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Our troop was founded in 1970. Troop 446 was already in existence when Bud Janick started the new Troop of 457. The Troop was about six months old, when
By 1976, Troop 457 welcomed its third
Charles Louch became our next Scoutmaster and when his job David Bowbeer and Gerald Scott were Co-Committee Chairs in 1987 and into 1988, at which time Gerald took the position on alone from 1988 to 1992. Following Doc Foster
In February of 2010, Paul made the decision to step down and As further proof of the commitment of these men, the following Scoutmasters are still on our rolls: Mike Crossey, Lloyd Gillette, Dave Eberlein, Bob Kwiecinski, Steve Schneider and Gary Marquardt. As to further proof of commitment to those men and women who served as Committee Chairs, the following are also still on our rolls: Mike Crossey, Dolores Kingston, Nancy Howard, Christine Barnes and Jack Cook.
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Mike Crossey and his family moved here from Pennsylvania. He already had 20 years
of scouting, and even served as a District Commissioner. Eager to still be active and involved in scouting, he offered his help. Little did
he know that Bud would be off forming still another Troop, and thus Mike became the first Scoutmaster recorded in Troop history. The Troop started meeting at Jenson School during the
school year, and continued meeting there until about 1983. In the summer months, we met at Curtiss Park. The committee met once a month around his dining room table – Marinus Hickley
serving as the first Committee Chair until 1971. From 1971 until 1972, Kenneth Meyer served as Committee Chair. Then Marinus served again from 1972 until 1973. Being a new troop,
equipment was their big concern. They hooked up with Tom Watts and sold little things such as charcoal starters. They camped once a month, even in January, mostly at Bruin Lake. Summer
camp was either there, at Wright’s Lake or Camp Twin Echoes in Pennsylvania. Mike served as Scoutmaster from our troop’s inception until 1974. An unforgettable memory was his high
adventure 20-mile hike on the Forbes’ Trail in the mountains of Pennsylvania. 
Scoutmaster. Joe Ferris became involved in Scouts because his son was involved. During the summer, the Troop met at different families’ homes that
had pools and large yards. Selling things and collecting newspapers for paper drives helped with the Troop’s finances. Equipment was in short supply, so the
scouts usually furnished their own. During the school year, they mostly attended Council sponsored events at either Camp Munhacke or Newkirk.
Joe started a high adventure program which took them to Northern Wisconsin National Canoe Base, Philmont, Florida Gateway at Key Largo on a large
sailing vessel, and to Minnesota canoeing on the Boundary Waters. During this time, from 1976 to 1977, Elaine O’Connor took the reins as Committee Chair to be handed off to Verne Collision from 1977 to 1978.
In 1978, Robert Hopp Sr. was invited to go to Summer Camp. The next year
Joe resigned, and Robert became our fourth Scoutmaster. There were about six or seven active Assistant Scoutmasters and active wives at the time and he
felt very fortunate. Committee meetings were not always held monthly, the group just got together when there was a need. Mike Crossey took over as
Committee Chair in 1978 and continued in this position through the next couple of Scoutmasters, finishing up his time in office in 1987. Summer
meetings, during Scoutmaster Hopp’s direction, were held at the Helmer’s home or at the McCombies’ pool on Judd Road. Robert said the Troop had about two paper drives under his
leadership. At the time Troop 416 was parking cars for Margaret Brusher at the Antique Market. At the same time Robert was looking to raise more funds, Margaret was looking to spread around
more jobs to volunteer organizations. Thus began our long working relationship with the Antique Market. Most have pushed a broom or two at the Antique market. The high adventures remained
about the same as before but Robert remembers the trip he took with eight boys to Northern Canada, 180 miles north where the road ends. It was a train trip to the Hudson and James Bay.
