Davis Scout Cabin History and Last Meeting, January 29, 2002<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The following are the speaker notes and meeting agenda.<\/p>\n
Welcome<\/p>\n
Welcome everyone to the last Boy Scout meeting at the Cabin.<\/p>\n
Tonight is the last Boy Scout meeting in this Cabin.\u00a0 So it seems fitting that we commemorate the Scouting activities that have gone on here for more than 74 years.<\/p>\n
History of The Cabin
\nThis cabin is the most visible symbol of Scouting in our community.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
As reported in the Davis Enterprise, lets go back 75 years and one day to…<\/p>\n
January 28, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scoutmaster Rudin announces that plans are nearly complete for the scout cabin, as sponsored by the Davis Rotary Club.<\/p>\n
February 18, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Last Sunday afternoon at the Faculty Club the Boy Scout Committee from the Davis Rotary Club held a meeting.\u00a0 Dr. W. E. Bates is chairman and among the members present is Stanley Freeborn.\u00a0 Stanley Freeborn will eventually become the first UC Davis chancellor.[1]
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The decision was made to build a cabin of logs, with a west exposure.\u00a0 The main room to be 36 x 24 feet, with another room to be used as a kitchen.\u00a0 This building will be used as a Scout headquarters.<\/p>\n
March 11, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
June 3, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [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.\u00a0 It wasn’t all work and no play, for while the trucks were coming and going the boys enjoyed a swim and picnic lunch.\u00a0 However, the actual work of gathering and loading two truckloads of fieldstone, is quite a task for even seven boys.\u00a0 A. J. Nickerson and W. L. Warner loaned their trucks for the hauling.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Monday several of the boys met with their leader, Walter Ruden, and constructed a fire altar, which will be used for the outdoor meetings.\u00a0 This was constructed in what will be a court when the cabin is completed.\u00a0 The altar was constructed out of fieldstone.<\/p>\n
August 12, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Dr. Bates, chairman of the cabin committee, assures us that there will be more than enough logs to construct the building as planned.<\/p>\n
September 2, 1927 — a Davis Enterprise editorial
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To the loyal Scouts of Davis:\u00a0 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?\u00a0 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?\u00a0 Think seriously on the above questions and then come to the meeting next Monday and vote for the future glory of Scouting in Davis.<\/p>\n
September 16, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Total enrollment in the troop is twenty-eight regular Scouts and three associates.<\/p>\n
September 30, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The cabin is located near the park near the subway, and will be built of telephone poles simulating logs.\u00a0 There will be one large room with a fireplace, a small kitchen, and an adjoining bathroom.\u00a0 It will serve as headquarters for all Scout activities<\/p>\n
Comment:
\nThe Scout Cabin was a very important community activity.\u00a0 The entire community assisted and encouraged the Scouts and the Rotary Club in their effort to build the cabin.\u00a0 During 1927 the main stories in the Davis Enterprise were about the University, the high school, the Rotary Club, and the Boy Scouts.\u00a0 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\u2019s benefit.\u00a0 Today, it would extremely difficult to do the same thing.<\/p>\n
October 28, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)<\/p>\n
December 9, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 A second leader did the same at 8:15 and all but one member of another patrol were present a few minutes later.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The first patrol with all Scouts present or accounted for got their choice of a patrol corner.\u00a0 Each patrol selected its corner as soon as every member was present or accounted for, the last patrol taking what was left.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The first job was to cleanup the firewood and lumber around the cabin and pile it \u00a0Then the patrols began chinking their respective corners–getting ready for the cement filler.\u00a0 By evening, the Flying Eagles had their corner nearly plastered on the inside.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Special patrol projects are under way.\u00a0 The panthers are laying a gravel walk to the front door.\u00a0 Scouts Ben Moses and Frank Allen of that patrol will do most of the electric wiring in the cabin.\u00a0 The Beavers will landscape the grounds, the Wolf patrol will install the plumbing, and the Flying Eagles plan to put in the septic tank.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Flying Eagle patrol is building two benches; the Beavers have started a bench and a table.<\/p>\n
December 23, 1927
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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. \u00a0The scouts tendered the dinner to the Rotarians as a return dinner in acknowledgement of the entertainment given by the club.<\/p>\n
74 years ago today (as reported February 3, 1928)
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The Wolf patrol played host.\u00a0 Many of the guests were from out of town.\u00a0 The register afterwards showed a number of names from Woodland and Dixon and there were several from San Francisco and Los Angeles.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The cabin is designed along rustic lines and has been built by the members of the local troop almost entirely alone.<\/p>\n
September 20, 1946
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. and Mrs. Harlan K. Pratt are new arrivals in Davis.\u00a0 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.]<\/p>\n
October 24, 1947
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scouting has flourished in Davis.\u00a0 Not long ago one troop fulfilled the needs of the youth of the city.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The Scouts of old Troop 66 have been divided equally between the two troops.\u00a0 W. A. Strickland is scoutmaster of Troop 66.\u00a0 Troop 139 has Howard Shontz as scoutmaster.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 H. K. Pratt is the Neighborhood Commissioner.<\/p>\n
Open Forum<\/p>\n
During the open forum, each scout and adult was given an opportunity to recall their best memory from their days at the Cabin.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Closing Indoor Flag Ceremony<\/p>\n
Narrator:
\nLadies and Gentlemen please gather for our flag presentation ceremony.<\/p>\n
Flag Team:
\nChristopher Haley and Ben Bradshaw
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unfold flag.\u00a0 Snap open and hold open for audience to view.<\/p>\n
Narrator:
\nToday this Flag flew over the Boy Scout Cabin.\u00a0 It is one of two flags to fly over our cabin today.<\/p>\n
Flag Team:
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Start folding the flag.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stop and wait for the narrators to state each point of the Scout Law before making the first and each triangular fold.\u00a0 Make the first fold after the narrator states and explains the first point of the law.\u00a0 Make the second fold after the narrator states and explains the second point of the law, and so on.\u00a0 Continue in this way until all twelve points and the dedication are completed.<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the Flag is completely folded and tucked in.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Dedication
\nThe 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.<\/p>\n
It is our privilege to present this flag to Boy Scout Troop 66.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (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.)<\/p>\n
Closing Outdoors Flag Ceremony<\/p>\n
Senior Patrol Leader (Christopher Haley) calls for “Retire the Colors.”
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Retire the colors
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scouts salute as flag is lowered
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flag is folded
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flag is presented to the Troop 139 Scoutmaster on behalf of Troop 139<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you for coming this evening.\u00a0 This concludes our meeting.<\/p>\n
[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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading Cabin History<\/span>