b'Ten Decades ofMaplewoodScouts HonorTroop 5 celebrates a century of service and leadershipBY ADRIANNA DONATF or as long as anyone can remember,weekly at Seth Boyden School. Surprisingly, its hadas Scoutmaster after a half century. Usually the boys the mayor of Maplewood has attend- just 27 Scoutmasters. Its latest, Roger Brauchli, hasjoin Troop 5 at about age 11. They work in the Patrol ed the Eagle Court of Honor ceremo- guided the troop for the past 50 years. ny. Held by Boy Scouts of AmericaTroop 5 has long been regarded as one of the fin-Troop 5, its an annual event to con- est places in the SOMA area to teach young men gratulate the new Eagle Scouts. But itleadership skills. For the past century it has taken hasnt always been that way because124 11-year-old boys and created Eagle Scouts. But Troop 5 of Maplewood is older than the township.it has had an impact on more than just the lives of (Maplewood officially became a town in 1922.) those Eagle Scouts. Thousands of Troop 5 Scouts of Troop 5s history goes back to 1920 when theall ranks have found the scouting and Troop 5 ex-first group of nine Scouts met at the newly built Sethperience formative, with skills honed in everything Boyden Elementary School. Its first Scoutmaster wasfrom outdoorsmanship to public speaking. Hugh Sutherland and the Boy Scouts of America or- There is a process to develop leaders, says Br-ganization was a mere 10 years old.auchli, who started in Troop 5 as a Tenderfoot inRoger Brauchli, with his wife Mary Chris and son Daniel, One hundred years later, Troop 5 is still meeting1960, worked his way to Eagle Scout, and still serveshas guided Troop 5 for 50 years.10/ matters magazine / summer 2020'