August 31, 1947

Troop 90 received its charter on August 31, 1947. The Brotherhood of Eden Lutheran Church, located at 4725 Brockton Avenue sponsored the troop. Meetings were held on Thursday evenings at 7:30. There have been a few changes since that time, most notably is the change of our sponsoring Chartering organization - in 1967 that became the Kiwanis Club of Riverside-Arlington, our sponsor that continues to this day.

1947 : Scoutmaster Leonard Wallerstedt

Asst. Scoutmaster
Committee Chairman
Committee Members

Ralph T. Gill
Frank A. Watrons
Lester K. Solber - Chelsey Fritz - Carl W. Lantz

1948 - 1951

No records exist for these years.

1952 : Scoutmaster B. F. Thorson

Asst. Scoutmasters
Committee Chairman
Committee Members
Charter Representative

Frank Watrous - Dale E. Waid
R. G. Dinsmore
Chelsey Fritz - Edgar Elmlund - Lester K. Solberg
V. E. Hemborg

1953 - 1956 : Scoutmaster Frank Watrous

Asst. Scoutmasters
Committee Chairman
Committee Members

Charter Representative

B. F. Thorson - Howard Neff
Chelsey Fritz
Richard G. Dinsmore - Alvin E. Dillman - Lester K. Solberg - H. R. Ekeberg
Alan Mackey - A. Ryder Woods
V. E. Hemborg

October Re-charter

Records show that the Re-charter started changing from an August to an October time frame. We also noticed that Assistant Scoutmasters and Members of Committee were no longer printed on Re-charters.

1957

No records exist

1958 : Scoutmaster Lester K. Solberg

Committee Chairman

Wilmer G. Bengston

1959 - 1961 : Scoutmaster Clarence Carlson

Committee Chairman

W. A. Hemborg

1961 - 1963 : Scoutmaster Clarence Sahlin

Committee Chairman

George Howard

January Re-charter

At this point, the Re-charter period changes once again, this time moving to January.

1964 : Scoutmaster Arnold H. Aasen

Committee Chairman

George J. Heffley

1965 - 1966 : Scoutmaster Clarence E. Sahlin

Committee Chairman

George J. Heffley

Hard Times

The name of the sponsoring organization changed from The Brotherhood of Eden Lutheran Church to Eden Lutheran Churchmen. Meetings were changed to Wednesday evenings at 7:30. The troop had 13 boys registered. 

In 1998 Mr. Sahlin, then 80 years young was still living in Riverside. Many adults knew him as "Swede" instead of Clarence. Mr. Sahlin was still a member of Eden Lutheran Church and re-called that he had seen the Charter Certificate still filed there. This was a great help in finding who the leaders were in the first ten years of Troop 90.Mr. Sahlin remembered two boys reaching the rank of Eagle Scout during his term, Jim Bengston and Tommy Davis, when passing the Eagle Board was much more difficult. In fact, not many boys passed. It was around this time that changes were made to reduce the difficulty of the Eagle Board. Troop 90's famous annual fund raiser was a Chicken Dinner for $1.50. The chicken was roasted and served with mashed potatoes, vegetables and a roll. Mothers of the Troop made pies for dessert. With this fund raiser the boys were able to attend many summer camp outings as well as a special trip to the Long Beach Naval Yard. 

In early 1966, the Troop had fallen on hard times having lost the main boys and family support. Troop 90 folded.

Troop 90 Continues

Mr. Parks was instrumental in starting up a troop at Hawthorne Elementary School on Indiana Avenue between Jackson and Gibbon Streets, where the meetings were held. The then-current District Executive talked them into taking the Troop 90 numbers so that the Troop could "continue on." Twenty-five scouts signed up at the new Troop. The new chartering organization was the Kiwanis Club of Riverside-Arlington, with Executive Officer E. R. "Doc" Burkhart. V. P. 

Strong parent support came from the Tysons. Mr. Parks had two sons in the Troop, Dan and David. Dan Parks made the rank of Eagle Scout with another troop. The Parks family was involved with several Troops here in Riverside.

