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Our Wall of Fame Honorees

Since we established the Camp Cachalot Wall of Fame in 2010, our members have honored 23 Scouters and organizations with a spot on the wall, recognizing their service, program, financial, or professional contributions to Camp Cachalot. They are all shown below, along with a brief summary of why they were selected. They are listed in alphabetical order by last name or organization name, with the year of their induction next to their names.

Bill Begin (2023) has been a driving force in the promotion and upkeep of Camp Cachalot. His contributions include work on: the renovation of Prescott Hall, the renovation of Magee Village, the construction of the new rifle range, painting the interior of Noquochoke Lodge, and assisting in the construction of the LeComte Pavilion with the OA. Bill assisted in the construction and upkeep of the Wall of Fame, he assisted in the construction and painting of the new outhouses for Cabins 1 & 2. He worked tirelessly on stripping and replacing siding on many buildings including the 21 Club, the maintenance building, and the Welcome Center. He led the effort in re-screening the porch and painting the interior of the Phillips House, and assisted in installing new fencing at the waterfront along with redecking the docks. He also assisted in the construction of more than 20 picnic tables and many other projects around Cachalot.

When Bill wasn’t swinging a hammer he could always be found mowing the grass alongside the roads and buildings throughout camp. He assisted the Ranger in cleaning fire pits, clearing paths to buildings after snow storms, removing dead or fallen trees that posed a danger to campers, burning excess wood, working on erosion control, and assisting the Ranger whenever help was needed.

Bill was instrumental in getting new appliances for Cabins 1 & 2, the Phillips House, and the 21 Club. He replaced all of the hardware on the rowboats, including new oarlocks and oars. Bill served on the staff of many Camporees and events at Cachalot, and he could always be found helping cook and serve food at Alumni events and various Camporees.

In addition to his work at camp, Bill has been active with several units in Southeastern Massachusetts, including: as an ASM with Troop 24 from 1986 to 1988; on the committee of Pack 74 from 2002-2005; the committee of Troop 74 from 2005-2013, the latter 4 years as its chairman; and as a Crew 24 adviser from 2018-2021. He has also served on Cachalot’s Campmaster Corps from 2004 through 2022; on the staffs of Klondikes from 2010 through 2020; and has served the Alumni Association as its Secretary since 2013.

He has previously been awarded the Cachalot District Silver Harpoon, the Silver Beaver, and the Vigil Honor of the Order of the Arrow.

George Boucher (2019) was instrumental in providing leadership and participating in maintenance, renovations, and improvements to the infrastructure of Camp Cachalot throughout the 1980s and into the mid-1990s. As an active member of the Moby Dick Council Camping and Properties Committee, he led many projects at Cachalot, including a significant renovation of the 21 Club that finally insulated the building for better winter use, beginning a remodel of the Phillips House, re-roofing the Dining Hall, building the storage area for the Rifle Range, construction of the handicapped access ramp on the Health Lodge, winterizing the Duplex, re-roofing and siding the Commissioner’s Shed, and the conversion of the old camp shower house into a building with two individual bath rooms and a Commissioner room for use during summer camp (that room, named for Gerry “Silver Fox” Sylvester, now serves as the camp’s Silver Fox Trading Post.) He also participated in the remodeling of the old Trading Post office space (now Noquochoke Lodge) along with repair and construction of many campsite fixtures, including cradles, platforms, wash stands, and flagpoles.

George was also a member of a group of Scouters that combated an infestation of Pine Loopers that was impacting Myles Standish State Forest and Cachalot by spraying campsites and program areas.

An active member of and adviser to Neemat Lodge, George also led work crews on many work weekends. He also participated in many Beaver Weekends, where Scouters would spend a weekend or a Saturday in camp tackling various service projects.

Of special note, George’s wife Kathy spent many years as the cook during summer camp at Cachalot. When George would return to camp after a day at work with the state of Massachusetts, he was always on-hand to help tackle the maintenance problems that inevitably crop up during a summer camp season.

Outside of his involvement at Cachalot itself, George also served in many units, including Pack 16, Troop 145, and Troop 46, all in New Bedford, as a member of their committees, and as an Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 46. He served on the Wamsutta and Cachalot District Camping and Activities committees, the Moby Dick Council Camping and Properties Committee, and on the program staffs of Klondikes I and II, the 1982 and 1992 Catch-a-Lot Fishing clinics, the 1982 Interplanetary Cub Scout Cosmic Caper, the 1990 Big Event, many Spring into Scouting events, and numerous district and council Camp-o-Rees and Scout Shows.

For his contributions to Scouting, George has been awarded the Scouters Key, the Scouters Training Award, the District Award of Merit, the Silver Beaver, Wood Badge, and the Vigil Honor of the Order of the Arrow.

George’s long history of leadership in service to camp and providing program to the Scouts and Scouters who camp there led our members to elect him as the 2019 honoree for the Camp Cachalot Wall of Fame

John "Jack" Byrne (2012), a retired Boston firefighter, was known by all as the face of the Cub-o-Ree at Cachalot, and one of the strongest advocates for Cub Scouting and for getting Cubs to camp in the Moby Dick Council. Jack led the planning, promotion, and execution of the Cub-o-Ree for many years, and was a strong advisor to the Cub Day Camp leadership at Cachalot. He also worked more directly with youth in his role as Assistant Cubmaster and then Cubmaster of Pack 55 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, as well as serving on the Commissioner and Pow-wow staffs. Innumerable Cubs will remember Jack, either handing out blue ribbons to the winners of the days events or getting up at a campfire with a spirited presentation of “Herbert the Bear”. An avid amateur videographer, Jack recorded many events for the Council and for the Scouts it served, many of which provide valuable documentation to the Association's effort to record the history of the camp and Council.

