Fashioned out of Salisbury pink granite and covering an area of over 2,000 square feet, it was built by a labor of love to endure the ravages of time and the elements. It is being nurtured and shaped into reality by the rough and gentle hands of men who, in boyhood days, were Lone Scouts. It was a labor of love, brotherhood and long cherished memories that will never let go and which almost brought tears to these "middle-aged" boys.

It was made a reality by the labor of these old-time Tar Heel Lone Scouts who had never gotten over their long-cherished Lone Scout days. The inexplicable magic of the Lone Scout program, as implemented by Chief Totem, "Dad" Morgan, P. E. T., and the many other fine men who added their thoughts and ideals, has endured to this day.

Although the LSA, as we knew it, has been dead for many years, yet those memories continue on as vibrant and as thrilling as ever. What was born in the hearts of a band of Lone Scouts known as The Beaver and Catawba Tribes of North Carolina became a reality when Lone Scout Memory Lodge was dedicated. It was sparked by ordinary men, and yet these are far from ordinary mortals in that they still had a spirit and a tradition and a faith that was phenomenal.

When completed, the building would be like a typical Lone Scout vista, made sacred by the covers and wizardry of Perry Emerson Thompson, who, perhaps, more than any other man, helped to instill a love in these boys that has blended into one of the most beautiful endeavors that mankind has known. It is, in reality, one of the wonders of this day and age. You can talk of your Damon and Pythias, but never has there been anything that has matched the brotherhood and fraternity that LSA planted in the hearts of these boys. This building could not fail to become a reality because it was backed by a Lone Scout faith, a tradition, a spirit and a labor that knows no retreat. It was a privilege for the Lone Scouts of other states to join in with the Beaver and Catawba Tribes and friends in converting a dream into a reality. There is no doubt that this will be the most significant event in the annals of Lone Scoutdom. Nothing else compares with it. It is the satisfaction of knowing that we are "Preserving the Lone Scout Heritage!"

When the forms for the floor were in place and the plumber had installed the pipes and conduits, the first part of September 1968, witnessed the pouring of the concrete slab on which the building would rest. Then the hauling of the pink granite blocks started in earnest. The stone mason, "Monk" Waggoner, began cutting the blocks to establish a flat surface. Then the mixing of cement began with a bang. When sufficient height was reached, arrangements for the laying of the cornerstone and the ceremony were prepared. The cornerstone was installed on October 6, 1968. The time capsule contained copies of Elbeetee, the Lone Scout Wigwam, the ALSAP bundle and newspapers covering the event. The box was placed behind the cornerstone. Over 100 Lone Scouts and friends attended the ceremony.

Then work began "full speed ahead" with the hope of having the building under roof before the end of the year. The Lodge could not fail to be built with the skill of "Monk" Waggoner, chief mason of the project, and the labor of love of Dick Waggoner, "Pres" Goodman, Fred, Henry and Marcus Phillips, "Hank" Goforth, "Jack" Haynes, Dr. Robert E. Lee and many others.

It was the goal of the Beaver and Catawba Tribe members, their friends and some Lone Scouts from other states to get the Lodge under roof before the end of the year. That involved hauling a large quantity of stone from the quarry at Salisbury to the building site. "Monk" Waggoner worked continuously for three months cutting those stones to accomplish a flat surface. That pink granite did not come to the building site ready to be installed. They had to be cut with a hammer and chisel and that is how the stone masons achieved those results. The flat surface which you see on the exterior and interior walls, are a living memorial to his expertise. Nor do the stones stay in place by themselves; they require a moistened mixture of sand and cement to hold them together, was dubbed "beaver's mud." It required continuous cooperation to keep the "wheels turning." Then the capstones were quarried. They were larger stones than the general run of the quarry. They were heavy and required a lot of work to make them suitable for that finishing touch. The lintel above the door entrance was another special piece of granite. Before the end of November the stone work was completed.

Then the framing with the studding to support the ceiling rafters and the roof trusses. After that was accomplished a crane was brought in and the roof trusses were hoisted and secured in place. The roof panels then were installed, tar paper and shingles were added and, lo and behold, the roof was in place three days before the end of the year. It was a yeoman's job completed by a bunch of amateurs under the guidance of a stone mason and some carpenters. The outside shell was in place and protected by a roof.

Dick Waggoner announced the offering of a work patch to all Lone Scouts put in four, or more, work days at the Lodge. Several work weeks were announced and the helpers from many states and Canada came to complete the tasks ahead. That involved finishing the paneling on the exterior, plus the eaves, doors and windows and trim. Then the job of finishing the interior, paneling, trim, baseboards, ceiling supports for the acoustic tile, a complete clean up, then the floor tile, and finally the painting. All that had to be accomplished before the fall so the curators could start planning the exhibits.

