934, when President Roosevelt asked for
their help with the distressed and needy.