Jack firmly believed that Cubs should spend time outdoors, at Cachalot, and his tireless efforts ensured that hundreds, if not thousands, of Cubs, did. He was also a frequent volunteer at camp, spending countless hours helping to maintain and repair the program materials and facilities for all of the Scouts who enjoyed the use of Cachalot.

Scouting was a family affair, and Jack’s son and grandsons were active in Scouting as well.

During his tenure, Jack was recognized with the Silver Beaver, the District Award of Merit, and the Vigil Honor of the Order of the Arrow. As a Boston firefighter, he was the recipient of an award for heroism.

For his many contributions to the Scouting program at Cachalot, and for his stellar example of enthusiastic service, Jack Byrne merits a spot on the Wall of Fame.

Roland Deneault (2012) started his service to the council in October 1945, in the role of Assistant Council Executive under Richard Molby, after leaving the service. In this capacity, he was heavily involved in the search committee that located and acquired the land that would become Camp Cachalot and open for its first season mere months later.

Mr. Deneault would go on to serve as Cachalot’s first–ever Camp Director, spending four years in that capacity. He and his staffs built the first summer camp programs at Cachalot, and he worked with many volunteers from multiple companies to build the facilities used by all those early campers. Almost as significantly, he left a brief history of his time in that role, as well as detailed camp reports, for future Scouts and Scouters to refer to for a record of those early years.

Mr. Deneault eventually left professional Scouting, returning to a career in military service. He currently resides in Falls Church, Virginia.

For his work in helping establish Camp Cachalot, and for his professional service as its first Camp Director, we honor Roland Deneault on our Wall of Fame.

The George W. Magee Memorial Trust Fund (2010) was established upon the death in 1939 of George W. P. Magee, the former manager of the Boston Opera House, who left a substantial portion of his estate to establish this permanent trust fund in his name, to "distribute the balance of the net income of the said Trust Fund to such of the councils of the BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA as are located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and as, in the opinion of said Trustees, are performing the most efficient service, the said net income to be used, so far as possible, for the purchase and maintenance of summer camps or training camps in New England for the use of Boy Scouts." Through the fund's contributions, Mr. Magee's name appears on buildings at Cachalot (and at other camps in Massachusetts) and on "Magee Night" competitions held during at summer camp.

Since its establishment, the Magee Fund has contributed more money towards the ongoing maintenance, program, and expansion of Camp Cachalot than any other single entity, well in excess of $500,000, and they continue to make contributions today. This money has enabled the construction and repair of many of the buildings at camp (almost every building at camp has benefited from monies from the Magee Fund), has purchased program equipment, bought and repaired vehicles, and has recently helped enable the replacement of the camp's main power line in from Wareham.

Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School (2018) and its students have been a quiet service partner of Camp Cachalot for many years, going back at least as far as the restoration period following “The Fire” in 1964.

In the first few years after the fire, students and instructors at the school assisted in the construction of the “storage building” (the Maintenance Shed), the cook’s cabin, and on kitchen equipment, doors, and miscellaneous other building parts, along with 80 tent cradles and 24 platform sections for use in campsites. They also drew up plans for a chapel, although it’s not clear from the information we have that their plan was ultimately selected for the Covill Chapel. Letters from Scout Executive Ken Liberty in 1969 thank the school for assistance building the prefab trusses for the ranger cabin, 10 tables with benches for the dining hall, and many other good turns performed for Scouting over the years.

The school also did the pre-cutting for, and partial pre-fabbing of the new Adirondacks in 1970, constructed many picnic tables in the early 1980s and again after the Trading Post burned down taking a lot of picnic tables with it in 1987. They did work on the Health Lodge expansion in the late 1980s, and built new tables for use in the 21 Club in the same time frame.

More recently, students at the school have helped repair the “Ammo Carrier” (camp’s long-serving and recently retired military surplus M715 truck) and have been doing the cutting and engraving of the steel plaques for the Wall of Fame itself.

With this long history of service, the school and its students were inducted as the 2018 honoree for the Wall of Fame.

Armand Guilmette (2012) received his 20 year service award at the Cachalot Council’s annual dinner on October 27th, 1967, at the age of sixty. While this made him a relative latecomer to Scouting, placing his first year in Scouting at the age of 40, those had been prolific years, and were just the lead-up for what was to come. In those first 20 years, Armand had been a Scoutmaster, had helped lead a crew of Scouts and Scouters to the National Jamboree at Valley Forge in 1950, to working with so many others on the restoration of Camp Cachalot after 1964’s devastating fire, and served on the Council’s executive committee.

Armand’s biggest mark on Cachalot began in 1969, when, soon after he and (previous Wall of Fame honoree) Fred Prefontaine completed the construction of the ranger’s residence, he became Cachalot’s first full-time, resident Camp Ranger. He was responsible for prodigious and varied work at camp during his tenure, ranging from building renovations to conservation projects. Armand retired as Ranger in 1975, but that wasn’t the end of his Scouting career. He travelled cross-country for a number of years, volunteering at other Scout camps as he went.

The ranger’s residence at Cachalot was dedicated to his memory in 2007.

For all Armand's service, both volunteer and professional, to Camp Cachalot and its Scouts, we again honor Armand Guilmette.

