In his 1863 Gettysburg Address in Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln uttered these words:
"This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Those words helped define the Civil War and the nation. Now, a phrase from that speech has inspired the name of a new Boy Scouts of America council.
The New Birth of Freedom Council was officially formed last month when board members from the Keystone Area and York-Adams Area councils selected that name for their merged council. The name was one of more than 100 suggestions from members.
According to the council's Web site, board members wanted "an appropriate name that would be meaningful and represent all parts of the council area."
"In the end," the site reads, "the prominent role that our area has played in the history of the United States and President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address were the driving influences behind the selection of the new name."
With a new council name comes a new shoulder patch. The striking design of the patch above will ensure that Scouts and Scouters who belong to this council will catch the eye of their peers.
The council is based in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and serves the Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Perry, and York counties.
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