Hugh C. Bertsch from Troop 98, St. Roch’s, has been awarded the Silver Beaver, the highest award a Scouter can receive. An Eagle Scout with Bronze Palm, Mr. Bertsch has been active in Scouting for over forty-eight years. His initial role as a Scouter was as an Assistant Scoutmaster while he attended Harvard University. Since 1940 Mr. Bertsch has served the youth of the St. Louis Area Council, and the past twenty years he has worked, not only with the Council, but also with the West District and Troop [number unclear in source]
At the Council level Mr. Bertsch has worked on Skill Show booths and special Council exhibits the Eagle Scout Association. He also has arranged for medical examinations for Outreach troops and has taken some of these troops to summer camp.
At the District level Mr. Bertsch regularly attends all meetings and camporees and is the major adviser for Scout Camporee leaders at West District Camporees. While he advises, he sets an example for the staff by helping with chores such as fire building, cooking, and cleanup. As a member of the District Training Committee Mr. Bertsch arranged for and taught in programs. As Chairperson of the Eagle Board of Review, typically, Hugh Bertsch held the Reviews at a time convenient to the Scouts.
For the past eight years Mr. Bertsch has spent his summer vacation taking Troop 98 Scouts to summer camp. He attends troop and committee meeting regularly and rarely misses a hike or campout.
Mr. Bertsch, a Research Chemist with Mallinckrodt, has travelled extensively in the West and Southwest of the USA, where he mountain climbed, has been on archeological tours in Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Easter Islands, and Egypt, plus a safari in Africa. In spite of his busy life, Hugh Bertsch is always available when needed and is a model for youth. He has long deserved the honor he received.
Originally published in The Paper, January 1979.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Source’s Troop 9 2 reference is unclear despite other Troop 98 references; retained with an uncertainty marker, not harmonized.
Original source: SD_Times1979_01.pdf, printed page(s) 7; PDF page(s) 7.