Albert “Al” Hall (2010), a veteran of four Scout units in the New Bedford area, and a highly-decorated Scouter (recipient of the Silver Beaver, the Pelican Award, Scouters Key, St. George Award, Wood Badge, and a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow), has been a fixture at Cachalot from the late 1960s to the present time. He has served on the staff of many district and council events at Cachalot, and as both a unit leader and a commissioner during the summer Al was a tireless volunteer at camp. Along with serving as a member of the Restoration Committee in the 1970s, Al was always on hand at "Beaver Weekends" tackling service projects, and spent a good deal of his own time to help with plumbing projects out at camp, whether it was replacing toilets or completely redoing the hot water system at the shower house. He even came out to help the ranger shut down the seasonal water system at the close of summer camp through much of the 1980s.

Mr. Hall also provided instruction and leadership to a large number of young men during his Scouting career. Many of Cachalot's summer camp staffers counted Mr. Hall among their unit leaders, thanks to his involvement with several units, and many Scouts built their first hobo stoves or got their first taste of dutch oven cookery under his tutelage.

A fifty-five year veteran of the Boy Scouts of America, Lawrence “Larry” Harney (2013) began his Scouting career in 1945 as a 15-year- old Scout in New Bedford, eventually attaining the rank of Star Scout and becoming an Assistant Scoutmaster. In the years since, he has served with multiple units, led units to and participated on the staffs of National Jamborees, worked in multiple arenas at the District, Council, and Region levels as commissioner staff, Properties committee member, and camp visitation specialist. He is an Arrowman, having been elected into the Agawam Lodge in 1961. He has been recognized with the Scouters Key, Adult Training Awards, and, in 1998, the Silver Beaver.

Larry’s service to Cachalot is as long as the history of Cachalot itself. As a youth of 17, he was a member of its first camp staff in 1946, and served multiple roles on staff in the early years of camp, until enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1951. Upon his return to the area in 1953 he immediately returned to camp staff on the maintenance corps, providing many services needed for a new and growing camp. He spent numerous weekends at camp performing service projects and security before Cachalot Council hiring a permanent Camp Ranger. During the fire of 1964, he volunteered with the Wareham Fire Department, manning a brush breaker helping to fight the fire, then served on the Restoration Committee for many years to help rebuild, personally helping to clear debris, plant new trees, and repair damaged buildings and program areas at Cachalot.

Over his long Scouting career, he has helped with the installation of water lines at camp, helped with the construction of the Boat House, the building of the Guilmette Ranger’s Residence, the Follansbee docking system at the waterfront, the construction of Magee Village, and other projects too numerous to mention. His collection of meeting minutes from the Camping and Properties committee, dating from the 1960s through the 1990s, have been a fundamental resource for the Association’s documentation of Cachalot’s history. For his many contributions, Lawrence Harney is a welcome addition to the Wall of Fame.

The second-generation patriarch of a Scouting family whose fifth generation is currently progressing through the ranks and which has spawned four Eagle Scouts, Dura Higgins (2014) was a 33 year volunteer at Cachalot, right up to his passing in 1987. Over that time, he made numerous and varied contributions to camp, pitching in wherever and whenever he could be helpful.

He spent many hours in conservation work at camp: cutting and maintaining nature trails, cleaning streams and beaches, clearing campsites and roads, and planting innumerable trees in the restoration effort after the fire of 1964 and long after. He took charge of many pest control issues at Cachalot and in its buildings, whether it be insect or animal pests. During the course of his Scouting career, he helped work on virtually every building in Cachalot.

In addition to countless service hours, he also contributed significantly to many programs at Cachalot, including family camping and “Beaver” work weekends, Klondike Derbies, Cub Scout Cub-o-Rees and day camps, along with many Camporees and seasons of summer camp.

Marcel Hudon (2020) was a true inspiration to Scouters of all ages. He was always willing to help out in any capacity. At the unit level, he served in the leadership of multiple units over several decades, including Troops 43, 68, 14, 12, and 24. He was a fixture on Roundtable Staff, Wood Badge Staff, and the Training Committee, and at Cachalot as a Camp Commissioner. He was a long-time adviser to the Neemat Lodge Order of the Arrow, often helping out in the kitchen at lodge events. At camporees and other events he was often seen with his frequent partner-in-crime, Wall-of-Famer Al Hall, helping teach Scouts at camp how to build a hobo stove, manage a bean pit, or care for cast iron cookware. For his contributions, Marcel received multiple awards in Scouting, including the District Award of Merit and the Silver Beaver.

Dave Trull remembers Marcel like this: “Mostly working ‘behind the scenes’, his contributions to Cachalot are too numerous to name as he seemed to be a constant presence. One of my favorite recollections was Marcel’s attempts at tree replanting as he had a black walnut tree at home and he would bring bags of the black walnuts and scattered them around the camp as he’d walk around. He was dedicated to the betterment of Cachalot and any remaining black walnut trees are due to his efforts.”

Professionally, Marcel worked as a machinist, and would often use those skills to make things needed at Cachalot.

For his service and program contributions, our members honored Marcel with a spot on the Wall of Fame in 2020.

John B. Humphreys (2014) served as the Camping and Activities Committee Chairman for the Cachalot Council during one of the most stressful and challenging periods in Cachalot’s history, from 1958 through 1966. John was an extremely dedicated and resilient man, and his name was synonymous with the restoration efforts during the period following the fire of 1964.

