Troop 2 during The Second World War

Troop 2 was very active on the homefront during the Second World War. Members of the troop performed many civic duties for the community, participating in scrap drives, public service projects, and several members of our troop served in the armed forces during the war.

The war service stripe was awarded to 34 Troop 2 Weymouth Boy Scouts, and the General Eisenhower Medal was awarded to Troop 2 Weymouth who individually collected over a half a ton of waste paper.

An example of the scrap metal gathered by the troop, and the Eisenhower medal received for efforts throughout the war are shown below.




After the war ended, the troop collected unused Boy Scout uniforms to be sent to the war zones in the Philippines and Europe as Scouting returned to those devastated regions.

Happy Birthday Ben

Cliff Island 2010

Reminder - Scouting Heritage recap, and homework, due 2/28

At the gym night on 2/21 we experienced several historical games that were commonly played in the early days of scouting, including Stick Wrestling, Wobbly Platforms, and Deer/Hunters. Scouts who missed this gym night must meet with Mr. Chase on 2/28 for a review and further assignment.

A reminder, the following homework is due on Monday. February 28th

New work due 2/28

• All Scouts must review the Troop 2 History information on the website (address above) and record 4 facts about the Troop for discussion on 2/28

• Several interviews are incorporated in this badge. If a member of your family was in Scouting, please ask them to discuss their experiences with your son. We will be drafting a set of questions to use for interviewing at the meeting on 2/28. All Scouts should be considering the questions they would ask someone who has been a Scout, including their recollections of Scouting in their era, etc.

Previous homework (due by 2/28)

• Some scouts did not turn in their work for Requirement 4b on 2/14 – as a reminder, scouts must review the website for the National Scouting Museum, and prepare a paragraph about why this museum is important to Scouting. I also encourage the scouts to write to the address provided, asking for more details to help them work on this badge and specifically this requirement. Instructions are included in a previous note and on the website.

Scouts will likely receive a patch in the packet sent to them by the museum. For more details on this homework, please check the previous BLOG entry.



Ongoing assignment (due 3/7)

• Scouts should be assembling their collections of Scout related materials, which will be due at the meeting on March 7

Happy Birthday Joe

Washington DC Trip

Happy Birthday Chris

Blazers Game

Historic Photo's of Two Hikes.

Here are two pictures from our archives - in this case of hikers preparing to depart.

The first one is from the 1930's, and is a group of Troop 2 Scouts preparing to hike to Forty Acres, a popular local camping spot. Out troop often camped there overnight, leaving on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday evening. This was in the years before we used Valley Pines in Norwell. Note the bedrolls in the pictures, and canteens. The scout in the center of the photo is carrying his baseball glove as well.

Many of the photos from the early days of our troop include hikes and camping, and from the Scout News and other sources we can see that the troop frequently spent over 60 nights outdoors in a year, which is an amazing record.

The second photo is from our 25th anniversary at Cliff Island in 1980. If you look real closely in the background you can see what appears to be Mr. Keenan enjoying a book on the big rock by the lean-to. The scouts preparing for their hike are, from left to right, Dan Kelly, Larry Sullivan, and Pete Hamilton.

Official Town of Weymouth History of the Troop

The following is an entry on Scouting, from “History of Weymouth Massachusetts In Four Volumes, Published by the Weymouth Historical Society in 1923, Vol. 2, Page 678


In 1911 Rev. Walter H. Commons, who was then the pastor of the Congregational Church, East Weymouth, after reading the Boy Scout Handbook, edited by Gen. Baden Powell, decided that such an organization would be valuable training for the young boys in his parish. He therefore organized a scout troop and asked Mr. Ernest C. Smith of East Weymouth to be scoutmaster. Rev. Robert Cochran, pastor of the Union Congregational Church of Weymouth and Braintree, had, however, applied for a commission previous to this. He never got to the point of organizing a troop, but his commission was issued before that of Mr. Smith. The troop in East Weymouth Congregational Church was numbered Troop 2, although it is really the oldest organized troop in town. Troop 2 has a continued existence up to the present day, and now has twenty-two boys, with Mr. Albin Johnson as scoutmaster.

In 1917 Weymouth was joined with the towns of Avon, Braintree, Cohasset, Hingham, Hull, Scituate, Randolph and Holbrook and formed the Old Colony Council, with an employed executive, Mr. Harold Converse. Mr. Converse was succeeded by Mr. Howard M. Clark, who was in turn succeeded by Mr. Duncan MacKellar.

God and Church Award

Congratulations to Ben, Ian and Nate for earning the "God and Church" religious award.  The award was presented by Reverend Gary Blume at the First Church in Weymouth.  These boys worked with Mr. Murphy and Rev. Blume for several months and shared some of their work at the Scout Sunday service.

After the service, we were treated to a great selection of delicious refreshments.

Nate explains many of the ways Jesus described himself

Ben's project focused on the many names of God in the bible.