1967 : Scoutmaster Bill Parks

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Jim Owens
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

1968 - 1970 : Scoutmaster Harley Tyson

Committee Chairman
Committee Members
Charter Representative

Paul Allen
David Doty - William Maruch
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

1971 - 1974 : Scoutmaster Roy Buchanan

Committee Chairman
Committee Members
Charter Representative

William Maruch
Ken Moreland
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

Troop 90 Legends

Mr. Tyson passed away in 1998. His wife Charlene (Ina) shared many stories. They were a very active family in the Troop. Mr. Tyson was also very active as Advisor in the Order of the Arrow. At that time the Troop members were "hard-core" Camp Emerson campers. The Tysons organized many troop outings and district outings at Camp Emerson. 

The Tyson's two sons, Terry and Jimmie, both attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Much of their Scouting life was on display at Mr. Tyson's funeral. In fact, a Troop 90 patch and an OA flap were placed in his pocket.

The Buchanans were still living in Riverside, owning and operating Keepsake Photo on Van Buren. Their son Dan made the rank of Eagle and became an attorney in Riverside.

1975 : Scoutmaster Ken Mooreland

Asst. Scoutmasters
Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Dave Dotty - Mr. Gadboise
Steve Beals
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

1976 - 1986 : Scoutmaster Robert Lovell

Committee Chairman
Committee Members
Charter Representative

Steven Beals
Donald Haase - Dimitry Christy - Charles Pennington
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

Troop 90 gets HIKING

Mr. Lovell was appointed Scoutmaster after about a year of being involved with his son, Tim. Bob and Dianne have two sons, Tim and Michael, both of whom became Eagles. After retiring, Bob and Dianne travelled around the country following their genealogy. Bob has since passed away. 

There were 15 boys in the Troop, which was still meeting at Hawthorne Elementary School. There was not much in the way of adult involvement then, but that was before Chuck Snyder got involved. Both new fathers got adult Scout training and they started HIKING! The Troop grew and more adults got involved. They changed the Committee Meetings to Parents Meetings so that more parents would get involved with the Troop. Mr. Lovell instigated the move from Hawthorne Elementary to the Woodcrest Community Center. 

The Troop continued to grow, as Pack 90, which the Lovells started in March 1979, began to graduate Webelos Scouts.

 Annual trips were: Hidden Springs invitation for new boys (included was a "snipe" hunt); cleaning, clearing and lighting Mt. Rubidoux's trails at Easter; Colorado River canoe trips (dads and boys on the river, all families in camp). Summer camps were at Owls Point (Camp Helendade) or Simonds Flats (Camp Emerson). The Troop was still very supportive of Camp Emerson and always attended all the "Work Weekends."

1986 - 1989 : Scoutmaster Marlin Brandt

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Robert Lovell
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

Top Troop

Mr. Brandt remembered the Troop as being pretty set in their annual outing. The Troop was strong and always won the "Top Troop in Camp" awards at summer camp and at Scout-O-Ramas. Troop 90 attended Camp Tahquitz for the first time winning, of course, Top Troop in Camp. They also went to Needles and canoed through Topock Gorge. Who remembers how to get to Hidden Springs on the back road by the canal?

1990 : Scoutmaster James Sciolla

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

John Wright
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

1990 - 1991 : Scoutmaster Robert Lovell

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

John Wright
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

High Adventure Team

Mr. Lovell served again for a short period. He quickly started guiding Mr. Wright into adult training and leadership roles. A good move as you can see he was our next Scoutmaster! As the boys in the Troop were getting older, Mr. Lovell and Mr. Brian Takenaga started focusing on hiking even more. In the following years, they started the High Adventure Team program. 

The Troop started hiking in the High Sierras as a group event, putting on their own summer camp for many years. They earned many trail awards in "High Adventure." Mr. Takenaga and Mr. Lovell organized an 82-mile hike across the Sierras for three adults and 5 boys (all made Eagle!). They hiked this in 11 days. This was Mr. Lovell's grand finale.

