The 1940's
A Decade of Service
The wartime decade was one of intense activity for Troop 50.
Both programs were broadened and deepened.
A new direction for Troop 50 began in 1939 when there was a revitalization of the Troop committee under the leadership of such men as Howard Avery and Claire Sawtelle. Claire Sawtelle came to Troop work with deep interest in the outdoors and an unparalleled knowledge of local trails. Howard Avery became Troop 50’s indispensable man. The Abex Corporation engineer was interested in every aspect of the outdoors and came to the Troop with several years of experience working with Rockland County Scouts. He immediately plunged into programs for training both adult leaders and boys in every phase of scouting. He developed innovative signaling and compass hikes. His treasure hunts became legendary annual events. He drew up programs for Troop activities and usually accompanied the boys on their camping and hiking expeditions. He served on the Troop Committee from 1939 to 1977, 38 years, and as institutional representative of the Legion Post and the P.T.A. His passion for photography has preserved for all of us images of many Troop activities of Troop 50 through the years.
The outdoor scouting program during the early 1940’s was impressive. The proposed calendar for all the months of February through September, 1940 called for five overnight hikes, several day hikes including a treasure hunt hike, kite and airplane flying contests, a softball league, a swimming meet and a week at No-Be-Bo-Sco, to say nothing of indoor events and the 20th anniversary celebration. The Troop report for 1945 included seven day hikes, two overnight hikes, a Camporee and a week at No-Be-Bo-Sco. They held many meetings during those years in an outdoor area called Oscobam, which the Troop developed in the woods south of Airmont Road. A great help to the camping program was the offer in 1940 of the use of a tract of woodlands near camp Glen Gray in Oakland by Skip Wrathall, President of the Mahwah Rod and Gun Club. The Troop constructed an Adirondack shelter there which served for many years. When the property passed to Earl E. Heide, he continued to let the Troop use the land which they did for more than forty years.
Council activities continue to be a focus of Troop efforts. The Troop regularly attended District rallies, such as those in Waldwick in 1994, and at Ramsey High School 1946, Camporees, such as those at Sunset Lake, Mahwah in 1941 and the Havemeyer Estate in 1945, and special events such as the “Gold Rush” at Camp Harrison in 1946. The Troop set up a campsite in the middle of town as part of the 1947 national “Round-up” campaign to attract new members. Mahwah also participated actively in the annual fund drives of the Council. Among those who served as local chairman during these years were Arthur Harris, 1942; Frank Young, 1945 and 1947; and Amos Smith, 1946. The 1945 Drive raised $1,157.50--well over its quota of $1,000.
One of the most active figures during these years was William Fisher who began a career of more than 25 years in Mahwah scouting as a member of The Troop Committee in 1939. In 1940 he was named Township commissioner and began an active campaign of expansion of scouting in Mahwah. Expansion began with Cub pack 50, organized in 1940. There had been plans to create a cub unit as early as 1921 when the Ramsey Journal reported “The Juniors trying to organize a Cub Scout Troop.” (6/16/21). Nothing seems to have come of this effort. A junior Scout Troop was organized in 1933 to help younger boys prepare for their Tenderfoot rank test when they became Scouts, but this was not a recognized part of the scouting program. Willis Cheney formally organized the Cub Pack. Willie Fisher, himself very active with Troop 50 for many years recalls that he was a charter member of the Pack, “The Cheneys lived next door to us, and he was looking for recruits, so I went to the first meeting.” Troop 50 contributed money to help get the pack started. Willie Fisher served as a Den Chief in 1944, the first of many to serve in this capacity.
Another troop was created in Mahwah in 1941. There had been some feeling for a long time that Troop 50 was a Cragmere Troop and that there was no place in it for boys from West Mahwah. Troop membership lists do show that most of the members did come from this section and many were connected with the Reformed Church. An article by Gene Kownacki in the Ramsey Journal highlighted this concern:nMen experienced in scouting have made a careful study of conditions in Mahwah and the possibilities which exist for the establishment of a second group of Boy Scouts to supplement the work now being carried out by Troop 50.There has been a crying need for such a program in the so-called “West Mahwah section” which would attract the time and interest of the young people especially those affiliated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Negotiations are being carried on with Mahwah Citizens Club Inc. to take over scouting here, and it is most likely that the organization should welcome such an opportunity to be of service, not only to the boys but to the community itself.
When they inaugurated the new Troop on December 17, 1941, however, it was not the Mahwah Citizens club which sponsored the Troop, but the Mahwah Men’s club, most of whose members were from the Cragmere section. Men like Odgen Hewett, Lindsey MacArthur, Charles Hallembeck and Howard Holman, served on the Club’s sponsoring committee. The troop committee had C. Barnwell Straut as Chairman, Howard MacPherson as Secretary and Treasurer and other prominent Cragmere citizens as members. Henry B. Dalby was the Scoutmaster. Troop 50 took a prominent part in the investiture ceremony. Alice Macarthur (Hazlewood) played the piano. Howard Macpherson recalls that the relationship between the two Troops was excellent, marked by “cooperation and spirit.” Scoutmaster Dalby was an “excellent” leader, enthusiastic and popular with the boys as well as skilled. However, as he soon left, probably to join the service since most of the other leaders left for the same reason, MacPherson was left with the burden of running the Troop himself, especially during 1943. When he left in 1944 to go abroad, the Troop drifted into joint meetings with Troop 50.
