HISTORY OF TROOP 98
By Andy S., Troop Historian 2008

January 16, 1931 marked the beginning of Troop 98 in Derry, NH. When the Troop originally began, the scouts first met at the Lester W. Chase Post of the American Legion. The first scoutmaster was Mr. Charles Hawes. He was the scoutmaster for nearly 2 years. Mr. William Pauli then became our next Scoutmaster. He served in that position from December 1932 until November 1935.

The troop’s third scoutmaster was Charles Wingate and he served in that position for about 1 year, starting in November 1935. At the same time, our most famous scout, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. joined the troop as a 12 year old boy. He stayed with the Troop until 1938 and achieved the rank of First Class. He left scouting to take flight lessons. Other scoutmasters during Alan B. Shepard’s time with the troop were Joseph Edwards, from 1936 to 1937 and Judge George Grinnell from 1937 until 1938.

Judge Grinnell would continue to support Troop 98 throughout his lifetime. He willingly donated the use of his land and allowed the troop to clear the land for the 1983 district camporee. The theme of the Camporee was pioneering and the scouts created a fire tower out of logs and lashings. The tower stood for the entire camporee and after it was over, Judge Grinnell was able to use the cleared land as a landing strip when he flew his planes.

Troop 98 was a young troop. During its first 5 years, we had 3 boys earn the rank of Eagle Scout. They were Thomas Howard, Clarence Patton and George Patton. They all earned their Eagle Scout awards in 1936.

After Judge Grinnell’s service with the troop, we had several more scoutmasters. Unlike many troops, our troop was active during World War II. Our scoutmasters during that time were Duncan Cameron and Theodore Brooks. Mr. Cameron served for 6 years, from November 1938 through November 1944. Mr. Brooks was the scoutmaster from November 1944 through November 1945. During that time period, we had 3 more scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout. They were Joseph Curtis in 1941, Paul Curtis in 1945 and Paul Hubbard in 1945.

During the next 12 years, we had 8 more Scoutmasters lead our Troop. Emil Kumin was the scoutmaster from November 1945 through November 1948. He was followed by Walter Hanf Jr. from November 1948 through November 1950. Alburney Frye was the scoutmaster for one month in November 1950. It is believed that Mr. Frye passed away. Mr. Ralph Johnson was the Troop’s 11th Scoutmaster. He led the troop from November 27, 1950 until March 1953. The next three scoutmasters led the scouts from the next two years. Francis Griffith worked with the scouts from March 1953 through November 1953. John Oaks served as Scoutmaster from November 1953 through November 1954 and Howard Spooner followed from November 1954 to November 1955. The last Scoutmaster of the 1950s was Clyde Robinson. He was the scoutmaster from November 1955 through November 1957.

In November 1957, the Troop failed to re-charter. The scouts in the troop found new homes in other troops throughout Derry. The troop would remain inactive for the next 13 years.

Starting in 1970, Gerald Ouellette and 11 boys would jump start Troop 98. Mr. Ouellette started meeting with the boys at the Church of the Transfiguration at 20 Oak St. That location is now the home of apartments. The 11 boys that were part of this new Troop 98 were Wyatt Holmes, Robert Mastine, Steven Mastine, Robert Regan, Michael Spaulding, Warren Spaulding, Gregory York, Gary Zielenski, Robert Cooms, Timothy Smith and James Erskine Jr.

Throughout the 1970s, the troop continued to rebuild itself with the help of 4 men. Our Scoutmasters during that time period were Harvey Donavan from 1971 through 1973; Henry Poisson from 1973 through 1977; Thomas Gray from 1978 through 1979 and Daniel Dippo from 1979 through 1980. During this time, Scott Webster earned his Eagle Scout rank in 1971.

