Hopewell Troop 8 has been sponsored by Hopewell United Methodist Church since 1943. It is a scout-led troop aided and abetted by adults. The troop is now entering its 64th year of existence. Troop 8 originally met in the basement of Hopewell UMC. The meeting place changed to the current Scout House in the top floor of the McCausland Building prior to 1979 (from the basement to the attic).
The first Scoutmaster was R. Warren Mowrey, who served from 1943 to 1945. There have been 18 additional Scoutmasters since 1945: Wm. F. DeFrosia (1946-1953), Donald G. Meyers (1954-1956), Wayne G. Raysor (1957-1958), Pat T. Rissel (1959-1962), J. Carl Welsh (1963-1970), Samuel Fillman (1971-1977), Milton Hess (1978-1979), Robert McCarty (1980-1981), James Flanagan (1982-1983), Dave James (1984), Carl Croft (1985-1987), Bruce Shipley (1988-1990), Dennis Wales (1991-1994), Thomas Cooper (1995-2002), Wm. Short (2002-2003), John Doran (2003), Hugh Sinn (2004-2006), and currently David Mengel who has been involved in scouting since 1972 as a scout, den leader, and Cubmaster. Harold Thompson, Hopewell UMC's representative, became affiliated with Troop 8 in 1957.
The first Eagle Scout was Walter Dawson in 1960. Since then, Troop 8 has been privileged to assist 44 additional young men in their path to the rank of Eagle.
Troop 8 has purchased, refurbished and used school busses for approximately 40 years. ZeeBus, as the bus is affectionately known, has transported the scouts to countless camping trips to exotic locations such as Assateague, the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Teal Point, Gettysburg, and Philadelphia (wow!). Troop 8 scouts have participated in high adventure trips to Sea Base in Islamorada, FL; Philmont Scout Ranch, NM; Claytor Lake, VA; and Northern Tier, MN; and other places. Since its creation, the troop has attended Camp John H. Ware III every summer and achieved the honor of Standard Troop. Not once has Troop 8 failed to win this award. Many of the plaques can be seen on the far wall of the Scout House above the chalkboards. Hopewell Troop 8 enjoys a rich tradition of camping. Every year the troop has monthly camping activities from September through July. The troop may also have boys participate in High Adventure trips for 1st Class (14 years and older). The troop also runs a mini-High Adventure for all boys in June, which is usually a long weekend with activities geared towards merit badge requirements.
The 2007/08 monthly campouts are:
- September: Cape Henelopen, DE - Deep Sea Fishing and Biking
- October: Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire
- November: Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
- December: Hershey Bears
- January: Winter camp at Camp Ware
- February: Ski trip
- March: Valley Forge Biking Trip
- April: Backpacking
- May: Teal Point, MD - Canoeing and Shotgun
- June: Mini-High Adventure
- July: Summer Camp at Camp Ware
- August: Off The High Adventure trip for 2008 is Northern Tier.
The troop provides all camping equipment such as tents, stoves, tarps, lanterns, cooking equipment, food, and transportation via ZeeBus. The boys are responsible for personal items such as sleeping bags, sleeping mats, clothes, knife, fork, spoon, cup, and incidental spending money. These trips are a great way for the boys to advance and fine tune their scouting skills while having lots of fun at the same time.