Cherokee Area Council History Moment: Polk County Troop

March 12, 2025

In 1928 Ducktown Troop 14 first registered with the Cumberland Council, moving to the Chattanooga Council in 1931. There is also some evidence of Scouts in Ducktown earlier.  They were under the leadership of Lamar Weaver, who helped build a swimming lake with cabins outside Ducktown that was named in his honor, “Lake Lamar.” With frequent swimming practice at Lake Lamar, Copperhill and Ducktown Scouts often won competitions at Lake Winnepesaukah all through the 1930s-1950s. James Howell was Troop 14’s first Eagle Scout in 1931, and since then they have boasted over 25 Eagles. Into the 1980s, scouts took part in tree planting programs to remediate the environmental damage of the mining that led to the infamous “red hills.” With proximity to vast acres of National Forest, Scouts of the Copper Basin had exceptional wilderness experiences, many remembering long trips up Big Frog Mountain. They carried on an almost 100 year tradition of wearing wide brim campaign scout hats, which you may recall the late scoutmaster Phil Sheffer always sported. Sadly COVID and other factors caused the troop to have to disband, close to their 100th anniversary, but their memory lives on!


Credit for much of this information goes to former Troop 14 Scoutmaster John Eberle, and former Troop 10 Scoutmaster William Snell, who collaborated to collect and preserve Ocoee District scouting history.


Thank you to Jordan Broadwell for composing this article!

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Cherokee Area Council History Moment: John A. Patten - Scout Camp

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Cherokee Area Council History Moment: Scouting's Silver (25th) Anniversary

December 30, 2025
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!

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Cherokee Area Council History Moment: Scout Shopping Through History

October 15, 2025
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!