Members of Battle Creek's first chartered Boy Scout troop assemble on West Michigan Avenue in about 1912. Charles C. Thoma, the scoutmaster, is standing before the scouts. Battle Creek's foray into what was known as "the Boy Scout movement" began in 1910 when several community leaders — among them Thomas C. Morgan, a future state legislator, and George J. Genebach — organized the original troop, which met in the basement of First Congregational Church. Morgan, who provided the photograph, recalled the troop's early days in the Feb. 17, 1946, edition of the Enquirer and News. "We took them out to St. Mary's lake for two weeks," he said. "Of course, the camp was right out in the open, and often boys too young to become scouts would prowl around the tents, looking the place over. We sent scouts out to try to capture them, but they were always too nimble and we never succeeded."