About Us

Troop 581 History

Troop 581 was started in 1985. Larry Schmidlin was the first Scout Master; his Assistant Scoutmaster was Ken Armitage. They started with seven boys, whose troop name was the Ivory Staggs. The first meeting was held at the Banks High School. The Troop has grown since then both in the number of boys and the number of involved adults.

Bob Derbyshire, the current Committee Chair, was the Scout Master from 2002 to early 2007; he was instrumental in shaping the current  direction and focus of the troop. John Kinsky, the current Scoutmaster, is committed to continuing the tradition of high-adventure and advancement-related activities that Bob started.

John has several Assistant Scoutmasters, an active Committee, and involved parents to help with all aspects of helping the boys advance in scouting and have a lot of fun doing it.

The troop is committed to making Banks, Vernonia, and Buxton better places to live. We regularly partner with Cub Scout Pack 581 and Venture Crew 581 for food and clothes drives and community service projects.

Come be a part of our history.

We are adding the history little by little. If you know anything about the history of our troop, please contact us.