SCOUTING HISTORY 1970 ~ 1979

1971:
Mrs. Jane Shouse receives the Silver Fawn Award, thereby becoming the first woman to receive the highest award given to the Old Hickory Council's adult Scouters.

1971:
The Boy Scouts of America initiates Project SOAR (Save Our American Resources) to promote the conservation of America's natural resources.

1971:
Girls become full members of Boy Scout Explorer Posts.

1972:
Camp Robert Vaughn, developed by the United Way of Forsyth County in 1963 to serve African-American youths, is no longer used for summer camp purposes by the Old Hickory Council. All Boy Scouts are invited to attend summer camp at Raven Knob.

1973:
The John T. Atwell Cottage is constructed near the main gate at Camp Raven Knob. Mr. Atwell's friends from the Laurel District plan construction, gather materials, and donate labor to complete the cottage as a memorial to him in a total of only forty-one days.

1974:
E. Urner Goodman, the founder of the Order of the Arrow, visits Camp Raven Knob on July 31 to help in the dedication of the G. Kellock Hale Training Center (Lodge Building).

1974:
The Chestnut, Pine Tree, and White Oak Districts in Forsyth County are merged to form the Daniel Boone District. Salem District and Piedmont District are created out of the massive Daniel Boone District in 1985.

1974:
Gerald R. Ford becomes President of the United States after the resignation of Richard M. Nixon. Gerald Ford is the first Eagle Scout to become President.

1976:
Camp Raven Knob in the winter of 1976. [Photo courtesy of Andy Webb]

[Click photo for an enlargement]

1977:
Togo D. West Jr., who became an Eagle Scout in the Old Hickory Council in 1957, begins public service as an attorney in the Department of the Navy. He becomes Secretary of the Army in 1993 and Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 1997.

July 26, 1978
" 'I think it's a well-run camp,' said Scoutmaster David Colvin of Cary. 'Our boys seem to be getting a lot out of it.' 'This also gives the adult leaders a chance to come here and relax for a week. It's like being a boy again!' Scout troops usually spend one week at Raven Knob at one of many campsites on the 3,000-acre property..."

The Mount Airy News, p.1B

February 28, 1979

"My last camporee had been 15 years ago. Walking among the troop sites [at the Daniel Boone District's Klondike Derby in Stokes County], I saw many changes. Olive drab and the musty smell of tent canvas have given way to Day-Glo orange and green nylon. The dim yellow flame and smoke of the kerosene lanterns have been replaced by the bright white and hiss of propane. Inside one of the tents, boys lounged on mylar blankets, basking in the heat of a catalytic heater. And yet some of the things that go with scouting remain forever constant: blue smoke drifting through the deep green of a stand of pines; the circle of fellowship that links itself around a campfire on a cold night; the trading of tales in the dark of a tent in the semiconscious state just before sleep; and the smile of satisfaction on an 11-year-old's face when his timberhitch takes hold..."

Winston-Salem Journal, p.27