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Clarion's Scouts
Upon his return to Clarion, Corbett discussed with other interested citizens, the possibility of forming a local Boy Scout troop. Frederick R. Knapp, known as "Teddy", agreed to head the new troop as Scoutmaster. Teddy was, at the time, construction chief of Clarion's first telephone company, and Sunday school teacher of many of the boys who would form this early troop. Application was duly made to James West, the Chief Scout Executive in New York City, and soon Clarion's was approved as one of the first Scout troops in the nation. They had a big old tent, left over from the Spanish-American War, and hauled this and their other equipment to spots all along the Clarion River, where they swam, hiked, fished and lived like savages. They camped at Piney Eddy, Millcreek, Blyson's, Clogh's Riffle and Cooksburg. They made the most of nature, and nature made the most of them. I know all of this because, in 1960, another great outdoorsman of our area took the time to ferret out this information and publish it in the local newspaper on the occasion of the Boy Scouts' 50th Anniversary. His name was "Heap" Alexander, and I remember meeting him when I was a kid and watching a herd of deer grazing at dusk in his back yard. "Heap" is gone now, but he would be pleased that his interest in the outdoors and in the youth of the community lives on today. Over the years, many men have contributed to the Scouting movement here in Clarion. Ed Spindler, Scoutmaster in my days with Troop 51 back in the 50's, still lives here and must take some pride in the good he did for the boys of the community during his stint as leader. Ray Mohney, another of adults that lead the Scouts in my youth, still lives on in memory when I consider how to handle a problem with the boys of the troop of today. This past weekend we went camping about a mile upstream from Blyson's, and it was great. As we set up in the hot, early evening hours on Friday, each of us kept looking at the river, and thinking just how good it was going to be to get into the cool, rushing water. I had forgotten how interesting it is to make your way across a boulder strewn riverbed, and how much fun it is to stumble and fall and be swept along a few feet before regaining your footing. After my dip in the river, I stood around with the other adults and we talked about the hikes, feasts, Scouting projects and campfires on the agenda for the weekend. The boys have the fun, but the adults make the fun possible. This weekend we had Bill Hearst, Buck Heeter, Ron Kopko, Steve Shreffler and Clay Williams along to do lifeguarding chores and explain aspects of the outdoors to the boys. As we stood there jawing at dusk, down the road came two fishermen, Jim and Ian Alexander --- grandson and great-grandson of Heap. After talking for a bit, they led us along trails to the west, past Calahan's Run, to a very old campsite that looks out over a deep stretch of river. I was struck with the idea that this must have been one of the old campgrounds that an older version of our troop once used. Much later that same night, I returned by myself, looked out over the water and watched thousands of fireflies winking in the night. Up above, I could see a piece of the Big Dipper. As I listened to the noises of the river night, I recalled a poem that Hamlin Garland, an author and outdoorsman of the 30's, wrote over the mantle at Dan Beard's camp:
Do you fear the force of the wind, the slash of the rain Go face them and fight them, be savage again Go hungry and cold like a wolf, go wade like a crane The palms of your hands will thicken The skin of your forehead tan You'll be ragged and swarthy and weary
But, you'll walk like a man. |
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Way
back in 1910, Don Carlos Corbett, a Clarion attorney, visited New
York and saw early Scouting activities. This was back in the
earliest days of the movement, when the ideas of Baden Powell and
his English Boy Scouts, Dan Beard and his Boy Pioneers, and Ernest
Thompson Seton and his Woodcraft Indians were being combined to
create the Boy Scouts of America.