By late 1909 there was talk about Baden-Powell's new movement for boys and in January of 1910 the first units of the Boy Scouts of America were formed. In this very first group was a Troop from Riverdale, Troop 2. Troop 2 was organized by William Balfour and Dr. Bayard Dodge, who also established the Henry Street Troop that is usually considered the first in NYC. This was the beginning of a long loose association between the Troop and the Dodge family. The Troop often swam off the Dodge's pier on the Hudson, and Cleveland Dodge is said to have frequently taken Scouts for rides on his yacht.

Mr. Balbour served as the first Scoutmaster, and the Troop flourished with 10 to 20 Scouts from 1910 until the US entry into WWI in 1917. In fact, there is a picture of the Scouts of Troop 2 in the 1911 Scout Handbook. Initial meetings were held in a stone barn on 252nd St, then at the Riverdale Library Association and Riverdale Presbyterian Church. Hiking and camping trips were just a 5-cent ferry ride across the Hudson from Yonkers in the new Palisades Interstate Park. The Troop had its own band then, which often lead the way to the river-front. George Keiser remembered Scouts from the Troop going to the original Madison Square Garden in 1910 to hear Lord Baden-Powell himself speak about the Scouting movement. But by 1917 the original scout aged out and went to college or to the military, and with the pressure of WWI, Troop 2 ceased operations.

After the war, in 1920, the former Scoutmaster of Troop 2 looked to restart the Troop and he recruited Bradford Boardman to be Scoutmaster. When the new Troop was chartered by then Scout Executive William Stump it was given the designation of Troop 240. No one is quite sure why Troop 2 wasn't used again, or why 240 was. Some believe it was because the Troop met on 240th Street at the time. However, recollections of the folks who were Scouts at the time had the Troop meetings held at the old Neighborhood House, formerly Jumbo's Tavern, located on Riverdale Avenue and 254th Street. The Troop was sponsored by a "group of concerned citizens", which was an alliance of the Riverdale Neighborhood and Library Association, the Riverdale Presbyterian Church, and other interested members of the community.

By 1923, the new Troop 240 had also lapsed, but a new Scoutmaster, Gilbert Harris, recharged the unit with renewed enthusiasm. The Troop continued to operate successfully through the twenties and the depression thirties, although little is now known about its program. In 1929 Herbert Murphy became Troop 240's first Eagle Scout, followed by James and Erik Hansell later in the year. Mr. Murphy would return to the Troop in the 1960s as a leader.

But as World War II began, the Troop and all of Scouting in the Northwest Bronx were in danger of closing down because so many adult leaders were actively involved in the war. To insure the continuation of the program, Dr. Duff of Riverdale Presbyterian Church and Fr. Bary of Christ Church impressed upon the men's clubs of their churches the importance of the Scouting movement. The plea was successful, with Riverdale Presbyterian Church undertaking full and sole sponsorship of Troop 240 and Christ Church sponsoring a spin-off, Troop 40. After a short interim period, Leon Bischoff took over as Scoutmaster in 1943 and began the solid run of program and success that is the hallmark of Troop 240 to this day. Also during this time, Winfield Moles received the Silver Beaver in 1957. Mr. Moles was the long-time institutional representative for the Troop, and served an Scoutmaster in the late 40s - early 50s.

For Troop 240, as for most of Scouting, the late 1950s through the 1960s were times of great program and growth. Besides Troop 240, Riverdale Presbyterian Church also sponsored Explorer Post 240 and Cub Packs 240 and 340. The Troop routinely had over 60 Scouts and provided many staff members to TMR. One of the great characters of Troop history during this period was Assistant Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster Jack Tobin. Besides being a Troop leader for a decade and a half, Jack was an Eagle Scout (1959), Lodge Chief of Ranachqua Lodge from 1959-1960, and received the Silver Beaver Award in 1969. Speaking of 1959-1960, Bill Tauber was Scoutmaster then, making him the oldest SM still active with the Troop.

