BOY SCOUT MEMOIR
by Ted Meland

My name is Ted Meland. I was involved with the Boy Scout program in St. Louis Park from 1948 until 1984, when I moved out-of-state. Here is the information about Troops and leaders as I recall them.
 

I joined Cub Scout Pack 296 in 1948. The pack was sponsored by Union Congregational Church and the Cubmaster was William Jaglo. For reasons not known to me, that Pack did not meet at Union Congregational. They met in the auditorium of the Red Owl Grocery Store headquarters in Hopkins.

When I grew too old for Cub Scouts, I would have gone into Boy Scout Troop 296 which did meet at Union Congregational. But, at that same time a Boy Scout troop was started at Prince of Peace Church. That was closer to where I lived on Sumter Avenue and so both myself and my older brother, Keith, became charter members of that troop. It was Troop 232. Fred King was the first Scoutmaster of the troop. More on 232 later.
 

Bill Jaglo moved from Cub Scout Pack 296 and became Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 296 at about that same time. Bill was Scoutmaster there for many years. A few Scouts I recall were Jack Jaglo, Chuck Enestvedt, Ron Caldwell, Bob Howe, Roger Oas and Roger Wicklander. Other adults associated with 296 include Hutton Howe, Fred Lange, Vernon Wicklander, Clyde Harrison and Arvid Oas.
 

Troop 307 was at Aldersgate Methodist Church. I can only recall three names of men associated with that troop, but I am not sure if any of them were the Scoutmaster. They are Dow Starkey, Phil Zorn and Newell Deutscher. A few youth members I recall from the 1950s are Fred Gordon, Duane Brudevold, Michael Hanson, Craig Stall, Jon Klingel and Art Starkey.
 

There was troop 369 at Westwood Lutheran Church on Cedar Lake Road. I knew several of the Scouts from that troop, including Richard Wilson and brothers Jim and Joe Beggs. Adults I recall are Richard Brown, Perry Beggs and Clayton Johnson. I think Johnson was the Scoutmaster for several years.
 

Troop 282 began meeting at Lenox School in the 1950s. Some of the Scouts from the 1950s and 60s were Frank Fleetham, Larry Furry, Roger Redpath and Tim Locken. It was sponsored by the Lenox PTA. When Lenox closed, troop 282 started meeting at Peter Hobart School, and sponsorship changed to that of the St. Louis Park Lions' Club. Bill Bullis was an early Scoutmaster of that troop, as was Julius Hanson. Later Scoutmasters included David Apold, Tom Richards., Al Kroage and Dennis Anderson.

Bill Bullis was also the Scoutmaster of Troop 345 before moving to 282. Troop 345 was sponsored by and met at Evangelical Free Church on Minnetonka Boulevard. This was during the mid-1950s.
 

Troop 252 was sponsored by and met at the Jewish Community Center. For many years the Scoutmaster was Marv Arenson, ably assisted by Harold Ring, Harvey Chiat and Harvey Goldstein. A couple of names of Scouts I recall were Steve Jenkins, Bill Chiat, Bill Goldstein and Andy Wertheimer. I am not sure if all these people actually lived in St. Louis Park since this troop drew in members from all over the area.
 

There was a Troop 250 sponsored by the St. Louis Park Lions' Club. The only one Scoutmaster I can think of for sure was Norman Crosby. Jack Riordan and Arnold Salverson might also have been Scoutmasters there, but I am not certain. They met at Aquila School.
 

Later, another troop took over from 250 at Aquila and 250 was phased out. Troop 379 was started by myself. Joe Strauss was the Scoutmaster and then I took over and remained Scoutmaster there for about 12 years, from 1972 to 1984. Later Scoutmasters were Kent Dunder and Michael Popadiuk. I have attached a separate listing of many of the members of that troop.
 

St. Luke's Church on Highway 100, near Brookside School, sponsored Troop 274 in the 60s and 70s. Two Scoutmaster's names I know for sure are Arnold Erickson and Merton Zinter. Scouts I can recall include Steve Laursen, Brent Martin and Mark Levenson.
 

In the 1970s there was a Boy Scout Troop at Peace Presbyterian Church on Cedar Lake Road. It was Troop 287. No names come to mind as being associated with that troop.

Getting back to Troop 232 at Prince of Peace Church, excellent membership records were kept for many years. I mentioned that the first Scoutmaster was Fred King. At that time he lived on Quebec Ave S. Next came Paul Norby who lived on 33rd & Texas. He was followed by Norm Crosby, Gene Schadow, Don Johnson, Tom Grimsrud, myself, Leonard Weissner, Glen Blue and Marty Noll. The last Scoutmaster there as far as I know was Tom Oswood.
 

I am enclosing a separate listing containing just about all of the members of troop 232 from 1952 through 1975. A total of 439 Scouts! The records end in 1975, even though the troop continued to meet into the early 1980s.
 

All of the Boy Scout Troops I have included here were very active for varying periods of times. It would not be an exaggeration to say that over the years, several thousand boys of St. Louis Park participated in this program. And hundreds of adults volunteered their time and energies in leadership. I suspect there are scores of Eagle Scouts among the group. Alas, I was not one of them.
 

Ted Meland
Apache Junction, Arizona
October, 2008

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.