by Clyde Parker

JULY 17, 1965
Five Boy Scouts from the Franklin-Southampton area, representing the Central District, Old Dominion Area Council, left last Friday to attend the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch at Cimarron, New Mexico.

Scouts attending are:

• Tom Jones IV, 329 Robin hood Road, Franklin, a Life Scout, Troop 17

• Milton Beale Jr., 1428 Clay Street, Franklin, a Life Scout, Troop 17

• Charles Lilley Jr., 309 Hunterdale Road, Franklin, a Life Scout, Troop 27 Carter Hudgins, 501 High Street, Franklin, a Star Scout, Troop 28

• Ben Babb Jr., Courtland, a First Class Explorer Scout, Troop 211

The Philmont camping experience is said to be rich and rewarding for those boys in attendance. Philmont is a rugged outdoor camping empire sprawling over 137,000 acres of cold streams, evergreen forests and mountains that reach a height of 12,400 feet.

Approximately ten days of the time the scouts will be there are to be spent on the trail. The boys will pack all their equipment and will hike, cook and sleep in an outdoor wilderness.

Philmont is the largest camp for boys in the world and is visited by thousands of young men searching for “he-man” activity and adventure. However, all is not play at Philmont. The scout training in citizenship, leadership development and physical fitness is carried out. The Philmont slogan is “send us a boy and we will send you back a man.”

Other activities available to the scouts include climbing a mountain, helping excavate an old Indian dwelling, building a dam for conservation purposes, panning for gold in the mountain streams, riding a real western cow pony and seeing a herd of buffalo.

The five boys left Newport News by train last Friday and arrived in Trinidad, New Mexico on Sunday. From Trinidad, they traveled by bus to the vast campsite where, after spending the first day at base camp, they hit the trail for ten days of camping activities. The return trip will also be by train. The boys, along with eight other scouts from the Old Dominion Area Council, plan to arrive home about August 1st.

Sidney Jones, a scout leader from Glasgow, Virginia, is accompanying and supervising the boys on their trip.

 

CITY, UBC NEGOTIATE

Union Bag-Camp Paper Corp. and the City of Franklin are negotiating a long-term lease for use of the City-owned Franklin Municipal Airport. Union Bag-Camp recently submitted a tentative proposal to the City Council Monday night calling for a 20-year lease on an aircraft hangar and an equipment building. Additional property adjoining those buildings is being sought.

If an agreement is reached, Union Bag-Camp would pay the City $750 annually for the property and would have the right to use the runways and other operational facilities at the airport.

City Manager Harold Atkinson informed the Council about Union Bag-Camp’s plans to purchase a 12-passenger jet aircraft and build a hangar about twice the size of the present one. Smaller aircraft already in service will be kept in service.

Union Bag-Camp, with facilities spread up and down the east coast and into the mid-west, intends to establish the corporation’s Aviation Division Headquarters at the Franklin Municipal Airport. Additional pilots and aircraft mechanics will be assigned to the Franklin operations.

“I think a 20-year lease is too long considering City maintenance expenses might increase in the years ahead,” said Mayor Darden Jones.

Councilman Robert Pretlow said, “I want to put into the lease a clause allowing commercial airlines the right to use the facilities. It is possible that commercial service might come to Franklin in the future and it should be prepared for in the lease with Union Bag-Camp.”

 

CAMP FOUNDATION

SCHOLARSHIPS ANNOUNCED

T.B. Kingsbury IV and Kate M. Barham have been named by the Board of Directors of the Camp Foundation as recipients of the Foundation’s 1965 scholarships.

Camp Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization which was established to administer philanthropy in the Tidewater, Virginia areas of Southampton County, Isle of Wight County and the City of Franklin.

“Teddy” Kingsbury, a graduate of Franklin High School, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. T.B. Kingsbury III of Homestead Road in Franklin. He plans to attend Dartmouth College. Kate Barham, a graduate of Franklin High School, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. D. Barham of Sedley Road in Franklin. She plans to attend Westhampton College.

CLYDE PARKER is a retired human resources manager for the former Franklin Equipment Co. and a member of the Southampton County Historical Society. His email address is magnolia101@charter.net