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BITS AND PIECES - 07/20/2008
(by Howard Ball - OpEd Columnist - July 23, 2008)
Sailing back in time
A capital ship for an ocean trip was the S.S.S Enterprise, which was moored at the Merrill Barn on Passaic Avenue in Pompton Lakes. She never did go to sea but was a center of activity for teens in the World War II years.
Chartered with the Boy Scouts of America and under the command of Edwin D. Merrill, the Sea Scout Ship emulated activities on a real ship. Joe Muller took a picture of the crew, which consisted of John White, Dick Decker, Jackie Naughton, Steve Gordon, Tom Boyle, Bill Squier, and me.
The "ship" was laid out in the attic of the Merrill Barn and regular meetings were held in a nautical fashion. (Back lot of firehouse today). Ropes and stanchions were placed to simulate the deck of a ship and ceremonies followed naval traditions of the day. The skipper was piped on board for each meeting and naval etiquette was observed on boarding and leaving the "ship."
The log book of the Enterprise gives us an idea of what happened on board this heart ship. There a letter from Benjamin White Sr., who was a Boy Scout official and chairman of the March of Dimes (1945). He expresses his thanks to the crew for its participation in the drive. The letter was dated Feb. 14, 1945, which coincided with Boy Scout Week.
We collected just about everything for the war effort. Evidence of this is a letter in the log book from the War Food Administration in Washington, D.C.
Approved by the Boy Scouts of America, the letter urges Boy Scout groups to participate in the collection of milkweed pods, the floss of which was to be used to stuff life jackets. We harvested ours at the end of Lincoln Avenue. The letter was signed by Marvin Jones, the war food administrator.
Activities in the barn were varied including the day we rigged a breeches buoy from the barn to the Merrill back porch. We were all too heavy for the experiment, so we recruited Herbir Mathes, who was catapulted onto the Merrill porch. He was not injured, but the skipper urged us to give up that project.
Our trip to New York City to purchase equipment was a highlight of our year. We took one of the Hudson ferry boats to reach Gotham. Dressed in our natty Sea Scout uniforms, we looked to all the world like U.S. Navy sailors. Tom Boyle said we probably could get into the movies free if we tried. Someone put a quick stop to that idea and we went to Marine junk shops for our purchases. Our goal was a life ring, which we could paint with the ship's name and make a part of the barn vessel. We found one that matched our meager budget and we sailed back across the river to Jersey.
Our escapades included building a dock by Jackie Leary's house on Lakeside Avenue. A purloined shed from Steve Gordon's father was the headquarters and an old klaxon my dad had saved was our signal device.
The Enterprise sailed into the mist when we graduated from high school or went into the service. The Merrill barn is a parking lot, but in my heart I can still hear that bell and boatswains pipe piping the skipper aboard.
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