THIRTY YEARS OF SCOUTING
IN NASSAU

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Theodore Roosevelt Council
Boy Scouts of America
544 Broadway
Massapequa, New York 11758-5008

Preface

Theodore Roosevelt
The Council Suspends
Money Raising Campaigns
How a Money Campaign is Run
How Nassau County Council Does It
Community Chest
Kickbacks

Chapter Two - We Buy Camp Wauwepex

Camp Wauwepex - A Tribute
The Courageous Fifteen

Chapter Three - Financing the Council

We Borrow Some Money
Three Big Events of the Year
We Catch Up With the Calendar
Then and Now - A Contrast
The Golden Years
Wall Street Did Not Get This
Endowments

Chapter Four - Administrative Problems

Grit in the Bearings
Lining Up With National
Contributions in the Form of Stock

Chapter Five - Historical Events

We Go After The Tent Caterpillars
Tragedy
The Big Wind
Polio Breaks Out
"Coal Gas"
Fatal 14 Mile Hike
Tragic Easter Cruise
Nassau’s Honor Societies of Scouting - Wearers of the Silver Beaver
The Sagamores
The Buckskin Men
W. P. J. Piel and the Long House of Nassau
The Long House of Nassau
Troopmen’s Code and Congress

Chapter Six - Outstanding Men

Doctor E. C. Smith - Commissioner from 1919 to 1946
"Brownie" - The Story Teller
E. K. Pietsch - A "Santa Claus" in Scouting
Mortimer L. Schiff - "A Millionaire in Scouting"
Edward S. Harkness

Postlude

Appendix

On February 20, 1947, Nassau County Council, Boy Scouts of America, Inc. passed its thirtieth milestone. At the same time, F. Howard Covey celebrated his thirtieth consecutive year as Scout Executive. By the rules of the Retirement System, Chief Covey was required to retire at the age of 65. He was sixty-five on March 5, 1948. It is fitting, therefore, that as a token of his long service the story of Nassau County Council be now told as a commemorative gesture of respect and affection. I have been closely associated with the Council for more than twenty-five years. In a certain sense I have lived with it. I have written other histories and the process is not unfamiliar to me. In my haste, I have said repeatedly that I would not write another book. But here is the fourth to come out of my typewriter in less than a year. I obtained the minutes of the meetings as far back as they are recorded. I also obtained some old documents and other material from the Chief which supplemented my memory and produced this work. I read the record and made notes and carded names as they appeared, in order to include them here; but the list grew so long that it would unduly encumber this record to do so. Those who have made outstanding contributions to Scouting in Nassau will be found in the addenda; and if any have been omitted who are entitled to special mention it has been inadvertent; for it is well known that hundreds, yea, thousands of men in their own way have made their contribution to its achievements. They have given unstintingly of their time and effort to Scouting. These are the unsung heroes of Nassau. I here pay them tribute.

All this has entailed not a little of time and effort, but it has been indeed a labor of love. I have enjoyed my self-appointed task immensely. It has brought back memories that were slumbering and that were pleasant to review. I have been rather close to the Chief throughout the years. I have spent many a pleasant hour at his shack at Wauwepex both in winter and summer; I have fished with him and have been bawled out for making "piscatorial errors." He has been with me on never-to-be-forgotten trips to Woodstock and Minnewaska and Mohonk. I have cooked with him and tramped with him and taken colored pictures with him. I have tried to tell his story as well as that of the Council, and I trust I have succeeded in doing both.

The statistical matter has not to my knowledge been heretofore tabulated and will bear close study, because it shows what we have done and how well we have done it, in cold figures. It has lessons we do well to heed, as for instance, in the registrations at Wauwepex. Only by looking back at the record may we see our shortcomings as well as our successes. With charts and figures as our guides we can improve upon an already splendid accomplishment. We can make a good record better as we write it in the future years. I have included the tragedies of Scouting for they too are history, unpleasant as they may be.

I here acknowledge and commend the fine work done by Miss Wilma Greitag as office manager, whose records are most complete and splendidly kept. In obtaining necessary statistics and checking the facts these records were found invaluable in their detail and completeness. I also acknowledge the work of Mrs. Grace Walther nee Bach, and the other girls of the office for their excellent typographical work. In a sense this is a "home made history."

I hope my readers will enjoy this history as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I have learned many things worth knowing. I would like to have it said of me as was said of A. Barton Hepburn, the banker, "What he wrote he knew." I know Scouting in Nassau, not as Chief Covey knows it, but first as an observer and now as an historian.

William H. Kniffin
September 1954

Chapter One

Scouting Begins in Nassau

F. Howard Covey was born in Moravia, New York, on March 5, 1883. He went to the public schools up to the first year high. He then went to Casonovia Seminary, a Methodist Co-ed school. Here he finished his high school training. He came to New York in 1904 and went to Columbia University Teachers College. Here he took manual training and physical education. During his Columbia years, he earned his tuition and board by doing settlement work at Spring Street Neighborhood House and Christodora House on the East Side. He took a job in the credit department of the Hungerford Brass and Copper Co. and became first assistant credit man. His work at Christodora House resulted in meeting Josephine England of  Utica. Subsequently he married here. They have one son, Lane.

He left his credit job for a position in manual training and physical education at the Staten Island Academy for two years. After two years he became teacher  in the industrial education branch of the Lexington School for the Deaf at 94 Lexington Avenue, New York City. While teaching in this school he and Mrs. Covey operated a boys camp for eight years. It  is here that he received his first practical training in running a camp, which has stood him so well in the operation of  Camp Wauwepex.

