Scouting roots grow deep within Cornell community

Larger than the old building, the new Scouts building on the corner of South Second and Bridge streets, has more storage, a bathroom and kitchen area. Named in honor of former Scoutmaster Helge Grotte, who was heavily involved in the outdoors and Scouting program, the structure was designed to fit community needs. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

Larger than the old building, the new Scouts building on the corner of South Second and Bridge streets, has more storage, a bathroom and kitchen area. Named in honor of former Scoutmaster Helge Grotte, who was heavily involved in the outdoors and Scouting program, the structure was designed to fit community needs.

The original Scouts building sat vacant for many years, as the program lagged on and off. An effort was made to revitalize the structure in the late 1990s, but after sitting unused again, it was determined a new building was needed.

It was important to the Scouts to save the old fireplace that was built into the old building, so donor Bill White designed it to fit the new pavilion. Much of the labor and materials were donated for the new building, including efforts by Tim Bach, who constructed much of the pavilion.

Since 1915, Scouting has been part of Cornell’s heritage, as a long and proud tradition. That tradition officially began when Troop 1 was chartered by the Presbyterian Church in 1915. But, the charter expired after only a year, and wasn’t renewed until 1919, this time, by the Cornell Public Schools.

Troop 1 remained active until 1921, then Troop 2 was organized, lasting a year. There was no official activity until 1925, when Troop 1 was again chartered, this time, under sponsorship of the Cornell Commercial Club.

Throughout the remainder of the 1920s, into the 1930s, various organizations held the charter of the Troops, until the 1940s and 1950s, when Scouting was revitalized.

Enter Cornell resident Helge Grotte, who became known as “Mr. Scouting” in the Chippewa Valley. Cornell’s Scouting program, which now includes Holcombe, is synonymous with the name of Grotte.

Grotte came to America by steamship, in 1910, from Norway, growing up in Cornell, and attending school, until he started his own food service business of meat processing. He passed away in 1994, but before then, he led many Scouts to the great outdoors, passing on his love of bow hunting, canoeing, camping, hiking, skiing and of course, his famous bean hole beans.

During the years under Grotte, the Troop produced 24 Eagle Scouts (the highest award for a Scout). The Cub Scouts got their start in 1943, when two boys, Jim Fischer and Willard Snow, approached Grotte and asked if he would organize Cub Scouting in the community.

So the story goes, 15 boys were recruited in 15 minutes, and in two years, led by Ben Thune, the Pack became the largest in the Chippewa Valley Council.

After Grotte stepped down, the Scouting program lagged somewhat, but by the late 1990s, those in charge decided to revitalize the Scout building, raising $5,000 to make the structure usable year-round.

Flash forward to five or six years ago, and the Scouting program was again undergoing revitalization. The Scoutmaster at the time moved out of the area, so Scott and Michele Bowe stepped into the roles, as their oldest son was involved and some of his classmates.

Seeing how much the kids really enjoyed Scouting, Scott knew he wanted to keep it going. Keeping it going ended up as a project to completely replace the Scout building.

Scott discovered the structure needed replacing, after he went inside to get a flag and found that not only was the flag wet from where the roof leaked, but that there were also pools of water on the floor.

“We had someone take a look at it and they said it just wasn’t worth fixing,” said Scott.

When several people wanted to see the building stay, the Scouts decided to collect funds for a new building at the same site. Once their fundraising efforts began, the Scouts raised $30,000 very quickly.

“That was when we knew how much support there really was for getting a new building and continuing Scouts in Cornell,” said Scott.

It wasn’t all cut and dried, as the land the building sits on is owned by Mulehide Mfg., but the building – the charter – is owned by the Cornell American Legion, because a Pack can’t “own” anything.

“It’s just kind of a big community thing,” said Michele.

“Without the Legion, we wouldn’t exist as a Pack,” said Scott.

Everyone jumped on board with the project and the design began to take shape. The old building often sat unused, and no one could get inside except for the Cub, Girl and Boy scouts, as well as other youth organizations.

“We wanted it to be as simple as possible, so it wouldn’t require a whole lot of maintenance,” said Scott. The leaders also knew they needed a garage portion for storage, and added a bathroom and a full kitchen. At the start, the Scouts hadn’t planned on a kitchen, but they received so many donations of cabinets, services and labor, that they decided to add one.

The new pavilion-type structure is also bigger than the old building and was constructed so that if in the future the Scouts want to enclose it, they can build walls or add doors. But, for now, a tarp is stationed on the west side to block the wind and rain in inclement weather.

As part of the design for the new building, the old fireplace was allowed to stay standing, along with the sign identifying the building in honor of Grotte. The fireplace wasn’t quite the right fit for the new building, so Bill White extended the fireplace up and replaced what was needed, and the sign hanging on the exterior stone was refurbished.

“That’s kind of neat, that we were able to save part of the old building,” said Scott.

Scott and Michele, while still part of the Scouts, no longer serve as Scoutmasters, instead, passing the torch to Jim and Amber Feira. Jim says he’s already seen how invested the communities are to the Scouting programs, by their support of fundraisers and sales.

“It takes a lot of money to run the Cub Scouts,” said Jim. “And we’re very lucky with the communities we have, between Cornell and Holcombe…that has really funded us for the most part.”

Moving forward, the Scouts continue to grow, to learn, to evolve into what the community needs, as youth find confidence in service and enjoy the outdoors. Some would say Grotte would be proud to see the legacy he, and others, left behind.

Helge’s selfless service to youth will, as years go by, be forgotten, because that is what happens to persons in history, wrote former Scout Lee Prentice. It will not, however, be forgotten by those for whom he was Scoutmaster.

[caption id="attachment_269938" align="alignnone" width="300"] The original Scouts building sat vacant for many years, as the program lagged on and off. An effort was made to revitalize the structure in the late 1990s, but after sitting unused again, it was determined a new building was needed.[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_269939" align="alignnone" width="300"] It was important to the Scouts to save the old fireplace that was built into the old building, so donor Bill White designed it to fit the new pavilion. Much of the labor and materials were donated for the new building, including efforts by Tim Bach, who constructed much of the pavilion. Photo by Ginna Young[/caption]