The past and future met at the Winter Haven Trailcraft Troop 123 scout home as Eagle Scouts, Scoutmasters, men and boys celebrated the troop’s 100-year-anniversary in and around the log and stone building located at 708 7th Street NW.
The building is hidden in a spot that seems like an afterthought, but it’s meant much more than that for many generations of boys. With at least three generations represented at the club on Saturday, March 28, the future in scouting is in good hands.
Food, bounce houses, tents, engagement displays, silent auctions and a clubhouse full of memorabilia along with historian and scout Bud Costello were on display.
“I think it went spectacularly,” said Troop 123 Scoutmaster Hunter Curry. “Honestly, we couldn’t have asked for a better turnout. We had an amazing event with a lot of older scouts. We had three generations of Scoutmasters who showed up. You saw some of the older scouts that were in the troop reuniting with some other kids who were in the troop back in the day.”
Having a special clubhouse is part of the draw.
“I think it does,” said Curry of attracting scouts. “I think kids who are going to the church (Beymer across the street), and they see the scout house back here…It is the most unique, probably scout house, in all central Florida. It was actually built by the scouts. The timbers came from the site where the hospital is. When they cleared the hospital, they took the trees down. These are the timbers that we have in our scout house. Bud Costello was a scout here in the ‘50s when they built it. And all the memorabilia inside is donations or things the scouts have done on trips that they’ve taken. Yea, I would say it is definitely something that draws people in.”
Costello, who was inside the clubhouse with the exhibits and demonstrations, walked with a cane, but was sought out by plenty to talk of the old days.
“He is our historian,” said Curry. “He comes every Wednesday, sits there and is a very active leader in our troop. When Winter Haven used to do the parades, they would have an Indian dancing, and he was part of the kids who dressed up and did the traditional Indian dances in the parades.”
The day was also a fundraiser for a summer trip. Inside the clubhouse is a buffalo head that came from Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico, where the troop will travel to this summer for more than a week. They are currently learning to ride horseback in Kathleen to prepare.
“Fundraising is one of the main ways that we try to defer some of those costs,” said McCutcheon. “For a lot of these kids that’s the only chance they are ever going to get.”
“The boys are learning how to do everything and riding progressively longer rides and just getting used to doing it and controlling the animals so that when we get out there, we can hit the ground running,” continued McCutcheon.
He explains pace counting toward a heading on a map.
Tommy wants to use his Scout experiences to help his future.
“I want to go into the military (probably the Air Force) when I’m 18,” he said. “You automatically rank up to E3 if you’re an Eagle Scout. So that’s what I’m going for.”
As for actual scouting, Tommy has done quite a bit.
“I’ve learned how to be a blacksmith and stuff like that. I’ve learned a lot about camping and how to cook food a lot better and stuff like that,” he said.
Dylan Curry, 16, son of Hunter, started the day with a sash covered with badges.
“Most of them are from summer camps,” he said. “Some of them are from day trips…Most of the merit badges I have…you need for Eagle Scout, which is what everyone works towards and what I’m working toward.”
“It’s sailing in a sailboat for a week in the Virgin Islands and St. Thomas,” Curry said. “It was loads of fun. We stopped at random islands and would do stuff, either snorkeling or do a little hike.”
Curry also leads the younger scouts.
“The leadership, I think it can get me very far because in a lot of management positions or in a lot of positions you need people under you. You need to know how to lead them in a way they’ll understand and they’re comfortable with and understanding your people,” he said.
Curry is interested in being an aerospace engineer. He endorses scouting.
“It’s definitely worth joining,” he said. “If not to learn more about the outdoors, which is a big part of Boy Scouts, it’s the connection and the community that Boy Scouts build is the biggest part for me.”