New Britain herald., 1928-05-12
TROOP 4 IN LEAD AMONG BOY SCOUTS Supreme in Field Meets and in
 Developing Members

the country IS thal or Troop ol this city-a troop which has with stood tho disintegrating influences of time and has remained at the forefront of New Britain scouting from the day Of its organization un- til the present time. The troop is sponsored by the First Congrega- tional church and has It's headquar- ters there.
 The most generally recognized ac- complishment Of this troop Is that of winning the annual field meets of the council for 13 successive years. No other troop has ever de- feated it since the yearly competi- tions were inaugurated In 1915. Troop won it that yea- and every other year. successfully defending its championship against the field. During this time first one troop and then another arose to question it's clam to supremacy but each was conquered in turn and finally ceased to threaten as 1t went through the breakup process which ends the careers of most scout troops.
 Overcomes All Threats
 At first it was Troop l Of the '. M. c. A. which challenged Troop l. and then a truly worthy rival grew up in Troop Il at St. Johns German Lutheran church. This gave Troop the closest races 1t ever had, but it's members finally passed over age and were out Of competition. Troop at the South church was fairly consistent con- tender for a number of years, as was Troop 20 at the Lincoln school, while the last serious threat came in 1926 from Troop l ) of St. Mary's church. Last year American Legion Troop ' and Troop l of Plainville fought hard but Troop 1 overcame them again and retained it's cham pionship. Now, however, it faces an- other stern test In the meet to be held next month, but the members are looking forward with conf. dence.
 In back Of this achievement lie number of less blatant but even more important feats in Troop As program of youth development. In
  RNtain's ] 3 eagle scouts have come from this troop, as have two of the three boys awarded bronze palms, and the only two gold palms and the unique silver palm are held by Troop 1 members. The troop holds far more merit badges than any oth- CT in the city and has always been an easy winner in the scoutcraft event at the annual city meets. offered cup to the troop showing the greatest test-passing progress during each quarter. the cup to be- come the permanent property of the troop first winning it four times. Troop captured that trophy so quickly that the council has never dared stage another such contest until the past four months and Troop Is again riding out in front by margin of almost 100 points.
 Troop Tradition
 One difficulty encountered by every troop is the problem of hold ing the older boys When they be- come interested in high school and fraternity activities and begin 10 take notice of the other sex, boys allow their scouting interest to wane and soon withdraw from the move nlent. Tn some few instances the growth of gang spirit holds them together. but this tends to discour- age younger boys from joining and no successors 10 the first group are developed. In Troop 4 however, an excellent troop morale which has become known as the Troop 4 tra- dition" has kept the older boys, while a constant influx of new re- cruits has kept it built up. The en- ergy of the veterans has been turn ed toward whipping these tenderfeot into line and the troop has carried on even through periods when lead ership was inefficient or non-eXist- ert. One scoutmaster years ago. de serted the troop on the day of the annual meet. but the boys took hold themselves and at the end of q weary afternoon marched to their leaders, home and showed him the cup.
 LFeI tIOSH bC|9 WHO IedNs dfll.t membership to enter college main- tain their connections with the or ganization as associate. and at pres ent these are sending pcnnants from their colleges 10 be used Tn bright ening the walls of troop headquar- ters. When this mural decoration is completed fl will consist Of banners from 21 colleges and universities scattered all the way from Colby to Virginia Polytechnic Institute
 Development Of Leaders
 The troop has also been extreme ly successful in fulfilling another aim of the scout movement-deveI- oping leaders in the ranks. Tn fact the three present leaders, Scout master Leon Bradley and Assistant sc0utmasters Kermet Parker and Euclid Hartung grew up in the troop and were promoted to com. missioned offices. Two other troops in. this city and one Tn Detroit arg officered by ey-members. while two of the directors at the local coun- cil's summer camp have come from this troop.
 The troop has number of dis tinctive activities. It conducts s merit system" each year for pa trols and individuals. giving point: for attendance and the passing o' tests. II has an official publication in the semi-monthly mimeoEraphe co Trail" which contains news. wise. cracks at the expense of the boys and cartoons. Each year q medal i: awarded the member who has beer most valuable In helping conduc the troop. The Trail also runs ar al el, 4