An engineer by profession, he directed the planning of Cachalot’s restoration, including assessing the complete infrastructure of the property, determining the needs, and helping create the overall plan. This included not only the facility improvements that most people remember, including the then-new Trading Post, the Duplex, the Chapel, maintenance building, Chef’s Cabin, new roads, new water system, expanded campsites, and the Ranger’s residence; but also envisioned program and service improvements that would be made possible by those improvements. For example, the Ranger’s residence allowed, for the first time, a full-time, on-site Ranger; while the Duplex anticipated being able to have more adult Staff and their families, adding more depth and maturity to the Camp operation. The names of the other members of his committee speak to its, and his, impact, including among them previous Wall of Fame honorees Harney, Guilmette, Prefontaine, Hall, and Morse, along with fellow nominees Ed Spencer and Ray Rogers.

He was also instrumental in securing the donations to fund this massive restoration effort. Not only did he help in setting the vision for the restoration, he helped sell that vision to donors in order to ensure it could be paid for.

In addition to this work, Mr. Humphreys also was the committee chairman of Troop 4 in New Bedford and a council commissioner, and received other Scouting honors including the Silver Beaver award and one of the first three Vigil Honors presented by Agawam Lodge. He later went on to serve as the president of the Moby Dick Council from 1973 to 1975.

William “Bill” Joyce (2011), Scoutmaster of Troop 35 in Onset, MA from the early 1950s until his death in the late 1980s, was a significant influence on hundreds of young men at Camp Cachalot over the course of his Scouting career. He was the recipient of many awards during that long career, but is remembered most for his adept instruction in Scout skills, particularly in the natural sciences. Whether he was peeling the bark back off a fallen log to show the animal life that had taken up residence in the dead wood, pointing out the edible plants growing around camp, or leading the dining hall in “The Cuckoo Song” or “Rise and Shine”, he seemed to always be teaching a Scout something. He was also instrumental in district program at camp, including serving as the co-chair of the first Klondike Derby at Cachalot, an annual event that continues to this day.

He was also unafraid of a little physical labor: he helped establish the Squaw Corner (now called Scouter’s Corner) family camping area; was an officer of the Restoration Committee in the 1970s, which helped reforest Cachalot after the fire of 1964; and performed countless service projects at Cachalot, both during Beaver Weekends and on his own, including trail clearing, tree planting, any number of conservation-related projects, and just popping out to camp to give the ranger a hand when he was needed.

Sumner H. Morse (2010) served two separate stints of his career as a professional Scouter at Camp Cachalot, with very different impact each time.

His first service to Cachalot came as a professional in the Cachalot Council, in the early 1960s. Sumner was employed by the Council at the time of the 1964 fire that destroyed much of the forest canopy over Camp Cachalot. As the fire occurred mere months before the opening of summer camp, something had to be done to ensure that a summer program took place for the Scouts in the Cachalot Council. This took the form of a joint operation of the Cachalot and Squanto councils at neighboring Camp Squanto, and Sumner was very involved in operating this joint program, as its assistant director in 1964 and as its director in 1965.

He returned to the newly-formed Moby Dick Council as Scout Executive in the late 1970s, right at the height of the "Save Our Camps" campaign, with protestors on the lawn of the council's offices on his first day on the job! He helped to defuse that situation and helped prevent the sale of Cachalot, and in his decade-long tenure, his efforts helped to transform the Moby Dick Council and Camp Cachalot from nearly-broke entities to financially-sound ones. He retired, leaving a legacy of a substantial permanent endowment to help finance Cachalot into its future.

Alan Novick (2016) started in Scouting at the age of 11 as a member of Troop 8 in New Bedford, where he earned his Eagle Scout award with one bronze palm. He attended National Camp School at Schiff, served as an Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 24 in Fall River, and for a troop in Cambridge, MA while a college student.

Alan has loved Cachalot since he was a kid, and was one of the Scouts at its first summer camp in 1946. Cachalot is in his blood. He went from camper to Waterfront Director, and eventually a member of the Council Executive Board, serving for a time as its president.

While serving as Waterfront Director, Alan brought in the Red Cross system of swimming achievement awards, and also ran an American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor program. He served as a merit badge counselor for the Waterfront-related merit badges, the Citizenship merit badges, and for Fishing merit badge for many decades after.

After completing law school, he went on to join the Council Executive Board. One of his most significant actions during his tenure on the board occurred in 1977, when a cash-strapped, recently-merged Moby Dick Council put forth a plan to sell Camp Cachalot. Alan was the principal supporter on the board of the “Save Our Camps” committee, and was responsible for organizing fund-raising drives and the establishment of an Irrevocable Trust to bring the council out of the red and prevent the sale. He was instrumental in persuading philanthropist Gratia “Topsy” Montgomery of Round Hill in Dartmouth to donate $100,000 to that Trust, an amount which ultimately prevented the sale of Cachalot. He went on to become the President of the Council, and his term was one of fiscal responsibility.

Alan is part of a proud tradition of Scouting in the Novick family. His father, Joe, and father-in-law, Raphael Mutterperl, were among the first campers at Cachalot; his sons and grandsons were involved in Scouting as well, with his son Andy following in his footsteps as Waterfront Director and son Jimmy serving as Nature Director.

