Scouting, Volume 44, Number 6, July-August 1956 Page: 2
24 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Cnuel
Changes
Hands
The ceremony of passing the gavel. Left to
right—Mr. Bechtel, Mr. Schiff, Dr. Schuck.
OUR RETIRING PRESIDENT
John M. Schiff, partner in the New York banking firm
of Kuhn, Loeb and Company, and a veteran leader in
the Boy Scouts, has been President of the National
Council of the Boy Scouts of America since May, 1951.
Mr. Schiff entered Scouting in 1930 when he became
a member of the Nassau County Council whose head-
quarters are at Mineola, New York. From 1930 to 1946
he was vice president of that council and is now one of
their representatives to the National Council. From 1946
to 1951 he was chairman of the executive committee of
Region II, comprising New York and New Jersey, and
he has served on the National Executive Board since
1933. In 1946 he was elected a vice president of the
National Council. He was awarded the Silver Buffalo
for distinguished service to boyhood in 1943.
The five years during which Mr. Schiff has served as
our president have been marked by major achievements
in our program. The Three-Year Program, begun in
1952, stimulated advances all along the line. Grand
total membership has jumped from 2,795,222 to 4,179,-
852, a gain of 49 per cent. The Get-Out-the-Vote cam-
paign was a major National Good Turn with important
citizenship training values. Services in flood and dis-
aster areas in many parts of the nation emphasized the
practical values of Scout training. The Third National
Jamboree centered the attention of the nation on Scout-
ing and its importance. The National Conservation Good
Turn proved to be both a tremendous practical conserva-
tion effort and a significant achievement in conservation
education. The building of our national headquarters in-
creased our effective service to America's boys.
Having completed the Three-Year Program with
tremendous gains in every phase of Scouting we em-
barked on our "Onward for God and My Country"
emphasis, with careful plans for continued steady
progress.
In a letter to Mr. Schiff, President Eisenhower said,
"As you retire as President of the National Council of
the Boy Scouts of America, I congratulate you on the
splendid record made during your five-year term in
office. Your untiring efforts, your investment of time,
and your devoted leadership have been significant con-
tributions in the service of the youth of our country.
"Under your leadership the Scouting program has
influenced the lives of many millions of boys. The pro-
gram has been enriched. Scouting has gone forward.
"As Honorary President of the Boy Scouts of America,
I am happy to join with those attending the Forty-Sixth
Annual Meeting of the National Council of the Boy
Scouts of America, in congratulating you on your ad-
ministration's accomplishments."
OUR NEW PRESIDENT
Kenneth K. Bechtel of San Francisco, California, is
a Western businessman whose broad knowledge of Scout-
ing is derived from long service in local council,
regional, and national positions of leadership.
He was a Boy Scout in Oakland, California, in 1917.
As a Scouter he has served as president of Marin Council,
San Rafael, California (1942-44), and president of San
Francisco Council (1953-55). In 1944 he became a mem-
ber of the executive committee of Region XII and served
as regional chairman in 1946, 1947, and 1948.
In 1947 Mr. Bechtel was elected to the National Execu-
tive Board of the Boy Scouts of America and in 1948
became a vice president. In recent years he has served on
the following national committees: Executive Commit
tee; subcommittee of the Executive Committee; Finance
Phillips Properties; Awards for Distinguished Serv
ice; Welfare, Retirement, and Insurance; Supply Service
Program, of which he was chairman in 1949 and 1950
and Field Operations, of which he has been chairman
since 1953. Mr. Bechtel has been awarded the Silver
Beaver, the Silver Antelope, and the Silver Buffalo.
Our new president comes to this responsibility with
the highest qualifications in both personal ability and
Scouting background. His acceptance speech, quoted
elsewhere, reflects his optimism for the future.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 44, Number 6, July-August 1956, periodical, July 1956; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth329247/m1/4/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.