On April 16, 1942, local Scouters celebrated a milestone event - the 25th Anniversary of Nassau County Council. The souvenir booklet distributed at that dinner, reproduced below, provides some interesting facts on the Council and the leaders of the first 25 years.

 

Announcement

Tonight we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Nassau County Council Boy Scouts of America. We have reviewed a long period of achievement of which we are justly proud. In order to set forth these achievements and to perpetuate the record of those years we have prepared this little brochure which we offer not only as a history of accomplishment but also as an acknowledgment of the support we have received at the hands of our friends and neighbors.

The Board of Directors,
NASSAU COUNTY COUNCIL
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, INC.

April 16, 1942

"Resolutions"

    The Board of Directors, Nassau County Council Boy Scouts of America, Inc., desires to formally express its appreciation of the services of F. Howard Covey now completing his twenty-fifth year as the Scout Executive of this Council.

    The Nassau County Council was organized February 20, 1917, and F. Howard Covey became Scout Executive, which position he has held continuously since that time. Few men in Nassau County have a wider acquaintanceship among the men and boys than he. During all that period he has been the guiding spirit of our Boy Scout Movement in Nassau County. The composition of the Board of Directors has changed as the years have come and gone but Mr. Covey's services would seem like Tennyson's Brook, to "run on forever."

    It would not be true to say that Mr. Covey has been altogether responsible for the very marked success of Scouting in Nassau County, but it is true to say that in all its successes he has been the motivating, the stabilizing and the guiding spirit. It is he who has had the vision and dreamed the dreams that have made it what it is.

    We of the present Board, together with those who have come and gone, and some who have gone beyond, have been contributors in the work, but without the "Chief" as the key man, the Board would have been of little consequence, inasmuch as it would have lacked the driving power of a great personality. Throughout the years we have seen the Nassau County Council grow in stature and efficiency and in national renown; so that today it stands well toward the top of Scouting throughout the nation.

    In Camp Wauwepex which he originally discovered we have what may well be termed the heart and soul of Scouting. It is the center of interest and affection for numberless boys and men who appreciate its opportunities and value its privileges. Throughout its development Chief Covey has been indeed the "big chief" and as great a source of inspiration as the lake, the trees and the sky itself. As a camp administrator he has no peer.

    The development of this camp is well symbolized in the transition of the chief's headquarters: first, a tent; second, a shack; and now the Administration Building. Thus has the camp itself grown from a crude and humble beginning to a point of high efficiency and completeness.

    For all the interest the Chief has taken; for all the work he has done; for all the men and boys he has inspired and endeared to the Movement and himself, we tonight pay him tribute and give him our genuine affection.

    Appended hereto is his record as taken from the Scout files, and showing a very wide range of interests in worthwhile endeavors for the betterment of community and individual life. Therefore:

    As a Board and individually we salute him on this, his twenty-fifth anniversary.

Past Presidents
of the Nassau County Council, Boy Scouts of America, Inc.

