The Cornhusker Council operates in 16 counties in southeast Nebraska and has been in continuous existence since 1917. As an operating Council within Scouting America, it follows the mission to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. Scouting America will prepare every eligible youth to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader.
The Council facilitates the Scouting program to Cub Scouts, boys' and girls' grades K-5; Scouts BSA to girls and boys ages 11 to 17; and Venturing and Sea Scouts to boys and girls ages 14 to 20.
The primary facilities are the Outdoor Education Center, located at 800 S. 120th Street in Walton, NE and Camp Cornhusker, located at 63375 703 Trail in Du Bois, NE
HISTORY
After a false start or two, The Cornhusker Council’s lineage started in 1917 in Lincoln, NE. By 1930, the Lincoln Area Council was renamed the Cornhusker Area Council, and by 1932 it had jurisdiction over Scouting in fifty-five Nebraska counties covering some 39,000 square miles, spanning from Falls City (Richardson County) in the southeast to Hyannis (Grant County) in the northwest. The council was in a strong position in 1940s.
Having a geographical area of 55 counties created enormous challenges for the professional staff. The condition of roads, economic problems, wartime restrictions in the 1940s, and poor communications of the day exacerbated those challenges.
Scouting in the Cornhusker Council continued to grow in the post WWII-era. By 1952, it was apparent that the staff was spending almost as much time driving, as they did working, for the Scouts and that Scouting would be better served by smaller Councils. So, at the urging of the Regional Scout Office, discussions started about forming three smaller Councils. By 1954, the western two thirds of Cornhusker Council petitioned for their own Councils and on August 15, 1954 the Tri Trails Council, with its headquarters in North Platte, and the Overland Trails Council with its headquarters in Grand Island came into being; thus, leaving Cornhusker Council with 16 counties in southeastern Nebraska.
Those counties are Butler, Cass, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee, Polk, Richardson, Saline, Seward, Thayer, and York.
ORGANIZATION
The Council is separated into four districts:
· Seven Feathers
· Salt Valley
· Prairie Winds
· Impact/Scoutreach
PROPERTIES
Outdoor Education Center the headquarters building is located near Walton NE. Consisting of 6,000 sq ft, sitting on approximately 80 acres. The building houses the Council Scout Shop, meeting rooms, and offices for the staff. A former one-room schoolhouse is also on the property and serves as the Council’s Scouting Museum as well as providing additional meeting spaces. The adjoining acres are used for overnight camping and many outdoor activities including Woodbadge training.
Camp Cornhusker, located in Richardson County, consists of approximately 400 acres. It has many permanent structures including a dining hall, swimming pool, target ranges, OA facilities, headquarters, COPE Course, Korff activity building for instruction and equipped with a tornado shelter, staff cabins, etc. Long term summer camp for Scouting America is held there every June along with overnight programs for Cub Scouts.
GOLDEN SUN LODGE
The Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s national honor society, is represented in the Cornhusker Council by the Golden Sun Lodge. The Lodge is administratively divided into chapters corresponding to the Council’s districts. The history of the Golden Sun Lodge begins in 1923 with an organization that truly had its roots in the Order of the Arrow. The Order of the Golden Suns of the Tribe of Quivera was formed in the summer of 1923 at Camp Quivera, near Louisville, Nebraska. That summer, a Scout came into the camp’s headquarters tent with what appeared to be the torn shreds of a ritual. He unfolded the worn and dirty which divulged some of the secret and inside information concerning an organization of Scouts back in Pennsylvania. From these shreds was born the Order of the Golden Suns of the Tribe of the Quivera."
The Order of the Golden Suns of the Tribe of the Quivera continued until 1953. It was then decided, after three ballots at three different events, that it was time to join the nationally recognized organization of the Boy Scouts, the Order of the Arrow. At this time, the three tribes at Lincoln, Grand Island, and North Platte became the Golden Sun Lodge #492, Order of the Arrow. The Lodge hosted the National Order of the Arrow Conference at the University of Nebraska in 1967 and earned the E. Urner Goodman Camping Award in 1972 and 2006. The Lodge has had several members elected as Section and Region officers and several adult volunteers on the National OA Committee.
