CMYK On my honor: stitching together Valley’s scouting history By Andrew Sims As I drove down the streets of Valley, I began taking mental notes of what I saw and I felt. I was somewhere that played a large role in the lives of generations. Looming over the small roads, the dilapidated red brick mill buildings stand defying their obvious signs of neglect with broken win- dows and spray-painted tat- toos of symbols and names of local “artists.” When the last textile mill closed its doors in 2008, the people of Valley tried, but could never truly prepare themselves for what had been their town’s lifeblood for generations was now gone. The mills are quiet now, but what is crying out for appreciation and attention are these deep, rich histo- ries of their towns, their mill villages and the threads of stories and memories woven together into some- thing beautiful that they hope will grab the minds of those eager to listen. Be prepared. That’s the Boy Scout motto. If you ask the right per- son, you can find yourself sitting submerged within the boxes of photos, Scouting magazines and newspaper articles, each with their own characteris- tic and unmistakable his- toric and aged smell. You are reading about the boys of 1953 who received their Eagle Scout badges or look- ing at the pictures from the Pine Mountain Boy Scout Camp where summer after summer young boys became young men while finding themselves in the depths of the Georgia wilderness. As you do, you’ll undoubtedly begin recreating those scenes of 1961 summers at the camp canoeing along the lake. Growing up in Valley, you usually fell into one of three categories: a kid waiting to work in the mill, someone already working in the mill or someone retired from a life of cloth and thread. As a young boy it was your responsibility to learn the ways of “learning manli- ness” as the Scout book says. To learn to love and appreciate your family and your role in your communi- ty. This is what the Scouts taught boys. “Scouting was just what we did as kids,” says Arnold Leak, Valley’s mayor. “Everyone was a Scout. If you weren’t a Scout then you were miss- ing some major cultural influences.” Leak said some of his favorite memo- ries are of his times in Scouts. From playing the game “captain of the flag” down on the old golf course, to studying for merit badge tests with his friends, Boy Scouts were a big part of his life. So big, in fact, that one of his greatest regrets is having not completed his Eagle Scout badge. He missed out on one badge as a kid, his swimming merit badge, which he was forced to miss because he had come down with the flu. “Kids needed Scouting,” says Roy Hill, who is a life- time resident of Valley and still involved in the Scouting program. “You were left out if you weren’t a Scout with all your bud- dies.” Hill, who left the Scouts when he was 16 to go to work in the mills, also regrets not finishing and earning his Eagle Scout badge. Hill now spends his time with the scouts col- lecting old flags that he then gives to Paul Crowder of Troop 9 for him and his scouts to ceremoniously decommission. Unraveling the History The records for Scouting in Valley, many of which are tucked away inside the Cobb Memorial Archives, only go back as far as 1923, but it is believed that the George H. Lanier Council of Boy Scouting goes back as early as 1910. From the origination of the council until after World War II, the Scouting area included Troup, Harris, Heard and Meriweather Counties in Georgia and Chambers and Randolph in Alabama. In 1945, the council divided into the George H. Lanier Council and includ- ed only Chambers and Randolph Counties in Alabama and a part of Troup County, Ga. Many said the division actually worked to bring the Scouting program in Valley and surrounding areas clos- er together. Suzanne Langford, who grew up in Langdale, fond- ly recalls her memories with the Boy Scouts back then. “As a little girl, April spring days would find me outside the back of my grandmother’s house and and out in the Langdale meadow, where City Hall is now,” she says. “The boys had their Camporee out there every year, and I would watch the boys from Shawmut, Fairfax and Langdale tie their different flags to the long sticks the Scout masters had cut.” One of her fondest mem- ories was watching the Scouts from a perch up on the hill over the ball field. “On one of the best days I can remember,” Langford says, “we girls had gotten tired of sittin’ and watching those boys, and they started wanting someone to ‘volun- teer’ to go down there and talk with the boys. Since I was the youngest at 10, I was the perfect fit for the job, although I don’t ever remember raising my hand. One of my friends then dared me to go down to the meadow and just walk through the boys and flirt with one.” Like any younger girl wanting to fit in, she accepted the challenge. The older girls quickly took Suzanne home and quickly dolled her up with their mothers’ make-up before sending the naïve Langford down amongst the throng of Boy Scouts. When asked how this stunt turned out, Langford just smiles and says she can’t remember. Thoughts from the Top One service the West Point Pepperell Company provided for its workers was a monthly magazine, The Westpointer, which featured articles about fac- tory work activities and news, arts and crafts for women at home, and on some occasions outside of work activities such as the Scouting program. On the 50th Anniversary of Scouting in the Valley area, George H. Lanier wrote in his “Letter from the President,” that was fea- tured in every issue of the magazine, that, “scouting has demonstrated its ability to help boys and at the same time to add to over-all com- munity enrichment because of the adults who have come under its influence.” Lanier recognized and prided himself on his understanding of the neces- sity of Scouting for his employees and their fami- lies. He bragged in his let- ter that 50 percent of his own mill employees were directly involved in the Scouting program as lead- ers, den mothers and volun- teers. Pictures of parents, almost all mill workers, helping boys tie knots, and chop firewood, and judge flapjack cooking contests cover the pages of the mag- azine. By providing the Scouting program for the mill workers and their fam- ilies it was a chance for each of the “millages” to