Some time in 1915 a group of boys went to his house in Great Neck one evening and asked him to become their Scoutmaster. Mr. Covey at the time knew nothing about Scouting. He went to National Headquarters at 200 Fifth Avenue, New York City,  where he received his first introduction to Scouting. The Troop was organized as Troop 1 of Great Neck and later became Troop 10 of Great Neck. It is still in existence. Seeing the possibilities of organizing a Council in Nassau County he called a group of men around him and among them was Theodore Roosevelt. A Charter was granted on February 20, 1917 and Covey was made Scout Executive which office and title he has enjoyed for thirty years. Theodore Roosevelt was made Scout Commissioner and with his usual vigor he plunged into the work as the record shows. His letters and speeches testify to his immediate acceptance of Scouting as a character builder and developer of citizenship for which he so ardently stood. Roosevelt remained on the Council from 1917 and 1919.

In 1917, during World War I, the Army and Navy asked Covey to organize recreational facilities for service men on leave. He instituted such facilities to take care of men in Nassau and Queens Counties. He built a swimming pool at Camp Mills, and erected dormitories and club houses. He arranged bathing facilities at the beaches and entertainment in private homes over week ends and at other times. He decided to go overseas and was given a commission as First Lieutenant, Quartermaster Corps. He passed another examination and was given a rating as Captain. He never sailed. He is Past Master of Paumanok Lodge, F.&A.M., Great Neck;  Past District Deputy Grand Master of Masons, Nassau County;  Rotarian; and Past President, Nassau County Grand Jurors’ Association.

The writer of this history is a firm believer in the doctrine that little things can lead to great events. The course of history has been turned by trivial incidents. Just so in the case of  Mr. Covey. The visit of those boys in Great Neck may have and quite likely was a turning point in his life. It lead him directly into Scouting. He might and probably would have gone into Scouting some time; but the boys’ visit was the little event that had lasting and important consequences in so far as Scouting in Nassau County is concerned. It would seem that there was a Divinity that shaped our end in that simple visit of  boys to man.

               *    *    *

THEODORE ROOSEVELT - Nassau’s First Scout Commissioner

Judged by ethical as well as political standards, Theodore Roosevelt was for many years the outstanding citizen of Nassau County. He exemplified all that Scouting stands for. He was an outdoorsman. He was interested in boys and has several sons of his own. He was a “family man” as his letters to his sons will testify. He was a leader. Whatever he did he threw himself into with vigor. It was but natural that when Chief Covey began his work in Scouting in Nassau he should endeavor to enlist the support of Col. Roosevelt, as well as other prominent men. Getting his endorsement and support meant much to the success of the Movement. He was, therefore, elected as the First Scout Commissioner for Nassau County. He had been “Honorary President” of the Boy Scouts of America while in the White House, and Troop Committeeman of Troop 39, Oyster Bay. There is reproduced elsewhere a letter from him endorsing the Movement and promising his help. There is also printed the address he made to the Scouts when he presented to them their awards for selling Liberty Bonds. There will be found in his speech of November 17, 1917 the word “bully” which is now the Scout evidence of approval. Presumably it came from him.

At the Council Ring at Wauwepex there is a vacant  space alongside Chief Covey’s seat that is always vacant. This is reserved forever for the spirit of  Theodore Roosevelt. Unquestionably he gave Scouting an impetus and a push that it needed at the time.  A man of his temperament and vigor could do nothing less. The Scouts of Nassau County have recognized Mr. Roosevelt’s early work in their yearly pilgrimage to his grave. May I say here that I have attended many of these pilgrimages. I have wondered what there was about this man that he should be honored and remembered thus. It  is hard to define just what it is. Other men have been outstanding Americans; other men have been writers and speakers and editors; other men have been big game hunters; other men have marched up San Juan Hill; other men have been Presidents of the United States. But there has been but one “Teddy Roosevelt” in all our history. It  must be a combination of all these qualities that  has made him, with Lincoln, one of our immortals. His patriotism was of the highest type. When Teddy, Junior, died in service on the other side I wrote his sister that he came from the “fightingest family of America,” and that was true. Wherever there has been a scrap, the Oyster Bay Roosevelt’s have been in the thick of the fight and they have acquitted themselves with honor. Quentin lies where he fell in World War I, and Teddy, Junior, lies where he fell in World War II. The Colonel lies in historic Young’s Cemetery at Oyster Bay, a shrine for millions of Americans who go there, not out of curiosity, but to pay reverence to a man we all have loved and admired even though we may have disagreed with him in some things. His honor and uprightness are unquestioned and he lives in the hearts of America even though his grave is no more pretentious then that of thousands of other Americans who lie in sacred resting places of the dead.

 *    *    *

THE COUNCIL SUSPENDS

The Council had hardly begun to function before it suspended in September, 1919, for lack of funds. It reorganized January 5, 1920. During the suspension the Council lost 222 boys, and no new Troops were formed.

The following Troops were then (January 5, 1920) in the process of reregistering and reorganizing:

*Troops were then numbered by villages using consecutive numbers in that village.

