HILLSDALE—The attire might be updated, but scouting is just as popular today as when this photo of Hillsdale’s Troop 52 was taken in Hillsdale in September 1927.
The Boy Scouts of America formed in 1910, and scouting came to Hillsdale six years later. Scouts were very active during the 1920s, with weekly meetings and community events held throughout the year.
The scout leaders kept the boys busy with hiking and camping, patriotic rallies, programs on citizenship and life lessons, drills on first aid and signaling, and helping out at local events. The boys made and sold birdhouses to raise money for equipment. They collected and repaired toys for orphans.
At Memorial Day the scouts gathered flowers and decorated the graves of veterans. In May 1927 the boys packed onto a bus to go see the visiting United States Fleet, anchored in the Hudson River. The boys loved seeing the armada of 129 ships, the largest naval force ever assembled at New York, and they talked about it for weeks. Another memorable trip that year took the boys farther afield, to Washington, D.C., where they spent several days sightseeing.
A special project for the boys: the Hillsdale directory they published every year. Funded by donations from merchants, the book listed phone numbers and addresses for all residents and businesses in Hillsdale. The troop hand delivered a copy of the directory to each home in the borough.
The end of September 1927 brought an overnight hike that was a highlight of the scouting year. After a Saturday afternoon spent walking through the woods, the famished boys set up camp and cooked a much-anticipated supper—meat, onions, and potatoes—over a large fire. They took turns telling stories until it was time to go to sleep. The fire burned all night, with the scouts taking turns on guard duty.
The next morning, at 5, the boys emerged from their tents for bacon and eggs. They packed up camp, hiked back, and returned home Sunday night tired but happy.
— Kristin Beuscher is president of Pascack Historical Society.