Paul Koester / Camp Miakonda's Statue Of Liberty

Paul Koester, also, Camp Miakonda's Statue Of Liberty. ⚜️. , Paul Koester. Paul Koester first joined the Boy Scouts in January 1938 in Toledo as a member of Troop 74 and was a camper at Miakonda for five years. Starting in 1946 he served on the Camp Miakonda Staff for more than thirty years in many positions, including as Boy Scout Summer Camp Director from 1964 through 1972. He was the first volunteer. Scouter to ever serve in that position. Many years later starting in 1996 he served as the Cub Day Camp Director at Camp Miakonda for five years. He-is the only person to have ever served in both positions at Camp Miakonda. He came back from camp staff retirement in 1992 to help oversee the renaissance of Camp Miakonda including the renovation of the Council Lodge building built by the Federal Government in 1934. He also provided the funding for the Koester Cabin at Camp Miakonda and other notable improvements at Miakonda. After graduating from college and starting his teaching career Paul personally organized several new Boy Scout troops in the 1940's and 1950's in the old Sandusky District. He was one of the founding adult members in 1957 of the Order of the Arrow Wa-Be-Wa-Wa Lodge 522 based at Camp Miakonda and he attended the 1958 NOAC in Kansas. On the trip home. Lodge members including Paul, got to meet former President Harry Truman. Paul Koester was the first eighty year continually registered member of Scouting in Erie Shores Council History., Camp Miakonda's Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty in front of Camp Miakonda was dedicated in 1950 during the 40th anniversary year of the Boy Scouts of America under the banner of "Strengthen the Arm of Liberty", which was a nationwide program of the BSA. It was a gift from the Toledo Blade Newspaper Company to the Toledo Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. There were over 200 of these replicas known to have existed at one time within 39 states in the U.S. and several of its possessions and territories. They were the brainchild of Kansas City businessman, Jack P. Whitaker, who was the Scout Commissioner of the Kansas City Area Council at that time. The stamped copper statues, each built around a wooden frame, were one. The statues are approximately 8 1/2 feet tall without the base and constructed of sheet copper: weighing 290 pounds. They originally cost $350.00 each plus freight. Only two others still exist in Ohio and only one in Michigan. There are five other BSA camps in the nation that have a similar statue from 1950 besides Camp Miakonda. Jack Whitaker's promotional literature in 1949 stated: "Americans, more than ever before, need to be reminded that freedom, like life itself, is preserved only through vigilance and care."