The reorganized Executive Board was:

Byron C. Gould, Port Washington
George O. Linkletter, Manhasset
Henry M. Earle, Old Westbury
Ralph Peters, Garden City
R. H. Boggs, Rockville Centre
John W. Gross, Rockville Centre
Abraham Adleberg, Cedarhurst
William S. Pettit, Woodmere
Edward H. Floyd-Jones, Massapequa
Smith F. Pearsall, Freeport
Robert Seaman, Hicksville
H. S. Parsons, Glen Cove
Jesse D. Partridge, Glen Cove
Harry L. Hedger, Glen Cove
John F. Bermingham, Oyster Bay
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Oyster Bay - Commissioner (Honorary)

*    *    *

MONEY RAISING CAMPAIGNS

My first experience with money raising campaigns, aside from Liberty Bond Campaigns in World War I, was in connection with the fund raising campaign around 1917 on behalf of the Nassau Hospital at Mineola. I distinctly remember the opening luncheon and those that followed. To dine in such a well known and “swanky” hotel as the Garden City Hotel was an experience in itself. To dine “on the campaign” was enticing. I remember nothing of quotas or the setup, but I do remember the bevy of girls that stopped automobiles on the Merrick Road in Rockville Centre and put a little box in front of the occupants and pleaded for help. The slogan was “you may need a hospital some day—please help us build it.” That is what the beautiful girls told the drivers; but little did they know how true their slogan would be in later years. I do not like this method of money raising although it is prevalent everywhere in some form.

I also remember during the early years of my association with the Nassau County Council, Boy Scouts taking a handful of cards selected from the telephone book and handing them around a circle for solicitation purposes. I have had much experience since that time in raising money by public appeal, and as a business this has grown into big business and as a science it has matured. It is no longer guess work and a random appeal. It is planned to the last fine point. The story of mankind is the quest for food; the story of Nassau County Council is the quest for money.

HOW A MONEY CAMPAIGN IS RUN

The work of raising money from the public for any cause whatsoever is so standardized that what works in Nassau County  will work in the Middle West or on the Coast. The approach is almost scientific today. It was not in former years. This is the process:

1.    Of course there must be a cause - a church, a camp, a hospital, or an organization, or a group of organizations such as the Community Chest that makes an appeal. Some think the Chest is the ideal way. It is good to have a worthy cause; it is better to have something definite to sell to the public and which visualizes the need for the campaign - a hospital for instance. 

2.    There must be a money objective - the sum to be raised, giving of course heed to shrinkage in collection. It was formerly the practice, and in which the Nassau County Council concurred, to obtain pledges payable over a term of years with some “cash on the barrel head.” People were more willing to sign pledges than they were to dip down in their pockets and give outright. Pledges is the easiest way but not the best. It will turn in more money and take less effort, but the follow-up is costly and there is always a shrinkage in making collections. This shrinkage depends upon how much high pressure work was done in getting the pledges signed. In the Nassau County Council we formerly had many pledges, but of late years we have had practically none, although in many campaigns of today the pledge idea is still used.

3.    There must, of course, be leadership in the money raising effort. This is provided by professional money raisers who work on a percentage or fee basis, the flat fee being based upon the number of man days used in the campaign. Some firms will work no other way, and their fee comes out of the first moneys received. The percentage plan is not now often used. In Nassau for the past five years we have managed our own campaigns.

4.    There must be a general chairman and a vice chairman. The former is usually selected to give dignity and distinction to the effort and the one selected must give it these attributes.

5.    The territory is divided into zones or areas or villages, etc.—any division that can be identified and given boundary lines. Some campaigns in the large cities are run on the basis of industries and not by territories. Thus in New York there will be the insurance group, the textiles, the banking and finance, the lawyers, etc.

6.    We will not need chairmen of the various districts or industries.

7.    Under the chairman will be teams with team captains.

8.    The canvassing may be by streets or blocks or by direct name approach. These names are obtained from various lists that may be purchased from concerns specializing in the names or taken from telephone directories or voting lists. At any rate the workers had best be given names of the people they are to visit and not go blindly at it.

9.    Meanwhile literature has been prepared and given to the canvassers or sent by mail to prospects. Newspapers, radio and the mails are used freely to build up public interest. There must be this interest and “ballyhoo” if the campaign is to go over. It is a necessary evil.

10.  Quotas have been assigned to the various districts or groups and accepted. There are many ways by which these quotas are established and too many ways to go into here. Nassau County-Council Boy Scouts has tried several methods as the years have gone by, but their present method is based on past performances, ability to contribute, and, at least, 35% of the homes should be covered.

11.  Having all these preliminaries taken care of we are prepared to begin the week. There is usually the “kickoff dinners” to which all perspective workers are invited. The cost is part of the campaign expense. They are not cheap affairs. They are costly, I used to think it was a waste of money to have these dinners, but have concluded that they pay.

12.  There is as a rule a “special gifts” committee that begins the job early and is ready with some worthwhile results to give the “kickoff dinner” some thrills. Report dinners are held at frequent intervals where the various team captains or district captains report their results. This generates rivalry amongst the various committees or divisions, and I am persuaded that for every dollar that is thus spent on dinners, ten dollars is returned that might not otherwise come in. Closing dates are usually set, but as a rule the campaign has to be continued until the objective is reached. Some communities will always come through and some will always fail and the good must carry the poor. The ultimate results depend upon local leadership and local workers. Get the right chairman for the community and the job is half done. Get the wrong one and you are licked. The slogan might well be: “Get a little from a lot of people,” but that requires organization and a lot of “foot work.”

*    *    *

HOW NASSAU COUNTY COUNCIL DOES IT

In a long and interesting treatise on the work of the Council, and particularly in a money sense, by Carl Stedman Brown, and found in the minutes of December 1938, he reviews the history of the Council in respect to money raising. He concludes that the job cannot be done by the Executive acting as Campaign Manager and Chief Executive at the same time. He concludes that the hiring of professional help is the only way and recommends the hiring of Pierce and Nedrick to do the job for the 1939 campaign. Their fee was $3,200 and the incidental costs were comparably the same. They raised $45,000 from 9,062 contributors. Subsequently, however, the Council came to the conclusion that we could do the job ourselves and since 1942 we have dispensed with the services of campaign managers in a professional sense. The exact cost of this work cannot be known because of the overlapping of time and just what its costs us to raise a dollar we do not now exactly know.

