On March 1, 1918 Troop #1, Wernersville, PA was officially registered and had 15 Scouts. The
Troops activities were listed as selling Liberty Loans and War Savings Stamps, Police Duty,
collecting magazines and Victrola records, conducting a Census of Black Walnut Trees (Walnut
wood was used for rifle stocks) and assisting the Red Cross Canteen. The Charter Application
for 1919 showed the First Reformed Sunday School as the responsible organization for the
Troop and Wernersville had a population of 750 at the time. Records indicate that in 1930 the
Troop 1 ran pretty much like Troop 459 today. The Troop held weekly meeting during the
school year, but no meetings were held during the summertime.
The first recorded listing of Boy Scouts from Troop 1 earning the rank of Eagle Scout is found
in 1939 when two Boys were listed. Some Scouts from 1942 - 1945 are recorded as
remembering the blast of the Air Raid siren and rushing home from a Scout meeting to avoid
being caught by the Air Raid Warden. Fellow Scouts assisted local Air Raid Wardens during
WWII Blackouts. Meetings were then held on the 2nd floor of the Old School Building. The
Scouts collected newspapers, and gathered lumber from homes being removed to make way
for a new machine shop for the Textile Machine Works. It was planned to use the lumber to
build a shelter on the land of the Lebanon Valley Sportsman Club. Troop 1 Scouts had camped
a number of times on this land and was part of the District Jamborette held there. A shelter
was built at the Sportsman Club, and this structure has been maintained, refurbished and
remains in use by the Scouts today.
The practice had always been to assign No. 1 to the first Troop to be organized in every
village, town or city; as a result there were thousands of Troop 1’s. In 1957 the Wernersville
Scouts submitted their application and Troop numbering had been changed and they became
Troop 187 sponsored by the Trinity Lutheran Church in Wernersville. Trinity Lutheran Church
remains our sponsor to this day. The Scouts continued to enjoy camping and hiking all
throughout the year in good weather and even in snow. Camping has always been great fun
for the boys throughout the years, but there were also lessons to be learned and a merit
badge for meal preparation often produced something better than hot dogs and beans. The
Troop frequently hiked to the shelter along Sportsman’s Road for meetings and overnight
stays along the Appalachian Trail. A 50 mile hike was taken through Union, Sullivan, and
Lycoming Counties in July of 1966.
In 1966 Troop numbers were again changed. The first digit became a ‘4’ to show that the
Troop was located in the Cacoosing District which covered the western part of Berks County.
The Daniel Boone council (Berks County) merged with the Appalachian Trail Council (Schuylkill
County) to form the Hawk Mountain Council in 1970.
The Troop continued to stay active taking various camping trips, a 50 mile canoeing trip in
New York in 1971, and in 1975 the Troop took a 50 mile bicycle trek along the C&O Canal,
from Cumberland County to Washington D.C., and Hiking along the Susquehannock Trail near
Wellsboro PA. While on this trip in 1976, the Scouts assisted in crowd control at the annual
Lumberjack Carnival. Another 50 mile hike was taken in 1980 as the Troop continued to stay
busy.
The Troop Charter was renewed in April of 1990, but the Troop was Dropped on June 1 of that
same year. A new application in 1991 brought a new Charter and a new Troop number to the
Scouts of Trinity Lutheran Church, Wernersville. Jeff Boyer was selected as the new
Scoutmaster with Dennis Mathew and Tom Bertolet serving as Assistants. The first camping
trip with the new Troop was also the first for the Scouts and their Assistant Scoutmasters.
Spirits were high as the Troop departed for Gettysburg on May 8, 1992 even though there was
a threat of rain. Their camping gear had been stored in the church and was not in the best
condition. The test came after their camp had been set and the threat of rain became a
horrendous storm. It was a hard way to learn that a better placement of tents could have
avoided the rivers that flowed and turned sleeping bags, clothes and leaders into things more
soggy and muddy then could ever be imagined. But in spite of it all....The Scouts loved it!!
Since then Troop 459 has had many trips in the rain and one thing has always remained a
constant, no matter what the weather the Scouts always manage to have fun!
Dennis Mathew became the Scoutmaster in December of 1993 and continued in that role until
2003. Around that time Terry Hauschild, who had moved to the area from the Pittsburgh area
and was active in Scouting there was looking for a Boy Scout Troop to join. He and his sons
found one in Troop 459 where Terry followed in Dennis Mathews step and became the next
Troop 459 Scoutmaster and actively fulfilled that position until 2010. Under Terry’s leadership
the boys went on many trips including back packing, white water rafting in Lehigh Valley, and
in May of 2010 our Scouts took a similar 50 mile bicycle trek along the C&O Canal as the Troop
did back in 1975. All but one of our 20 Scouts made the entire 50 miles and approximately 8
Assistant Scoutmasters and parents made the trips well. We have done a lot of great trips
the past few years including, French Creek, several backpacking trips, Blue Marsh Service
Project, biking, and of course...Summer Camp. The Boys were also triumphant with a first
place win at the Klondike Derby in 2011. We continue to be a strong Troop and that is thanks
to Shaun Shillady our previous Scoutmaster and Erik Bowers our current Scoutmaster. Their
commitment to this Troop is evident through their hard work, time, energy and ongoing
willingness to work with our boys and their ever present energy. Of course our Scoutmaster
cannot do it alone, we are fortunate to have great support from all of our Assistant
Scoutmasters, officers and committee members. The Troop is lucky to have many involved
parents that all keep this Troop active. Of course, there are the Scouts themselves who in this
day and age have a million other teenage distractions and activities but continue to show up and do the work of Scouting and we are proud of each and every one of them.
Except taken from the Troop 459 Handbook (pages 34-36)