Louisa resident Harry Quarles has been involved with scouting for 40 years. A former Boy Scout himself, his adult scouting journey started in 1986 as a Cub Scout den leader. His role quickly expanded as Scoutmaster of Troop 3 from 1993 to 2019 in Louisa where he guided 28 young men to the pinnacle achievement of Eagle Scout as an Eagle Scout Coordinator.

Boy Scouts have been a part of Louisa County since the early years of Boy Scouts of America (BSA) The first record of a Boy Scout Troop in Louisa was in 1929, just 19 years after BSA was incorporated in the United States. The group, sponsored by Louisa County High School, started out as Troop 1 and met in the basement of the Boxley home. In 1949, the Louisa Rotary Club recharted the inactive Troop 1 (due to World War II) as Troop 3.

Recently, Quarles, alongside his wife Blanche, have been gathering information on the history of scouting in Louisa by going through The Central Virginian (TCV) archives at the Louisa Historical Society (LHS).

The duo began their effort on March 19, starting with TCV editions from 1953, and documenting newspaper articles and pictures with the goal to put a book together. They visit the historical society two to three times a week and spend roughly four hours meticulously going through the old newspapers to find examples of scout history.

“The ones that stand out the most and bring a smile to my face are when I’m a part of a young man earning the rank of Eagle Scout,” Quarles said. “It takes years, and it’s not something that comes about in a few months or a few weeks to develop…one year, I had a scout ask ‘how much do you get paid?’ I said, ‘well, I get paid when you earn your Eagle.’” Quarles said they have documented around 150 citations of scouting in TCV newspapers, from things such as summer camp activities to Eagle Scout ceremonies. He anticipates there being “well over” 200 citations by the time they are done.

“It’s quite an undertaking, but it’s interesting too…I run into an article that’s not scout related and I stop and read a little bit about it,” Quarles said with a laugh.

As of May 1, the duo has already covered 40 years of scout history and is up to 1999.

One of the greatest scout memories Quarles had was being able to participate in it with his son, Harry Quarles, Jr.

“Being able to go through [scouting] with my son — we had planned activities almost every weekend of the month,” Quarles said. “It was us and the entire troop and we had an awesome time.”

Harry and Blanche document their findings with a sticky note; then, Margie Garr, a parttime archivist and digitization specialist with LHS, photographs it and emails it to them.

“It’s a lot of manpower as the Quarles will tell you [to go through 70 years of the archives],” Katelyn Coughlan, the Executive Director of LHS, said. “They get the copy of the article, but we now have that page chronicled. It’s already adding to that amount of pages that need to be digitized for the community.”

A future goal is to have more of TCV archives accessible for the general public, Coughlan said.

“When the Quarles came in, we didn’t have much as far as the scouts go that was documented — a couple of pamphlets here and there, information about them coming out of the rotary club. That was it,” Coughlan said. “This will be a nice little packet for future generations.”

For a long time, Quarles always knew he wanted to do an Eagle Scout reunion, to bring together those who have the shared experience of scouting in Louisa County. A committee was started in 2019 to gather interest, but was disbanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the initiative started back up. Their goal is to have documentation of their work present at an Eagle Scout Reunion later this month.

The Eagle Scout Reunion will be held on Saturday, May 30 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Bowood Barn Event Space located at 500 Tisdale Road. Dress will be business casual and Class A uniforms are welcomed. The keynote speaker will be Keith Roots, who currently serves as Senior Associate Vice President of Scholarships, Endowments, and Gift Planning at Christopher Newport University. Roots is a former Camp Director for the Virginia Headwaters Council and an Eagle Scout from Troop 184 in Louisa.

“It’s an honor to have Mr. Keith Roots as our keynote speaker. He has been a supporter of scouting for many years,” Quarles said.

While Quarles stepped away from his position as scoutmaster in 2019, he has stayed registered as a counselor for camping merit badges and still helps with coordination for scouts earning their Eagle recognition. Quarles thanks the public, the scouting community, the committee chairs, and everyone who has supported scouting in Louisa over the years.

If you have questions about the reunion, contact Quarles at hlbdquarles@gmail.com or by phone at 434-566-1592 or email Eagle ScoutReunionCommittee@bsatroop3.com.