Troop 1 of Flushing, New York is the oldest troop in Greater New York Councils and one of the oldest continuously chartered troops in the United States.
A Brief History of Troop 1, Flushing, NY
The Boy Scouts of America was founded in February 1910, following the example of the scouting movement in England, and as an out growth of various groups at the time, which were run to provide educational and entertainment experiences for boys. One of those groups was the "Sons of Daniel Boone" which was organized and run by the noted illustrator Daniel Carter Beard, who lived in Flushing at the time. One of his neighbors and friends was a young minister named Rollo A. Hamilton, who had a boys club at his Congregational Church. Rev. Hamilton and Dan Beard both enthusiastically embraced the Scouting program and sought to institute it in the United States. Rev. Hamilton agreed to become the first Scoutmaster of the first Troop in Flushing, and chartered our Troop at the same time as Scouting in America was officially instituted. Many other Troops came into being in the following months and years, in Queens and eventually all over the County. Eventually Councils were formed, and numbers were issued based on the Councils. Our Council is based on Queens County, and Dan Beard established that we were the first Troop founded in Queens County. While there have been thousands of Troops founded since the start of scouting, there are only about ten Troops that have continued in existence since 1910, and based on our founding in February of that year (which would make us the earliest possible Troop), we know that there are no Troops older than us.
During our first ten years of operation, we had a number of scoutmasters with limited membership. World War I proved disruptive to our Troop towards the end of the decade, but we rebounded to enter our golden age when our first Eagle Scout, Martin B. Freeman, returned from his service in the war, and agreed to become Scoutmaster, a position he served in with excellence for 25 years (with a break for his service in World War II, ending in 1947. Mart was not only passionate about scouting, but had tremendous organizational and leadership skills, and was determined to run the finest Scout Troop in the county. He also became close friends with Dan Beard, who served as the National Commissioner of Scouting from its inception, until his death in 1941. "Uncle Dan's" national fame gave Mart and thus the Troop access to many famous people, who came to our annual Father and Son Dinners to help recognize the achievements of our scouts. These included Babe Ruth (which generated huge media attention at the time), Lou Gehrig, Amelia Earhardt, "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, and many others. Our Troop grew to about 60 boys, and had a long waiting list of boys seeking to become members. Maintaining perfect attendance, superiority in scouting skills, community service, and advancement were all emphasized. We enjoyed much success in skills competitions, became featured contributors to the 1939 Worlds Fair and various Scouting Expositions, and parades, in particular an annual parade to the Teddy Roosevelt's grave site (his son was also very close to Dan Beard and Mart).
One of the more unusual aspects of the Troop program was the Troop's "Cabin". Originally, we were granted the use of an old cabin on property owned by the Hazen L. Hoyt family in Great Neck, on the north sore of Long Island. Eventually the development of that land required us to move, and our next camp was on Eaton's Neck near Northport, further east on the north shore of Long Island. We again secured permission to use private land (from the Robinson and Donnell families), and raised funds in 1934 (through card parties) to build the cabin. The land was sold in 1941, but a new piece of land nearby was found, and thus the Cabin was moved to Clam Shell Point on Dutch Island Harbor. There is remained in active use until 1954, when that property was sold. We next moved to Wading River, with the same Cabin dismantled and moved there. This site was also on the coast. We again lost this site due to the sale of land, and the Cabin was finally dismantled for the last time in 1961. At that time the Troop began discussing purchasing its own land, which culminated in the decision to buy land near Kingston NY, in 1965. The death of Mart Freeman in 1963 provided the troop was much funding, as many former members contributed to purchase the land and build a new Cabin in his memory. Our present Cabin, in West Hurley, New York, on about 55 acres of old quarry land, was completed in 1969, and has been in use for camping trips continuously since then. Our primary use of it is for patrol trips every weekend from January to March.
The Troop holds its meetings every Friday night. For almost 50 years, beginning in 1924, we meet at P.S. 107 in Flushing. This school is located at 169th Street and 45th Avenue. Due to fiscal problems with the City, we were forced to leave there in 1977, and next meet at Resurrection Lutheran School, at 192nd Street and 45th Avenue in Flushing, for about 15 years. Thereafter, and continuing until the present, we have met at Redeemer Lutheran Church on Bell Blvd. and 36th Avenue in Bayside.
