Climb On! Climbing and COPE are often highlights of a scout's time at camp, especially for older scouts looking to expand their experiences. The origins of these activities at camps are fairly modern, with climbing only becoming more widespread in the 1970s, and Scouting America’s national COPE program launching in 1980. Climbing at Skymont was started by Bruno Roberts in 1978 with the one-year only “Scoutcraft Area.” They learned rope skills and took trips off-site to Stone Door for the first year of the Cumberland Adventure, which continues to the present day. The “High Adventure Area” began in 1979, located near where the Admin Building now is. This began as rope obstacles, learning climbing knots, and practicing rappelling, and later expanded to include Climbing, COPE, Emergency Preparedness and more. The US Army Corps of Engineers built the first climbing tower in the early 1980s. This 70ft tower was primarily for rappelling at the beginning, wooden blocks were soon added for more climbing. In 1984 a 35ft tall second tower was installed for the addition of a two-cable traverse challenge. A zip line was later added also. A popular yet short-lived feature was the addition of military cargo nets below the 35ft tower in 1985. The early 1980s also saw Skymont’s first COPE Course built. Located near the overlook with cables and platforms installed directly in the trees and a cable-crossing over a ravine, it was said to have the best incorporation of natural elements of any course in the southeast. The trees growing caused upkeep to be difficult over the years and it was closed. Around 2005 the current 40ft climbing tower was built, this time only 40ft because the top portion of the old 70ft tower wasn’t used. With the rise of high adventure activities in the Venture Program in the 2000’s, Tim Hendrix and TJ Rogers spearheaded the construction of a new COPE course in 2007. We still use these now thanks to expert upkeep from Will Council. Special thanks to Jordan Broadwell for composing this article!
Local Scouts, leaders and parents placed more than 50,000 American flags across the Chattanooga area in honor of Memorial Day. From Cleveland, Ringgold, Tracy City, Soddy Daisy, all the way to the Chattanooga National Cemetery – scouts put in the work to honor veterans and our nation. “We are honored to serve these local heroes once again this year,” said Greg Lee, volunteer vice president of Program for the Cherokee Area Council. "Scouting America, Cherokee Area Council is grateful for partnership with Elks Lodge 91 of Chattanooga as they provide commemorative patches to scouts, as well as the Chattanooga Area Veterans Council for their partnership in promoting and placing flags," officials said. Captain Mickey McCamish, U.S. Navy (Retired), a key organizer said of the event, said “One of the most patriotic ways of honoring a veteran laid to rest at Chattanooga National Cemetery is by placing a flag on their grave. It's a very special way of saying thank you for serving our country.” Jared Pickens, scout executive/CEO of the Cherokee Area Council said of the events, “It is truly incredible to see this service provided to our community by these young people. This is a fantastic learning experience for our scouts – to respect the service of those laid to rest in these sacred places.” Local Scouts Place More Than 50,000 Flags To Honor Veterans - Chattanoogan.com
Congratulations Eva and Troop 1070!
Signal Mountain Middle/High School PTSA
Read the article here 👉 https://www.chattanoogan.com/2026/4/30/518177/Local-Boy-Scouts-Feed-1000s.aspx
CHATTANOOGA, TN – The Cherokee Area Council of Scouting America is proud to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Troop 2, chartered to St. Elmo Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Congratulations to Scoutmaster Ed Sunder and Troop 2, as five outstanding young people have earned the rank of Eagle Scout: Caden Gildernew, Phinehas Doe, Nathan Sunder, James Tracy, and Lyle Vaughn. The Eagle Scout rank places service at its core, and these new Eagle Scouts exemplify that ideal through impactful projects benefiting the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Dade County Schools, Lookout Mountain Trails, the Town of Flintstone, Georgia, and Chattanooga Valley Middle School. Collectively, these projects contributed more than 600 hours of community service, engaging a multitude of volunteers and supporters. Since its founding in 2007, 26 young people have earned the rank of Eagle Scout through Troop 2. Among their many shared experiences, these Scouts fondly recall attending—and serving on staff at—Camp Sidney Dew in Armuchee, Georgia, as well as Skymont Scout Reservation in Altamont, Tennessee. They also attended Seven Ranges Scout Reservation in Kensington, Ohio, over several years. All five have now graduated from high school and are pursuing further education and careers in the Chattanooga region. Adding to this milestone celebration, the Sunder family of Flintstone, Georgia, marked an extraordinary achievement as Nathan Sunder became their sixth Eagle Scout. The youngest of six, Nathan joins his older brothers—Isaac, Samuel, John, Bennett, and Eddie—in attaining Scouting’s highest rank. The Sunder brothers completed Eagle Scout service projects that contributed nearly 800 total service hours. Project beneficiaries included Cloudland Canyon State Park, Audubon Acres, Chickamauga City Parks, and Chattanooga Valley Middle School. Looking back, their parents, Ed and Betsy Sunder, reflect, “It was a joy to watch the Scouts work together and see the boys become young men. Our boys have learned valuable skills, life lessons, and made lifelong friendships through Scouting.” Betsy grew up in a Scouting family and attended both Philmont and Sea Base as a youth member. Ed has served as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader for the past 22 years. Looking ahead, Troop 2 is partnering with Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center alongside Cub Scout Pack 4 to welcome boys and girls ages kindergarten through 12th grade into the adventure of Scouting. Key volunteer leaders include Scoutmaster Brian Purvis, Cubmaster Joy Smith, and Assistant Cubmaster Jim Daughdrill..
