Several years ago I blogged about the now California Inland Empire Council Camp Tulakes. A Scouter shared recently some of his memories of that camp and Scouting in CA from the 1940s. Enjoy! I did.

Hi Roy

You are bringing back a lot of good memories to this 79 year old ex-scout.

I was a member of troop 12 at first.  There was a log cabin type building constructed at the rear of Washington elementary School (located on San Antonio Ave. in Pomona).  It was strictly for our scout meetings.  We were sponsored by the local VFW.  Our scoutmaster at the time was “Uncle Earl” Lawliss and we would practice camping at the rear of his apple orchard on Garey Street in South Pomona..

The day WW II ended we troop 12 scouts (in our uniforms) rode in the back of a one ton open truck and put up all the American flags (hundreds) all along second street in downtown Pomona.  I remember the flags at that time were each mounted on a (6 ft?) wooden pole which would be stuck in a small hole in the sidewalk spaced about 10 feet apart.   It was a crazy day with people yelling, kissing and going totally bananas.  Every time one of us would hop out of the truck with an American flag the place would erupt with cheers.  It was really something to remember for a 12-13 year old kid.

We were definitely  part of “Old Baldy Council” which, if I remember correctly, had its offices on San Jose St. in Claremont.

The second troop I belonged to was troop 14 located at and sponsored by the Church of Christ Church on Garey Avenue and 7th St. near what was then Fremont Jr. High School.
Also part of the same “Old  Baldy” Council.

In regards to Camp Tulakes here is what I think I remember.  I think I was there for 2 weeks each year I went, but it might have been just a week

We were divided into small “patrol” sized groups of perhaps 10 or so and each group located their own campsite out on the perimeter of the main part of the camp and we set it up with “army cots” grouped together under the trees and the stars.  We were encouraged to make our campsite neat and tidy.  I remember outlining the area with rocks, sweeping the pine needles, etc.  We got judged for the best looking campsite.  I don’t remember what the award was.

There was what I would call a “chow hall” building in the main camp for hot meals and I seem to remember the food was pretty good Their were daily organized  activities.  I do remember swimming and canoeing at the lake.  And I have a hazy memory of some kind of a treausre hunt kind of activiy where we had to use our compass and go out in the woods and find things.

During each 1 or 2 week stay two days were reserved for the big hike.  We hiked up to “Dollar Lake” where we all spent the night and those that felt up to it went on to the top of “Old Greyback” the next morning.

The reason I remember the girl scout camp being something other than “Tulakes”  because every evening at the big campfire at an exact scheduled time we would all together yell something like “hello camp gummygatchy”, then listen quitely to hear “hello camp tulakes” coming back at us from the distance through the forest.

I also remember the ghost stories the camp leaders would tell at the campfire.  Afterward we had to walk with our flashlights through the dark woods to our own camp site.  I remember it being really scary in the dark.   Ghosts behind every tree! 🙂

Another thing I recall was, while it was strictly “against the rules”, some of the boys after dark would sneak over to the girl scout camp and creep up on a tent and make nnoises to scare the girls just to hear them scream..

Hey, boys will be boys!  🙂

My scout experiences were a wonderful time in my life that I value to this day!  I think we all learned a lot toward helping us become independent self relient responsable citizens.

Still have a real soft spot toward the BSA.

It is a shame so many parents today don’t understand the value of having their boys belong.

Phil

• » Comments (2)