Ian shares the miracle of the five loaves and two fish from John's Gospel

Troop 2 thanks First Church for all their help and hospitality.  In addition to helping these Boy Scouts with this award, Mrs. Keagan worked with Cub Scouts from Pack 2 to earn their religious awards.  First Church also generously hosts Troop 2 for our gym nights and Pack 2 for their Pack Meetings.

Weymouth Heights Club - further history

In a previous posting several images of the Weymouth Heights Club were presented.

The information below, excerpted from the Troop 2 Scout News, April 13, 1971, gives a bit of background on the evolution of the WHC from a fire station to a mens club to the clubhouse we now know.




Headline – Weymouth Heights Club Celebrates it’s 50th Anniversary

The building known as the Weymouth Heights Club was erected in 1893 for a hose house for a local company of the Weymouth Fire Department. The land was purchased from Charles Tirrell for a cost of $65.00. Charles Chubbuck of North Weymouth was the builder, and the cost of the building was $424.00. Hose Company No. 7 was a part of the Weymouth Fire Department until 1921, when more modern methods of fighting fires came into effect. Evidently Hose 7 did quite a business during its existence, turning out as many as ten volunteer firemen at a fire.

The second phase in the history of the Heights Club began in 1921, when a group of public-spirited citizens from Weymouth Heights purchased the land and building and proposed to operate it as a men’s club. The plant was incorporated according to state law for civic, social, educational and athletic purposes. Mr. Fred Smith was the first president of the club. Under his leadership the clubhouse was remodeled. Unfortunately, the men’s club was not a success, and membership fell off until there were only seven men left on the membership list. On October 2, 1934, these men turned the property over to Troop 2, BSA. This arrangement with the Scout troop worked for a while. The property was cleared of debt, and improvements were made to the building, but it became increasingly apparent that other arrangements must be made, because the constitution of the Boy Scouts does not permit individual troops to hold real estate.

Facing these difficulties the Club was reorganized in 1938. The Clubhouse was enlarged by sawing it in two, moving the two sections apart and building in between. These changes included a second floor, toilets in a new front, and a cellar to house a new heater.

Through the years the Weymouth Heights Club has proudly sponsored Boy Scout Troop 2 and Cub Scout Pack 2, and continues to fulfill its goal to improve and enrich the lives of the youth of Weymouth by sponsoring and organizing youth and community groups.

Parents and friends of Troop 2 are encourage to join the Weymouth Heights Club. Our next social event is a Corned Beef Dinner in March.

Scouting Heritage Merit Badge – 2/14 recap & homework

Scouting Heritage Merit Badge – 2/14 recap

The following items were discussed at the meeting

Requirement 3 –
We discussed the various scouting entities and the demographic they each serve. As of December, 2010 there are over 2.7 million Scouts, spread across these units.

Cubs – introduced in 1930, it’s the biggest segment of scouting – starts at age 7, goes to age 10

BSA – ages 10-18, started in 1911

Explorers – started in 1935, coed in 1971, design changed over time from land based Sea Scouts to career exploration, split in 1998 to form Venturing

Venturing – started in 1998, also coed, goes to age 21, focus is on outdoor skills and similar development to BSA programs

Others - Sea Scouts, started 1912 now part of Venturing, Air Scouts, started in 1942, rolled into Explorers in 1947, Varsity Scouts, with a sporting theme, introduced in 1984, Rover Scouts, started in 1933, ended in 1941.

We also began work on Requirement 5, which involves the history of the local unit. According to our Troop History, Troop 2 is the oldest continuously chartered Scout Troop in Old Colony Council, and one of the oldest in the United States. A synopsis of the Troop 2 history is available on our website at http://www.weymouthheightsclub.org/id4.html

To set the stage for this review we handled old scout uniforms from the 1940’s through the 1970’s, sashes from these eras, and headgear.

Homework – as a reminder, homework has been assigned both last week and this week.
In order to complete this badge this homework must be passed in to Mr. Chase for review and recording.

Ongoing assignments

• Some scouts did not turn in their work for Requirement 4b last night – as a reminder, scouts must review the website for the National Scouting Museum, and prepare a paragraph about why this museum is important to Scouting. I also encourage the scouts to write to the address provided, asking for more details to help them work on this badge and specifically this requirement. For more details on this homework, please check the previous BLOG entry.

• Scouts should be assembling their collections of Scout related materials, which will be due at the meeting on March 7


New work due 2/28

• All Scouts must review the Troop 2 History information on the website (address above) and record 4 facts about the Troop for discussion on 2/28

• Several interviews are incorporated in this badge. If a member of your family was in Scouting, please ask them to discuss their experiences with your son. We will be drafting a set of questions to use for interviewing at the meeting on 2/28. All Scouts should be considering the questions they would ask someone who has been a Scout, including their recollections of Scouting in their era, etc.

Calendar changes

Please note the following changes in our schedule

- The campout planned for this weekend has been cancelled

- Next Monday, February 21, will be a gym night - one activity will be to participate in games from the first Scout camp at Brownsea Island as part of the Scouting Heritage merit badge.

