Correspondent photos / John Patrick Gatta Troop 25 member Adam Nastasi, 16, of Canfield, lets go of twine after he successfully placed in the fire-by-friction competition at the Scouts BSA Troop 25 in Canfield’s 100th anniversary picnic Saturday at Canfield Presbyterian Church.

CANFIELD — Several generations gathered together Saturday afternoon to celebrate Scouts BSA Troop 25’s 100th anniversary.

The picnic — which took place indoors because of predicted inclement weather and smoky air — at Canfield Presbyterian Church brought together past and current members who discussed their time with the troop as well as caught up on the years since they participated in scouting.

The event also included badges, books and other memorabilia donated and left at the Swap Table, classic picnic food — hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad and watermelon — a slideshow, several photo displays, historical displays, scout games and a fire-by-friction competition.

Troop 25’s roots trace back to Troop 1 in Canfield, which operated from 1913 to 1920 and awarded one Eagle Scout rank to Robert Manchester II. After a brief gap in chartering, Scouting was rekindled in Canfield in 1926 when Herbert A. Cassidy, pastor of Canfield United Methodist Church and a former leader of Troop 13 in Ashtabula, helped establish Troop 25. James “Jimmy” B. Jones, Canfield’s postmaster, served as the first committee chair, and Robert Cassidy became Troop 25’s first Eagle Scout in July 1927, according to a history provided by the troop.

Among those attending Saturday’s event were 32 of its 191 Eagle Scouts, a ranking that reflects years of commitment to service, perseverance and achievement that helps develop life skills that carry far beyond scouting.

Through rank advancement, merit badges, service and leadership opportunities, scouts learn first aid, budgeting, cooking, planning, responsibility and teamwork.

A scout with Troop 25 starting in 1965, Terri McBride, who now lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, became an Eagle Scout in 1968.

A retired machine designer who traveled the world throughout his working life, McBride noted how scouting life prepared him for his career.

“It wasn’t only the camping, but it was the leadership skills that they taught and the self-confidence that they taught.

“I ended up working in industry, and I have done a lot of management work. Never had a management class in my life, and I attribute scouting as what gave me the foundation to be able to lead projects. You are used to looking at a problem, figuring out how to solve it and do whatever needs to be done to accomplish the goal that was set.”

An Eagle Scout in 2019, Thomas McNally of Canfield used what he learned through the program to start his local business, AAA Plumbing.

“One of the most important things, and to Boy Scouts credit, is something that I needed to have worked on the most of all the things was the sense of teamwork; the coordination between people where as much as you’d like to, nothing can be accomplished on your own,” McNally said.

As an example, he brought up how he and his fellow Troop 25 scouts had to rely on their camaraderie when dealing with camping in nature.

A recent Air Force Academy graduate and Eagle Scout in 2020, Christopher Altiere Jr. of Canfield holds a similar view of Scouting’s impact on his life.

“With our troop, specifically, it was moreso the discipline. You become disciplined with paying attention to the details, figuring out things on your own.

“A lot of it’s problem solving, which is a really big thing in the military, working with other people, that teamwork and collaboration, really helps set me up from the fundamentals here,” said Altiere, who will be heading off to pilot training.

He added, “When I got to the academy, it opened a lot of doors. Being able to be personable and having communication skills that I learned from Scouting was really good as well.”

Besides personal growth, one of the requirements to become an Eagle Scout also offers lasting impact in the community. Since Eagle Scout service projects became a requirement in 1965, Troop 25 Scouts have completed nearly 130 projects that offered a positive impact for the region.

Creating and implementing projects, they included cleanup work at the Canfield Presbyterian Church playground; installation of flagpoles at Canfield United Methodist Church; trail and grounds improvements at Greasel Park and Fair Park, the outdoor classroom at Hilltop Elementary School, Berlin State Park Campground, On Target shooting range, Collier Preserve and Greenford Christian Church; and shelving units for Canfield City Hall, Beatitude House, the War Vet Museum in Canfield and Youngstown schools. Eagle Scout projects were marked on a map highlighting community improvements.

In John Heino’s case, he has a display case in Canfield City Hall that makes historical items available for viewing by the public.

The Canfield native, who now lives in Dublin, Ohio, and was an Eagle Scout in 2020, he is now a product testing engineer for Honda Powersports. Heino credits his Scouting life for helping him in college and his career.

“A lot of it comes down to leadership and communication. It’s your one chance, especially in your early life, to go through a lot of different experiences and learn how to not only work on a team, but be a leader and use those skills and develop those skills very early on.

“Especially in jobs nowadays, they see that you were a scout on a resume and they know what it is, and they know that you have that background of skills.”

Working at the branding station during Saturday’s event, Paige Cooley of Austintown is among the 28 current members of Troop 25 (18 boys in 9025 and 10 girls in 8025).

Cooley joined in 2019 when Scouts BSA opened troop-level participation to girls and Troop 8025 was established.

Speaking of her desire to be a scout, “I loved that it was more outdoorsy than other activities, and also looking up to my dad (Mark Cooley) who’s an Eagle Scout and wanting to do exactly what he did and follow in his footsteps.

Presently a Life Scout, she is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout.

“I don’t currently have my Eagle project planned, but I do have the majority of the merit badges required. I’m still working on those requirements, but I hope to get my Eagle soon,” she said.