PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Boy Scout Troop 90, Kendall Park, has seen half a century of success.
The troop celebrated its 50th year with a gathering of Eagle Scouts, troop masters and others at a Jan. 13 reunion that highlighted and proudly presented the troop’s history and evolution since its chartering in 1963.
“We’ve been planning this for about six months,” Tom Grzelak, Troop 90 committee chair, told the Sentinel. “We just rechartered with the Boy Scouts again, too.”
Troop 90, a boy-led leadership development troop where the Scouts put together programming with the advice of adults, hosted 130 people at the Griggstown Firehouse, Princeton, for an afternoon of teaching the current Troop 90 about the troop’s activities and organization for the past five decades.
“Several people from different eras of the troop came up and gave a history,” Grzelak said. “They gave a brief summary and told a story from the time.”
Top left: John Golias, of Kendall Park, talks about Scouting during the 1970s at the 50th anniversary celebration held by Troop 90 on Jan. 13. Top right: Scouts converse with each other during the event. Above: Matthew Grzelak, 7, and his mother Jeanne enjoy a laugh during the celebration. John Golias, Tim Burman, Ken Pearc and Mark Butera, who were all involved with the troop since the 1970s, gave overviews of the particular decade that they were involved in the Scouts.
“John Golias wore the uniform from the 1970s,” Grzelak said. “He was really into it!”
South Brunswick Township Deputy Mayor Chris Killmurray, New Jersey State Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R-16th District), Scout Executive Ian Lilien and Joyce Kilmer District Executive Tanasha Scott all gave brief remarks to those present.
The afternoon had a special guest: 84-year-old Bill Eldred, whose father, Arthur Eldred, was the first Eagle Scout in the history of the organization. Bill Eldred’s son became an Eagle Scout with Troop 90.
“He became an active member of Troop 90 when his son was here,” Grzelak said. “He took pictures with the boys and saw all the great things that our troop is doing. It was great to finally meet him after hearing for so long that the grandson of Arthur Eldred became an Eagle Scout through Troop 90.”
The current troop had an opportunity to teach the troop alumni: Each family that came brought a dish that represented their culture at home to demonstrate the diversity of the troop, a hallmark change and a reflection of the diversity of South Brunswick.
“It really came off great because we had a tremendous variety of foods with stories about their grandmothers cooking or how it’s made at home every year. It really came together as a nice way to tell everyone how Troop 90 evolved into a tremendously diverse group of people,” Grzelak said.
For those who could not attend the event, Grzelak said that many alumni were interested in learning what the troop is up to.
“We let people know about the troop site, mytroop90.org,” Grzelak said. “Many past leaders wanted to know what’s up, so at the site, you can see the history of the troop and all the different things that the scouts are doing.”