Robert says that at summer camp they had a mandatory Wednesday shower or bath in the lake. One year, he found it necessary to talk to the younger boys about personal hygiene which resulted
in a tooth brushing party. Each boy had to get a dab of toothpaste from each boy. About 30 dabs will do you! 
transferred him to Akron, Ohio, in 1983, Dr. Richard Foster became our sixth Scoutmaster. The Troop was small now, and the meetings were moved to Union School. The committee
would meet at Dave Bowbeer’s or Doc’s office. Monthly camping was usually to a place they could hike to from Union School, such as Cub
Keebler’s Camp or some pond on Textile Road and Alber Road. It was during Doc’s Scoutmaster days that Dave Bowbeer found out through Boy’s
Life about Camp Heritage. They only took older boys to Heritage – you had to be at least First Class. They went white water rafting and caving. Canoeing at Chaploo, up by
Lake Superior and camping at a Conservation Proventional Base was also part of the fun. A big rock in the middle of the lake was a favorite canoeing destination. Doc can be credited in
resurrecting the wooden trailer. This trailer had been built and donated to the Troop, but was never easy to pull. In previous years, the Troop felt it was easier to use personal vehicles rather than pull
the trailer. It had up to this time been parked in Dick McMullen’s backyard as a storage place. Doc painted brown over the previous green, put Troop numbers on it and did a few other
improvements. It was the Troop, under Doc Foster, that first used dining flies over the side cooking areas. He claimed he was the envy of other Troops at Camporee.
as Scoutmaster was
Lloyd Gillette from 1987 to 1993. Lloyd had at one time mentioned to someone that someday he would like to be Scoutmaster, not realizing that only
after two months with the Troop, Doc would resign. Bill Woehrle accepted leadership of the Troop, but his work caused him to travel frequently. Lloyd,
along with Herb Helfen, Les Rowe, Bill Mately, Paul Kramer, Gary Jones and Dave Bowbeer kept things humming. In 1987, Lloyd took over. Troop
meetings were at Union School. The Troop was small but growing and the meetings were moved to the Middle School. Most summer meetings were
held at the Delhey’s pool – as they still are today. The Troop camped once a month, mostly at Camp Munhacke. There also were the annual March frozen campouts to Pt.
Pelee. Finances were good, thanks to the Antique Market, pop and popcorn sales for the Kiwanis Club at the Saline Fair, telephone book cover distribution and a variety of other small fundraisers.
More tents and equipment were purchased to equip the growing size of the Troop. The biggest purchase was a Troop trailer especially designed to replace the old wooden one. From 1987 to
1993, the Troop attended summer camp at Wright’s Lake and Heritage Reservation in PA, which included a white water rafting trip for scouts old enough to go. The Troop also made two trips by
train to Philmont in New Mexico. Getting lost or going on the wrong path happened – including going up an unnecessary cliff in the middle of Turkey Creek Canyon. The Venture program was
started, and thus the start of some more adventurous campouts such as snow shoe, hiking Manitou Island and Sleeping Bear Dunes. Because of the growth of the Troop, Committee meetings were
back to monthly meetings, rotating among the member’s homes.
Dave Eberlein, our next Scoutmaster, is an Eagle Scout who worked with
Lloyd Gillette. He was encouraged to join the Troop by Lloyd and for three years, he assisted the second year program and helped start the Venture
program. Under Dave, the monthly campouts included going to Munhacke, Waterloo, Selfridge Air Force Base, and Hayes State Park. Philmont was still
part of the program. Dave started theme campouts like Disaster Weekend, Mystery Weekend and Homeless Campouts. We continued to meet at the Middle School and monthly Committee meetings continued, Dolores Kingston
taking on the position of Committee Chair in 1992 and holding that position until 1999. Dave served the Troop as Scoutmaster until February, 1998, and then moved up to the Council 
level – still serving Scouting. Dolores is still active as well at the
District level as a Unit Commissioner and Assistant District Commissioner. Dolores has been awarded the Silver Beaver and the District Award of Merit.
