Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Scouting in Vernon B.C. started in the fall of 1913 when Mr. Geoffrey Kearne of the Anglican Church and Mr. Guy Bagnall of the Methodist Church decided to run their boys’ clubs along scouting lines. The First Vernon Boy Scout Troop was registered in 1914 and the first camp was held that summer at the head of Okanagan Lake. During the First World War, the patrol leaders kept scouting active when their leaders went overseas. At the end of the war, Charles White took over as acting Scoutmaster. By 1920, C.W. Morrow had taken over as Scoutmaster. From 1921 to the late 1950’s, Otter Bay (later known as Ellison Park) was used for the scouts’ summer camp. After meeting in various halls in Vernon, the scouts built their own hall in 1926, with many community organizations banding together to fundraise. After being used by the Boy Scouts and other organizations as a theatre, gymnasium, and meeting hall, the Scout Hall was finally demolished in 1972. The Boy Scouts, however, are still in existence in Vernon.