Under the leadership of William Fisher, however, it was re-charted in 1945. This time it was under the sponsorship of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. The Scouts were drawn from the West Mahwah section as were the members of the Troop Committee. Joseph Krupinski was the Scoutmaster. The Troop was active for several years in town and council affairs and in service to the community. The VFW Post became active in helping the Troop.
William Fisher helped organize what was Troop 155 in Fardale. In the fall of 1944 many parents in the Fardale section began to meet to plan for the organization of a Troop. Four of them took t6he leadership training course in Allendale: George F. Emerson, Charles Feldman, Marvin Akin and Richard Akin. A clubhouse was set up in the Akin garage and an initial meeting held on November 8, 1944. They held the official inauguration of the Troop on January 19, 1945. Scoutmaster Howard Hussey of Troop 50 and William Fisher, Neighborhood Commissioner, assisted Robert A. Smith of the Council Office in awarding the Tenderfoot badges to the new Scouts. Troop 50 Scout CAlvin Vanderbeck presided over the candle lighting ceremony assisted by Fardale and Troop 50 Scouts. Troop 50 assisted Scoutmaster Richard Akin in several activities during the early days of the Fardale Troop.
World War II saw many opportunities for service to which the Troops of Mahwah responded enthusiastically. The report to the sponsoring organization for the year 1943 mentions serving as messengers for the Office of Civilian Defense, providing victims for first aid practice for air raid drills, distributing pamphlets for the Office of War Information and the Office of Price Administration and poster dispatch bearers for the OWI, working on the salvage campaigns, participation in ceremonies such as Memorial Day and raising and lowering the town flag. The most durable service project begun during the war was the scrap paper drive which the scouts ran until 1988. This was not the Mahwah Scouts’ first wartime paper drive. The Ramsey Journal of July 26, 1917 noted that the scouts of Mahwah and Suffern had been collecting newspapers and magazines “for several years” to help defray part of their camping expenses. The paper continued, “Since the United States has joined the allied forces, the boys have kept busy on this plan and have greatly extended it, their idea being to turn over a large amount of money to the local chapters of the Red Cross.” (7/26/1917). The program was abandoned after the war and not revived until wartime made it necessary again. Troop 50 joined with the Girl Scouts in 1941 to take part in the aluminum scrap drive in July 1941, before America was directly involved in the war. Collections of metals, rags and paper followed, with the scouts helping the Defense Board in the collections. As in the First World War, they contributed most of the proceeds to the Red Cross. At the conclusion of the War on October 1, 1945, the Troop assumed full responsibility for the paper collection under the leadership of District Commissioner William Fisher. They had retained small amounts of money for Troop use during the war years, $17.96 in 1944 for example, but after the war an increasingly larger portion of the money raised went to defray Troop expenses. Part of the paper drive receipts continued to be donated to the Red Cross during the decade.
Howard Avery recalls how difficult keeping the Troop going during these War years was because so many leaders and fathers left for service. He recruited several men from the Brake Shoe to take over leadership roles but mostly only lasted a few months. He pointed out that it would have been impossible to continue the Troop had it not been for the older boys in the Troop. They practically ran the troop without formal adult leadership except for Avery and a few others.
In one other way the decade of the 1940s was unique in Troop 50. Mahwah had its first Eagle Scouts. On February 6th, 1942, Albert Boursalt received his Eagle badge at an impressive ceremony presided over by Council Commissioner T. B. Snow, Judd Kinzley, District Commissioner and William Fisher, Neighborhood Commissioner. Troop Scribe Lee Fisher wrote in the Ramsey Journal, “Mr. Snow gave a short talk on the importance of becoming an Eagle Scout after which he presented the Eagle badge to Mr. Doty, who in turn gave it to Mrs. Boursault to pin on her son…. Mr. Snow presented Albert with a miniature Eagle to pin on his mother.” (2/12/1942). Calvin Vanderbeek received his Eagle at a presentation ceremony on September 25, 1945. It was to be another ten years before Troop 50 had another Eagle award to celebrate, but these were the first of many.
Troop Roster
Junior Officers
Albert Borsault -- Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Ralph Valentine -- Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
James Hackett -- Senior Patrol Leader
Robert Frauser -- Quartermaster
Richard Sawtelle -- Scribe
John Ralston -- Bugler and Song Leader
Patrols
Flying Eagle Patrol
John Beers, P.L., Charles Kipp, A. P. L., Robert Byers, John Ericoan , Hall Harris. William Jackson, Donald Scherer, David Wilcox
Rattlesnake Patrol
Stewart Swan, P. L., Robert Scherer, A. P. L., Leo Fisher, William Howe, Bruce Tiedeman, John Timko, Bruce Schnoider
Moose Patrol
Stephen Pallock, P. L., Ernest Longotich, A. P. L., Arthur Nelson, Frank Reuhl, Robert Reuhl , James Romo, Charles Sargent
Troop Committee
Clair Sawtelle (Chairman), Howard Avery, Arthur Christy, Oscar Dorbacker, William Fisher, E. Douglas O’Brien, S. M., Bernhardt Meir, A. S. M., Myron Morroll, A. S. M.