Edward S. Harkness, the philanthropist, who gave us the 34 acres of land now called “Harkness,” in sending his check for $500 said that he would not further contribute unless we had the books audited by recognized auditors (which has been done yearly) and kept the cost of raising money down to 12 per cent.

For many years, as already stated, the Nassau County Council put on their campaigns by professionals. The cost ran about ten per cent of the amount raised. It was a spasmodic and not a yearly affair. It was an intensive effort. Some five years ago it was decided that we could do the job with our own people. There had been assembled over the years the names of thousands of contributors from all over the county. We, of course, had our roster of Scout men. We had long experience looking on, as it were. Now we were to be on our own. The card indexes had been the heart of this effort. As soon as one campaign is closed—and they have been moved up from along in May to early in the year—work begins on the lists for the following year. The new cards are prepared alphabetically by communities. The card contains the name and address of the contributor, amount given in the past two years or so, and who obtained the subscription. A list of these names is prepared in the duplicate for the local chairman. The spade work is, therefore, done long in advance of the opening of the campaign. Some 10,000 of these cards are ready, when the kickoff meeting is held.

We follow the standard pattern of choosing chairman, setting up an objective, etc.  In making the quotas, we formerly used various methods of determining how much a certain locality should be asked to raise. In later years we have past performances as a guide, together with population, number of Scouts, reputed wealth, etc. In this experience we have learned valuable lessons. For instance, while others will turn in fewer but in average.

Some places are “problem children” and others are as dependable as the clock. I have had charge of the auditing of these returns for many years and have done so much of the work myself that I can tell what to expect, without opening the envelopes, by looking at the name of the village. For instance, a lot of small coins will have a definite meaning to me, while another village will turn in almost all checks. I know before the campaign begins that certain communities will not come through because they never have, and I discount their quote for this reason.

Following the accepted pattern, the county now works by campaign districts which are the same as the county scout setup at present. There is a finance chairman selected for each district of which there are seven, and sub-chairman representing the various villages in the district. Reports are made to the district finance chairman (who may be a temporary appointment) who reports at the campaign report meetings.

The kickoff dinners have been held at the Bar Association for several years and also the weekly report meetings.

Chief Covey has been officially campaign manager since 1942, and the detailed administration and conduct of the office has been the work of Wilma Freitag.

*     *     *

COMMUNITY CHEST

There are three Community Chests in Nassau County. For the benefit of those who do not know, a Community Chest is a consolidation of money raising effort that includes most of the public service organizations such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other organizations that are engaged in public welfare work. It does not include churches, lodges, or fraternal bodies such as Masons, Police and Fire Department organizations. It confines its work to non-sectarian, non-political bodies and excludes such groups as Chambers of Commerce and like bodies. The Red Cross has never gone into the Community Chests, preferring to control their own finances. When a Chest is set up in a community, the general rule is that solicitation of money from the public is not allowed except within the limits of a church or other organization. That is, a group may solicit from its membership but not from the public at large. Otherwise the purpose of the Chest is destroyed, which is to make one campaign cover many activities.

The bodies that are admitted into the Chest submit their budgets to the Chest and, after being approved by the Chest, the money is practically guaranteed without further effort. The Chest puts on its yearly drive with great skill and covers the territory adequately. It does its job surprisingly well because it has a definite plan, a definite organization, and does not have to do a lot of spade work every year. Once the setup is perfected it needs only the routine work to start the machinery in motion.

In raising money for Scouting, the question has had to be answered whether to put on an independent campaign with the consent of the Chest or go into the Chest and let the Chest do the work. An individual campaign would entail expense and a lot of hard work and might conceivably produce more in money; at the same time it might not. There would be overlapping of effort and confusion in the minds of the public, and it has been found better to accept a certainty with less than to go out for more and perhaps fail. It has not always been easy to convince the Chest officials that their allotment to Scouting should be liberal. We have had to justify our request by results. We have had to sell Scouting to them as well as to the public. On the other hand the Chest has found Scouting a stimulant in producing results. The Chest has been easier to put over because it included the Scouts than it would have been otherwise. We are now members of the three Chests in Nassau—the “Five Town” which allots $6,000; the Glen Cove which gives $3,000; and the Manhasset which allots $6,000.

Our experience with the Chest has been eminently successful. We have had our periods of dispute. We have been on the spot in justifying what we asked for, but we now have the certainty that the Chest can be depended upon for the amount agreed upon, and thus we have the amounts underwritten for us at no expense and no effort.

The writer of this story has been through a great many campaigns. He has been through practically all the Nassau County Scout Campaigns. If ever a Movement “clicked,” it was when the campaign for Camp Wauwepex was on. The money came pouring in from all sides. So much so that a special corps of girls was put on by the Bank of Rockville Centre Trust Company to handle the money and pledges that came in in a golden stream. The cash receipts and pledges amounted to $238,000 against an objective of $231,262.

I have never had a more satisfying-money raising effort, except perhaps the War Loan Drives in Rockville Centre and the sale of War Bonds at Belmont Park, both of which were successes comparable with the buying of Camp Wauwepex.

*    *     *

KICKBACKS

In the raising of money in Nassau and among the various villages, it was thought to be easier to enlist support if the various Units could retain part of the moneys they collected. Every community was given a quota in each campaign which they had to raise. Whatever they raised in addition was split 50-50. This is called the “kickback” and this is the money that has kept the various communities in funds to promote Scouting in their area. It was in incentive to raise the quota and more; but the idea did not have National approval, the National policy being that each Institution take care of its own Unit. In Nassau the “kickback” idea produced good results, although it was a source of discussion for years. In 1946 the idea was abandoned and “kickbacks” no longer allowed. The districts now submit a budget of their needs each year and when approved, the County Council becomes responsible for the accepted budget. It has taken time to get away from the old idea and into the new, but the new process is now working out very  well.