NSTAR Electric and its Employees (2011) - Since the opening of Camp Cachalot in 1946, but especially since the early 1970s, NSTAR Electric (formerly Commonwealth Electric) has provided manpower and expertise to meet the electrical needs of Camp Cachalot. Through the United Way’s “Day of Caring” program, employees of NSTAR have donated countless hours and personal energy to perform many specialized tasks that Cachalot, Moby Dick, and Narragansett Councils would have been hard pressed to otherwise afford. Though many of the employees have been current or former Scouters, they were joined by NSTAR employees who felt the need to assist with such worthy projects. Many hours have been spent trimming tree limbs that were endangering power lines, digging and setting poles, and running new power lines to replace aging ones. To enhance our program efforts and improve camper safety, volunteers have also performed important utility upgrades around Tom Cullen Field and in the parking areas near the maintenance yard and across from Prescott Hall. NSTAR volunteers also ran new electric wires into the center of Cachalot and, with assistance from the Massachusetts National Guard, replaced poles in very remote areas of the camp.

This long and continuing legacy merits NSTAR Electric and its Employees a spot on our Wall of Fame.

Brenda Pomfret (2015) has served Cachalot in multiple roles over more than 40 years, most notably as the long-time Program Director of Cachalot’s Cub Scout Day Camp program (from 1979 through 1996), the Field Sports/Rifle Range Director for Boy Scout Summer Camp for over a decade, the frequent assistant chairman of the Cub-o-Ree program run by Wall-of-Famer Jack Byrne, and Rifle Range “Mayor” on more than 10 Klondike Derby staffs. She was a founding member of Cachalot’s Campmaster Corps, and remains involved as a Campmaster today. Her sons were also prominent in local Scouting, at her side at Cachalot from pre-Cubbing age right up to today.

The recipient of many Scouting honors, including the Silver Beaver, the District Award of Merit, Wood Badge, and various training awards, Brenda has been a fixture at Cachalot. Under her leadership, and through her constant promotion, Cub Day Camp participation grew and grew, with over 120 Cubs attending camp each week over a 4 week Day Camp season, with many Cubs attending multiple weeks to enjoy Cachalot and the weekly themed program Brenda planned and operated with her staff of loyal volunteers and Scouts.

In her role as Rifle Range Director, Brenda introduced many youth to the shooting sports and the paramount importance of firearm safety. In 1983, she introduced the National Rifle Association’s Youth Shooting Program to Cachalot, which allowed Scouts and Scouters to pursue and qualify for NRA medals, patches, and certificates. She also introduced many Scouts to silhouettes and Lucky Target shoots during evening activities. Safety was always Brenda’s biggest message: she wanted everyone to know that while shooting was a fun sport, firearms are a serious pastime and she stressed the importance of being safe above all else.

A licensed nurse, Brenda has served as the backup camp nurse for many camp programs and events.

Brenda has also made many contributions to the upkeep of Cachalot over the years, from being a frequent participant in Beaver Weekends to her work as a Campmaster. She always helped with whatever projects she could, from painting and staining, to planting trees, to running the Trading Post, even cleaning restrooms.

Outside of camp, Brenda was involved at the unit level with Pack 55 in Fairhaven, in various Commissioner roles at the district level, and on Council training staff and a 5-year stint as the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby chairman. She’s also been a long-time volunteer and staff member for the Relay for Life program.

With her long involvement at Cub Scout Day Camp and Boy Scout Summer Camp, there are many former youth staffers that think of her as “Camp Mom.” Especially during Day Camp, she made sure her youth staffers stayed fed, stayed safe, had fun, and knew their contributions were important. Many of these staffers now have families of their own, and can be spotted at Alumni Association family weekends introducing their own children to, and reminiscing with, Brenda.

Our “Camp Mom” has shown dedication and devotion to Cachalot and the youth it serves. For her many contributions to Cachalot’s program and her service to Cachalot, Brenda is well-deserving of a spot on the Wall of Fame.

L. Fred Prefontaine (2010), member and sometime Scoutmaster of Troop 1 New Bedford, began his long service to Cachalot in 1958, and made many, many contributions to camp, right up until his death in 2001. He was a recipient of many of Scouting's highest awards, including the Scouters Key, Scouter Training Award, the District Award of Merit, the Silver Beaver, Woodbadge, the Bronze Pelican, and the Vigil Honor of the Order of the Arrow. His service to Cachalot and its people was varied: helping to evacuate units and fight the fire of 1964, running the small resident program at Cachalot in 1964 and 1965 whose sole purpose was to clear debris from camp after the fire, to serving many years on both the Restoration Committee and the Cachalot and Moby Dick Camping and Properties Committee. He was a member of the Catholic Committee on Scouting, the Woodbadge Training Committee, an active adviser to Agawam and Neemat Lodge, and served as Cachalot's summer camp director from 1971 until 1975. He was a frequent participant at Beaver Weekends, and once led the Council's contingent to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, helping provide local Scouts with a backcountry adventure.

His skills as a carpenter and cabinetmaker also served Cachalot well. He coordinated the construction of the Trading Post across from Tom Cullen Field that was used from the mid-1960s until its destruction by fire in 1987, designed the current kitchen area for the camp's Dining Hall, and, leveraging his role as an instructor with New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, helped keep the camp supplied with tent platforms, picnic tables, and other carpentry projects with the help of his students.

Mike Ramos (2022) was handicapped as a toddler by polio and confined to a wheelchair, learned he could have no limits, including in his Scouting involvement. Mike was an ambassador for Scouting in the New Bedford Cape Verdean communities as a Scoutmaster and Explorer Advisor at Our Lady of Assumption, the first Scout troop serving the Cape Verdean community in the United States. He participated in the City’s Annual Parade being pushed in his wheelchair by “his boys” as he called them. During his Scouting tenure he was awarded the Scouter’s Key, the District Award of Merit, and the Silver Beaver, along with numerous other honors.

At Camp Cachalot, Mike served for a decade on the staff as Handicraft Director, patiently guiding young Scouts to carve a neckerchief slide, paint their Patrol Plaque or craft a lanyard with plastic “gimp” cord.

