Boy Scouts compiling scrapbook

      A local Boy Scout troop is asking valley residents for help in finding its roots. Boy Scouts of America Troop 96 will celebrate its 35th birthday with a reunion from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at an area meeting hall, 1400 W. Charleston Blvd. As part of the celebration, a scrapbook is being compiled of the troop's history.
      Troop 96 is one of the oldest in the Boulder Dam Area Council. The council is one of the largest in the country with 259 troops and 25,165 members throughout Nevada, California and Arizona.
      "We're pretty proud of the fact that we're still here," said committee chairwoman Donna Woodward.
      In the past three decades membership has ranged from three to 30 boys, ages 13 to 18. In 1989, the troop's membership fell to its lowest after most of the boys graduated from high school.
      Its first meetings were held at Vegas Verdes Elementary School. After two decades the troop relocated to Decker Elementary School, where it conducted meetings for another 10 years. Currently, the troop meets at 7 p.m. every Tuesday at Dondero Elementary School, 4450 S. Ridgeville St.
      Scout organizers don't know the size of the original troop and are looking for more information about those early days. Woodward has helped manage the troop for 11 years and has recorded its history in the past decade in a scrapbook.
      The current group of 21 Boy Scouts hope to complete the book with old photographs of summer camps, former Scouts, Eagle projects and other snippets of their legacy. The troop is searching for the original Scout Master Bob Clemencen or his son Craig Clemencen, who was an original Scout.
      Anyone who participated in the early days of Troop 96 and would like to attend the reunion and share the troop's history should call Woodward at 873-3602 or assistant Scout Master Joe Eckhart at 364-1176.
      "The reunion is important so Scouts can learn how old their troop is and the changes that have taken place," Eckhart said.
      The 18-year-old, like many of the troop graduates, has returned to help coordinate Scout activities.
      Eckhart, who was a Scout in the troop for 12 years, received his Eagle badge last year for his landscaping project at the Good Samaritan Lutheran Church. He hopes to help other Scouts earn their Eagle badges, the highest award a Scout can receive.