She completed Wood Badge Training in 1992 along with Lloyd Gillette, Doug Frantom and Mike Rogers. Dolores was very active at the Troop level
attending many campouts. She has very fond memories of white water rafting, two trips to Philmont, bald eagles on the Au Sable and camping on a submarine. 
Bob Kwiecinski became our ninth Scoutmaster – known to all as Kwiz.
The theme campouts continued and Kwiz enjoyed them all. Some of his favorites included the ones already mentioned as well as Winter Event,
Tom Sawyer, Cooking, Western, and the PLC Training. His most famous remembrance was the summer camp in the Adirondacks in 1997. He tells
it this way: “I believe we had 3 Guardian Angels for that one. 1) While on the way to camp 2 motorcyclists stopped us to tell us there was a boat
stranded in the Niagara River and was about to go over the falls. 2) We were able to get the boat near the seawall and the boys, using good scout knots, sent a towline to
the stranded boat, secured the boat until the Sheriff’s rescue boat arrived and saved them. Later we found out the people on the boat were from England and also were Scouters. They sent us a
nice letter several weeks later. The 3rd. Angel was when our place to stay in Niagara Falls had fallen through. I quickly called the Niagara Falls Air National Guard Base nearby and they just
happened to have some tents on Base that were still up from a Base party. They allowed us to stay on the Base that night!” Kwiz has always truly enjoyed scouting. He said that: “I never had much
of a scout life while I was young because our family was very poor and our troop had fallen apart. So as a parent of a scout and as a scouter, I was able to fulfill many of the dreams I wanted to do
as a young boy. Philmont was incredible. Now as I am getting a few gray hairs, I can look back cherish many scouting memories. One of my biggest joys from scouting now is when I run across a
boy who was once a member of Troop 457 and he has matured into young man, and had admitted that scouting has helped in some way. I will always treasure all the scouts and scouters I have been
associated with throughout the years!” 
Dolores Kingston stepped down and Nancy Howard stepped in as Committee
Chair in 1999. Nancy served as Committee Chair from February 1999, until September 2003. As an active participant of meetings as well as campouts, she
has as many camping fond memories as she does other memories of working with “wonderful parents and adult leaders who became my extended family”.
She enjoyed experiencing the birth of Battle Chefs and watching it grow and change, being outdoors more than indoors over a whole weekend and working
with the “fantastic, funny, frustrating, fine boys” of Troop 457. What she doesn’t miss is “setting up tents in the rain on dark, cold Friday nights”. Fond
memories are abundant for Nancy, from getting a black eye while canoeing, to seeing Kwiz in his giant Camo-pouf, to having Cajun pancakes. Nancy was
! busy while an active member of our
Troop earning the Training Award in 2000, Outstanding Unit Leader Award in 2001 and District Award of Merit in 2005, just to name a few. She has also
completed Wood Badge Training and Philmont Advancement Training. When the time came for Nancy to move on to other things at Council, Christine
Barnes took over. Christine held the position for about a year, stepping down to take on her role as a full time Minister in 2004. Christine loves to go to
Summer Camp. Her favorite was Heritage Reservation. She states that is where she really got to know the boys. She is still active in the Troop as a
Merit Badge Counselor and also recently earned the Leadership Training Plan for the Boy Scout Leader’s Training Award. She has also been awarded the Adult Religious Award.
