Davis Scout Cabin History and Last Meeting, January 29, 2002

Troop 139 assembled at the Boy Scout Cabin at 7:30 PM on January 29, 2002 for the last meeting before transferring the Cabin to the City of Davis. Thirty-seven Scouts, Scouters, and parents were present.

The following are the speaker notes and meeting agenda.

Welcome

Welcome everyone to the last Boy Scout meeting at the Cabin.

Tonight is the last Boy Scout meeting in this Cabin.  So it seems fitting that we commemorate the Scouting activities that have gone on here for more than 74 years.

History of The Cabin
This cabin is the most visible symbol of Scouting in our community.  Over the years, the boys of Davis have met within these walls to learn and practice Scoutcraft, and are undoubtedly better off for that experience.

When I first saw this building at the age of eighteen, it was to me an old structure in poor repair, strangely out of place on the edge of downtown. But during the last couple of decades, with the community changing around it, the cabin became a reliable and friendly landmark, and in its architecture, a reminder to me of our western heritage. And then in the last few years, the cabin has become a symbol of independence and a bond with those Scouts and Scouters that have come before us.  It is that bond that we all share that brings us here to mark this evening as the last Boy Scout meeting in this Boy Scout cabin.

As reported in the Davis Enterprise, lets go back 75 years and one day to…

January 28, 1927
·         Scoutmaster Rudin announces that plans are nearly complete for the scout cabin, as sponsored by the Davis Rotary Club.

February 18, 1927
·         Last Sunday afternoon at the Faculty Club the Boy Scout Committee from the Davis Rotary Club held a meeting.  Dr. W. E. Bates is chairman and among the members present is Stanley Freeborn.  Stanley Freeborn will eventually become the first UC Davis chancellor.[1]
·         The decision was made to build a cabin of logs, with a west exposure.  The main room to be 36 x 24 feet, with another room to be used as a kitchen.  This building will be used as a Scout headquarters.

March 11, 1927
·         Following a report by Stanley Freeborn upon details of the agreement with the Regents of the University, the Committee put their stamp of approval upon a plan which places the Scout Cabin directly facing the apex of the Highway and First street and about 100 feet to the rear of this point.

June 3, 1927
·         [Last Saturday] there were seven boys detailed in Putah canyon, where they dug fieldstone from the creek and loaded the stone on trucks for delivery to the Boy Scout Cabin site.  It wasn’t all work and no play, for while the trucks were coming and going the boys enjoyed a swim and picnic lunch.  However, the actual work of gathering and loading two truckloads of fieldstone, is quite a task for even seven boys.  A. J. Nickerson and W. L. Warner loaned their trucks for the hauling.
·         Monday several of the boys met with their leader, Walter Ruden, and constructed a fire altar, which will be used for the outdoor meetings.  This was constructed in what will be a court when the cabin is completed.  The altar was constructed out of fieldstone.

August 12, 1927
·         Logs for the Scout cabin were delivered to the site by the P. G. & E. Co. and the Telephone Company and are awaiting the builders.  Dr. Bates, chairman of the cabin committee, assures us that there will be more than enough logs to construct the building as planned.

September 2, 1927 — a Davis Enterprise editorial
·         To the loyal Scouts of Davis:  What will Scouting ever mean in Davis if only about half of the fellows come to meetings? What did it mean in your lives last winter when we could not get sufficient pep worked up to sing or to give a good yell?  How would you like to see the Davis troop disbanded, the logs rot, and the flagpole stand in mournful silence over the cabin that was never completed?  Think seriously on the above questions and then come to the meeting next Monday and vote for the future glory of Scouting in Davis.

September 16, 1927
·         Total enrollment in the troop is twenty-eight regular Scouts and three associates.

September 30, 1927
·         The Boy Scout cabin in Davis, which has been under construction most of the summer, has reached the stage where older and more experienced heads will have to take charge.  The boys have done well so far, but now it is necessary to rush it to completion, to order materials ahead, and even to have more labor that the boys can give.
·         The present plan is to send a circular letter to various citizens outlining the work and asking for a donation of one day of their time.  It is hoped to get started on this by next Saturday and to continue for three successive Saturdays, at which time the cabin will be almost completed.
·         The cabin is located near the park near the subway, and will be built of telephone poles simulating logs.  There will be one large room with a fireplace, a small kitchen, and an adjoining bathroom.  It will serve as headquarters for all Scout activities

Comment:
The Scout Cabin was a very important community activity.  The entire community assisted and encouraged the Scouts and the Rotary Club in their effort to build the cabin.  During 1927 the main stories in the Davis Enterprise were about the University, the high school, the Rotary Club, and the Boy Scouts.  The cabin shows us how a community of 1,200 people was able to cooperate and use their labor to build something for the town’s benefit.  Today, it would extremely difficult to do the same thing.