- The following Monday, February 28, will be a meeting at the Weymouth Heights Club

Check Your Advancement

At the clubhouse we have a large chart that the boys can reference to see how they are doing on advancement. This allows them to see if they are keeping up w/ their peers, and also see how they are progressing towards the goal of Eagle Scout.

Every boy advances individually and at their own pace. The earlier ranks are much less dependent on Merit Badges, while later one depend on earning a mix of Eagle Required and optional Merit Badges. A boys must earn 11 Eagle Required and at least 10 other Merit Badges to be eligible for Eagle.

Below is a summary of our larger, more detailed chart. This should give parents and scouts a chance to check on advancement progress. If you have any questions on advancing through the ranks or earning merit badges, please feel free to talk to any of the leaders during a Monday meeting.

	Rank							Merit Badges
	Scout	Tenderfoot	Second Class	First Class	Star	Life	Eagle	Eagle Required (Target=11)	Other
Jordan	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	13
JB	X	X	X	X	X			7	10
Antonio	X	X						1	8
Nick	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	21
Brian	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11	22
Paul	X	X	X	X	X			6	13
Tom	X	X	X	X				4	8
Chris D	X	X	X	X				5	9
Bryan	X	X	X	X	X	X		10	12
Eric	X	X	X	X	X	X		11	27
Jonathan H	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	20
Tim J	X	X	X	X				3	13
Joe	X	X	X	X	X	X		10	18
PK	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	10
Dan	X	X	X					2	7
Andrew	X	X	X	X				3	12
Tim M	X	X	X					3	10
Matt M	X	X	X					5	7
Ben	X	X	X	X	X			10	22
Nate	X	X						6	16
Jackson	X	X	X					3	10
Isaiah	X	X	X					0	1
Tyler	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	35
Chris R	X	X	X	X				4	7
Devin	X							2	4
AJ	X	X	X	X	X	X		10	18
Mitchel	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	13
Taylor	X	X	X	X	X			6	13
Ian	X	X						1	0
DJ	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	15
Josh	X	X	X	X	X	X		9	19
Matt W	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11	33
Derek	X	X	X	X				3	10
Chris Z	X	X	X	X				3	9

Happy Birthday DJ

Camp 2010

The Weymouth Heights Club, Proud Sponsor of Troop 2

The Weymouth Heights Club has been the sponsoring organization for our Troop for close to 80 years. We conduct our weekly meetings on this location, as we have since 1934. Scouts have also gathered here for canoe trips, summer camp, weekend campouts, and cookouts. The WHC also sponsors Cub Scout Pack 2 which meets regularly during the school year in the hall, and a Girl Scout Troop that meets monthly.

This organization is a nonprofit, volunteer group, with the goal to improve and enrich the lives of the youth of Weymouth by sponsoring and organizing youth and community groups. Membership in the organization is open, and we encourage parents of scouts in our Troop as well as the general public to join.

Our Troop is thankful to the WHC for the use of the hall, and for their support over the past 80 years.

The Weymouth Heights Club building is a former Weymouth fire station, which closed in 1922. The property includes a large hall, garage, and storage area for equipment.

In 1985, the flag pole in front of the building was dedicated to Commander Haig Alemian, a Troop 2Eagle scout, and the brick building behind the Clubhouse was dedicated to Franklin Pratt, who served as Scoutmaster from 1938 to 1974.

Recent Eagle scout projects on the site included the addition of a memorial to Ron Parry, Scoutmaster from 1974-2006, a new rear deck and a replacement fence, with landscaping and site cleanup.

Over the years the exterior of the building has been modified, as shown in the pictures below.

Matched parade images over the last 100 years

Many of the photos from the Troop archives show the same background scenery - two sets of examples are below.
These sets of pictures show us that while the uniforms and the people may change, the spirit is the same. And in many cases, so is Weymouth!

Troop 2 Drum Corps through the years

As we all know, the Troop is celebrating our 100 year anniversary this year. But you may not know that the Drum Corps is celebrating it's 90th anniversary as well.

The Corps was organized in 1931, appearing for the first time on Memorial Day that year. In 1966 the Troop adopted a Drum Corps patch, which participants earn by learning all of the arrangements in the repertoire. This patch is still used today.

Over the years the corps has moved from green leggings and straps to white ones, and has worn a variety of headgear, including World War I style metal helmets, felt campaign hats like the ones we wear today, and the garrison cap which was popular in the 1950's.

One constant is the drums and cymbals, which are evident in all of the photos.

Our Drum Corps has participated over the years in countless parades, both in Weymouth and in neighboring towns. Our drummers have marched onto the field at the TD BankNorth Garden, at the Charlestown Navy Yard, and at Wellington State Park. They've received honors from the Quincy Christmas Parade, and marched for many years in the Hingham 4th of July Parade.

A selection of photos from the last 80 years is below - in a rough chronological order from the 1930's through present day.

Please check out the Drum Corps exhibit at the 100th anniversary celebration in September for more of these amazing memories.