Derby's Troop 3 marks 100th anniversary in Goshen

Troop 3 alumnus and Eagle Scout Adam Rak, with daughters Jane and Lydia, traveled from California to participate in Troop 3’s 100th anniversary family camping weekend at Edmund D. Strang Scout Reservation in Goshen./ Contributed photo

DERBY – More than 100 people from Boy Scout Troop 3, Derby’s past and present participated in a camping weekend at Housatonic Council’s Edmund D. Strang Scout Reservation in Goshen, to celebrate the Troop’s 100th anniversary.

Former members attended with their families from as far away as California, New York and Massachusetts.

Activities included fishing, boating, rifle shooting, archery, Wiffle ball, crafts, dutch oven cooking, campfires and hiking the camp’s 186 acres of fields and forest.  Movies from the Troop’s early years, as well as recent Scout Gang Shows and scrapbooks assisted the “old timers” in sharing Scouting stories with current Scouts.

The weekend also included a tree planting at the camp, named for late Scouting Pioneer and Troop 3 leader, Edmund D. Strang. 

The Scouts have planted 60 trees in Derby, Ansonia, Shelton and Goshen with a goal of 100 in celebration of their centennial year.  

The event was under the direction of the Troop 3 committee of leaders, parents and alumni. 

Meals were prepared in the Frank Gates Dining Hall by Assistant Scoutmasters Charles Hemstreet Sr, Chris Cafaro and others. Memorabilia from the 100th anniversary was available for sale to alumni and presented as gifts to current Troop 3 Ascouts who participated, on behalf of the Derby Second  Congregational Church. 

Founded in 1914, just four years after Scouting was organized in America, and still sponsored by the Derby Second Congregational Church, the Troop is celebrating with special events throughout the year.  

On  Sept. 27 a time capsule burial will take place on the Derby Green in conjunction with the troop’s annual Ed Strang Day, a free event to introduce Scouting to the community. 

Also coming up are an Alumni Minstrel and Scout Gang Show Oct. 25 and a celebratory banquet at The Inn at Villa Bianca in Seymour Oct. 26.

All former Troop 3 Scouts and their families are invited to participate. Contact Scoutmaster Randy Ritter, 203-732-0343 for more information.

This is a press release from Scoutmaster Randy Ritter. 

 

Ed Strang Day planned on Derby Green

Annual event honors Scouting pioneer 

DERBY – Calling all boys and girls of the Valley! 

Moonbounce, rope bridge and archery are some of the free activities to be offered at the Derby Green 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 29 as part of Housatonic Council Boy Scout Troop 3’s Ed Strang Day.  

The event has been held annually since 1994, when the city of Derby welcomed home actor Brian Dennehy to honor Scouting pioneer Edmund D. Strang, Dennehy’s former Cubmaster. 

Strang’s biography can be found on the City of Derby’s Hall of Fame page. 

A slide show highlighting the Troop’s recent BSA Florida Sea Base sailing adventure will be presented. 

Additional activities including rain gutter regatta, obstacle course, international cooking and rope tower building will be offered to boys and girls to introduce them to the adventures of Scouting. 

Representatives will be on hand to provide information for joining Girl Scouts and free membership to Cub Scout Pack 3, Boy Scout Troop 3 and Venture Crew 33 will be available to all eligible youths who complete an application with a parent or guardian present. 

Current Scouts from throughout the Valley are also invited to attend in uniform and participate in the free activities.

For information contact Scoutmaster Randy Ritter, 203-732-0343 or visit www.troop3derby.org .

The above is a press release from Randy Ritter. 

Troop 3 collecting memories of Edmund D. Strang

Troop 3 Scoutmaster, Pack 3 Cubmaster influenced thousands

Among other endeavors, Edmund D. Strang was a WWII veteran, Scoutmaster of Troop 3, Cub master of Pack 3, Advisor to Explorer Post 33, Sunday school teacher, an incorporator of the Derby Little League, coach of the Laurels Little League team, past president of the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club, and a member of the Housatonic Council Executive Board.


Strang was a positive influence on thousands of lives. He died in 1995 at 85 years of age. "We are collecting the experiences of people whose lives Ed touched and enriched," said Robert Bednarcik of Oxford. 

Gary Scarpa, director of the Shelton High School Drama Club and co-director of Center Stage Theatre remembers Ed.
“I was discovered in the basement of the Methodist Church, known as the red church across from the Derby Green in Derby, Ct., by a talent scout named Ed Strang.”
Bednarcik said Scarpa was so outstanding singing in the (Gang Show) chorus that Ed had him sing “Little Brown Jug” in a duet. Scarpa said Strang “changed the course of my life”.

Robert Feeney, former VP of Pfizer, state, “My life was shaped by just three men, my father, Ed Strang, and a Professor of Chemistry at Yale University. Everything I did and became in my life I owe to these three men who directed my feet in the right paths.”

Alice Costello remembers Ed. In 1960 she received two tickets to the Troop/Pack 3 Gang Show held at the Derby Methodist Church. She became good friends with Ed and Caroline Strang.
Costello said she enjoyed the show so much she later participated in it singing “Second Hand Rose”. She was a Den mother in a Cub Pack in Bridgeport and decided that she would run a similar type program for her Cub Scout Pack. Strang gave her lots of jokes and ideas.

He and Caroline would go to visit her show every year. Costello attended 43 of the Troop/Pack 3 Gang Shows. She remembers taking a group of Cubs to the Troop/Pack 3 Gang Show. One Cub had to go to the bathroom but didn’t come back. She looked all over for him.
When the curtain opened there he was on stage with the chorus crying because the den mothers didn’t believe he didn’t belong to Pack 3. Costello became the first female Cub Master and was awarded the Silver Fawn (equivalent  to the Silver Beaver) by the Bridgeport Council.

What do you remember about Ed?
Contact me, Robert Bednarcik, at 203-888-2956, 95 Old Church Road, Oxford, Ct .06478 or at RobertBednarcik@netscape.net.


The above was contributed by Robert Bednarcik.