grow closer together and form a bond with each other and their families, and thus strengthening the mill fami- ly. It became something that you just did. One of the reasons it was something you did was because 87 percent of the Scout troops were sponsored by area churches. The churches were the centers of the communities for the most part. You would be hard- pressed to find people who did not attend church every week. Because of that, most all the boys in church were also involved in that church’s respective Scout troop. One of the lasting testa- ments of the Company’s involvement in the Scouting program are the Scout meeting houses in each village. Built and maintained by the Company themselves, each village had its own Scout house in which the boys could meet and do activi- ties. However, many of these buildings sit empty only as symbols of a once thriving scouting program. In the 1980s the Scouting numbers peaked near at around 2,100 active Scouts. Since then, as the mills began closing slowly, the numbers gradually began to fall. Scouting Ahead to Today Today, there are are only three Scout troops active in Valley, cut down from at one time more than a dozen, in the newly named George H. Lanier District, which is part of the now bigger Chattahoochee Valley Council. Jared Bertram is the new district executive for this district and is trying to reju- venate the Scouting pro- gram “I love the ideas and plans we have for Scouting here,” he says. “It’s absolutely an honor to come to a place that has the history of passions so strong for the Scouting pro- gram,” he adds as he looks through boxes for photos and news articles inside his 10-by-15 office space, which is actually an old house. “Its history is hon- estly unlike any other pro- gram’s that I have seen.” Bertram hates that many of the historic elements of the scouting program are being forgotten. Driving from one of the old village scout houses to the next in Jared’s old Jeep Cherokee, he becomes more and more frustrated as he realizes the missed opportunities by having these huts locked up and out of use. “We’ve got to get better about realizing and using all the wonderful resources we have at our disposal here in our cities,” he says. “We have these wonderful huts, full of history, full of sentimentality and they are in great shape. We need to use them. This is just one thing though.” Peering through the dusty and cobwebbed windows of the beautiful stone Langdale Scout hut behind Langdale school, I see a place brought back to life with the voices of boys training for merit badges and reciting the Scout’s creed. Original fireplaces with wooden carvings and framed pictures of Scouts from long ago adorn its rich brown wooden mantle. Every year Bertram spends time going from one elementary school to anoth- er trying to urge boys to become interested in join- ing the Boy Scouts. He says he wants to recruit them early so they can have time to complete all their badges and get the full experience of Scouting. Bertram excites the young boys with promises of shooting air rifles, partic- ipating in archery contests and camping. He gets them excited with all the good stuff, he says. He then sends them raving about the Scouts home to their par- ents and has them return later that evening to sign up. Currently, Bertam super- vises 733 Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Those are great and positive numbers and can be directly attributed to the recruiting efforts he and his volunteers are doing. The Scouting numbers in Valley may be struggling to climb the big mountain, but the legacy and tradition in the area that is at the top never left. Leaving My Own Mark Bertram drove me out to Pine Mountain Scout Camp. A place where gen- erations of Scouts had spent time camping, fishing and doing other activities each Summer. Boys who would become soldiers, business- men and professionals spent their years of youth learning to become men here. So as I stood there, lean- ing against the railing of the Cliff Glover Chapel out at the Pine Mountain Scout Camp and looking out over the lower lake, I could feel the energy and history that filled these grounds. The lives that had moved on, but would never truly leave this place they had called home each summer for a few weeks they came alive for me at that moment. “You can tangibly feel the history around you here,” Bertram said as we stood and simply listened to the breeze. “It’s a beautiful thing to think about.” He was right. Up at the camp we found many of these long depart- ed names and memories forever marked into the boards and logs of their respective mill village’s cabins. “Joe was here ’59” sat carved beside a door and beside that hid another carving, smaller, that read simply, “me too.” These marks were carved by boys who long ago knew that their actions could have meant a heavy punishment. However, their names are now part of the history and spirit of the camp. Bertram and other volun- teers and Scouts are work- ing to make this camp what it once was. The 100-year anniver- sary of Scouting Oak Tree that has been planted in the middle of the now filled in swimming pool, blue tiles still reaching out of the dirt and grass. These are just more pieces being added to this grand puzzle that new lead- ers like Bertram are work- ing to piece together to con- tinue the legacy of this cen- tury old tradition. With this story I was able to add my own piece to this puzzle. Coming from the outside and being able to wrap myself up in a history sewn from the threads and strings of forgotten stories, pictures, records and mem- ories that these textile mill towns had to offer, sent me on my own Scouting expe- dition where I discovered something worth sharing with others. I myself broke the Boy Scout motto when I first came to Valley. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was going to experi- ence. I am better prepared now. And on my honor, I will make sure the stories peo- ple want to tell are heard, and shared with the people eager to listen. Boy Scouts show off at April 1952 “Springaree” Photo illustration shows Langdale Meadow as it looked during the 1952 Boy Scout "Springaree" compared to what the area looks like in 2010 on right. 14 Valley Vision Spring 2010 Photo Illustration by Chris Walker and Andrew Sims Courtesy of Cobb Memorial Archives.