High Ranking Scouts
Star Scouts:
Francis Hackett 1940
Bruce Snyder 1942
Calvin Vanderbeek 1943
Lindsay MacArthur 1943
Robert Schappel 1944
Donald Vanderbeek 1944
Edward Linneman 1944
Bruce Christie 1945
Jos F. Linneman Jr. 1946
Richard Slade 1947
Amos A. Smith, Jr.1949
Gerritt Zwart 1949
Life Scouts:
Albert Boursalt 1940
Calvin Vanderbeek 1945
Eagle Scouts:
Albert Boursalt 1941
Calvin Vanderbeek 1945
District Commissioner William Fisher said that as a result of the Japanese occupation of the islands the Filipino Scouts are in need of practically every type of equipment, and have to start from scratch in their efforts to function again.
(Ramsey Journal 9/27/45)
(Recommendation to the National Headquarters): More general sanction of long trousers would benefit the efforts to maintain properly uniformed Scouts.
(Annual Report of Troop, 1943)
Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Troop 50 of Mahwah B.S.A., boy scouts from the entire Ramapo District meet next Saturday afternoon for an overnight Scouteree. A comprehensive program has been prepared by Neighborhood Commissioner William Fisher, assisted by the members of the Troop Committee. A Court of Awards will be a feature of the evening ceremonies.
(Ramsey Journal 6/6/40)
Troop Fifty Scouts and Scout who served in the Armed Forces during World War Two
Jack Ackerson, Charles Bacon, William Beard, John Beers, Brainard Bennett, Monroe Bester, Albert Borsault, Raymond Brainard, Andrew Brunansky, John Brunansky, John Cishek, David R. Connor, Frank Coughlan, Gerald DeFreece , Paul Durand , *Archie Eakins, B. Erickson, Robert Fairservice, James Foster, Kenneth Foster, Robert L. Foster, Robert Frauson, Harold Frazier, Harold Gessner, Howard Gessner, Kenneth Gessner, Robert Glasgow, Paul Goldberg, Ralph T. Gordon, James E. Hackett, James Hancook, Hall Harris, David Hartwell, Wilbur Hartwell, D.W.F. Heidgerd, Howard Holman Jr. , Richard Holman, Andrew Hopper, William Howe, John Keri, Richard King, William Kipp, Dana Knowlton, Tony Kwosnicki, Z. Lavine, Ernest Longrich, Benjamin Lord, *Hilton Mabie, John MacDougall, Norman MacDougall, Donald McGinn, Bernard Meier, *Myron Merrill, Edward H. Meyer, Francis Mooney, Harold Mowery, Romert Mowery, Arthur Nelson, Douglas O’Brien, Gordon O’Brien, Harold Owen, Howard Peirano, George Perano, William Prendergast, Clarence Quakenbush, *Sibley Reid, James Remo, Frank Reuhl, Robert Reuhl, Goerge Rountree, Lloyd Salling Jr., Theodore Salter, Charles Sargent, Richard Sawtelle, Bertram Schappel
Sponsoring Organization
J.P. Fromm, Jr., Post #236, American Legion 1932-51
Meeting Place
Mahwah School #2 (Commodore Perry) 1940
Mahwah Fire House #I, Miller Road 1941-44
Mahwah Municipal Building 1945-46
Ramapo Reformed Church 1948-55
Scoutmasters
E. Douglas O’Brien 1933-41
William Kern 1945
Irwin T. Doty 1941-42
John A. Ward 1945
D. Cameron Bradley 1943
Douglas Smith 1946-47
Howard C. Hussey 1943-44
Gregory Azarian 1949
Assistant Scoutmasters:
Myron Merrill 1940; 43*
John A. Ward 1944; 46
Ralph J. Valentine 1941; 42*
Donald E. Sawtelle 1945
D. Cameron Bradley 1941; 43
Kenneth Foster 1946
Robert Frauson 1942*
Horace J. Weyner 1949; 1953-54
C. O. Schumaker 1943
(* In Military Service)
Committee Chairmen:
Clair Sawtelle 1940-41
Gordon M. Shimer 1947
William McGinn 1942
George R. Watson 1949
Howard S. Avery 1943-46
Committee Members:
Clair Sawtelle 1939-47
Howard S. Avery 1939-77
A.E. Christie 1939-43
John M. Slade 1942-47
J. C. Codrington 1947-49
Clifford Sheffield 1944-46
Irwin J. Doty 1949
Bruce E. Sockamn 1945-46
J. G. Edwards 1947
Gordon Shmier 1947-54
Flinn 1942
Amos Smith 1947-52
Clarence S. Howard 1943-45
Calvin Vanderbeek 1944; 46
Peter D. Holland 1945-46
George F. Watson 1949-51
Howard C Hussey 1949
C. E. Wiley 1949
E. Douglas O’Brien 1942-43
Institutional Representative:
J. C. Codrington 1948-49