The Post
The Post began as an extension of the Scout Troop and became a repository of older Scouts who needed a more challenging and mature program to maintain their interest. In the earliest years of its existence, Exploring was "Senior Scouting" in its truest meaning. Post 52, and Post 21 in the 1950s, held then, as it does now, this interpretation of Exploring. This interpretation, from its very earliest days, manifested itself in an emphasis on Camping and High Adventure, active participation in the Order of the Arrow, and service on the various Summer Camp Staffs of the Fort Worth Area, later Longhorn, Council. These activities, however, were simply byproducts of the Post's overriding intent to prepare its members to be good leaders and solid citizens as they prepared to enter the world of adulthood. How was this accomplished? Simple - Boy Leadership!
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Boy Scouts of America, in an effort to broaden its membership base, redefined Exploring and divided it into "Career Awareness" units that were typically sponsored by a business unit or social service to which the post's interests were aligned. There were Law Enforcement posts, and Emergency Services posts, and more Law Enforcement posts, High Adventure posts and even more Law Enforcement posts. Many Explorers never owned Scout uniforms and were only vaguely, if at all, aware that they were affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America. Though officially labeled a "High Adventure" post during this era, Post 52 remained, in practice, a more traditional Explorer Post, with continued emphasis on its core interests: Camping, High Adventure, Order of the Arrow, and Summer Camp Staff. We continued to believe that it was important to offer a well-rounded Scouting program for older boys. And we continued to believe in the premise of Boy Leadership.
By the mid to late 1990s, the Boy Scouts of America again saw fit to redefine Exploring, further distinguishing this type of unit from "Traditional Scouting". We were then saddled with the moniker, Venture Crew 52, which is how we are currently chartered. Venture Scouting is the BSA's acknowledgement that there is a need for traditional Scouting for older boys - something we've known all along! We still call ourselves Post 52 - just like we still wear the complete Scout uniform, continue Camping, actively participating in the Order of the Arrow, and working on Summer Camp Staff. And we still think that there's a place for Scouting for older boys. And we're glad that the BSA does too. Heck, in another decade or so they might even call us Explorers again!
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