Remembering Skip
By: Amanda Staller

A re�flec�tion on the leg�acy of a loc�al Phil�adelphia Boy Scout fam�ily lead�er. 
Robert Leo�pold III, son (from left); Steven Leo�pold Jr., grand�son; Steven Leo�pold, son; Allyson Leo�pold, grand�daugh�ter; and Robert "Skip" Leo�pold. COUR�TESY OF THE LEO�POLD FAM�ILY
From his ra�cing secrets and strategies in Pine�wood Derbies to cut�ting his hon�ey�moon short due to his de�vo�tion to the scouts, Robert "Skip" Leo�pold's 64 years of ser�vice will not be soon for�got�ten by the Boy Scouts of Amer�ica (BSA), spe�cific�ally the troops he im�pacted the most in the neigh�bor�hoods of the River Wards. 
The scout�ing fam�ily of Phil�adelphia suffered a tre�mend�ous loss in Oc�to�ber when Leo�pold, the BSA dis�trict's vice chair�man, passed away. 
To hon�or this pil�lar of Phil�adelphia scout�ing, Troop 171 donated all of their 
col�lec�ted items from the an�nu�al Scout�ing for Food drive in Leo�pold's name to 
St. Mi�chael's Luther�an Church, 2139 E. Cum�ber�land St., where Leo�pold had been a mem�ber since 1966.
"Skip did whatever he could to keep scout�ing alive in these neigh�bor�hoods," said An�nemarie Bravo, cub�mas�ter of Troop 171. "It was fit�ting that we should give everything we had to St. Mi�chael's just in his hon�or."
Cham�pi�on of the Boy Scouts, de�voted lead�er and a man ded�ic�ated to self�less
 ser�vice, Leo�pold had been a part of the boy scouts since he was 10 years old. Leo�pold transitioned from Cub Scouts, to Boy Scouts and even�tu�ally joined the Navy in 1959, where he ap�plied many of the skills and men�tal�it�ies learned dur�ing his time with the scouts, ac�cord�ing to Leo�pold's son, Robert Leo�pold III, 49.
Upon re�turn�ing home from the Navy, Leo�pold once again revved up his ca�reer with the Boy Scouts. As his sons, Rob and Steve, came of age and joined the scout�ing fam�ily them�selves, Leo�pold began serving as an in�sti�tu�tion�al
 rep�res�ent�at�ive. 
"My fath�er ba�sic�ally set the ex�ample for both me and my broth�er," said Robert Leo�pold. "We're prob�ably bet�ter people today be�cause of the as�so�ci�ation my fath�er had with scout�ing." 
Leo�pold touched many as�pects of scout�ing in the Phil�adelphia re�gion, hold�ing 
po�s�i�tions from chapter ad�visor to vice chair of the dis�trict com�mit�tee. His 
com�mit�ment to Boy Scouts and love for the cause of�ten touched all realms of his life.
In 1965, Leo�pold mar�ried his wife Pa�tri�cia. The two planned an open-ended 
hon�ey�moon to Niagara Falls, where Mrs. Leo�pold would soon truly understand her new hus�band's love for the scouts. 
"Dur�ing their hon�ey�moon, my dad said he had to get back to Phil�adelphia for a scout�ing event," Leo�pold III said. "My moth�er lit�er�ally spent the second part of her hon�ey�moon with hun�dreds of scouts at a city-wide jam�bor�ee, atop Bel�mont 
Plat�eau."
But scout�ing be�came more than just a pas�sion for Leo�pold; it be�came a fam�ily 
vo�ca�tion. 
With Leo�pold's sons both still in�volved with the Boy Scouts and the large ma�jor�ity of his fam�ily also par�ti�cip�at�ing in one way or an�oth�er, the en�tire Leo�pold fam�ily shows tre�mend�ous com�mit�ment and ded�ic�a�tion to the scouts.
"One of the jokes in my fam�ily is when you marry a Leo�pold man, you look at the fine print on the bot�tom of the mar�riage li�cense that ba�sic�ally says, 'Wife must join scout�ing,' " Leo�pold III said. 
For those closest to Leo�pold, Sat�urday's food drive served as the cherry on top of Leo�pold's im�mensely im�pact�ful hand in the build�ing and main�tain�ing of the scouts in Phil�adelphia. 
Troop 171 donated about 200 items in total to St. Mi�chael's Church in hon�or of Leo�pold, ac�cord�ing to Bravo. While this year's Scout�ing for Food pro�gram did not bring in as much food as the Bravo would like to see, the troop was happy to give everything col�lec�ted in Leo�pold's name.
The Phil�adelphia scout fam�ily will surely feel the loss of Leo�pold, but his leg�acy has built a beacon of all things the Boy Scouts stand for.
"One of the ma�jor as�pects of boy scout�ing is build�ing char�ac�ter and build�ing 
cit�izen�ship," Leo�pold III said. "My dad was someone to be set aside to be an 
ex�ample of how to be a good scout."

