The boys find fun, adventure and friendship in Scouting

Boy scouting in the United States began in 1911, and just eight years after that , (1919) the first troop in Raritan Township formed.

Raritan Township has become Edison, and much else has changed since then, but Scout Troop 12 remains a constant for township boys. It’s an organization that encourages comaraderie, fosters maturing and offers opportunities for adventure as well as community service. It has done so for nearly 82 years.

It’s "nearly 82 years" because for about two years-- from 1932 to 1934- the troop did not have a Scoutmaster and its charter lapsed. It regained its charter in 1934, and for that reason the Boy scouts of America recognizes the troop as 68 years old.

" We got our charter in 1934, but we got together in 1933," said Leo Meyer, a teen-ager at the time and one of a group of friends to become members of a revived Troop 12.

The group according to Meyer, included William Lucas, Stanley Quinn, James Skidmore, Harold Nagle, Carl and Joseph Stamn and Aaron and Robert Gray, and they hunted, fished and camped on a farm owned by Meyer’s father in the Piscatawaytown section of the township as well as in the woods around the Raritan Arsenal and East Brunswick’s Farrington Lake.

A group of men who in 1933 had decided to revive Troop 12 knew some of the boys and asked them if they’d like to be the core of the troop, Meyer said. The boys agreed.

"Ray Conger was our first Scoutmaster," Meyer recalled "and Joseph Stamn was assistant Scoutmaster. We used to meet at the Piscataway Baptist Chapel, which was town down. Our troop built the cellar of the church, and we met down there."

The troop met at the Woodbridge Avenue church once a week, learned the Boy Scout oath and laws and were taught Scouting skills. Troop 12 eventually moved to Piscataway School No. 3. "Once in a while we’d meet at the old American Legion hall on Woodbridge Avenue," Meyer said. "It’s a house now."

Boy scouting in the 1930’s held summer camps, but they were held locally, Meyer said. "We did with what we had," he noted. "We’d camp at Farrington Lake and we had farms we went to- one in Freehold and one in Kingston."

Today troop 12 is still very active, camping almost every month of the year, participating in Summer camp, Hiking, canoeing and other outdoor activities.
Presently the troop meets each Thursday Evening from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at Washington School, and it’s current scoutmaster is Mr. Raymond Koperwhats.