*    *    *

Chapter Two

We Buy Camp Wauwepex

The heart of the Nassau County Council is, of course, the Camp. It was named “Camp Wauwepex” in 1921 by Chief Covey. It is reported on the maps as “Deep Pond.” The six hundred acres and the lake were owned by William K. Vanderbilt and Harry Payne Whitney, and the story is that they bought the property as a terminus of the Motor Parkway where the old time auto races were held back in the “gay nineties.” It is ideally situated for a Scout Camp. The soil is sandy; the water, as already stated is pure; and the terrain, rolling hills. The Council Ring, scene of the Friday night Council Fires and the Sunday “Church Services,” could not have been better placed or better arranged had it been made to order. The center of attraction is, of course, the lake. That is always true of any place. The hurricane of 1938 blew down some good trees, but today their loss is not noticeable.

Vanderbilt and Whitney allowed the Council to use the property for camping at $1 a year from 1922 to 1926 when the Council bought the property for $180,000. There was no agreement as to how long the arrangement would last. Because of the uncertainty, the Council did not feel warranted in spending more than was absolutely necessary in the way of improvements while it was a tenancy. The water supply at first came from a pump on the beach (an ideal bathing beach now with substantial docks) and a pump in the kitchen. Cooking was done on an old fashioned camp cook stove which burned wood. For years the boys used mess kits and “washed up” after meals by dipping the kits into a tub of hot, soapy water on the beach over an open fire and rinsing in another tub of hot water. At first there were no platforms for the tents. These came later. Chief Covey’s headquarters was in a tent also. The next move was into what is now “The Green Shack.” Then a cabin was build on the knoll near the lower mess hall. Finally, the present and usable cabin was set up near the Upper Mess Hall.

Camping in those early days was camping indeed. It is my judgment that the boys really enjoyed it more than they have in later years when the Camp grew up and lost some of its primitive aspects. The food was simple but good.

Came the time (1926) when Vanderbilt and Whitney laid down the ultimatum to either buy the property or vacate. The place had become such an integral part of the Council’s work and it had so enamored itself to the men and boys that to abandon it would have been a tragedy. Chief Covey and others visited every available camp site on Long Island and concluded that there was nothing better or even half as good as this spot, and, after due consideration, it was decided to buy the property at $300 an acre—an investment of about $180,000.

Here was a challenge to the Council and to the people of Nassau County. The timing was perfect. We were in the Coolidge prosperity. To be sure the people were not by any means making the money they made during World War II or even at the present time, but prosperity was in the air. The stock market was boiling and the people were buying their heads off in blissful ignorance of the coming storm of 1929. The Council had no money to lay down, not even the binder of $100. Troop 21 of Woodmere with Charlie Hewlett as its Scoutmaster came forward with this amount and the option was secured on May 13, 1926. Looking back, as I now do, I wonder how the Council ever had the courage to undertake so huge a task. To be sure there was something to sell to the public - a camp site that many had seen. There was a boy movement that had been successful. Prominent men were in it and behind it. The big problem was to organize the County and to go out and ring the door bells. After some negotiation, the firm of Ward, Wells, Dreshmen and Gates, professional money raisers, were engaged to conduct the campaign. Mr. Berry Burgess was directly in charge of the work. The Board of Governors then was composed of Dow H. Fonda, E. C. Smith, B. M. Asch, W. H. Kniffin, W. J. Morley, F. H. Meeker, F. S. Staats, C. Arthur Sambleson, M. L. Schiff, F. L. Hayes, W. H. Eaton,  C. S. Brown, Willard Waters, A. Z. Gray.

In the Nassau Scouter of  July 1923 I wrote:

“An Appraisal of the financial position of a business concern resolves itself into an estimate of its net worth, taking also into consideration that important item “good will.” To properly make this estimate requires experience and the ability to interpret figures. Relatively few people are able to do this in fairness to the concern under review.

If we were to peruse the annual audited statement of the condition of the Nassau County Council, Boy Scouts, we might read into it little or much, depending upon how familiar we are with what is really going on. To me the statement means much more than a few columns of figures which balance assets and liabilities. There must be read into the summation many unseen factors which cannot be set down in dollars and cents.

Behind these few figures and written large into the financial statement is the good will of these thousands who so generously made our present financial position possible. Some did a little; others did a lot. But whether the gift was large or small it carried the same token of approval. Scouting in Nassau has many good friends and many staunch supporters, who year in and year out see to it that the exchequer does not run dry.

In addition to this tangible support we may well include the memories of the hundreds of boys who have spent their summers in the woods of Camp Wauwepex, which memories will last for all time. This has been literally time in hundreds of cases. Many of these boys have come back to Wauwepex to review old times and renew acquaintances.

It is given to youth to have a long memory. The scenes and incidents of school days are the more lasting of all. Many good times there have been around the shores of our lake and many lasting friendships have there been cemented. It is almost a hallowed spot. I can well imagine that as the boys grew up and look back upon their Scouting days, there will stand out clear and sharp the Friday night Council Fires, the “chow times,” the games, the trips, the swims. And as these boys become men of business, these memories will be transformed into good will that will carry on for the benefit of those who come after. Who can adequately appraise the good will, present and potential, which we enjoy and who shall set a value upon it? It is our hope for future accomplishments, as it has been our guiding star of past achievement.”