Mike was the cohesive part of the Camp Staff. He led songs in the Dining Hall and at Campfires, and the Staff would pull his chair up the Dining Hall hill with toggle ropes because he was one of them, too. Mike even went on one of the end of season Staff climbs on Mount Chocorua where Tom Gorka carried Mike to the top on his back.

He continued to serve as a leader after his years on staff, including helping to run camporees and other program events at Cachalot, into the early 1980s.

Living independently, Mike drove a car and had a position as a Quality Control Technician at the Acushnet Company inspecting Titleist Golf Balls.

Mike’s example, wisdom, advice and guidance were an inspiration to the hundreds of Scouts’ lives he touched. He kept a lot of kids out of trouble by his involvement and mentoring.

The photo of Mike is used with the kind permission of Ron Barboza, who reserves all rights to the image.

Robert "Bob" Richard (2017) is most well-known to Scouts and Scouters as a summer camp fixture, having served 14 years as the rifle range instructor, Shooting Sports and Field Sports Director, a role for which he happily volunteered, never taking a paycheck for his services. In that role he was responsible for the first nationally inspected and approved paint ball range. But that’s only a part of Bob’s contributions to Cachalot.

He paid his first visit to camp in 1996 as adult supervision for his step son’s troop, camping in the 21 Club. In the years since, he has the aforementioned 14 years on the rifle range during Boy Scout summer camp, 7 years on the Cub Scout Day Camp staff as the range safety officer, many years as a Campmaster, and has helped staff various district and council events out at camp, including Powder Horn, Klondike Derbies, and many camporees, even chairing the 2005 Fall Camporee. He was also active in other areas of Scouting, including service on the commissioner staff, the Popcorn committee, as the advancement chair for Troop 27 in Fall River, and as an Elangomat for the Order of the Arrow. He is the recipient of numerous Scouting awards, including the Bronze Pelican, Wood Badge, the Vigil honor, and the Silver Beaver.

Bob also has a long history of service projects at Cachalot. He would head to camp for the summer in early June each year, to assist the Ranger in getting camp ready for summer camp in advance of the rest of the staff. Projects included new back stops for the rifle range; demolition work for the renovation of Prescott Dining Hall, then helping with screen installation, concrete work, and exterior painting for that renovation; urethaning the interior of the Trading Post; helping with alterations of the Handicraft area at Noquochoke Lodge including the construction of a new gun locker; prefab work on the wash house at Site 3; staining and siding work at the 21 Club; improvements to the Duplex; and drainage and septic work. When not working directly with the Ranger, Bob would make repairs to tents, platforms, cradles, trim trees, chip wood, and keep the grass mowed (not to mention keeping the mower, the string trimmers, and the golf carts running, including donating a riding mower to camp.) He was at camp every other Thursday for many years, helping the Ranger keep things running.

Our Ranger goes so far as to say “He played some small part in almost every major project but his major help to me was getting so many of the annual things done so I could focus on the major stuff. He really did so much and I was spoiled to have him around. He loved the camp and thought of it as his second home.”

For all of these contributions to Camp’s well-being, you and your fellow Association members saw fit to elevate him to the Wall of Fame in 2017.

Ray Rogers (2015) was a virtual, unofficial Assistant Ranger at Cachalot from the early 1950s through the late 1960s, always on hand to help with projects out at Cachalot. A Scouter with Pack 54 in Fairhaven, Ray spent more time at Cachalot tackling projects than nearly any other person for a 15+ year span of time, even stepping in as acting Ranger when needed.

We haven't been able to identify a photo of Ray Rogers in our archive. If anyone has a photo of him, we'd appreciate a copy. Please contact us at curator@cachalotalumni.org.

Paul A. Seguer’s (2015) name was synonymous with service for much of the 1970s and early 1980s at Cachalot.

Paul was a long-term member of the Camping Committee of the Cachalot and Moby Dick Councils. A contractor and carpenter, he applied his skills to many projects at camp, leading the construction of Cabins 1 and 2, along with many Beaver Day work weekends, where he was a constant presence, leading many work projects and assisting in many others. As Camp Noquochoke was still a going concern at this point in time, he also put in work there, leading the construction of a new Ranger’s residence. He was a man who was always willing to help, whether he was swinging a hammer or setting bricks, and was a continual help to the rangers at Cachalot for his entire Scouting career.

It is hard to overstate just how much work he put in at Cachalot: when the Neemat Lodge established their annual service award, to be presented to the Arrowman who had contributed the most to Camp Cachalot, they named the award in Paul’s honor, and the “Paul Seguer Service Award” was presented for many years.

He served the Scouts of Cachalot and Moby Dick Council in other ways as well, serving on many training committees (including Woodbadge), the Restoration Committee, the Cranberry Festival Committee, the Cachalot District Committee, as Cubmaster and Scoutmaster of Pack and Troop 74 in South Dartmouth, and as an adviser to Neemat Lodge. During his Scouting career he was awarded the Scouter’s Key, the District Award of Merit, the Silver Beaver, Woodbadge beads, and the Vigil Honor.

Edwin Spencer (2014) was deeply involved with environmental efforts at Cachalot before, and especially after, the 1964 fire, and was an important figure in the restoration of Cachalot.

In 1960, Ed pioneered an award that Scouts could earn by participating in conservation work at Cachalot.

