Six fathers met on Ninovan Road on June 30, 1969 to organize a Boy Scout
Troop. Cunningham Park School PTA agreed to serve as the Troop chartering
organization, and Mr. Robert Van Pelt was selected as Scoutmaster. The first
Troop meeting took place on September 12, 1969. The new troop's first activity
was hiking 20 miles of the C & O Canal Trail, and the new troop's first service
project was to plant a live Christmas Tree at the Vienna Community Center on
January 3, 1970.
Over 35 boys were active in the troop by the fall of 1970. The troop sold fertilizer
and held a "BOY POWER" raffle to raise funds in 1971, the same year the troop
sent 29 scouts to summer camp at Goshen.
Troop Membership expanded to over 50 boys in 1972 and 1973. The Troop
acquired canoes and camping equipment and it selected Camp Sinoquipe in
Pennsylvania as its summer camp from 1972 until 1986. In 1987, the Troop
started attending Camp Rodney on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland for summer
camp and continued there until 1991, when the troop returned to Goshen.
One troop scout hiked at the Philmont High Adventure Camp in 1988, followed by
four scouts in 1989. In 1991, five scouts and two leaders attended the BSA High
Adventure Sea Base Camp in Florida. In 2002, another scout hiked the high
mountain country at the Philmont High Adventure Camp.
More recently, the Troop sent a crew (eight scouts and two leaders) to Philmont
in 2007. In 2008, the Troop sent a crew to Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas
for a week of sailing and snorkeling, as part of BSA's Florida Sea Base program.
In 1992, 1997, 2000, and 2004, the troop completed a 50-mile, 5-day canoe trip
on the upper Potomac River. The troop attended summer camp at the Resica
Falls Scout reservation in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania from 1997
through 1999 and 2001, returned to Camp Olmstead at Goshen in 2000 and
camped at the birthplace of the Order of the Arrow, Treasure Island, in 2002
through 2003. In 1993, the older Scouts spent a week at Lenhok'sin high
Adventure camp in Goshen. In 1996 and 1999 the troop attended the West Point
Invitational Camporee at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Troop 1539 is proud of its Eagle Scouts and their accomplishments! Set a goal
to add your name to this list of distinguished alumni of Troop 1539! As of
September 2008, 36 Scouts have attained the rank of Eagle.