23rd Annual Friends Of Scouting Luncheon Held Feb. 24
Aiden Castellanet - Student Body President from Signal Mountain Middle High School Interview from CityScope Magazine
The Adventure Begins!
100 years ago in 1925, the Chattanooga Council built their second scout camp, Camp Tsatanugi, the namesake of Boy Scout Road in Hixson. It served as the summer camp for 25 years, and was used for other activities for even longer. Two of the buildings from this camp still stand, now owned by the Highland Sportsman Club, which has done a great job of preserving them. The largest building is Patten Hall, which was given by the sons of John A. Patten in his honor. It served as the dining hall for the camp.
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90 years ago, the Chattanooga Council celebrated Scouting's Silver (25th) Anniversary with a Scout Exposition at the Memorial Auditorium. Mrs. James F. Finlay, a respected civic leader and active community supporter in Chattanooga during the early 20th century and known for her involvement in youth development and patriotic programs, played a visible role in public events including the 1935 Boy Scout Exposition. There, she portrayed Miss Columbia in the grand finale, joining over 1,200 Scouts from the Chattanooga Area Council in a pageant celebrating American values and youth leadership. Her participation reflected a broader commitment to uplifting civic spirit, supporting local organizations, and encouraging leadership and character development among young people in the region. Portraying Uncle Sam alongside her was Estes Kefauver, who would later become a reform-minded U.S. senator from Tennessee, nationally recognized for exposing organized crime in televised hearings and championing consumer protection, antitrust laws, and early civil rights efforts. Excerpt for the Chattanooga News – Wednesday, February 13 th , 1935 “The Scouting Trail to Citizenship is the theme of the 25th Silver Anniversary Scout Exposition to be held at the Memorial Auditorium at 8:00 pm on Saturday, February 16, 1935. More than 1,200 boys of the Chattanooga Area Council will participate. For the prologue, boyhood activities from the Stone Age, the Crusades period, the Pre-Columbian Era, and the early Pioneer Era will be highlighted. One of the principal features of the exposition will be showing the evolution of signaling from caveman until modern times. The demonstration of pyramid building and wall scaling will be given by a group of boys of Troop 41, while members of Troop 11 and 53 will exhibit many forms of first aid. The Sea Scouting program will present several demonstrations of their activities. A group of African American scouts will demonstrate the practicality of various scouting equipment including the scout neckerchief and scout staffs. The exposition will culminate with a gigantic demonstration of pioneering skills, including constructing a log cabin in only 15 minutes!" Thank you to the Cherokee Area Council History subcommittee for composing this article!
Cherokee Area Council has always had a long tradition of ensuring that its volunteers and professionals are well trained and prepared to provide a quality program for their scouts. One of the first examples of this was in December 1928 when 6 Chattanooga Council Scoutmasters were awarded the Scoutmaster Key. This version of the Scoutmaster Key was based upon five years of active service as a Scoutmaster, completion of the five-year training course that embraces the fundamentals of patrol and troop organization, specialization work in first aid, and required participation as a leader in the local council training. These awards were the first 6 given in the South and only seven other Scoutmaster Keys had been earned thus far in the whole United States. The year 1947 saw another big push for trained Scouters as the Cherokee Area council launched a series of intensive trainings that would eventually cover all positions of leadership within the Scouting program. In 1975, the Cherokee Area Council held the first its first Wood Badge Course. The purpose of Wood Badge is to develop skilled leaders who can strengthen Scouting units in achieving the mission of The Boy Scouts of America- now Scouting America. Wood Badge. This first course had 23 participants. Over the next 50 years, 20 more Wood Badges courses will be held in the Cherokee Area Council with hundreds of participants- each seeking to gain quality training that will enable them to provide a quality program to their units, districts and councils. Wood Badge can be a life changing experience for each participant. Not only will you become the foundation for stronger units, but you will gain a deeper understanding of what Scouting is and why we do it, you will experience things that will stay with you not only in your Scouting journey but with you the rest of your life, you will have fun and lots of it, and you will establish lifelong friendships.
