As I sit here eating the last of this season's Girl Scout cookies, the name of Maude Kneule came to mind.  She was a local person who dedicated her life and

In 1945, Kneule bought a 16-acre farm in Milford Town- ship that would become Camp Rockwood – a camp for  Girl Scouts.  She is pictured here in on the far right, in  the back row.

talents to her community and, especially, the Girl Scouts.

            In 1918, just six years after the first Girl Scout troop was founded in the United States by Juliette Low, Kneule was approached by a group of local young women about starting a troop.  Maude admitted knowing little about the new organization but took on the task.  Shortly after that, Troop 1 of Pennsburg was formed with Kneule as the leader – a post she held for 30 years.  She would continue to serve the local Girl Scouts well into the 1970s.

            She served as a Charter Board Member of the Upper Perkiomen Valley Girl Scout Council and a board member of the Great Valley Girl Scout Council.

            In 1945, Kneule bought a 16-acre farm a few miles east of Pennsburg in

Maude Kneule wore many hats in the community and was honored many times for her more than 55 years of service to local groups.

Milford Township that would become Camp Rockwood – a camp for Girl Scouts.  Up until this time, the girls shared the use of the Boy Scout cabin on Mill Hill in Upper Hanover Township.

            Maude turned the title over to a group of local citizens who formed an administrative group that raised funds and guided the establishment of the camp.

            But Kneule was so much more to the community.

            Born and raised in the Pennsburg Hotel, which her parents owned, she took over the operation in 1949 and ran it through 1957.  In the 1920s she worked across the street at the Heavner and Shelly Department Store before taking the position as the head librarian at the Carnegie Library at the Perkiomen School – a position she held for 17 years.  While there, she organized public plays that brought in $300 annually, used to purchase new books for the library.

            She resigned the librarian position when she was named the Mercantile Appraiser of Montgomery County.  She was the first woman appointed to the position and held it until 1943 when the position was abolished.

            In 1965, Kneule was selected to chair the Upper Perkiomen Valley division of the Quakertown Hospital's building and equipment renewal fund.  She was also serving

Maude was born in the Pennsburg Hotel which was owned by her parents, Charles and Lucy.  Maude took over the operation in 1949 and ran it through 1957 and hosted many prominent guests during local, political events.

as a member of the Hospital's Board of Directors at the time.  The latter was a position she held for 23 years.

            She was a founder and officer of the Upper Perkiomen Business and Professional Women's Club; an official of the Perkiomen Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; board member of the Upper Perkiomen Valley Community Chest; and she was instrumental in forming the local branch of the Needlework Guild of America, whose purpose was to collect and distribute new, plain, and sensible garments to meet the great need of hospitals, homes and other charities. 

            In her spare time, she sold fire insurance for the Goshenhoppen Mutual Insurance Company. 

            She was quite a busy person and her list of affiliations goes on and on.

            Kneule was well known for her activities in the Democratic Party of Montgomery County.  She was elected as a County Jury Commissioner in 1953 and served three terms in that position before retiring.  She served over 50 years in various Democratic committee positions in the borough and Montgomery County and was honored for her work many times. 

            She was the alternate delegate to the 1936 Democratic National Convention that renominated President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

            Maude Kneule's list of accomplishments is exhausting.  She not only lived through history, around here she made history.