This Day in History: 1934-08-04
George Rountree Jr. of Mahwah Troop 50 provided eyewitness accounts of the fire which destroyed the kitchen and mess hall at Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco near Blairstown. He said that the scouts had been awakened at 4:00am with cries of fire. They had dressed quickly and gone down to the mess hall to help. A bucket brigade was formed of staff members, leaders and the older scouts above the rank of Star. The camp truck driver, Thomas B. Snow Jr. drove the fourteen minutes into Blairstown dressed only in his pajama bottoms. He succeeded in arousing the town and returning with the fire department. They were pumping water into the blaze within forty minutes of the time it was discovered by Marshall Sheldon, a staff member from Easton, PA. Unfortunately only the dish washing shed and the icehouse could be saved. Officials estimated the loss at $15,000, covered by insurance. Rountree reported that the boys had had their breakfast at their own tents, but that by the time of the evening meal a tent had been erected and tables borrowed from a circus. Camp officials praised the scouts and their leaders for the swift carrying out of fire emergency procedures. Fortunately no one was hurt. Plans were already underway to replace the structure which seated 300. Other Mahwah Scouts at camp during the fire were Sibley Reid, Donald Sherow, Bobby Herrick, and Myron Merrill. (Reid and Merrill were among the twelve Mahwah service men to die in World War II.) (Bristow)