District History and Annual Reports

Prior to 1980, most of Wake County was one Occoneechee Council Scouting District, which was named the Baden Powell District. Baden Powell was the British Army Officer that started Scouting in England.

In late 1980 the Occoneechee Council decided that, due to the continuing growth in Scouting in Wake County, that the Baden Powell District would be split into 3 new Districts.

On January 1, 1981 the Baden Powell District was split into the Dan Beard, Impeesa and Sequoyah Districts.

The Dan Beard District started with 26 Cub Packs, 22 Boy Scout Troops and 4 Explorer Posts for a total of 52 units. Our District Chairman in 1981 was Harold Ritter, a local Scouter who would later become the mayor of Cary. After 23 years, we had had 14 District Chairmen and Susan Long, the 2003 District Chairlady, was the first woman to hold the position of Dan Beard District Chairperson. Our District had been served by 3 Occoneechee Council Scouting Executives and we had 8 professional Scouters serve as our District Executive.

We awarded 726 Eagle Ranks from 1981 to 2003, which was a very high percentage of Eagles for our Scouting population. We had 1 or 2 Boy Scout Camporees every year since 1981, several Skill-O-Rees and in recent years we have started having a Cub Family Campout weekend every year. Many thousands of Scouts and Scouters have enjoyed the excitement, programs and companionship of those camping events.

Since the annual Boy Scout Popcorn Sale started in 1985 we have sold more popcorn than any of the districts in our Council for 17 out of the 19 years the sale has been held. We have sold more than $2,800,000 worth of popcorn which has netted our Council almost $1,000,000.

We have been a Quality District for many of the 23 years we have existed. We have continually had a higher growth rate and total Scouting population than most of the Council's districts and we have had a higher ratio of Adult Scouters in our district than in most of the other districts.

Since 1988, thousands of our Scouts have collected more than 73 tons of food during our annual Scouting for Food "good turn" drives.

Since 1981, we have collected more than $1,000,000 in donations to our Council during our annual Friends of Scouting Finance Campaigns.

Our District, combined with the Impeesa and Sequoyah Districts have trained thousands of adult leaders in the basics of Scouting and other Scouting related subjects.

At our Annual Recognition Events, we have awarded 71 District Awards of Merit and 590 Distinguished Leadership Citations to deserving adult Scouters in our District. We have also recognized more than 1,100 Religious Awards that have been awarded to our Cubs and Scouts by our District's religious organizations.

Thirty-three Scouters in our Dan Beard District have received the Silver Beaver Award since 1981 and we have inducted thousands of our Scouts and Scouters into the Order of the Arrow.

Thanks to the many Scouters and Scouts who have spent untold hours of dedicated service to our Scouting units, the Dan Beard District was ready to leave the Scouting scene as a super-active and super-performing District of the Occoneechee Council.

By late 2003, the Dan Beard District had 97 units, comprised of 36 Cub Packs, 36 Boy Scout Troops, 6 Varsity Teams and 19 Venture Crews. The Finance Campaign goal in 1981 was about $15,000 and we collected about $16,000; our Finance Campaign goal in 2003 was $84,000 and we collected more than $120,000.

After 23 years, in mid-2003, the Occoneechee Council decided that another district re-alignment was necessary, again due to the growth in Scouting units in all of the Scouting Districts, especially in the Dan Beard, Impeesa and Sequoyah Districts.

On January 1, 2004 the 3 districts were split into 5 districts. The Dan Beard District was split into 2 districts, the Crosswinds District, basically the units in the area West of US Highway #1, and the Hemlock District, basically the area East of US Highway #1.

That put most units in the Apex, Cary, Morrisville areas in the Crosswinds District and the units in the Fuquay-Varina, Garner and Holly Springs areas in the Hemlock District.

Portions of the old Impeesa District went into both the new Baden Powell District and the new Falls District.

Portions of the Sequoyah District went into the new Neuse River District and the Falls District.

That is the status of the Crosswinds District in 2004.

Here is a challenge to the new Hemlock and Crosswinds Districts; we expect that you will carry on the excellence of the Dan Beard District in your new districts. If you do your jobs well, in 23 more years your districts will have been split into even more districts. The challenge is to keep Scouting alive and vibrant in the areas currently served by your Districts. Good Luck!