The Great Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America is all new for 2021 and now is known as the Stambaugh District.

The council in 2020 chose to merge four districts. It now serves Cub Scout packs, Scout troops, Venturing crews and Explorer posts in Mahoning, Trumbull, Medina, Portage, Summit and North Wayne counties.

The new district took effect Jan. 1.

The new Stambaugh District is a combination of two districts and a section of a third that included the Whispering Pines District serving Mahoning County and Hubbard; the Arrowhead District, serving Trumbull County; and a small portion of the former Seneca District serving Portage County. The district will serve more than 70 troops.

The new district was put under the leadership of four individuals known as the “Key 4.” They are Stambaugh District chairman Gloriann Martinek of Champion, district commissioner Beth Harnishfeger of Boardman, district executive Stephen DiPaolo of Boardman and district director Dennis Vargo of Canton.

“We held our first official district committee meeting on Jan. 6 virtually, getting to know everyone, organizing committees and planning for the district’s future,” Mike Kupec, publicity chairman for the Stambaugh District, said. “No plans have been made yet when we can meet in person and where.”

The Stambaugh District has a group of leaders who are anxious to make Stambaugh into a top district. The “Key 4” are taking the lead, but are doing so with a lot of experience in Scouting.

DiPaolo served as district executive for Mahoning County, and Vargo served Trumbull County and northeastern Portage County. Martinek and Harnishfeger were nominated into their positions.

Martinek, who served on the BSA board and was a camp master for Camp Stambaugh, served as membership chair and finance chair for the former Arrowhead District and was Troop 4025 committee chair, merit badge counselor and Pack 4025 treasurer. She said the merger that formed the new Stambaugh District will be a benefit to the Scouts it serves.

“The districts were merged to combine and pull together resources, to better serve the youth in Scouting,” she said. “This allowed it to be more evenly split ratios of units / kids to district representatives.”

Late last year, the Scouting units in the newly formed district were asked to submit a name they liked. Martinek said once all the names were collected, a poll was sent out asking everyone to name their top five choices. In the end, Stambaugh won.

“We have more incredible volunteers to pull from, dedicated resources at the council level, shared knowledge and an idea bank that comes with having common goals across many more people, a great new district committee and an awesome new name,” Martinek said.

For 2021, Martinek already has set two goals that will need to be done simultaneously: She wants to build a strong district committee to serve the youth and help units get back on their feet, including the ones that are in danger of collapsing. She also is ready to face the challenges this year is bringing.

“The biggest challenge is getting back to normal with COVID-19 restrictions in place,” she said. “We need to help people feel that Scout meetings and campouts can be done properly with the restrictions in place and can be safe. Our units are struggling at this time. We need to band together to give alternative ideas of how to come together, operate with some level of normalcy and get engagement up.”

That engagement will be tested next month as the new district will have its first Klondike Derby on Feb. 28 at Camp Stambaugh in Canfield. The event likely will be a one-day affair because COVID-19 precautions are still in effect and subject to change.m