On November 19, 1926, we bought Camp Wauwepex consisting of approximately 600 acres for $300, per acre, making the purchase price $179,054.70. The terms were $50,000 on the signing of the deed and the balance on the purchase money mortgage. The $50,000 check dated July 28, 1926 and signed by W. H. Baten, Treasurer, is held in the Council Offices as one of the valuable souvenirs of those days. The campaign was then under way which resulted in cash and pledges amounting to over $235,000 for the purpose of purchasing the camp and operating the Council for approximately two years. The mortgage was subsequently reduced to $49,000. At which point it was taken over by the Bank of Rockville Center Trust Company on June 2, 1932. Later, the mortgage was reduced to $45,000. As a gift in memory of Mortimer L. Schiff, the mortgage was paid off by his wife Mrs. Mortimer L. Schiff; his daughter, Dorothy Schiff Hall; and his son John M. Schiff. With appreciate and impressive ceremonies, the mortgage was burned on August 14, 1932, in what is now the parade ground of Camp. In appreciate of this splendid gift, the Scouts themselves created a permanent monument to Mortimer L. Schiff which forms the base of the flag staff and placed thereon a suitable table which reads:

“Erected by the Boy Scouts
of Nassau County, New York
in memory of
Mortimer L. Schiff
whose wise counsel and generous gifts so greatly
aided them in securing for this permanent
Camp Wauwepex

President Boy Scouts of America
May 6 to June 4, 1931
Director Nassau County Council
January 1, 1920 to February 3, 1930”

 That gave us a free and clear “net worth” of a quarter of a million. Financially we had “arrived” but still had to “pass the hat” every year, and borrow on unsecured notes of a bank that thought Nassau County Council a good credit risk. Be it said to the Council’s credit that in all the years the Council had to borrow of this bank there was never a single criticism or even a comment on the part of the bank examiners regarding the soundness of these loans. That in itself is worthy of recording in this history.

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CAMP WAUWEPEX - A TRIBUTE

If the Great Architect of the Universe had been asked, while he was building this world of ours, to build a site that would answer for a Boy Scout Camp in future years, he could not have done a better job than was done down Wading River  way. Here amidst some 600 acres of rolling country, heavily wooded, will be found Nassau County’s Boy Scout Camp - Camp Wauwepex. Wauwepex is an Indian name given to a spring situated on the west side of Cold Spring Harbor near Sagamore Hill. In Indian language , Wauwepex means “a place of good water.” Here, like a gem, the lake lies in the center, surrounded by tree-lined and sloping shores, a sandy beach or two, ideal for bathing, and water that is crystal pure. The lake is large enough for the enjoyment of 500 boys, and yet small enough to hold its intimacy. It is deep enough to afford heavy feeding grounds for the bass and the pickerel and the lowly bullhead. There is good fishing here. There is not a cent of debt on this camp side, valued with its 20 buildings at more than a quarter of a million dollars. No serious accident has ever taken place on or in the water, and only one on land. The swimming and boating regulations are perfect. As now set up, the Camp accommodates 300 boys. This is what  we bought in 1926.

Hard by the lake in a perfectly natural amphitheater is the Council Ring with its seats build of “soul stones” - stones brought by those in attendance at a camp fire for the first time and laid around the Council Fire.  There are thousands of these stones set in concrete. Here every Friday night the Scouts build their fire by friction and conduct their Council in true Indian fashion. They do not imitate the American Indian, they follow his traditions. In winter’s cold as well as summer’s heat, there is something to this place “that draws you to it and then won’t let you go.” Thousands of boys and men have found this to be true. Here camping never stops. For seven weeks in summer the Camp is in full blast; every week and the year round the various buildings are in use by smaller groups. I have been at Camp with the thermometer below zero and have been comfortable, and I have sat on chief Covey’s porch with the thermometer at 96 and have not been uncomfortable. I have seen it in all its needs. Come down to a Council Fire some Friday night and see how they do it. But I warn you that in the closing ceremony when the boys circle the fire with arms around each other’s shoulders and the bugle blows “taps” which are echoed across the lake, you will feel a solemnity and an awe that you will really experience and never forget.

The outstanding event of the thirty years this history covers was, of course, the purchase of Camp Wauwepex at Wading River. During the summer of 1921, it is impossible to secure the present camp site so that Camp Wauwepex was operated for one season at Miller Place, Long Island, some nine miles distant, after which the Council was able to lease the present camp site until purchased in 1926.

THE COURAGEOUS FIFTEEN

It took a lot of courage on the part of the Board of Directors at the time the camp site was contracted for (1926) to undertake so pretentious a real estate transaction. There was no rich man who guaranteed to see the project through. There was no Santa Claus with a basketful of money to pay the bill. He (Santa) did however appear before the transaction was completed and proved our real benefactor, but no one but he knew what he had in mind until he did it. Whether or not the public would respond to the appeal for such an imposing sum of money was problematic. Just what the terms of sale would be only a few knew. What we would do if the campaign failed was debatable. This was no “dollar down” affair, for it required the full payment of $180,000, a large sum at any time whatever way you look at it. Looking back upon these crucial days, the wonder is we did so well. There were but two men of wealth on the Board; otherwise they were just business men. But they had the courage of their convictions and their convictions were that we should buy the Camp and trust to luck or kind Providence to pay for it.  It was a bold undertaking. These men well deserve the plaudits of their fellows after all these years, because had they not had vision and courage, the Camp would never have been our own.

