The history of Troop 156 is
a proud history full of memories and fun and ideals of Scouting. What is
contained below is what I know of the Troop. I have been with the Troop
for over 10 years, longer than any current member. I hope to be adding
more to this page, perhaps more links as soon as I can contact our true
historian, and one of the former scoutmasters, Donald Crews. Unfortunately
he has moved to Texas, and at this point in time I have not been able to
get a hold of him.
Troop 156 started back in the mid sixties in Park Forest, Illinois, a small southern suburb of Chicago. It was formed in the East Gate Co-Op section of the town, and was originally sponsored by the Fire Department. One of our first Scoutmaster's was Mr. Dean. The Dean family was heavily involved with scouting. His two sons were both Eagle Scouts in the Troop. While the Dean's were running the Troop, it moved to the First Baptist church in Park Forest where it remained for over a decade.
The Troop has had over seven Scoutmasters in its 35 + year history. Bob Thomas was Scoutmaster during some the Troop's most active days, the eighties. During this time the Troop had as many as twenty members, and was involved with many fun activities including monthly campouts, hikes, fundraisers, and of course summer camp. Thomas's own son Robby was this Troop's 11th Eagle Scout. He is currently working with the Merchant Marines in the New York area.
The next Scoutmaster to follow Mr. Thomas was Donald
Crews in 1986. While he was not the most organized man, Scouting ran in
his blood. He was what being a Scoutmaster was. He was always there to
help the boys earn their ranks, and he taught more than just how to tie
knots, he taught moral lessons. He would talk to the boys when they had
problems whether they had to do directly with scouting or not. This was
when I joined the Troop. The Troop had almost 20 boys in it and we always
had a lot of fun. The Troop continued to go to summer
camp of course, along with its other monthly camp outs. Recently Mr.
Crews was awarded with the Silver Beaver award, the highest award that can
be earned by an adult. It represents years of service to scouting.
After Mr. Crews came James Abramson. He was
scoutmaster for several years, and his wife was committee chairman. Their
son Chris who is now majoring in computer science at Governors State University
was the Troop's 20th Eagle
Scout. It was during this time that the Troop moved from First Baptist
in Park Forest to the Abramson's
church, St. Lawrence O'Toole in Matteson, Illinois. While at first this
new home seemed strange, the Troop has now fitted in nicely to our new
home. We even have our own shed on the church property. Not long after
Chris became an Eagle
Scout, Mr. Abramson became very busy with his work. While his
wife tried as much as possible to help with the running of the Troop it
was hard to do that and run the new Cub Scout pack as well, so the search
for a new scoutmaster started, and one was found, Dean Dannels.
As a boy, Mr. Dannels was heavily involved in scouting in the Joliet, Illinois area through Rainbow Council. He is also an Eagle Scout. His son Grant, who is a mechanical engineering student attending UIC was also a member of the troop and the 27th Eagle Scout. The Big Dean as we used to call him, was scoutmaster for a few years until he also became too involved with his job. He still holds most of the Troop records, and is involved in the troop committee.
David Ebben took over as Scoutmaster for the next few years. His son James, has been in the Troop for about 5-6 years. Jim is currently working hard to become Eagle Scout number 28 and we all wish him good luck. Mr. Ebben is a good leader, and was a scout as a youth although he never reached the rank of Eagle. He loves the outdoors and going on the outings with the boys.
The current Scoutmaster is Bob Welsh, who's son John is also a member of the Troop. Mr. Welsh has been involved with scouting for several years with his two boys John and Sean. His wife Darcie is also involved with the committee. Currently there is no one in the wing to take over as Scoutmaster although I hope to step up to the position in the next few years.
This troop has been through a lot of change, and growth in its 35+ year history. It is a good troop, and speaking as one of the assistant scoutmasters, I believe that it will grow more and continue to get better.
