Montlake - 2021 and Way Beyond by William Goodrich Bellman Chapter 45 - Scout Troop 25

Boy Scout Troop 25 began in 1921 in the Interlaken Montlake District and disbanded on December 23, 1925. Most of the boys in the neighborhood, at some stage in their lives, joined Boy Scout Troop 25. Troop 25 got so large that finally Troop 26 was formed and the younger members of 25 were transferred to 26. I was among the younger as were most of the kids in my grade in school. Our neighbor, just across the street on Lynn, Mr. Fred Grinnell, whose son, Burt, was a friend of mine, became scout master and spent much time and effort making Troop 25 the finest in the Seattle area. Most of the members of 25 had a long and meaningful association with each other, as did those members of 26.

At the time Troop 25 broke up it consisted of 24 boys, a scoutmaster, an assistant scoutmaster and three troop committeemen. We boys agreed we would hold a reunion in ten years. The last evening we were together, the scoutmaster, Fred Grinnell, handed us each a sealed envelope "to be opened in December, 1935." Grinnell also left a message to the troop at Regional Boy Scout Headquarters, to be read at the first reunion "in case I'm not with you". Although not yet 40 years old, Mr. Grinnell died within two years.

One of the fun things about scouting was the camp outs. In late spring and summer we would take one of the Mosquito Fleet Boats across Lake Washington to campsites on Mercer Island. Our usual stay was for two nights, during which time we swam, built fires and burned whatever it was that we had for meals. I can still taste charcoal crisp round steak (5 cents a pound at the market) grilled on a pointed stick, potatoes cooked in the hot coals and for dessert jello, if it had stayed firm during the warm day. Usually it had turned to liquid which we drank anyway.

One of our excursions was cut short when Don Curtis gashed his left knee with an axe while chopping wood. Someone had to rush to the closest farmhouse and telephone for the passenger ferry to get us back to Seattle; the closest doctor. That was a traumatic day for all of us. Curtis recovered.

For several summers, for a two week period, we would board a little steamer in Union Bay, go through the Locks, and cross the Sound to Brinnon, the site of the local Boy Scout Camp Parson Summer Camp. These were fun times although I do recall getting homesick on my first time there and I think that was because my parents visited, and when they left for home I wanted to go with them.

Camp Parsons was managed by two men who held high offices in regional scout headquarters; Mr. Walsh and a Mr. Rudiman. Many years later they were both ousted for sexually abusing young scouts. We never knew, as young scouts, of these abuses, and I'm glad of this, as that knowledge would have spoiled some fond memories.