October 28, 1927
·         The Davis Scout troop is showing new life. One patrol plans to build the furniture for its corner of the cabin [in] the near future. The fourth patrol is organized with eight fellows so that now we have a full troop in Davis with thirty-two members. This new patrol decided to call themselves the “Wolf Patrol.” (Rattlesnake, Flying Eagle, and Beaver Patrols)

December 9, 1927
·         The Davis Scout troop worked on their cabin all day Saturday, getting it ready to live in. At two minutes past 8:00 a.m., the Wolf patrol leader reported that his gang was all present or accounted for.  A second leader did the same at 8:15 and all but one member of another patrol were present a few minutes later.
·          The first patrol with all Scouts present or accounted for got their choice of a patrol corner.  Each patrol selected its corner as soon as every member was present or accounted for, the last patrol taking what was left.
·         The first job was to cleanup the firewood and lumber around the cabin and pile it  Then the patrols began chinking their respective corners–getting ready for the cement filler.  By evening, the Flying Eagles had their corner nearly plastered on the inside.
·         Special patrol projects are under way.  The panthers are laying a gravel walk to the front door.  Scouts Ben Moses and Frank Allen of that patrol will do most of the electric wiring in the cabin.  The Beavers will landscape the grounds, the Wolf patrol will install the plumbing, and the Flying Eagles plan to put in the septic tank.
·         The Flying Eagle patrol is building two benches; the Beavers have started a bench and a table.

December 23, 1927
·         Prior to a supper which the Boy Scouts tendered members of the Rotary Club, the fireplace of their new cabin was dedicated at a brief ceremony.  The scouts tendered the dinner to the Rotarians as a return dinner in acknowledgement of the entertainment given by the club.

74 years ago today (as reported February 3, 1928)
·         The Boy Scouts of Davis held open house on Sunday January 29th in their new meeting cabin, at which over forty-five visitors were entertained.  The Wolf patrol played host.  Many of the guests were from out of town.  The register afterwards showed a number of names from Woodland and Dixon and there were several from San Francisco and Los Angeles.
·         The cabin is designed along rustic lines and has been built by the members of the local troop almost entirely alone.

September 20, 1946
·         Dr. and Mrs. Harlan K. Pratt are new arrivals in Davis.  Dr. Pratt is connected with the truck crops division on the campus, coming here from Pasadena where he was with the California Institute of Technology. [Over many years, Harlan Pratt played key roles as Scoutmaster and unit commissioner for Troop 139.]

October 24, 1947
·         The parents of the Scouts of Troops 66 and 139, and Sea Scout Ship 5066, have been invited to a Parents’ Night at the Scout Cabin.
·         Scouting has flourished in Davis.  Not long ago one troop fulfilled the needs of the youth of the city.  With the growth of Davis it has become necessary to organize a Sea Scout ship for the older Scouts and also a second troop since the one troop had far more than the allowable maximum enrollment of Scouts.  The Scouts of old Troop 66 have been divided equally between the two troops.  W. A. Strickland is scoutmaster of Troop 66.  Troop 139 has Howard Shontz as scoutmaster.
·         H. K. Pratt is the Neighborhood Commissioner.

Open Forum

During the open forum, each scout and adult was given an opportunity to recall their best memory from their days at the Cabin.

Miles Danforth spoke about the rustic appearance of the Cabin and offered the hope that someday we would have another building made of logs in which to hold our meetings.

Closing Indoor Flag Ceremony

Narrator:
Ladies and Gentlemen please gather for our flag presentation ceremony.

Flag Team:
Christopher Haley and Ben Bradshaw
·         Unfold flag.  Snap open and hold open for audience to view.

Narrator:
Today this Flag flew over the Boy Scout Cabin.  It is one of two flags to fly over our cabin today.

Flag Team:
·         Start folding the flag.
·         Stop and wait for the narrators to state each point of the Scout Law before making the first and each triangular fold.  Make the first fold after the narrator states and explains the first point of the law.  Make the second fold after the narrator states and explains the second point of the law, and so on.  Continue in this way until all twelve points and the dedication are completed.

·         When the Flag is completely folded and tucked in.  The Scout making the last fold passes the flag to the second member of the folding team who then upon instructions from the narrator presents the flag to the Troop 66 Scoutmaster.

Dedication
The Last Fold commemorates the conclusion of 74 years of Scouting within the walls of this Boy Scout Cabin and salutes the continued growth of Scouting in Davis — building on more than 80 years of Scouting tradition in our community.

It is our privilege to present this flag to Boy Scout Troop 66.
·         (No member of Troop 66 being present at the meeting, the flag was presented to Dale Woods for later presentation to the Troop 66 Scoutmaster.)

Closing Outdoors Flag Ceremony

Senior Patrol Leader (Christopher Haley) calls for “Retire the Colors.”
·         Retire the colors
·         Scouts salute as flag is lowered
·         Flag is folded
·         Flag is presented to the Troop 139 Scoutmaster on behalf of Troop 139

·         Thank you for coming this evening.  This concludes our meeting.

[1] Boy Scout Committee members: Dr. Bates, C. H. Hopkins, H. L. Belson, E. M. McGuire, A. G. Anderson, W. T. Mack, C. F. Dixon, Stanley Freeborn and Chester Roadhouse.