Scoutmaster Fred Williams has been leading packs and troops for 17 years.

Louisville Courier Journal April 16-17 1980

East County Neighborhoods Section

MARYANN DAVIS Special Writer

Photo Caption: Fred Williams, right, scoutmaster of Troop 385, showed Bill Leaf, how to cook pancakes at the Old Kentucky Home Council's Scout-O-Rama.

Photo Caption: David Leaf, of a member of Troop 385, stood next to the flag near his troop's booth at the Scout-O-Rama.

It was last Thursday night, the night before the Old Kentucky Home Council's annual Scout-O-Rama was to open in the West Wing of the Fairgrounds.

By the next day, the Scouts of Troop 385, from Springdale Presbyterian 385, Church, 7812 Old Brownsboro Road, would be occupying a simulated woodland camp and cooking silver-dollar pancakes to serve to all comers.

There were forty rolls of freshly cut sod to lay, a tent to pitch and a log fence to be built.

And, of course, Fred Willlams was there with his Scouts, overseeing the transformation, even laying the sod.

"We've done this at Scout-O-Rama for years," Williams sald. "The boys really enjoy doing it.' Williams does too.

He's been the troop's scoutmaster for 17 vears, since his second son joined in 1963.

His long service as a Scout leader makes him something of a rarity, according to Alice Beaven, support services secretary for the Old Kentucky Home council.

"It's fairly uncommon for fathers to stay actively involved after their sons leave the scouting program," she said. "We have Mr. Willams and Al Scherer (Scoutmaster at Cooper Memorial Methodist Church, on Preston Highway). And off the a hop of my head, I think they are the only to who are still and work with the boys."

“I just happen to think that it’s one the best programs for boys that's available" said Williams. I just happen to think that it's one of able " sald Williams, from eastern Jefferson County. "It gives the kids character-bullding and citizenship training and offers physical development."

Williams was 12 when he got his first taste of scouting back in 1933, when he joined Troop 40 at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 2000 Douglass Blvd. "As a kid I went with the Scouts to Yellowstone Park. I was about 15 at the time, and it sure got me hooked." he said.

"When I was 18, I even planned to go into scouting as a profession," Williams said.

"I spent five summers, from the time I was 16 until my junior year in college, working as a Scout leader at the Covered Bridge Scout Camp in Prospect."

He became a home-building contractor instead of a professional Scout, and it took his two sons to get the former Eagle Scout involved again.

"My son Fred joined the Cub Pack at St. Francis in the Fields Church in 1958 at the same time that they lost their cubmaster, so they tagged me," Williams said.

"They knew that I'd been involved before.”

In 1961 his own church, Springdale Presbyterian asked him to help restart a Boy Scout troop there, and "of course I did," he said.

When his second son finished the Cub program at St. Francis in 1963 and graduated to Springdale's Boy Scout troop, his father moved with him, becoming scoutmaster.

Williams estimates that he's probably worked with 400 boys throughout the years and that about 20 Eagle Scouts have come through the ranks through the years of his volunteer service.

Williams admits to putting in a lot of time"probably 30 hours a month plus biking and camp time" - which add up to about 600 hours a year.

"But when the kids come back to visit, that's when you feel your efforts have meant something.

"It's a rewarding thing to learn about their activities," he said.

The newspaper article above was clipped and saved by the parents (Dr Harting and Helen Harting) of former Troop 385 scout Bill Harting. Dr. Harting sometimes assisted as an adult leader on outings. He helped transport scouts and their gear and served on the "Board of Review" for many of us as we moved up in rank.