The 1980s started the explosion of Troop 98 and boys were looking to be a part of the Troop. The Troop and the Church of the Transfiguration moved from Oak St. to 1 Hood Rd. Four men served the scouts during that time period. They were Bertam Lausch from January 1980 through July 1980, Bob Ellsworth from July 1980 through December 1984, Paul Fortin from January 1985 through October 1988 and David Benoit from November 1988 through October 1990. During this period of time, the Troop was extremely active. They hosted the Fall District Camporee on Judge Grinnell’s property in 1983. They started waterskiing weekends at Lake Winnepesaukee and had campouts at least once per month. They hiked Mt. Chocorua and attended the West Point Invitational numerous times. They also had a lot of boys earn their Eagle Scout Rank. Those boys were: David Chickering in 1980, Keith Webster in 1983, Neil Zanni and Eric Hardenbrook in 1985. Caleb Chapman and James (Dover) Magnuson earned the rank in 1987. Rodney Lafond, Jr. (my uncle), Peter Haswell and Eric Pierce all earned the rank of Eagle in 1988. It is worth noting that during this time, the current logo for Troop 98 was designed by James (Dover) Magnuson and Rodney Lafond, Sr.

Troop 98 funded its activities throughout the 1980s and early 1990s by selling Christmas Wreathes door to door. They were the only troop in town at that time selling wreathes. Troop 405 sold Christmas trees at Clam Haven. The town was very supportive of the scouts within the community and the boys were very successful at these sales.

The 1990s continued to build on the success of the 1980s. Mr. Frank Anderson took over from Mr. Benoit in 1990. He was the 25th scoutmaster for Troop 98 and he worked with the boys from November 1990 through October 1995. It was during this time in the early 1990s that the Troop moved from the Church of the Transfiguration to Central Congregational Church. It was decided that the new location was much larger and fit the troop much better. Mr. Marc Godbout was our scoutmaster from 1995 through December 1999. During their service, 12 more boys earned the rank of Eagle. They were Michael Condon and Matthew Anderson in 1992, Keith Pearson in 1993 and Daniel Carraker and Michael Rabe in 1994. Daniel Trow earned his rank in 1995. Richard Burns and Jeremy Kay both earned the rank of Eagle in 1996. Joshua Patrick and Michael Trow (Danny’s brother) earned their Eagles in 1997. Matthew Doyle earned his Eagle in 1998. Dan Hall earned the last Eagle rank of the 20th century for Troop 98 in 1999. The boys continued to remain active and from pictures from past Troop historians, it looks like they went on a lot of campouts.

Mr. Armen Nahabedian was Troop 98’s first scoutmaster in the 21st Century. He served as Scoutmaster from January 2000 through November 2001. He continues to serve as an Assistant Scoutmaster today, as well as a Merit Badge Councilor. Gene Hammer took over from Mr. Naha in November 2001 and he was the scoutmaster until December 2004. Mr. Hammer also still serves the troop as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Merit Badge Councilor. He also plans all of the Nutfield District Camporees and we have had some great times at those. My favorite was the Shooting Sports Camporee. Taking over from Mr. Hammer was Mr. Ed Knowlton. He started as the Scoutmaster in January 2005 and in June 2008, Mr. Jack Webb took over as scoutmaster.

There have been 15 Eagle scouts so far since 2000. Benjamin Gregorio, Thomas Hammer, Aaron Nahabedian, Doug Cole and Jared Knowlton all earned the rank of Eagle in 2002. James Little earned the rank in 2003. In 2004, Sean Arbuckle, James Wrocklage, Daniel Lepine and Alex Ouellette, all earned Scouting’s highest honor. Matthew Hunter and Nicholas Berner earned the rank of Eagle in 2005. In 2006, Adam Knowlton earned his Eagle. Justin Cairns earned his in 2007. Greg Nahabedian is our newest Eagle Scout. He earned his rank this year, 2008.

During the 2000s, Troop 98 continued and continues to do a number of activities. We go on camping trips and attend summer camp at both Hidden Valley and Camp Bell. We have served the Veterans Dinner at Thanksgiving at the VFW in Derry. The Troop also usually serves Christmas Dinner at the VFW, but the dinner for December 2007 was snowed out. We have attended Klondike Derby and we also had a Winter Survival day at Windy Top in February 2008. We camp out during Encampment Weekend and we also provided service to Camp Carpenter by helping them set up tents for the Cub Scout Resident’s Camp.

Sources:
Mr. Brian Doehner – Daniel Webster Council Registrar
Mrs. Claire Lafond, former Committee Member Troop 98
Mr. Rodney Lafond, Jr. – former Troop 98 member and current Assistant Scoutmaster
Mrs. Michelle Stock
Troop 98 website – for the list of our Eagle Scouts