Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Marvin Howard

Chapter III of Earl O'Neal's book, Wild Ponies of Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, is devoted to an account of the island's mid-1950s Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290.

The troop was the vision of Marvin Howard, the boys' first scoutmaster. The former scouts are now in their 60s, but they all remember Marvin fondly for his commitment to the youth of Ocracoke, and his untiring dedication to his scouts.

Ocracoke Mounted Boy Scout Troop 290













(Photo courtesy of the Outer Banks History Center. Marvin Howard is second from left.)

Earl retells the following story from Rudy Austin, one of the original scouts:

"[Rudy] and a couple of the other scouts went by Scout Master Marvin Howard's home on Howard Street. Marvin always went in the shed and took off his dirty clothes and shoes before he went into his home, which apparently he had done. When the boys showed up, in a typical Ocracoke style, his wife Leevella came to the door and said, 'Marvin can't come out and play; he's gonna have his supper.'"

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of windmills on Ocracoke. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news012113.htm.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:06 AM

    Is there a continuing tradition of scouting on the island? one would think a marine division of a troop -studying boat building, marine biology, shell biology, fishing cooking and drift wood art seems to me a troop would find plenty to do. Certainly camping and astronomy would be sbjects to study.

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    Replies
    1. Ocracoke has Tiger Cubs, Wolf Cubs, Bear Cubs, Junior Webelos, Senior Webelos and Boy Scouts.

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