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Six fathers met on Ninovan Road on June 30, 1969 to organize a Boy Scout 
Troop. Cunningham Park School PTA agreed to serve as the Troop chartering 
organization, and Mr. Robert Van Pelt was selected as Scoutmaster. The first 
Troop meeting took place on September 12, 1969. The new troop's first activity 
was hiking 20 miles of the C & O Canal Trail, and the new troop's first service 
project was to plant a live Christmas Tree at the Vienna Community Center on 
January 3, 1970.

Over 35 boys were active in the troop by the fall of 1970. The troop sold fertilizer 
and held a "BOY POWER" raffle to raise funds in 1971, the same year the troop 
sent 29 scouts to summer camp at Goshen.

Troop Membership expanded to over 50 boys in 1972 and 1973. The Troop 
acquired canoes and camping equipment and it selected Camp Sinoquipe in 
Pennsylvania as its summer camp from 1972 until 1986. In 1987, the Troop 
started attending Camp Rodney on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland for summer 
camp and continued there until 1991, when the troop returned to Goshen.

One troop scout hiked at the Philmont High Adventure Camp in 1988, followed by 
four scouts in 1989. In 1991, five scouts and two leaders attended the BSA High 
Adventure Sea Base Camp in Florida. In 2002, another scout hiked the high 
mountain country at the Philmont High Adventure Camp.

More recently, the Troop sent a crew (eight scouts and two leaders) to Philmont 
in 2007. In 2008, the Troop sent a crew to Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas 
for a week of sailing and snorkeling, as part of BSA's Florida Sea Base program.

In 1992, 1997, 2000, and 2004, the troop completed a 50-mile, 5-day canoe trip 
on the upper Potomac River. The troop attended summer camp at the Resica 
Falls Scout reservation in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania from 1997 
through 1999 and 2001, returned to Camp Olmstead at Goshen in 2000 and 
camped at the birthplace of the Order of the Arrow, Treasure Island, in 2002 
through 2003. In 1993, the older Scouts spent a week at Lenhok'sin high 
Adventure camp in Goshen. In 1996 and 1999 the troop attended the West Point 
Invitational Camporee at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

Troop 1539 is proud of its Eagle Scouts and their accomplishments! Set a goal 
to add your name to this list of distinguished alumni of Troop 1539! As of 
September 2008, 36 Scouts have attained the rank of Eagle.