Here they are:

                       Carl Stedman Brown,  Baldwin
                       F. S. Staats,  Seaford
                       Dr. E. C. Smith,  Woodmere
                       Albert Z. Gray,  Old Westbury
                       Frank H. Meeker,  Mineola
                       Fred L. Hayes,  Port Washington
                       Willard G. Waters,  Baldwin
                        William J. Morley,  Locust Valley
                        William H. Kniffin,  Rockville Centre
                        Mortimer L. Schiff,  Oyster Bay
                        W. H. Baten,  Garden City
                        C. A. Sambleson,  Hempstead
                        F. Howard Covey,  Great Neck
                        Dow H. Fonda,  Plandome
                        B. H. Asch,  Freeport

*    *    *

Chapter Three

Financing The Council

Up to the time of the Big Campaign in 1926 for the Camp and running expenses, which resulted in pledges of $285,000, the funds to support the Council were raised by no definite plan of campaign such as we know it now. Quotas were allotted to various communities and the task assigned to the Scout leaders in the respective communities was to raise the quotas. By one process or another, frequent borrowings, gifts of wealthy men and other means, the Council was kept alive, but the sledding was “tough.” The budget was from $1,000 to $1,500 a month up to 1925. In 1926 the big drive was put on under the direction of Ward, Wells, Dreshman and Gates. Up to November 30, 1927 it was reported that $188,986.04 had been collected. $79,336 was still due on the original pledges. On February 29, 1928 the unpaid pledge amounts were $75,015.96.

These collections carried over until 1931 when a campaign was put on for $100,000. This resulted in pledges of $105,082.57 as reported September 1, 1931 of which $64,476.28 was collected up to that time. There were no yearly campaigns, more or less complete in themselves conducted, as now prevail. The carry over from previous campaigns, together with borrowings from banks in anticipation of campaign money coming in, kept the Council in funds. From 1933 on, a yearly campaign was instituted and with an objective large enough to carry the Council for the current year. Because of all this overlapping, the Council did not get on a pay-as-you-go plan until 1945 when all bills were reported paid, no loans outstanding, and money in the bank. The results of the campaigns from 1920 on are herewith given.

*    *     *

WE BORROW SOME MONEY

In 1925, the Council needed $2,500. The following members of the Board guaranteed payment of the note, but limited their liability (as they should have) to $200 per man.  The following men endorsed the note:

                                    Carl Stedman Brown                Dow H. Fonda
                                    William J. Russell                      Dr. Edward C. Smith
                                    F. H. Meeker                           F. S. Staats
                                    William J. Morley                     W. H. Eaton
                                    Benjamin M. Asch                    Fred L. Hayes
                                    Albert Z. Gray                         William H. Kniffin

This procedure was more or less common in the early days, but no man ever had to make good his endorsement.

For another private loan see “Gleanings from the record.”

*    *    *

THREE BIG EVENTS OF THE YEAR

The three big events of the Scout Year are (but not in the order of their importance)

First: The Campaign to raise the budget. This work begins in the fall with the preparation of the work lists which is purely an office job. From late fall until late spring and often early fall the campaign engages the time and attention of the organization to a large degree. As a general statement it may be said that this work never stops. Just how much of time and money is involved cannot be known because the allotment of time cannot be accurate unless the time is full time and not incidental to other duties such as is the case with Chief Covey, his Assistant Executives and the top office girls. The exact cost of raising the money cannot be known because of these unknown factors. If all the time of all the paid employees were accurately calculated it may be it costs more than professional supervisors: but at least the work is standardized and efficiently done, but the cost what it may. This avoids beginning at the scratch every year. If we add the foregoing costs the incalculable time of volunteer workers, the money raising effort would run into very large figures.

Second: The summer Camp which begins on the Saturday after July 4^th and runs seven weeks. The Camp is reviewed elsewhere in this document; but it is the event of the year that entails less preparation and less executive procedure than the money raising campaign. The Camp is used throughout the year for small Scout groups and at times every facility is in use. Reservations are as a rule made for several months in advance. The need at present is for more cabins for short-term Troop camping. Several such cabins are now in prospect.

Third: The Scout Congress held in the late fall. This began in 1927 under the era of William J. Piel and has been a yearly event ever since. It is largely attended and eminently worth while in every respect.

*    *    *

WE CATCH UP WITH THE CALENDAR

A reading of the minutes over the years clearly indicates that the problems and perplexities which faced the Council every year, and as a rule most of the year, were financial. There was a time lag between the campaign and the necessary outlays for running expenses. The Council was, as a rule, about six months behind itself. There was nothing left but to borrow, on the best terms obtainable, enough money to carry on. The campaigns were held, as a rule, in April, May and June, but often ran into the fall before the work was really completed. There hardly ever was a surplus over the objective. The Council went out for the amount necessary to operate for a year and that is about all it ever could raise. It was highly desirable that we catch up and build up a backlog or surplus that would carry on the work without borrowing. With a backlog of, say $25,000, in the bank as of the first of the year, and a campaign due, this surplus would carry over until the campaign money came in. That very desirable condition was, after many long years, finally achieved in 1943 when the year ended with a balance of $1,037.44 and all bills paid. That was not much, but it was a good omen. We closed the year 1945 with the balance of $30,529.02. We were then not only on a pay-as-you-go basis, but with a nest egg that made pleasant news for those who read, and pleasant sailing for those who had administered the Council in its finances over the long years from its inception until it got on its feet and could walk alone. That was a goal eminently to be desired and an end devoutly to be sought, and finally it was achieved.

*    *     *

THEN AND NOW - A CONTRAST

From a condition such as existed in March 1926 when there was only $40 in the bank and none in sight, the Scout Executive’s pay two months overdue, also the pay of the Assistant Executive, to a condition where there was money enough in the bank to carry on until the yearly campaign began to produce results, and all salaries and all bills were paid “on the button,” is a far cry; but, that is the difference between 1926 and 1947.