 Giving Back to the Community
Troop 120 of Bridesburg along with the Free Masons, Cottage Green, Village Caterers and many other volunteers helped serve the homeless in Philadelphia hot meals as well as warm clothing for the coming winter season. This is a great opportunity for scouts to see the less fortunate in our community and to lend a hand to help them and hopefully help them keep warm this winter. This is an annual event and we are happy to have participated for our second year.

Scouting for Food & Thanksgiving Day Parade

Scouting for Food is one of nation's largest food drives that Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers participate in to support their local food pantries and hunger-relief agencies. The Scouts of the Cradle of Liberty Council have continuously exceeded expectations and fully stocked dozens of our partner agencies with bags and bags of canned food, and this year was no exception. Thousands of cans were gathered and donated to stock up for those in need in our communities. 

The effort did not stop at the doors of our neighbors. Scouts from all over the area gathered to continue gathering for Philabundance during the 6ABC Thanksgiving Day Parade. Alongside the ACME float, shopping carts lined the parade route collecting a considerable amount of canned and boxed food items. Thank you to all who attended, and we hope to see more of you come out next year!

2016/2017 Program Updates

For 2016:
* Boys joining on or after Jan. 1, 2016 MUST use the new requirements.
* Boys who have joined prior to Jan. 1, 2016:
* Who are working on the Scout badge MAY continue to work on the existing
requirements, but MUST convert to the new requirements upon completion of
the Scout badge.
* Who are working on Tenderfoot through First Class MAY continue to work on the
existing requirements, but MUST convert to the new requirements upon
attaining First Class.
* Who have completed First Class MAY complete the rank they are currently
working on in the existing requirements, but then MUST convert to the new
requirements for subsequent ranks.
For 2017:
All Scouts MUST use the new requirements regardless of rank. 

For more information see:
www.scouting.org/programupdates
In Other News...

Crew News:
Crew 1776 will be hosting a Pancake Brunch On Dec. 13th at Saints United Lutheran Church located at 3200 Ryan Ave. 19149. It will be open from 11:30am - 1:30pm and is $5.00 per person. Come show your support and meet the Crew.


Venturing Crew and Sea Scout Training
Dec. 29th, at the Valley Forge Office, ILSC and ILSS training will be available for Crew and Sea Scouts. There will also be Crew Advisor and Committee training available. 
for more details.

Pack News:
Cub Scout Pack 155 would like to congratulate Robert Joseph Ritchie (now a bear scout) who was awarded the Medal of Merit by the Boy Scouts of America for rescuing two very young children who had slipped into the 12' section of the pool.  The Medal of Merit is awarded to members who have performed some outstanding act of service of a rare or exceptional character that reflects an uncommon degree of concern for the well-being of others.  Congratulations on a job well done.

Upcoming Events:

District Roundtable Meeting 
December 9, 2015  
7:30pm Philadelphia Protestant Home

Cub Scout Klondike Derby
Jan. 23rd, 2016
At Wissinoming Park off of Frankford Ave.
Registration starts at 7:45am. Event starts at 9am
Lunch will be provided for the scouts
Early Bird Special is $8.00 if paid before Jan. 16th. $10.00 after the 16th.
Make Checks payable to: CRADLE OF LIBERTY    
in memo: ROOSEVELT DISTRICT CUB KLONDIKE
Mail Payment to: Cradle of Liberty Office in Valley Forge  1485 Valley Forge Rd, Wayne, PA 19087
When sending in payment address the envelope to Cradle of Liberty Council  C/O Cub Klondike
Or you can bring your payment to the District Roundtable.

Calling all Boy Scouts, Venturing Crews and Sea Scouts
Boy Scout Klondike
February 27th, 2016
At Lighthouse Field across from St. Christopher's Hospital on Erie Ave.
Registration starts at 7:45am. Event starts at 9am
Lunch will be provided for all registered participants
Early Bird Special is $8.00 if paid before 2/13 
$10 per scout after 2/13
$5.00 for adults and siblings (includes lunch and a patch)
Make Checks payable to: CRADLE OF LIBERTY    
in memo: ROOSEVELT DISTRICT Boy Scout KLONDIKE
Mail Payment to: Cradle of Liberty Office in Valley Forge  1485 Valley Forge Rd, Wayne, PA 19087
When sending in payment address the envelope to Cradle of Liberty Council  C/O Boy Scout Klondike
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