Boy Scout Leaders to Vote on Anti-Gay Policy; Rainbow Council Focuses on Mission

The decision whether to allow gays in the scouts may soon be a local one depending on the National Board's vote.

One year after reaffirming its stance against gay membership, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) will vote this week on whether to lift the ban, the Chicago Tribune reports. The BSA board is convening at the organization’s headquarters in Texas to discuss the controversial decision, reports say. The board has said it will consider lifting the national restriction against gay membership, instead leaving the call up to local troop leaders. An upcoming vote will determine how the group proceeds, but there’s already plenty of influence on both sides of the fence. On Sunday, President Barack Obama strongly voiced his support for equal access to the organization, regardless of sexual orientation. However, other notable figures such as Texas …

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Filling the Bag for the Scouts-Sponsored Food Drive for New Lenox Pantries

The Scouts in New Lenox are going door-to-door until Nov. 6 to deliver grocery bags that need filling for the three local food pantries. Filled grocery bags are scheduled for pick up Nov. 11.

For two more days, the New Lenox Scouts will be delivering grocery bags they hope will be filled with donated food items. Their aim is to collect enough donations to stock the food pantries for the holidays and beyond. The goal is to collect 50,000 food items. They'll stop back on Nov. 11 to collect the donations of non-perishable food. All items will be delivered to the designated sorting and distribution site. From there, everything is expected to be divided up and delivered to three food pantries in town: About 400 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies and Girl Scouts are participating in the food drive, said Bill Thomson, director of the Scouts' food drive. The Scouts expect to hand out 9,500 bags, which were donated by Central Grocers, Inc…

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Inside the 'Perversion Files' of the Illinois Boy Scouts

Scouts were stripped naked and rubbed with ice cubes, forced to have oral sex with their troop leaders and molested on camping trips. These and other sex crimes are detailed in files the Boy Scouts of America kept secret for decades.

What do an elementary schoolteacher, a voodoo cultist, a shipping clerk and a prison guard have in common? Each has a "perversion file" kept by the Boy Scouts of America in secret records that detail decades of sex abuse allegations. Almost 300 cases involving men and Boy Scout troops throughout Illinois are among the 1,200 secret Boy Scout files released last week by order of the Oregon Supreme Court. In Illinois, the files date to the 1960s and extend through the ensuing five decades. The Boy Scouts of America used these records to prevent blackballed Scout leaders from returning to the organization with other troops. The files are filled with correspondence between the leadership of the Scouts and troop leaders, interviews with Scouts …

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Look Up Boy Scout Leaders Expelled in Illinois

Almost 300 Illinois records are included in the Boy Scouts of America's once-secret "perversion files." Search for your town or troop number.

Patch's searchable database allows you to search by cities in Illinois. Information gathered by the Los Angeles Times shows the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America who were expelled between 1947 and 2005 on suspicions or confirmation of sexual abuse. If a troop is listed, a case file exists. At this time, not all case files are available online. As new documents become available, Patch will update this database.

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Editor's Notebook

Return of the Century: 100-Year-Old Man Recalls Coast-to-Coast Tour of Lincoln Highway

In 1928, Bernard Queneau visited the area at 16 as part of a national safety tour of Lincoln Highway. In 2012, Queneau, now 100, returns to see the mural commemorating that trip.

The first time Bernard Queneau rolled through Frankfort along the Lincoln Highway, he did it as a passenger, sitting on a wood bench in an old REO Speed Wagon, accompanied by three other fellow Eagle Scouts. On his most recent trip to the area, he drove the local stretch of U.S. Route 30 in a Buick sedan outfitted with cushioned seats, air-conditioning and an OnStar navigation system. This time his second wife, Esther, joined him, splitting the driving duties. That last visit was this past week, Thursday, Sept. 6. The first visit, however, was in June of 1928. Bernie, as his wife calls him, was a month away from his 16th birthday. For those who did the quick math in your heads, yes, that does indeed make Queneau 100 years old, which he'll …

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Scouts Honored: Local Troops Pack Village Hall

Boy and Girl Scouts were recognized for recent food drive success.

The Pledge of Allegiance was quite a bit louder during Monday night's Village Board meeting. The pledge, always said before board meetings, was led by a packed room of about 100 local Boy and Girl Scouts and their parents. The scouts in attendance were honored with a "Good Citizens" award for their success during last month's food drive. "The scouts every year make a tremendous effort with the food drive," Mayor Tim Baldermann said. "This year was just phenomenal." The Village Board presented a resolution recognizing the work of the local scouts, which including three Cub Scout troops, five Boy Scout troops and 32 Girl Scouts troops. The scouts distributed nearly 6,600 brown grocery bags to homes and then collected them once filled with …

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