Bob Roling’s Boy Scout Years

← Return to the Roling family story · Browse stories by theme

Christmas gatherings at the Scout Cabin, a patrol camporee, and swimming lessons away from home bring Bob Roling’s Boy Scout years into view. Bob appears in these local newspaper reports as Bobby Roling. The articles follow activities of Ben Franklin Troop 18 under scoutmaster Dr. R. C. Sweeney. Together they preserve small, concrete details of growing up in the troop.

The articles below are arranged by publication date. Each entry links to the original newspaper page on Newspapers.com, where an account or subscription may be required.

September 28, 1944 · An application to join

Application received; entry still ahead. A Salisbury report about the troop’s reorganization includes Bobby Roling among boys whose applications had been received and who were to enter the troop later. His name is not in the separate list of Tenderfoot-badge recipients. This notice marks a reported application, without establishing his admission date or a rank award.

Source: “Salisbury Scout Troop Reorganized,” Moberly Monitor-Index and Moberly Evening Democrat, September 28, 1944, page 6. Read the original troop-reorganization report.

December 22, 1944 · Christmas at the Scout Cabin

Reported after the event. Dr. Sweeney hosted the troop’s Christmas party at the Scout Cabin in City Park on Wednesday evening of the publication week. Games, patrol stunts, ice cream and cake accompanied the exchange of gifts. Bobby Roling and Carol Sue Roling appear in the combined list of Scouts and guests. The list does not identify couples or assign each person a membership role.

Source: “Dr. R. C. Sweeney Entertains Scouts,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, December 22, 1944, page 1. Read the original 1944 Christmas-party article.

April 27, 1945 · Learning first aid

A completed skill requirement. After six weeks of Tuesday-evening instruction by Dr. F. L. Harms, Scouts took first-aid examinations. Bobby Roling is listed among those who passed the second-class first-aid requirements. This was a particular skill requirement; it does not by itself establish that he had completed the whole Second Class rank or received a badge.

Source: “Dr. F. L. Harms Instructs Boy Scouts in First Aid,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, April 27, 1945, page 1. Read the original first-aid report.

May 4, 1945 · Waste-paper collecting and a spring party

Medal qualification reported. Bobby Roling is credited with collecting 1,495 pounds of waste paper and is listed among the Scouts who qualified for the General Eisenhower medal. The notice establishes qualification, rather than confirming that the medal was physically presented.

A separate Scout notice in the same issue reports a party held Friday evening, April 27. Its guest list includes Rita Roling, Raymond Widmer and Ruth Pleyer. It does not identify the occasion as Bob and Bridget’s first date.

Sources: “Scouts Over the Top in Waste Paper Drive” and “Scouts Have a Party on Friday Evening,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, May 4, 1945, page 1. Read the original paper-drive and party notices.

June 8, 1945 · The Wolf Patrol at Moberly

Reported after the event. Bobby Roling is listed in Donald Brummall’s Wolf Patrol at the June 1–3 camporee in Rothwell Park, Moberly. On the patrol projects, Wolf Patrol earned 269 points and Cobra Patrol 290, both above the 225-point threshold for an excellent award. The report says both patrols also met the other necessary points and received their excellent awards before camp ended.

Source: “Local Scouts Attend Scout Camporee,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, June 8, 1945, page 1. Read the original camporee article.

October 12, 1945 · Second-class requirements completed

Completed requirements; ceremony still planned. The troop’s Board of Review reported that Bobby Roling and Ronald Flaspohler had passed their second-class requirements and were approved to receive their badges. A Court of Honor was announced for October 16 at 7:30 p.m. This article establishes the review and approval, but does not confirm that the later presentation took place.

Source: “Board of Review for Boy Scouts,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, October 12, 1945, page 1. Read the original Board of Review notice.

December 21, 1945 · Three gatherings at the cabin

Reported after the events. One article describes three separate occasions: a Thursday dinner, a Sunday open house and a Tuesday Christmas party. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Roling attended the dinner, which the Scouts prepared and served as a learning project. More than a hundred visitors came to the open house, bringing household items for what the paper called the new Scout Cabin in the city park.

Bobby Roling appears in the Christmas-party guest list. The evening included dancing, refreshments and gifts for the girls. Dr. Sweeney gave each Scout a neckerchief in the troop’s new red-and-blue colors. The report does not identify any girl’s gift or pair the people listed as dates.

Source: “Local Boy Scout Troop Entertains With Three Events,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, December 21, 1945, page 1. The Christmas-party guest list continues into the next column. Read the original three-events article.

July 18, 1947 · A week at Maurers Lake

Reported after the trip. Nineteen Scouts returned from a week at Maurers Lake near Excelsior Springs. The trip cost $7.45 per Scout, and the boys shared cooking and cleanup duties. Bobby Roling is named among the campers and among those awarded beginners’ swimming certificates.

The report also names Richard Roling as having passed the 150-foot First Class swimming requirement. That is a swimming qualification, not proof of the full First Class rank. The attendance roster uses “Dick Roling”; the article does not explicitly equate the two name forms.

Source: “Scouts Camp at Excelsior Springs,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, July 18, 1947, page 1. Read the original summer-camp article.

The Christmas-party memory

Bridget’s handwritten memoir recalls her first date with Bob at a Boy Scout Christmas party in the cabin at the city park, where he gave her a gold deer pin. Read Bridget’s recollection in the family story. The year has not been established. Neither the 1944 nor the 1945 article identifies a deer pin or a first date, so neither has yet been matched to that evening. A name’s absence from a newspaper guest list does not prove that the person was absent.

A later adult connection

A separate newspaper report records a later civic connection: Bob receiving Scout Troop and Cub Pack charters at a 1964 Kiwanis meeting. It identifies him as club vice-president, without establishing a Scout-unit office or continuous involvement since childhood.

About these sources and dates

These are contemporary newspaper accounts preserved in copies of the original pages. The short summaries here keep the newspaper’s reported events distinct from family memories and later conclusions. They do not replace troop records, and the newspaper may contain errors.

The section dates are publication dates, which can differ from event dates. The June camporee’s June 1–3 dates, the April 27 spring-party date and the planned October 16 Court of Honor date are printed in their articles. When a newspaper gives only a relative weekday, the summary keeps that wording rather than substituting an inferred numbered date.

Both Christmas accounts refer to a Scout Cabin in the city park. The 1945 description of a new cabin does not establish whether it was the same structure used in 1944, or connect either building to a present-day address. Article links lead to the source provider; full newspaper scans are not republished on this page.

Return to the Roling family story · Sources and how to read them