TOP PHOTO: LaFollette Scout Troop 310 celebrated Scout Sunday on Feb. 14, thanking their sponsor: Cedar Hill Baptist Church.

LAFOLLETTE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF) – Scout Sunday has served as the primary date to recognize the contributions of young people and adults to Scouting. The Boy Scouts of America was founded in Feb. 8, 1910, and Scout Sunday has been celebrated in early to mid-Feb. by Scouts in many chartered (sponsoring) organizations. LaFollette’s Boy Scout Troop 310, sponsored by Cedar Hill Baptist Church, thanked their host organization by serving as the flag honor guard at the church service on Sun., Feb. 14. The Troop’s participation is part of the 2021 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Scouts’ LaFollette Council.

LaFollette Troop Honors Scout Sunday:
Event Kicks off the 100th Anniversary of the BSA’s LaFollette Council
Scout Sunday has served as the primary date to recognize the contributions of young people and adults to Scouting. The Boy Scouts of America was founded in Feb. 8, 1910, and Scout Sunday has been celebrated in early to mid-Feb. by Scouts in many chartered (sponsoring) organizations. LaFollette’s Boy Scout Troop 310, sponsored by Cedar Hill Baptist Church, thanked their host organization by serving as the flag honor guard at the church service on Sun., Feb. 14. The Troop’s participation

Scouts Present Flags
Led by Scoutmaster Chris Thacker, Troop members participated in the honor guard, including: Honor guard commander Stewart Thacker, who led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Christian Pledge, and recited the Scout Oath and Scout Law; and Jacob White, chaplain aide, who led the congregation in prayer.

U.S. Flag Honor Guard: At Scout Sunday, Feb. 14 at Cedar Hill Baptist Church, Boy Scout Troop 310 of LaFollette thanked the Church for sponsoring them. Presenting the Flag at the service, from left: Aiden Roberts, Elijah Lamb, and Tim Humphreys.

Scouts in the flag honor guard included: Tim Humphreys, Gunner Samms, Aiden Roberts, Ryan Cronin, Isaac Queliz, and Elijah Lamb. Also participating in Scout Sunday were: Crystal Thacker, Troop 310 Committee Vice Chair; and Jack White and Claude Roberts, both Assistant Scoutmasters. Scoutmaster Chris Thacker thanked the Cedar Hill Baptist Church for supporting the Troop; and noted his appreciation for the Scout parents, who support the efforts of their sons.

Also attending the Scout Sunday service was Logan Hickman, the 2021 President of the Great Smoky Mountain Council, to which the LaFollette Troop belongs. Hickman is a long-time volunteer leader for the Council, based in Knoxville, which serves 10,000 young people via its 3,300 registered and trained adult volunteers. The Council covers 393 Cub Scout Packs, Scout BSA Troops, STEM Scout Labs, Explorer Posts, and Venture Crews chartered to neighborhood churches, community organizations, and civic clubs in East Tennessee.

Support from the Church
Leading the Scout Sunday worship service at Cedar Hill Baptist Church was Pastor Bryan Burge. As part of the Scout Sunday event, Scoutmaster Chris Thacker welcomed Church Deacon Troy Arnold into Troop 310 where he’ll serve in a volunteer leadership role as its Troop Committee Chair. Troy’s late father, Rev. Ronnie Arnold, held that same role with the Troop until he passed away in 2020. Rev. Ronnie Arnold, who’d served as the minister at the Church, was honored in 2019 by the Boy Scouts of America with the annual Campbell County Good Scout Award.

100th Anniversary: The BSA’s LaFollette Council
This year Troop 310 is helping former and current Scouts and Scout leaders throughout LaFollette and Campbell County to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the LaFollette Council of the Boy Scouts of America. LaFollette was one of the early cities in Tennessee to start an official Scout council, as the LaFollette Council was established in 1921 (only 6 years after the larger Knox County Council was founded in 1915; the Knox County Council later became the Great Smoky Mountain Council). More information about the 100th Anniversary of the LaFollette Council will be announced in the near future.

“A Scout is Reverent”: At Scout Sunday, Feb. 14 at Cedar Hill Baptist Church, Stewart Thacker recited the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Thacker is with LaFollette’s Troop 310, which is sponsored by the Church.

Why Scout Sunday?
Former Scouts and Scout leaders in LaFollette and Campbell County will remember that Scout Sunday is an extension of the ideals of Scouting: “Scout is Reverent” (the 12th point in The Scout Law) and that Scouts promise to do their “duty to God” (from the Scout Oath).
Scout Oath: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

For More Information about Scouting in LaFollette / Campbell County, contact Chris Thacker, Scoutmaster Troop 310 via email at aitgChris@gmail.com or by calling (423) 494-6221.

About Scouting
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” The Scouting organization is composed of approximately 2.2 million youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and approximately 800,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/18/2021-6AM)

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