Assistant Scout Executives

Growth

History

February 20, 1917 . . . Nassau County Council organized.
                                    F. Howard Covey of Great Neck employed as Scout Executive.
March 1, 1917 . . . . . . First National Charter granted.
August 31, 1917 . . . . .Camp and Rally at Mineola Fair Grounds.
September 25, 1917. .  First Exhibit at Mineola Fair.
July, 1918 . . . . . . . . .  First Expert Patrol Camp.
September 30, 1919 . . Nassau County Council suspended, lack of funds. 47 Troops-1078 Scouts.
January 5, 1920 . . . . . Nassau County Council reorganized. 32 Troops--685 Scouts.
March 20, 1920 . . . . . First Patrol Leaders' Conference.
August 2, 1920 . . . . . .First Council Camp-Glen Cove.
October, 1920 . . . . . . First Annual Pilgrimage to grave of Theodore Roosevelt.
July 16, 1921 . . . . . . . Camp Wauwepex opened at Miller Place, Long Island.
July 22, 1922 . . . . . . . First year at Camp Wauwepex, Deer Pond, Wading River, Long Island.
June 17, 1923 . . . . . . .Sagamore Troop of Nassau County organized.
August, 1923 . . . . . . . Buckskins of Wauwepex organized.
December 6, 1923. . .  Nassau County Council incorporated.
May 13, 1926. . . . . . .Option secured on Camp Wauwepex property.
October 14, 1926. . . .$283,000 secured to purchase Camp Wauwepex and for running expenses of Council.
October 26, 1927 . . ..Troopman's Code adopted and first Scouters' Congress.
May 27, 1929 . . . . . . Long House of Nassau founded.
April 1, 1930 . . . . . . .SUNRISE SCOUTER first published.
July 3, 1930 . . . . . . . .Scouts welcome Admiral Byrd.
August 2, 1930 . . . . . Nassau Training Center established, Camp Wauwepex.
1931 . . . . . . . .  . . . .  Sea Scouting and Cubbing added to program.
                                  First Scoutmaster's Key and Beaver awarded.
June 27, 1931 . . . . . . First annual Camp-O-Ree.
August 9, 1931 . . . . . Paul Siple at Camp Wauwepex.
October, 1931 . . . . . .Precommission training for Scoutmasters.
July 16, 1932 . . . . . . .Air Circus at Curtis Wright Airport.
August 14, 1932 . . . . Dedication of Schiff Memorial, Camp Wauwepex. Burning of mortgage.
August, 1934 . . . . . . .Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker at Camp Wauwepex.
January, 1935 . . . . . . National Flag Ship honors come to Nassau County Sea Scouting.
April 27, 1935 . . . . . .Camp Wauwepex swept by forest fire.
June 30, 1937 . . . . . . 99 Scouts and Scouters attended National Jamboree.
October 20, 1939 . . . Harkness Property given to Council.
January, 1940 . . . . . . Nassau Sea Scouts qualify three Ships for National Flotilla and three in Regional Fleet.
July 6, 1941. . . . . . . . NEWSDAY International Expedition to Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp.
August 17, 1941 . . . . Dedication of Carl Stedman Brown Memorial, Camp Wauwepex.
January 30, 1942 . . . .Nassau County Council again receives the Walter Head award for accomplishing objectives.
February 20, 1942. . . Nassau County Council's twenty-fifth birthday.

1917
Troops Registered then and in 1942.

To Loyal Men

    TWENTY-FIVE YEARS is not so long as history goes, but it is a long time as measured by human life.

    Much can happen during that period of time. Let us go back over these last twenty-five years (1917-1942). We had our participation in the first World War. The postwar depression followed. Then came the Coolidge boom; the "good times" of the twenties; the "great depression" of the thirties and now the beginning of World War No. 2.

    Twenty-five years is half the working time of the average man. A man can become of age, establish a family, and perhaps acquire a competence during that time. He can achieve his business success or become a total failure. Consequently, any man who can serve an organization throughout so long a period as measured in days and hours has something to commend him. An organization with its changing personnel that can weather all these storms and come through, by that token has something of substantiality in its foundation. Both the man and the organization must have in them the seeds of permanency if they are to survive that long.

    We here pay tribute to every man and every boy and every Troop that has carried on during the two and a half decades. We cannot here list their names for that would be space consuming; and besides, some as worthy as those listed might by accident be omitted. And so, rather than attempt to pay tribute to each one individually, we do so to them collectively.
For your steadfastness in a good cause; for your never lagging faith and interest in Scouting and all it stands for; for all the nights and week-ends you have spent with your boys; for every loyal thought you have had and earnest deed you have done; for all you are and all you have been and will be to Scouting, we salute you with the salute of honor and symbolically hang around your neck the Silver Beaver-"than which no higher honor can come to a Scouter."

