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BOY SCOUTS Grayson County, Texas Sherman's
Boy Scout Program
TWO CAMPS OWNED BY BOY SCOUTS, ONE FOR OVERNIGHT, OTHER NEAR RED RIVER The history of the Boy Scout program in Sherman is largely a detailing of the activity of H.L. "Hank" McLean. Since its founding 15 years ago, in March 1924, Mr. McLean has been the executive for this council, and although he has enlisted the generous aid of a large number of helpful citizens, he has been the mainspring of the whole work. The establishment of a scout council here was the first attempt to bring the movement to Sherman, but it is the one which lasted and from which grew the present program involving nearly every boy of scout age in the area. The Young Men's Christian association had previously sponsored a troop, but it had broken up, and Troop 5 of the First Presbyterian church, of which H.E. Hall was scoutmaster, was the first troop under the new organization. George L. Hamilton, Sherman attorney, was president of the council, which then included all of Grayson County. FIRST COUNTY TROOP First troop in the county was at Bells, where E.L. Craig was founder and scoutmaster. Mr. McLean came to Grayson County from Ft. Worth, immediately upon leaving Texas Christian University, and was first established for about 6 months in Denison before coming to Sherman. The first office here was in the office of Roy Finley, then District Attorney, on the west side of the square. It was then moved to the junior high school and in 1935-1938 was located at the chamber of commerce offices on the north side of the square. Starting out 1939, Mr. McLean's office has been in the new municipal building, where more space is available for board meetings and storage of scout equipment. The Grayson County council became a part of the Texas-Oklahoma council, when Fannin and Bryan, Oklahoma counties were admitted, and the council was governed from the Ardmore, Oklahoma regional office. Both the Sherman and Denison Rotary clubs were instrumental in the first organization. In January 1933 Denison and Sherman split memberships, Denison remaining with the Ardmore council and Sherman forming its own new council 566, governed from the 9th regional office in Dallas with J.P. Fitch as regional executive. J.M. Totten was first chairman under the new setup. The 261-acre summer camp site 22 miles north of Sherman on Red River known as Camp Grayson, was bought outright by the Sherman council in 1935. Various improvements were made and a 1938 accomplishment was the construction of a rocked swimming pool and fencing the site. EVERY PHASE HERE Twenty-two acres on the 80 foots road 5 miles north of Sherman was purchased in 1927 and a lake and large cabin make it a convenient location for weekend camping trips. A large bus was purchased in 1935 and is much in use, hauling troops on longer trips and industrial visits....  Boy Scouts History Susan Hawkins ©2023 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |