Short Hills Scouting Troop Honor Scoutmaster’s Memory

MILLBURN, NJ - Scouting BSA Troop 17 of Short Hills paid a lasting tribute to departed Scoutmaster Ken Fineran when they dedicated a new campground sign in his memory.

The construction and installation of the permanent sign, at Camp Turrell in Cuddebackville, New York, was financed by the Troop and its donors. The camp, which sits in the green foothills of the Catskill mountains and is part of the 950-acre Dow Drukker Scouting Reservation, is a popular summer camp destination for scout troops.

“Camp Turrell always had a special place in Mr. Fineran’s heart, and countless Troop 17 scouts have extraordinary memories of summers spent at the camp,” Assistant Scoutmaster Jeff Davis of Troop 17, who played a leadership role in the sign’s design and fabrication. “We are grateful to everyone who played a part in seeing this project to fruition.”

Fineran, a lifetime scout leader and community volunteer who earned nearly every possible scouting honor and accolade, served as Troop 17’s Scoutmaster for 36 years. Since his death in 2016, Troop 17 and its new sister troop, Troop 19, both sponsored by St. Rose of Lima Church, have worked hard to honor Fineran’s legacy.

Last year, Troop 17’s members made headlines when they spearheaded the re-naming of a section of Canoe Brook Road, near the Mall at Short Hills, to Fineran Way.

The dedication ceremony was attended by members and leadership of Troop 17 and Troop 19, including Troop 17 Scoutmaster Kevin Radics and Troop 19 Scoutmaster Dan Cannon; scouting executives from the Lenape Trails District and Northern New Jersey Council; Camp Turrell staff; and Fineran’s widow, Marie Fineran, and members of her family. The event included prepared remarks by Troop 17 Junior Assistant Scoutmaster Jamie Serruto; Troop 17 Senior Patrol Leader Ryan Cannon; and Troop 17 alumnus Hunter McIntosh representing the Order of the Arrow, a scouting honor society of which Fineran was a distinguished member. All three earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Also speaking at the event were Northern New Jersey Council CEO and Scout Executive Rebecca Fields, and Troop 17 Committee Chairman Jim McKenna, a lifelong friend of Fineran’s who earned the Eagle rank under his tutelage. Bridget and Morgan Lomax of Troop 19, a newly established Scouting BSA troop for girls, rounded out the ceremony with an a capella rendition of the national anthem.

“We are grateful to Troop 17 and Troop 19 for this donation, and for their leadership efforts in honoring a man who made such a lasting positive impact on scouting,” said Fields. “For decades to come, this sign will welcome scouts and scouters to Camp Turrell, and remind them of Ken Fineran’s enduring legacy.”

The sign greets campers and visitors as they drive up the winding road to the camp entrance. Mounted between wood beams and topped by the Scouting BSA logo, it is adorned with imagery of campers canoeing, ziplining, and bicycling along wooded trails. Affixed beside the sign is a bronze plaque featuring an engraved likeness of the late Scoutmaster. The plaque, designed by Troop 17 First Class Scout Kevin Middleton, is based on a patch he created in Fineran’s memory. The patch has become a permanent fixture on the Troop’s uniform. A QR code engraved beneath the plaque directs smartphone users to a Troop 17 website featuring information about Fineran and his legacy.

Following the dedication ceremony, attendees enjoyed lunch and conversation in the camp’s dining hall.

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