Silver Beaver Awards

Scoutmaster's Key Awards

Edward K. Pietsch, Troop 1, Roslyn (deceased)
Dr. Edward C. Smith, Council Commissioner
Charles Hewlett, Troop 21, Woodmere
C. Willis Woodford, Troop 20, Cedarhurst
G. Herbert Tatem, Troop 72, Hempstead
Willard Waters, Baldwin, Field Commissioner
Eugene Lee, Troop 9, Freeport
Charles Stearns, Troop 46, Freeport (deceased)
Albert Burtis, Troop 10, Great Neck
Louis W. Felter, Craft Instructor, Camp Wauwepex
Frederick Heidtmann, Troop 4, Floral Park
Joseph E. Ammann, Troop 3, Baldwin
Herbert C. Roemer, Troop 121, East Rockaway (deceased)
Louis J. Reinacher, Troop 91, Hicksville
Robert G. Duncan, Troop 113, Westbury
Charles F. Steuer, Troop 56, Farmingdale
D. C. Hendrickson, Troop 123, Inwood
Philip Jardin, Troop 149, Elmont (deceased)
Robert C. VanderClute, Troop 65, Valley Stream
Theodore R. Jennings, Troop 20, Cedarhurst
Richard Franz, Troop 109, Valley Stream
Leonard Arnold, Troop 172, Farmingdale
L. G. Hartmann, Sea Scout Ship 15, Valley Stream
Peter Isaksen, Troop 2, Hewlett
Harry Van Wagner, Troop 195, Glen Cove
George Joslin, Assistant Commissioner, Rockville Centre
Charles Henry, Troop 46, Freeport
John E. Thomas, Troop 125, New Hyde Park
Albert J. Dillinger, District Commissioner, Lynbrook
C. M. Deghuee, Assistant Commissioner, Mineola
W. Douglas Mathewson, Troop 36, Freeport
John A. Ross, Troop 163, Rockville Centre
William Wenz, Troop 203, Lynbrook
George B. Hammond, Troop 39, Oyster Bay
Arthur R. Milks, Troop 174, East Williston
Harvey R. Whyte, Sea Scout Ship 17, Mineola
James Shaw, Troop 86, Lynbrook
John Svoboda, Troop 45, Mineola
Preston A. Wheeler, Troop 93, Franklin Square

Skipper's Key Awards

Robert J. Poulson, Sea Scout Ship 14, Rockville Centre
Philip H. Dennler, Sea Scout Ship 5, Great Neck

Scouter's Awards

Arthur K. Davenport, Troop 21, Woodmere
Armin A. Schustroman, Troop 21, Woodmere
Howard H. McCord, Troop 4, Floral Park
Harry Mahnken, Troop 4, Floral Park
L. G. Hartmann, Troop 109, Valley Stream
John H. Nuhn, Commissioner, Rockville Centre (deceased)
Alfred Houghton, Troop 4, Floral Park
C. Maury Deghuee, Troop 67, Mineola
H. W. Aronson, Troop 21, Woodmere
William Trowbridge, Commissioner, Valley Stream
Ernest Kretz, Troop 38, Rockville Centre
Nevin L. Judd, Cub Pack 138, Seaford
George A. Gibson, Troop 176, Bayville

Sagamore Troop

    Early in its history the Nassau County Council started its Leadership Training program, organizing Scoutmaster and Patrol Leadership courses.
    On June 17, 1923, Ernest Thompson Seton, the original Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of America and founder of the Woodcraft League, conducted a camp fire for our Scoutmasters. The men attending were so impressed with this and the course just completed that they organized the Sagamore Troop of Nassau County, an adult organization dedicated to "Service to Boys" and pledged to maintain a "Lifelong Interest in Scouting" and to specialize in some phase of Scoutcraft.
The Sagamores are available for service anywhere in Nassau County.

The Buckskins of Wauwepex

    The "Buckskins of Wauwepex" is the honor fraternity of Camp. It was organized in the summer of 1923 as an incentive to older campers. Membership is limited to campers who have attended camp three different seasons.
    At least 90% of the junior leadership of Camp Wauwepex is from the Buckskins organization.

Executive Road Members

F. Howard Covey, Scout Executive
Joseph S. Fleming, Assistant Scout Executive
Irving F. Southworth, "             "       "
Donald A. Stevens,    "             "       "
A. P. Newkirk,          "             "       "

Clerical Staff

Wilma Freitag, Office Manager & Secretary to Mr. Covey
Grace Bach, Assistant Office Manager & Bookkeeper
Catherine Dahnken, Registrar Registration Department
Kathleen Ellis, Secretary Finance Department & Ass't Bookkeeper
Ruth Loeffler, Registrar Advancement Department
Ruth Uzmann, Receptionist & Supply Department

Our Challenge

    Today, the forces of oppression are on the march, and we Americans are ready to defend at all costs our ideals of freedom. Every phase of our national life is dedicated to that high purpose, and America's youth are doing their part-strong in their faith and their will to do.
    We, the Nassau County Council Boy Scouts of America, are determined that we shall be "STRONG-FOR AMERICA." In the President's words to us, we "stand ready to contribute to the National Welfare." We will live up to our Motto, BE PREPARED.
    To be "STRONG-FOR AMERICA" we must be
    STRONG IN LEADERS       STRONG IN SKILL
    STRONG IN NUMBERS     STRONG IN WILL
       STRONG FOR THE SAKE OF AMERICA