YOUNGSTOWN — Mike Kupec enjoys running statistics and doing historical research.

The public relations chairman and volunteer with the Stambaugh District of the Great Trail Council, BSA, recently uncovered an issue that he hopes to help remedy.

“As I looked around this area, I noticed there are very few black individuals involved in scouting,” Kupec said. “In Youngstown the black and white population is almost equal (in numbers), but that is not reflected in Scouting today.”

Kupec said he wondered why the black community is not being reached and why scouting had dropped off. Only two troops remain in Youngstown and those are 9055 and 8055 out of the Youngstown Presbyterian Church, he said.

“Currently there are a couple of black youths involved with those,” he said. “What irks me is that we can’t reflect diversity. There are way more black scouts in Akron and Cleveland.”

IN THE PAST

Further research by Kupec revealed that black scouting troops not only existed in the Youngstown area, but actually were the most successful. He found records on Troop 18 based at the McGuffey Centre since the 1960s.

“Scout Troop 18 existed in the 1960s and ’70s,” Kupec said. “The troop had a membership of 40 black youth, and of that number, 32 achieved their Eagle Scout rank. That is 80 percent.”

He said that number of Eagle Scouts is unheard of, and it was a direct reflection of the scoutmasters of that time — Tim Butler, Ken Purfey and the late Andrew Brown.

“It was not just me,” Purfey said. “We had at least seven to 10 other strong men who served as leaders. Most of them were the fathers of their Troop 18 sons in the early 1960s and they saw the benefits of being a scout and especially being an Eagle scout. That was — and still is — a prestigious award that will carry over in life and is job-resume material.

“These men stayed on as leaders (committee men, board of review, advisers, etc.) even though their sons had already graduated. They did that because we had a great and active program and they liked to stay associated with success,” Purfey explained. “In other words, success begets success. We had a fixed program, an organizational system, good operational policies, and set procedures that operated in very high efficiency mode. It worked and turned out Eagles like hotcakes.”

Purfey said the mission of Troop 18, set by Hugh Frost (deceased, 1998), executive officer of the McGuffey Centre from 1958 to 1969, was to train, incentivize, motivate, educate and teach every young man who walked through the doors there to “be the best that they can be.” He said Frost looked, talked and acted a little bit like Martin Luther King Jr.

“My personal goal was to work tirelessly with every boy who joined our legendary Troop 18 to have them ultimately become an Eagle Scout,” Purfey said.

TROOP 18 SUCCESSES

He had a special motto that he used with his own children: “There are three types of people in this world. Those that make things happen. Those who watch things happen. And those who wonder what happened? It is good future leaders that make things happen.”

Purfey said members of Troop 18 went on to rewarding careers.

“Out of the 40 boys we had in Troop 18, four have become attorneys, four have become doctors, seven have become engineers, 14 were college graduates, four have master’s degrees, four have become ministers, one became mayor of a suburb of Cleveland, three were professional football players — and we have one Super Bowl champion, Sherman Smith, who I helped coach in football since his age of 9,” he said.

In May 2015, 13 men reunited at the Springfield Grille for a 50th Troop 18 reunion. They were able to recall the great times they had and how the troop helped them become the strong black men they are today.

“I am still in regular contact with about 10 of them,” Purfey said. “Many of these young men became so very successful that I institutionalized a McGuffey Centre Troop 18 Hall of Fame to recognize their lifetime successes, and have inducted about seven of them.”

PERFECT TEAM

Purfey was the perfect person for Kupec to team with to address the lack of diversity in Mahoning Valley scouting. The real issue for the two men will be approaching black leaders to help deal with the problem.

“If we are going to promote black scouts, we are going to need the help of black leaders,” Kupec said.

Kupec said if anyone wants to get involved or is interested in getting a troop going, contact him by email at mike.kupec@gmail.com.

An interesting detail is that Troop 18 had a drum and bugle corps that was a major attention-getter wherever the scouts performed.

“They would march in synchronism to every song you can think of, and they also won a multitude of awards,” Purfey said. “They were great. We used to march through Camp Stambaugh all the time. We actually did some marching at our 50-year reunion, and the ‘boys’ did great.”

As for Troop 18, it may not remain a troop of yesteryear.

Purfey said Troop 18 began around 1922. In a 1931 document, the troop was in the West Division and was chartered to a group of residents at the West Side School. At some point, it was moved to the McGuffey Centre.

It was during the time at McGuffey that Troop 18 thrived. It faded away around 1995 and the Centre was also on shaky ground, according to Purfey.

“The McGuffey Centre temporarily closed several months ago due to lack of funding,” he said. “A group of men from the 1960s decided not to let that happen. And yes, many of them were Troop 18 Eagle scouts. We have formed a new board of directors, with me as the chief financial officer, and have the intent to find sufficient funding to reopen McGuffey Centre and restore it to the prestige that it used to enjoy.”

Envisioned, he said, are “premier professional services” in Youngstown and programs and services for youth, teens, and seniors throughout the area. “And yes, we intend to re-establish Troop 18.”

jtwhitehouse@vindy.com