Steve Schneider, our tenth Scoutmaster, joined the Troop in 1990 when his
son, Dennis, crossed over from Webelos. He was “cleverly” encouraged by Lloyd, Scoutmaster at the time, to join as an Assistant Scoutmaster. Since he
had previously been a Webelo leader, it was an easy choice. He remembers a funny story about being recruited after being in the Troop for some time by
Nancy Howard: “I remember after Dennis was done with scouts and had his Eagle rank, I took a short one year break waiting for Andy to cross over and I
wasn’t very active. When Andy crossed over and we attended our first campout with the troop in the fall, Nancy Howard was very busy trying to make sure we would
join. Little did she know that I was already on board, but it was fun to go through the process.” After serving under Lloyd Gillette, David Eberlein, and Bob Kwiecinski he was given his chance to
serve as Scoutmaster. He and his close friend Mike Kime (also an assistant scoutmaster with Troop 457) had decided to share the job. As fate would have it, Mike’s job took him to Indiana,
so with the great support of the Troop and Committee members, he took the job solo in February, 2000. Some of his favorite memories were white water rafting, camping at Pt. Pelee in Canada,
and the many different summer camps he attended – and he stated there is never a dull moment at summer camp. He believes planning was always the key component of our Troop’s success and
the PLC being prepared for each of the meetings made their time productive and fun. He states: “I
have had the privilege of working with some very fine youth in the troop’s PLC. A special thanks to Senior Patrol Leaders Kevin Scheel, John Gates, Andy Schneider and David Rhine for their
planning and leadership because it was their efforts that really made the troop excel. The commitment and dedication of the committee members and the assistant scoutmasters has also been
a great source of strength of this troop. We couldn’t do it without you. At least one parent from each family should definitely get involved on the committee or as a scoutmaster. You will never
regret it. What has been even more important to me than all the memories and friendships, is the opportunity that I have had to have a small hand in your little Webelos becoming fine young men!”
In October of 2003, Steve made the decision to step down as
Scoutmaster. Gary Marquardt had joined Troop 457 in of 2001 and took over as our eleventh and current Scoutmaster in 2003. The program is still very active and varied. We had a group of boys head to
Philmont again in 2004 and another scheduled to go in 2006. In the summer of 2004, three scouts and two adults attended the International Camporee in northern Michigan, hosting some international scouts here
in Saline for a week before heading to camp. We were well represented in 2005 at the National Jamboree in Ft. AP Hill, Virginia with a showing
of nine scouts and two adults attending, one as Assistant Scoutmaster and one as staff. We also had one scout go to Sea Base in 2005. One of Gary’s favorite campouts is the Biking Campout
located at the Ohio/Erie canal trail in the fall when the leaves are starting to change. Battle Chefs is another favorite which is held every spring. The Cooking Campout became a competitive campout
between patrols several years before Gary took over, and it just keeps getting better and better. The meals cooked on this campout will amaze you. But Gary just really just likes hanging out with
the Troop because it really is a great group. Summer camps were at Lost Lake and Cole Canoe Base. Gary puts it this way: “Troop 457 is one of the greatest Troops around. The level of adult
and youth involvement makes it great. We have had the opportunity to experience new places and see and do things we never would have without the Troop. Watching a boy join the Troop and then
a few years later attending the same Scout’s Eagle ceremony is one of the best experiences ever.” 
Jack Cook took over the Committee Chairperson position in 2004. He
headed up an active group of about twelve members. He and his wife, Michelle, were very active den leaders in Cub Scouts and they vowed that
they would take a year off before volunteering in our son’s troop. But within a short period of time he was part of the Troop 457 leadership. Jack states:
“No one was more surprised then I was when I accepted the committee chair position 4 months after Thomas crossed over. I was won over by the adult
leaders concern for the boys and the support that they provided each other and offered me. Thus I accepted the position with little knowledge about what
the job entailed, and confident that with the Troop’s support I could do a
In August of 2007, the Cook’s were transferred to Connecticut and Paul
Chandler took over as Committee Chairperson. Paul is from Australia and moved here in 1987 and has lived in Michigan for essentially the whole time. He was involved in Scouts in Australia from Cubs through Venture.
He joined Pack 420 as a den leader for the Tigers through Webelo's. 
Rick Amori
took over as our present Committee Chair. Rick has experienced scouting from many angles; as a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Den Leader, and Merit Badge counselor; and for the last 3 years, he has been Cubmaster and
Committee Chair for Pack 461. 
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