After the fire, Mr. Spencer was the Council’s Conservation Chairman and a member of the Restoration Committee. while most efforts were focused on rebuilding and expanding the facilities at camp, he saw the need for, and pursued a vision of restoring the landscape as well. This included creating more private and diverse campsites that met then-new BSA standards for a “rotation plan” that would reduce campsite impact, seeing the need for a fire break around the central camp proper to protect against future fire tragedies, and planning for the reforestation of Cachalot. His reforestation efforts included establishing a tree nursery at the far end of Tom Cullen Field in order to cultivate seedlings and coordinating the planting of thousands of white pine seedlings and the planting and fertilizing of more mature trees of multiple species, many of which are readily visible today.

When summer camp returned full-time to Cachalot in 1966, the forest was so devastated that you could see from the Dining Hall almost to Little Long Pond. Today, the mature trees that Scouts at Cachalot enjoy are the result of Ed’s tireless efforts and quiet leadership of the Scouts that went out with Ed to replant. With the theory that “many hands make light work”, Ed marshaled summer campers to assist in these efforts: every tent had No. 10 cans of water by the tent flap in case of fire. Ed asked every camper to take one of those cans every day and water a newly-planted tree to help it take root, then refill the can. His work led to the Council receiving a national Conservation Award from the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Spencer was also involved with the leadership of a troop in New Bedford at Our Lady of Assumption church, and supervised the formation of Agawam Lodge. Now retired, he was an official at the Massachusetts Correctional Facility in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Vic Sylvia’s (2016) first visit to camp was as a Scout in Troop 11 New Bedford, in 1958—an activity at which he helped clear brush from an area by the lagoon that is now home to a bench bearing his name. With the exception of time away mostly spent in the service of his country, he’s been a constant source of support to Cachalot and a mentor, inspiration, and “Pa” to many of the young (and now not-so-young) men and women who think of Cachalot as their home away from home. He continues to this day as a frequent volunteer out at Cachalot, helping with many projects around camp, and as an advocate for Cachalot as a founding member and past chairman of the Camp Cachalot Alumni Association.

In his 58 years of involvement with camp, Vic has served in a wide variety of roles, providing both new programs enjoyed by hundreds if not thousands of Scouts over the years, and service as a leader of multiple district and council level committees and as a volunteer getting things done at camp. His dedication to his Scouts and Scouting, both at the unit level and elsewhere, is all the more impressive given that he was also a dedicated family man with three daughters, and no children in Boy Scouting himself, with the only reward sought being the chance to cast a line into Five Mile at the end of the day.

As a unit leader, he’s helped guide nearly a dozen Scouts to their Eagle Award, and Scouts who had benefited from his time as Scoutmaster were well-represented as senior members of Cachalot’s Summer Camp staff for nearly two decades, and in leadership roles in Neemat Lodge, including two Lodge Chiefs. A substantial number of the founding committee of the Camp Cachalot Alumni Association were also Vic’s Scouts.

In 1981, Vic originated the Klondike Derby with Wall-of-Famer Bill Joyce. This popular event continues to this day. He’s served as chair or co-chair of the Klondike 8 times since its founding (meaning that as of Klondike XXXVI this past January, he’s been the chair or co-chair of 1/5th of all Klondike Derbies—and he’s still out there most years helping the Alumni Association run the warming station.) The following year, he chaired the first of three “Catch-a-Lot” Fishing Derbies out at Cachalot (and followed that up by chairing the other two as well, in 1992 and 2002.) He’s chaired or served on staff of numerous other District and Council camporees at camp. One of the frequent themes of a Vic-organized event is that it’s not just a weekend, it’s a program that gives units enough material that they could plan several months worth of troop program to prepare for the event.

He’s also been an active adviser to the Order of the Arrow, earning his Vigil Honor as an adult. His involvement with the Lodge included stints as the co-adviser to the Ceremonies Committee, and one of the co-advisers of the original Spring Into Scouting event for Webelos. Spring Into Scouting grew out of the combination of Vic’s interest in the “Webelos Woods” program and the Lodge leadership’s interest in helping bridge Webelos into Boy Scouting.

Beyond his work at the unit level and in helping provide program at Cachalot, Vic has been a long-time member of many District and Council committees, including the Executive Boards of both Moby Dick and Narragansett Councils. Much of that time has been spent on or chairing the Cachalot and Wamsutta District Committee, Activities Committee, and especially the Camping and Properties Committee. He was also a founding member and Boy Scout Camping Chair for the Southeastern Massachusetts Camping Association (SEMCA), which brought Annawon and Cape & Islands Council Scouts to Cachalot for Boy Scout summer camp.

During his tenure as the chairman of the Camping and Properties Committee, he helped secure funds from the Magee Foundation for: 40 tents with platforms & cradles; a large storage expansion for the kitchen at Prescott Hall; an open air seating area at Prescott hall; handicap access to the old shower house, health lodge, and campsites; new showers in sites 5 and 8 and at Noquochoke Lodge; re-roofing the Cook’s Cabin; winterizing the duplex; 25 mountain bikes; 9 canoes; 6 rowboats; 4 sailboats; 4 kayaks; a basketball court; lighting for Tom Cullen Field; expanding the waterfront including a new tower and the current Follansbee docking system; and the staff cabins of Magee Village. He also worked with multiple local organizations including Mass Maritime, Mass Junior Conservation Camp, Wareham Public Schools, Plymouth Bay Girl Scouts, and New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical School to bring other revenue into Cachalot, increasing the money from rentals at camp by outside organizations from $600 to $10,000.