1991 - 1994 : Scoutmaster John Wright

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Salvatore Pitruzello
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

National Scoutmaster

Mr. Wright had great parent support and many of the Troop's adults were also supporting Scouting at the District level. The Troop's annual planning committee planned several events from Mr. Wright's suggestions of water outings. The Troop completed a 50-miler canoe trip down the Colorado River. They went whitewater rafting on the South Fork of the American River and started sailing in the Argus out of Newport. The High Adventure Team was hiking all over the High Sierras, and with all these special outings, the Troop continued its monthly outings to hike Mt. Powell, Mormon Batallion Trail, Dry Lake - San Gorgonio, Tahquitz and attend summer camp at Camp Emerson. 

The Troop received the District's Top Troop Award and Mr. Wright received National Scoutmaster Award of Merit for having such a high percentage of boys attaining Eagle in a year. 

After Mr. Wright's son, Scott, reached Eagle, Mr. Wright was more involved with Order of the Arrow. He served as Chapter Advisor of Mt. Rubidoux for several years.

1994 - 1999 : Scoutmaster James E. Hohl

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Tony Smith
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

1999 - 2001 : Scoutmaster James E. Hohl

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Michael Stong
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

Cherry Valley, Lost Valley, Philmont and more

Mr. Hohl, remembering his Scouting years from an Orange County Troop, wanted to expand the summer camp view for the boys, so the next few years found the boys at Camp Cherry Valley (Catalina Island) for two years, Camp Kern, Lost Valley and of course, Camp Emerson. The Troop made several trips on the Argus sailing ship; the Venture Crew hiked Mt. Whitney with Mr. Strickland and Mr. Ammeraal as leaders. 

A small group attended Philmont Scout Ranch in 1997 and was involved in the rescue efforts when their Amtrak train derailed in Arizona. Another three boys attended the National Jamboree in Virginia. Still demonstrating exceptional parent support and district involvement, Troop 90 again won the "Top Troop" in the District and several adults were awarded District Awards of Merit.

2001 - 2004 : Scoutmaster Michael Stong

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Steve Bradley
E. R. "Doc" Burkhart

Troop 90 Going Strong

Under the leadership of Mr. Stong and Mr. Bradley, the Troop continued to grow. With a roster averaging 50 or so Scouts and nearly as many registered adults, time came for a new meeting location. Pathway Christian Church on Victoria Avenue agreed to let us use their facilities. It was also at this time the Troop started meeting before and after campouts at the Woodcrest Del Taco. 

Typical outings included Hole-in-the-Wall, Calico Ghost Town, Joshua Tree, Cabrillo Beach, Death Valley, Dark Canyon, Edwards AFB, Camp Pendelton, Cedar Springs and Lost Valley. The Troop fielded a couple of expeditions to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. 

Our annual fund raiser of selling popcorn allowed the Troop to purchase and equip a Troop trailer that accompanies us on most of our car camping trips. 2004 saw the last of the "Gift Wrap Booth" at the mall - a Christmas event that had the Troop and Pack helping our sponsoring organization raise funds.

2004 - Present : Scoutmaster Michael Burk

Committee Chairman
Charter Representative

Ken Campbell
Michael Stong

Live the Legend

The Troop continues to thrive with annual registrations averaging 50+ Scouts and a similar number of adults - further proof that involvement by adults is good for the youth! Troop 90 also got Venture Crew 90 started as a coed program for older Scouts. Biennial expeditions to Philmont continue. Cherry Valley, Camp Whitsett and Lost Valley were summer camp destinations, as was backpacking in the Grand Canyon and Machu Picchu in Peru. Afton Canyon, Webelos Woods, Mt. San Jacinto, Hidden Springs, Whitewater, Lake Hemet, Joshua Tree, the USS Midway and Camp Tahquitz were also outings on the Troop's busy calendar.

The Troop also led a Nomadic lifestyle for a while as our meeting places changed from Pathway Christian Church to JFK Elementary School to Mountain View Elementary School, finally ending up at East Hills Community Church.