Only those who have lived with the Council year by year can be familiar with the magnitude of the work of “keeping the ship in the water and the water out of the ship,” which may be said to be the essence of Scouting as well as of navigation. A campaign such as we now carry on every year costs thousand of hours of work and thousands of dollars in money. One campaign is hardly over before work on the next campaign begins. The money raising efforts in the early days were tragic, if not amusing, but very real to those who went through those trying experiences. On September 30, 1919, the Council suspended for lack of funds, as already stated. (It was reorganized January 5, 1920.) Here we were with a budget of a thousand dollars a month - a large sum in those days - and no definite plan of meeting the budget. There was only hope and courage and wishful thinking, plus a friendly bank that had faith enough in the Movement to lend the Council a few thousand dollars until the next campaign was under way, provided “a dozen men signed an agreement to guarantee the payment of the loan.” This they did repeatedly as is recorded in the minutes of several meetings.

After working on such personal guarantees of loans for several years, there was found a bank that had faith in the Scout Movement and which eventually loaned the Council as high as $35,000 on his own credit.

THE GOLDEN YEARS

Between the years 1926 and 1930, practically all the buildings that now constitute Camp Wauwepex were built. The exceptions are the Lower Mess Hall, the Green Shack, and the Boat House. It  would seem that the impetus that was given the Camp through its purchase in 1926 carried on for several years. There were 2,059 Scouts in 24 Troops when the Camp was bought. Men of wealth came into the picture and contributed substantially to the Camp in the way of much needed buildings. That was, as elsewhere stated, the era of the “Coolidge prosperity”. Men were making money in business and in Wall Street. Business was good. Taxes, in comparison with those of today, were comparatively light. At least they were not confiscatory. In spite of the higher costs that followed World War I, men had a surplus of income and they were inclined to spend - not particularly to cut down taxes, but rather for the sheer joy of giving. It is doubtful if even in the era of World War II, with all its spendings, we could have done a better job or even as good in the way of raising money as we did in 1926. These were in truth the years of the “Golden Glow of Scouting” in Nassau.

Since that time, there has been put into the budget from time to time allocations for much needed buildings, particularly a storage building to house the tents, stoves, cots, rowboats, tools of all kinds, etc. over the winter. For reasons not now apparent, these buildings have never become realities. Perhaps, it was because we thought  we could not yet afford the expense. The campaigns have, as a rule, reached their objectives, but not so much so as to warrant liberal spending for capital improvements. We have now accumulated a backlog of some $11,256.77, but it has never been thought wise to use this for building purposes, in the fear that some day a campaign would not raise the operating budget, and we would have to fall back upon our savings. In short, the Camp is today approximately in the same as it was in 1930 when the “golden glow” faded out. Nothing of great consequence in capital improvements has been done since 1931 when the Caretaker’s home was built, and 1938 when the Administration Building was built, except to keep the buildings in repair. We have spent money chiefly on the dock, for new cooking stoves and refrigerators, but not much else otherwise. There is needed today, as aforesaid, a new storage building, new rowboats and canoes, and eradication of soil erosion around the shores of the lake - badly needed and absolutely necessary if the beauty of the lake is to be preserved. The latter is mandatory. I here set down the capital improvements that have taken place in the years mentioned - 1926 to 1948;

Electricity, telephone (1929) and water system (1937) installed.
*Administration Building 1938 - cost $1,000.
*Caretaker’s Home 1931 - cost $4,328.
Upper Mess Hall - the most pretentious building in Camp and in many respects the most used - a gift -1929 cost $10,646.14.
The Hospital - 1929 - a gift - cost $1,800.
The Craft Lodge - formerly a tent - a gift - 1929 - cost $3,000.
The Museum - 1929 - a gift -cost $2,000.
Sagamore Lodge - 1929 - cost $1,200.
*Two Patrol Cabins - 1936 - $600 each.
One Patrol Cabin - 1948 - a gift.
Carl Brown Gateway - 1941 - by small gifts.
Assistant Camp Director’s Cabin
Outpost Mess Hall and Kitchen
2 Adirondack Shelters
67 Tent Platforms 16 ft. x 16 ft.
Shack for Chief - 1932 - (near Lower Mess Hall).
Chief Covey’s Headquarters - 1938 - Moved from lakeside to brow of hill near Upper Mess Hall where it now stands.

*Built at expense of Council.

**In 1948 the fire lanes have been cleared, the road around the lake repaired and the erosion checked.

WALL STREET DID NOT GET THIS

In reading the minutes for 1929, I came across a resolution thanking a certain gentleman for his gift of one of the substantial buildings at Camp Wauwepex. Those were the heydays of prosperity in this country, when everything was riding “high, wide and handsome.” The stock market was soothing and business was good and the Coolidge prosperity  was still running strong. I have lost track of this man; but as I look at this building often, I am tempted to say: “Well, old man, here is one thing that did not get away from you. Wall Street never got its hand on this. You tacked this one thing down for all time. It has blessed the boys of Nassau, yet, even us grownups, lo these many years, and your  benefaction lives on even though your other money may have melted away into a dim shadow.” The moral: If you build for the future, you can perpetuate yourself if you put some of your wealth into brick and mortar or even logs and fireplaces. These things live long after the money of the master has been lost.  Those were the good old days, brother, very good indeed; good for you and good for us. Go down to Wauwepex some time and see for yourself how what you built in 1929 still carries on in 1947. A great building can, like a great institution, also be the “lengthened shadow of a man.”