One other major character to come out of the 1960s was Jay Schnapp. Inducted into Troop 240 in 1960 as a Webelos from Pack 240, Jay went on to be an Eagle Scout (1964) and Lodge Chief of Ranachqua Lodge from 1968-69. Jay was the Scoutmaster of Troop 240 from 1973-75 and still a registered ASM. Jay has won the OA National Distinguished Service Award, and is the advisor of the OA Lodge in Boston where he now lives. He is a major fund-raiser for the Ranachqua Foundation, received the Silver Beaver in 1977, and sits on various national level Scouting committees. From 1959 to 1974, Troop 240 had 26 Eagle Scouts.

In 1975 began a new era - Fred Jarecki became Scoutmaster, a post he held for 16 years, with another 2 as co-Scoutmaster. To our knowledge, that is the longest period anyone served as the Scoutmaster of the Troop, and 240's service award is named in his memory. Fred had received the Silver Beaver Award from Bronx Council in 1973. Many individuals still active with the Troop served as Scoutmaster during the late 80s and 90s - Jim Dell, Ed Hitchcock, Fred Gervat, and Steven Stratford. In the 24 years from 1975 to 1998, Troop 240 had 52 Eagle Scouts.

Which brings us to the most recent chapter of our history. In 1999, Joseph Acquafredda took the reins as Scoutmaster. Besides being SM, Joe has served as a Wood Badge instructor and has been active in Ranachqua Lodge as a committee advisor, and was a member of the District Committee. In 2004, both Joe and Jim Dell were recipients of the Silver Beaver Award, joining Ed Lehman (1975), Jay Schnapp (1977), and Fred Gervat (1981) as active Beavers in the Troop. Joe will be the Director of GNYC's National Youth Leader Training in 2005. During the last five years, the Troop has gone on countless overnights as well as special activities and excursions, and regularly attends summer camp at Camp Aquehonga at Ten Mile River. During this period, Troop 240 has seen 22 Eagle Scouts, 2 awards for heroism (Alex Beltran and Tom Gervat), has gone to Space Camp (three times), Florida Sea Base, and had its own Philmont Trek.

With the helpful support and visionary insights of Scoutmaster Joe Acquafredda, and Troop Committee, former T240 Scoutmaster and ASM Steven Stratford (1998-2001) brought the Troop into the 21st Century with the Troop's first Web Site. Core elements first built by Steven would eventually catapult the Site into one of the largest of any unit found in the Greater New York Councils.

Eagle Scout Gerald Onyango was a T240 Webmaster for only 2 months, but his contribution was monumental: he was the first to create an on-line, interactive Message Board. Although continually improved by all subsequent Webmasters, this bulletin board is considered by many to be the key component of this Troop Web Site.

Aided by the encyclopedic knowledge of ASM/Eagle Coach Jim Dell, Troop 240's third Webmaster, John Tegtmeier (2000-2004), massively expanded the Site to become a one-stop source for all things relating to Scouting. John's mastery of knowing about Indian lure, local geographical areas, Scouting, and the OA, transformed the Troop Web Site into a favorite destination for not only the T240 family, but for global travelers interested in Scouting-in-America.

With over 25 years of professional experience, the fourth Webmaster ASM/Photographer Al Willen (2002-2008), made the entire Site more "consistently seamless," hacker-proof, and user-friendly. He also integrated new technologies, a dynamic real-time Calendar system, and robust event-driven Photo Galleries. All programming, every web page, and every graphic in the Troop's Web Site was updated by Al in an effort to make it more pertinent to the Troop 240 family.

The Troop's Web Site was also supported by the following people: Ellen Beltran, Bill Tauber, Mike Heller, Nancy Rodriguez, Cynthia Nieves, Eva & Andy Stratford, Eileen & Rick Zeidler, artist Emily Willen, Mary Ellen Willen (Web Site Coordinator) ... Troop Scribes Sean B., James N., and Adam W. ... and Al Willen's very special "Web Guys" Eagle Scout Matthew Aronberg, Eagle Scout Justin A., Nicholas B., Patrick B., and Eagle Scout Jimmy Willen (who served as the Web Site's Tech/Hardware/Systems Manager).

The Troop has photos on-line for many of the recent events, as well as some historical items. Check out the Troop's Photo Gallery. We also have a listing of all the Scoutmasters, as far as we've been able to determine, for Troop 2 and Troop 240.

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Last Updated: 08/01/08
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