There were exterior items needing to be completed before early fall: the eaves, paneling, doors, windows and trim plus the sidewalk from the roadway to the front entrance. The interior required that everything be done. Quite a task with so little time to accomplish it. So several work weeks were established and workers came from various parts of the country and Canada, armed with saws, hatchets and hammers. Anyone completing four, or more, work days was awarded the Order of the Hammer. Then the cleaning up job and painting after all this was accomplished.

When all was accomplished the building was turned over to the Curators to do their "stuff." Not only is the Archives Room a storage place for duplicate items, it is also a storage place for many valuable keepsakes that cannot be put on display due to lack of room. So from time to time they will replace current items.

The Archives Room partial view

The Archives Room partial view

Archives Room partial view showing Curator Ken Kittelberger reviewing files of Lone Scout material.

In the main display room there are a number of tribe papers under glass. In the Archives Room there are over 400 different Tribe Papers, stored in two four-drawer cabinets. These are catalogued under the publisher, and or editor, with hundreds yet to be sorted. Especially the post merger tribe papers. Several have been hard bound such as McCoy's Lone Scout Weekly News, Riley's Scouting News and many more. Several of the post merger ones have also been bound such as five volumes of The Illianamo Indian, Northwest Lone Scout News. The Old Timer has been bound into seven hard backed books, and Harwell West's Lone Scout, the inserts that were included with Elbeetee for three years, have been bound.

We have complete bound volumes of Lone Scout magazine in one of the display cases, and another set in the Archives Room on a large table for your reading pleasure. Moody Wallis tabulated every name of the contributor of the article that appeared in the nine years that Lone Scout was published. We also have the complete file of Lone Scouts on microfilm, plus machines to read them. Work is progressing on tabulating every name that appeared in BSA's The Lone Scout that was published from March 1927, to July 1956. In addition, we have recently acquired a copying machine that makes research a bit easier and less time consuming.

Thousands of Lone Scout letters are on file, each under the name of the sender or the receiver. As Gilbert White says: "There is nothing better than a Lone Scout letter."

The Totas of the Curators and Trustees have done a great job in mounting the names of our departed Elbeetians in brass mounts on a huge board that inevitably grows longer with each passing year.

The Reunion files are complete from 1934 to 1993 with mementos such as programs, name tags, prior and post publicity, as well as many photos.

Files on the dozens of pre-merger rallies are available, with another file of the later day meetings of the various alumni tribes.

We have several complete files of the very early Elbeetee magazine but are missing a few issues of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. We are particularly anxious to acquire the original artwork from 50 plus years of Elbeetee. We have many duplicate single issues some of them are masterpieces in both art and literary content.

There are a few original manuscripts of Lucien Emerson's (alias Peter Fields) and some of them in as many as seven languages.

The Traveling Letter is on display, still in its original wooden shipping box. The contents have been catalogued and tabulated. All of the material is in its original condition.

We still need a Hornaday medal of the 1930 era, Bronze Merit Medals of the 1927 issue that state "Merit Award" instead of 3rd Prize.

We also would like to have boyhood trinkets and relics. Items such as a Magic Lantern, an early Movie Camera and projector, an air rifle given when one sold garden seeds, Box Camera, erector set, small rubber type printing press, a very early phonograph with records, a toy steam engine and most anything of historical interest.

We do not have any Lone Scout movies but we do have several video recordings. There were thousands shot by such experts as Grinstead, Hank Mayer, Russ Paxton and many others.

We have a Crosley Pup one-tube radio that was in working condition until recently. The converter shorted out and has not been repaired as yet. Perhaps someone would like to make a tax deductible contribution to get it working again, so you can hear music as we did when we were boys.

Have you seen the photograph albums? There are now three with over 1,500 photos, and more being added as time goes on. There are also two albums containing newspaper clippings, which have been mounted and covered with clear plastic to protect them.

So everything is well taken care of and being placed in such a condition that you will have very little trouble finding what you would like to see or read. Everything in the Archives Room is catalogued alphabetically. Check the index book or check the front of the file drawer for the contents. Work is still progressing at the Lodge. Displays are being added continually as more and more items are received. What we have now is a shrine to the younger years of Scouting.

So what we have setup at Memory Lodge—the Home of Lone Scouts—is not only something for us "old guys" to be proud of, but we are reaching out to a younger generation of Lone Scouts, and others interested in Scouting history. We are trying to tell a story of a "lost boyhood" and we are grateful that some of those younger fellows are interested.