Boy Scouting marks 88 years

The Boy Scouts of America is celebrating its 88th birthday this week, Feb. 8 to 14.

Boy Scout councils across the nation will participate in special ceremonies and award presentations designed to help the public better understand the aims and objectives of Scouting.

Pictured is the window display at the old Flower Mill on South Main. It was created by Den 10 of Pack 138, Newark. The Pack is sponsored by the Park Presbyterian Church.

The Boy Scouts originated in 1907 in Great Britain. Two years later, William Boyce, a Chicago publisher traveling in London, became lost in a London fog. A young boy offered to help him and led Boyce to his destination. When Boyce thanked the boy for his aid, the boy explained that as a Boy Scout, it was his duty to help others, and declined a tip.

Boyce met with Britain's Boy Scout founder, Lord Baden-Powell, and laid the groundwork to bring the Scouting program to the United States. With the help of Baden-Powell, Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Carter Beard and James E. West, Boyce established the Boy Scouts of America on Feb. 8, 1910.

The first Boy Scout troop, Troop 1, grew to a membership of 150 boys. By June 1911, the movement had grown enough to require the election of the first officers.

Today, membership in Scouting exceeds 5 million youth and adult members. More than 96 million young people have been involved in Scouting since the Boy Scouts of America first began in 1910.

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