The Troop is sponsored by an organization of parents and other interested adults, often former members of the Troop, which is called "The Dad's Club of Troop 1, Inc." This organization was founded in 1929, and incorporated with New York State in 1931. It has been our practice to have different presidents and vice presidents each year, while often keeping the secretary, treasurers and other committee chairs for extended periods. The Dads Club provides adult non-program support for the organization. The Scoutmaster and his Assistant Scoutmasters focus on the program needs of the boys. This includes planning and running camping trips, and the monthly meetings. Our Troop has had 18 Scoutmasters, with the longest serving, besides Mart Freeman, being James K. Robertson for 16 years, Reggie Steel for 9, and our current Scoutmaster, Jack Baer, for over 25 years. We have had over a hundred Assistant Scoutmasters, with the two longest serving being Norman Rhodes (a close friend of Mart Freeman, and our fifth Eagle scout), who served from 1931 to 1951; and Joe Cirincione, who was our 167' Eagle Scout, and has served for over 25 years, and is still active. He has also been the Troop's official photographer for his whole tenure.
The Troop has prided itself in maintaining a large membership, and an active advancement program. Dan Beard named those boys who became Eagles as his "Eagle's Nest". We presently have 232 scouts who have earned their Eagle (which represents about 10 to 15% of our Troop's members). Mart Freeman's era produced the most Eagles, as over 100 boys became Eagles from 1922 to 1947.
Three other aspects of our Troop have maintained long traditions. We still wear campaign hats, which is now very rare in scouting. Our annual awards dinners, called the Father & Son Dinner, date back to 1920. These were held at a Dutch Reformed Church in Flushing (on the corner of Bowne Street and Roosevelt Avenue) from 1920 until 1996, when we were forced to leave there due to a change in Church leadership. We then moved our Dinners to our present meeting place, Redeemer Lutheran Church, and in recent years to Temple Beth Shalom, on Northern Blvd and 171" Street. The Troop has also enjoyed support from an organization of former Troop members called "The Old Timers' Club". This group holds annual dinners, and has done so for all but one year from 1933 to the present. For many decades, until about 7 years ago, these were held at a restaurant & catering hall at 168th Street and Northern Blvd. (next to the location of Mart Freeman’s home). In recent years the Dinner has been held at the Joyce Kilmer Council of the Knights of Columbus in Flushing. Attendance has ranged from 15 to 89, with an average of 40. Over 250 former troop members are presently on the Old Timers mailing list, aging from 18 to their 80s. The longest attending Old Timer is Ed Stark, who has been to 60 dinners so far. Officers change every year, while since about 1955 the Club's secretary has fulfilled the responsibility of organizing the annual dinner and sending out an annual newsletter. Paul Halliday served in this capacity for about 40 years, and he was replaced by Bill Pechette for about 10 years, and currently Jack Baer provides this service.
The highlight of every scout's year is summer camp. We have traditionally gone to camp for two weeks in July. Initially, we ran our own summer camp in the 1920s and 1930s at our Cabin. From 1931 until 1978 we camped at Ten Mile River Scout Camp at Narrowsburg, NY. From 1979 until 1991 we moved to Lake of Isles Scout Reservation in North Stonington, CT. When that camp was sold to become part of the Foxwoods Resort area, we moved to Resica Falls Scout Camp in Marshalls Creek, PA, where we continue to use.
We continue to enjoy many special activities each year, including special activities for the older scouts. These include trips to the Cabin during Easter Week, hiking in the Catskills for a couple of days each Easter, and Canoe Trips every June. The focus of our Troop has not only continued to be providing a great scouting experience for all of our members, but for the boys to make long lasting friends and to have fun enjoying the outdoors, sports, personal advancement and learning to be leaders. The Troop has always emphasized "boy leadership", and continues to produce quality leaders in the Troop and for life.
Jack Baer,
Troop Historian, Feb. 1, 2008