Coming from the Range Day at Skymont May 17th, and looking forward to summer camp, let’s look back on the history of shooting sports at Skymont. Shooting sports are actually the roots of Skymont! It began as a hunting lodge, “Skymont Hunting Preserve,” for pheasant and quail. When the camp opened for Scouts in 1973, the shooting range was where Outdoor Skills “ODS” is now. The berm behind the ODS pavilion was for rifle, and archery was shot out into the field, back to back. In the 1980’s shotgun shooting was added, to the right of the rifle area. As part of the camp improvements planned starting in 2000, it was decided that a new larger range facility was needed. Several volunteer workdays were held, in addition to assistance from the Navy Seabees and Americorps. 230 dump truck loads of dirt were used to create the rifle berm. Rifle and Archery ranges were completed on time for camp in June, 2001. Hundreds of man hours and donated equipment made it possible. You may have noticed a plaque for Mitchell L. Pearson at the shooting range, and wonder what the story is. Mitchell was a longtime scouter and shooting sports enthusiast, who, with his wife Mignonne, was instrumental in the council’s shooting sports program for years. When he passed away in 2000, the project was dedicated to him. Mignonne, pictured with the plaque, worked tirelessly to help plan and execute the project. Donations to the council in Mitchell’s honor by friends, family, and vendors, went to support the new range project. Thank you to all the volunteers who continue to make shooting sports happen for our scouts!
The Original Scout Camp Mascot - Carranza the Mule
Chattanooga's First Scout Camp - Boulder Nook
Scout Shopping through History When you need a new scout uniform, you probably look online or head to the scout office on Lee Highway. Well, for most of Scouting’s history, this would not have been the case. The Scout office was just that, an administrative location. They distributed awards to Scoutmasters with advancement reports, but didn’t keep much else in stock. Until the 1990s, the majority of scout gear was sold through local department stores. Many alumni will recall that through the 1970s and 1980s the primary dealer in the Chattanooga area was JC Penney, at both Northgate and Eastgate Malls. Back to the 1930s, Loveman’s and Miller Bro’s department stores were the main distributors, often running ads in the scout newsletter. If they didn’t have something in stock, they would order it for you. In Cleveland the Hardwick Woolen Mills store became the main scout distributor early on. A Miller Bro’s location took over in 1968, JC Penney in the 80s, and Outdoor Adventures in the early 90s. Lafayette, GA had a retailer in the 1970s, a men's store called The Boston Store. The Tennessee Copper Company’s general store in Copperhill, the Smelter Store, was the main distributor for Polk County until closing in 1969. Ferris Maloof, then third-generation owner of the family’s general store, recalled filling this void in a 2024 interview with the history committee. “After the copper company’s store closed, I picked up the uniform business. I ordered from the National Supply, mostly uniforms. I had a few things like the cook kits and canteens and small stuff, I didn’t get in any really heavy stuff. Badges still had to be ordered by the scoutmaster from the office in Chattanooga.” Having settled into the new office on Lee Highway, in 1994 the Cherokee Area Council obtained an official Scout Distributorship License. This expanded the store at our scout office and ended the era of department store distributors in this area, centralizing everything in one convenient location. If you have memories of shopping for scout gear at any local place not listed in this article, we’d love to hear about it! Thank you Jordan Broadwell for composing this article!
The Cherokee Area Council's Scout Service Center
The number of new families joining Scouting jumped 148% over the prior year, as parents seek a safe refuge from rising digital risks through authentic outdoor adventures. The number of new families joining Scouting eclipsed the number of those who joined in both 2024 and 2023. Local officials expect that hundreds of boys, girls and families will be welcomed into Cub Scouts as the weather cools. “Every great leader, athlete or innovator can trace their success back to those first, formative steps,” said Jared Pickens, scout executive and CEO of Chattanooga’s Cherokee Area Council, Scouting America. “In Cub Scouts, we empower young people with the courage, curiosity and skills they need to confidently embrace every new challenge and opportunity ahead. And I’m thrilled to be personally involved in the program as both a parent and volunteer.” Cub Scouts is known for offering a fun, welcoming and structured environment where all boys and girls can try new things, build friendships and discover their strengths. It’s more than hiking and camping, it’s about helping kids be prepared for life, Pickens said. Cub Scout programming is calibrated to help kids learn critical real-world skills including teamwork, problem-solving, empathy and perseverance. The program is designed to transform wide-eyed beginners into leaders capable of tackling any challenge with a “can-do” mindset. Over the last year, local Scouts have: ● Delivered 1,874 pounds of food to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank through the “Scouting for Food” drive and over 120,000 pounds of hurricane emergency relief supplies were collected, loaded, and shipped; ● Decorated 58,500 graves of veterans with an American Flag for Memorial Day; and ● Contributed 9,750 hours of community service on their path to Eagle. 58 young people earned the rank of Eagle Scout including 6 girls. Girls now represent 24% of local youth membership. As a parent of a scout, Pickens said he understands that balancing school, sports and other activities can be a challenge. That’s why the organization offers flexible programs that fit into busy schedules. This fall, parents can visit www.BeAScout.org to find a local pack and start their Scouting journey, he said. About Local Scouting Cherokee Area Council, Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost outdoor youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.” Scouting America welcomes all youth into its programs throughout 11 counties across Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. Our goal is to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow with us in a safe environment. Join Scouting today by visiting www.BeAScout.org . https://www.clevelandbanner.com/news/local-families-join-cub-scouts-at-record-rates-for-august/article_331e3fb3-f792-53b0-a4e9-b1b9869422ae.html https://www.chattanoogan.com/2025/9/17/508705/Local-Families-Join-CubScou ts-At.aspx