Remembering Louis J. Appell, Jr. – A Friend of Scouting

The York-Adams Area Council recognized the outstanding career of Louis Appell, Jr. at the 2000 Friends of Scouting Dinner in York.
The York-Adams Area Council recognized the outstanding career of Louis Appell, Jr. at the 2000 Friends of Scouting Dinner in York.

Today, I was supposed to write a thank-you letter to Louis J. Appell, Jr., one of the most philanthropic, community-minded businessmen you’ll ever meet.

Yesterday, on the very day that Mr. Appell passed away at age 92, we received another significant contribution from him, this most recent one in support of our after-school Scouting programs for at-risk youth in the City of York.

Like so many other community organizations in York, the Boy Scouts benefitted greatly from Mr. Appell’s charitable interests.  When I became the Scout Executive of the York-Adams Area Council back in 1997, I quickly developed a deep and sincere appreciation for sheer scale of charitable and community projects that Mr. Appell (the former president and CEO of Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff) invested his time and resources in.

Thankfully for our council, Mr. Appell’s generosity extended to the Boy Scouts.  At Camp Tuckahoe, the swimming pool and administration building are the most-recognizable features that we can thank Mr. Appell and Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff for making possible.  He and Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff were continual supporters of Scouting for any number of projects, both large and small.

In recent years, I didn’t cross paths with Mr. Appell as often as I once did when I was spending more time in York during the work week.  But I did bump into him every so often at York Revolution games in the concourse along the first-base line where he was sitting.  He’d ask how the Scouts were doing and I would give him a quick update.

Looking at the websites for the York Daily Record and York Dispatch this afternoon, you really do come away with a sense of the profound impact that Mr. Appell had on the York community.  He certainly was a key benefactor for local Scouting programs and helped reshape Camp Tuckahoe more than once and for all of this, I will always be grateful.

Yours in Scouting,
 
Ron Gardner
Scout Executive & CEO
 
Camp Tuckahoe's swimming pool - with thanks to the generosity of Louis J. Appell, Jr.
Camp Tuckahoe’s swimming pool – with thanks to the generosity of Louis J. Appell, Jr.

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