We Appreciate: Boy Scout Troop 501

The Arbore­tum is grate­ful for the close rela­tion­ship it has enjoyed with Boy Scout Troop 501, head­quar­tered here at Lan­dis. The troop was estab­lished in 2004 under the lead­er­ship of the late Chuck Stephens. The cur­rent scout­mas­ter is Chuck Whit­man, and the troop has 12 mem­bers. That num­ber will soon rise again as more young men cross over from the Cub Scouts. To date, 10 mem­bers have achieved the pres­ti­gious rank of Eagle Scout, and one addi­tion­al boy is near­ing com­ple­tion of his qual­i­fy­ing project.

Lan­dis would like to rec­og­nize the scouts for all their efforts on behalf of the Arbore­tum. Over the years, the scouts have been involved in many activ­i­ties that have ben­e­fit­ed both the Arbore­tum and the greater com­mu­ni­ty. Here is a sam­pling of the work the troop has been instru­men­tal in car­ry­ing out at Landis:

• build­ing pic­nic tables and bench­es, blue bird hous­es and sign posts, and a split rail fence sur­round­ing the Great Oak, the 400-year-old sym­bol of the Arboretum;
• con­struc­tion of a stor­age shed adja­cent to the Barn;
• serv­ing as secu­ri­ty and ​“wag­on assis­tants” at the annu­al Lan­dis spring and fall plant sales;
• assist­ing in the devel­op­ment of the Water­fall Trail and the main­te­nance of the Ancient For­est Trail;
• help­ing with the prepa­ra­tions for the annu­al 5K For­est Walk/​Run;
• build­ing an encamp­ment, includ­ing a lean-to and eco-friend­ly out­house, to serve as a per­ma­nent site for scout­ing activities; 
• and host­ing a region­al Scout Jam­boree onsite at the Arboretum

We are indebt­ed to Troop 501 for these and oth­er ser­vices they have pro­vid­ed to Lan­dis. We appre­ci­ate and salute these future lead­ers for their deep com­mit­ment to our envi­ron­men­tal mission.