Adolph E. Peschke was a veteran

outdoorsman Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...

, author, and pioneering project designer in the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. He is best known for writing the 1993 edition of the pamphlet for the Pioneering merit badge, which serves as a guide to many Scouters implementing pioneering programs in their Scouting units.

Background

Adolph E. Peschke was born in St. Louis, MO, October 27, 1914, to Cecil and Adolph Peschke. When he was twenty years old, he got married and lived with his wife, Grace in Webster Groves, MO where they raised their children, Don and Jayne. Adolph Peschke joined the Boy Scouts as a youth and achieved the rank of

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

. He was continuously registered as a Scout for over 85 years. For his life of service, he was presented with the Silver Antelope Award.

Scouting

Adolph Peschke served as a volunteer in the Greater Saint Louis Area Council for sixty years where he dedicated much of his time to

Beaumont Scout Reservation The Greater Saint Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America was formed in 1911 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The council serves Scouts in the St. Louis Metro area, southeast Missouri, and southern and central Illinois. History It i ...

and was a director for more than twenty Wood Badge courses. Through his decades of service to the Boy Scouts of America, some of his most noteworthy contributions were: * writing the founding charter for the

National Eagle Scout Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

* serving as a resource for ''

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

'', ''

Boys' Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is pu ...

'', the BSA ''Fieldbook'' and ''Program Helps'' * serving as the design engineer for five

national Scout jamboree In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts who rally at a national or international level. History The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom. Since then, there have been twenty-three other W ...

s where he was responsible for the theme development, site layout, and staff training for the Action Center's pioneering areas

Pioneering

Adolph Peschke was keenly attuned to providing the assurance that boys of Scouting age could successfully build pioneering structures themselves. He referred to these projects as "boy-sized," and has been credited with the design of thirty original "boy-size" pioneering projects. Five of these are included in the pamphlet for Pioneering merit badge along with well-presented explanations and instructions: # Single Lock Bridge # Single Trestle Bridge # A-Frame Bridge # 14' Double Ladder Signal Tower # Double A-Frame Monkey Bridge With the intention of making Pioneering more within the reach of those Scout units in geographic areas where access to natural spars was limited, he devised a design for making a pioneering kit consisting of laminated spars from materials readily available at a lumberyard.Pioneering with Laminated Spars
/ref> Adolph Peschke also developed the pioneering kit with its color-coded system to identify rope and spar lengths for building pioneering projects.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peschke, Adolph 1914 births 2012 deaths Ropework Scoutcraft People from Des Moines County, Iowa