The cub days of Boys Scouts in Huntington Beach

JERRY PERSON

For the past 80-plus years, the Boy Scouts of Huntington Beach have

played a vital role in shaping the character of our future

generations.

Without their helping hands and volunteer efforts, many of our

local projects would never become a reality. Just wearing the uniform

of a scout inspires many a boy to aim for loftier goals and, in so

doing, becomes a model member of his community.

One of the greatest honors in scouting is when he attains the rank

of Eagle Scout. When I talked to Huntington Beach resident Kelly

Rivers, she informed me that her son Darrell has been a Boy Scout for

many years and is near that goal of Eagle Scout.

This week we’ll look back to the 1930s to see what our Boy Scouts

were doing during the hectic days of the Depression years.

Scouting came early to Huntington Beach, when our first troop was

organized in 1915 with Will Tolson as the first scoutmaster. The

troop met for its meetings at the First Baptist Church, but this

lasted for only a few months and the troop was disbanded.

In 1917, a troop was organized as Huntington Beach troop No. 1 and

called itself the “Kit Carson” troop. After several sponsors, the

troop was again disbanded in 1920, only to be reactivated in 1922

with the help and sponsorship by our own Huntington Beach Lions Club.

The Lions succeeded in finding a permanent clubhouse for the scout

troop in Lake Park.

In October 1930, 60 scouts from Huntington Beach troops No.’s 1, 2

and 3 and their girlfriends took a trip to the Hippodrome skating

rink in Long Beach for a little roller skating fun. They brought

along the troop’s assistant scoutmaster Howard Phillips.

One of the games played at the rink was the “spot dance,” similar

to musical chairs, only you had to stop on a spot on the floor. In

the end, John Callahan won a bulldog and his girlfriend Eldora Fry

came home with an elephant.

Another of their games was the old race around the room holding a

spoon with a small ball inside. Kenneth Potts won this game and it

entitled him to bring his best girl of his choice to the rink’s soda

fountain for a drink. That honor went to Mildred Potts.

Also that month, troop No. 2 held its regular meeting, and during

that meeting, each patrol had to put on a one-act play for the other

troop members. With the able assistance of Phillips, Patrol One

presented a short play called, “In the Insane Asylum.”

A few days later, 13 scouts were treated to a hayride to the Santa

Ana River bed, where they loaded up their wagon with willows to be

used in making rustic furniture for their scout cabin.

Troop No. 1’s outing adventure was a trip to San Pedro harbor and

a visit to a submarine destroyer anchored there.

In June 1931, we find Woodrow Honold, Hallman Hepburn, Douglas

James, Bill Okuda, Charles Rodgers, Teddy Thompson and Donald Winters

spending a part of their summer vacation along with 56 Orange County

scouts swimming, hiking, horseback riding, going on nature hunts and

having good eats at Camp RoKiLi in the heart of the San Bernardino

mountains.

In May 1932, Boy Scout troop No. 2 honored its scoutmaster,

Richard G. Miller, with a farewell “mulligan stew” dinner with the

help of their sponsor, the Huntington Beach Rotary Club. Rev. J.H.

Engle, pastor of the First Methodist Church, succeeded Miller as the

troop’s scoutmaster.

In July 1939, the City Council authorized city engineer Harry

Overmyer, to look into renovating the Scout Cabin in Lake Park. The

cabin needed a new roof, knotty pine interior and a rough pine floor.

Huntington Beach Mayor Marcus M. McCallen appointed two council

members, A.L. Henrickson and Arthur W. Morehouse, to help Overmyer

come up with an estimate, so long as it didn’t exceed $750.

Throughout the years, the scouts have given freely of their time

and energy, weeding the Newland House garden and are helping paint

the fence.

I know one member of our community who is truly proud of his early

years in scouting with Huntington Beach troop No. 1, and he is Russ

Paxson, someone all scouts can look up to with pride.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.