He also served on the committee that secured Cachalot’s protection from development with a Conservation Restriction, an action that added $1M to Cachalot’s endowment, prevents the sale of the camp for any purpose other than to be used as a youth summer camp, and brings much-needed forestry management of parts of the property from state agencies.

Beyond all his program and committee contributions, he’s also not afraid to swing a hammer or sling a paintbrush. The projects he’s volunteered on have included renovations to many of the buildings at camp including the 21 Club, Phillips House, Dining Hall, and Magee Village. Since his retirement several years ago, he also heads out to camp several times a month doing numerous small projects, many of which involve a fresh coat of paint wherever one is needed.

Edmund “Ed” Tavares (2011) was among the first Scouts to visit and camp at Cachalot in 1946, before it opened as a summer camp. Hiking in from Wareham, Ed and other early camp staff carved out the first campsites along with the road to camp as we know it today. He served on the first camp staffs of 1946 through 1952, and after serving his country in the Navy from 1953 through 1954, returned to serve as a professional Scouter, first as Program Director, then as Assistant Camp Director, and Camp Director from 1954-1961. As a professional Scouter, he saw the need for Cachalot Council to form an Order of the Arrow lodge and was instrumental in convincing then-Council-Exec Leo Burke to form Agawam Lodge 509, with Ed as its first Adviser. As a district executive he organized and ran week-long High Adventure camps for Explorers in the late 50’s, He organized and ran Ranger courses (outdoor junior leader training) at Abner’s Pond in 1960 and 1961. Along with Jerry Sylvester, he also helped establish and train the first Campmaster Corps at Cachalot in the early 90’s. He served on the steering committee that established the Camp Cachalot Alumni Association, and continues to provide leadership to the young men and women of the council’s Venturing program today.

Over his many years of service, both professional and volunteer, Ed had led or assisted in many district and council camporees for both Scouting and Venturing. As a member of the Northeast Regional camp inspection team he has been instrumental in assisting Cachalot in pre-camp inspections, and he continues to aid the Alumni Association with his vast personal knowledge of the people and events that shaped Cachalot’s history.

Dennis J. Wilkinson, II (2021) first came to Cachalot as a member of Pack 12 New Bedford in the fall of 1978. He spent his youth in Pack 12 (1977-1981) where he earned the Arrow of Light, Troop 12 (1981-1984), and Troop 46 New Bedford (1984-1988) where he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. While a youth he served two terms as Lodge Chief of Neemat Lodge, from 1986-1987 and 1987-1988. He also served on the Dance, Ceremonies, Camp Promotions, Elections, and Communications Committees of the lodge. He co-chaired the first Spring Into Scouting event held at Cachalot, and went on to serve on its staff for several years. He also assisted on many work weekends renovating the existing Council Ring.

Still with Troop 46, he first served as an adult as an Assistant Scoutmaster. He went on to serve as Scoutmaster, Committee Chairman, and Committee Member with Troop 46 (1988-2013), then as a Committee Member with Troop 1 New Bedford (2013-2015) and Troop and Crew 24 New Bedford (2015-present.)

Dennis served on the Camp Cachalot Summer Camp Staff in various leadership rolls from 1985 through 1991, serving as its Program Director in 1991. During this time period he also served on Cub Day Camp staff for five years. Dennis also served on the staff of the National Jamboree in 1989 and attended Philmont Scout Ranch in 1984.

Dennis has served on the Moby Dick Council Camping and Properties Committee. He is a member of the Camp Cachalot Campmaster Corps since its inception. He has served on staffs of numerous District and Council Camporees, Scout Shows, and Klondike Derbies.

In 1991 Dennis served as a fill-in Camp Ranger while the Council was conducting interviews for a full-time Ranger. While a youth he helped produce two Camp Cachalot Songbooks that are still in use today. After completing college, along with fellow Eagle Scouts and Troop 46ers Peter Ashworth and Thomas Whelan, Dennis hiked the entire Appalachian Trail.

Although Dennis has contributed to Camp Cachalot serving on numerous Order of the Arrow service weekends, Beaver Days, and Alumni Service projects, his greatest contribution has come through our Alumni Association. His tireless dedication to preserving history, traditions, and communications have inspired countless individuals to contribute to our archives and assist our Association’s efforts in maintaining Cachalot for future generations. Following is a list of these accomplishments:

  • Founding member
  • First Lifetime member
  • Designed the Association’s Logo
  • Association Secretary, 2004-2007
  • Association Vice-Chairman, 2007-2010
  • He works with the Council Office to keep our membership database up-to-date and assists members who have problems with membership when dealing with the office
  • Currently serving as Communications Chairman (technically 2010 to present, although he’s been filling that role for the Association since day one)
  • He’s the primary author and editor of The Cachaletter, 31 issues and counting
  • Designs, writes, and produces nearly all of the printed material that comes from the Association, including trifold brochures, reminders, posters, programs for events, including the Homecoming booklets (which he donates every year), and business card
  • He does video production for our events
  • He maintains the Association’s web site and manages our presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. This includes all of the “Throwback Thursday” and “Five Mile Friday” series
  • Sends the membership welcome letters and renewal reminders
  • He handles press releases and communications with local media outlets
  • Assembles the Wall of Fame ballots and tallies the Wall of Fame votes
  • Makes the Wall of Fame presentation plaques at no cost to the Association
  • Handles most presentations at our events
  • He sends condolence cards on behalf of the Association when local Scouters pass away
  • When we were awarding Staff Scholarships, he produced the congratulations letters given to scholarship recipients

When Dennis is not busy doing all of the above, he somehow finds time to be the main Archivist and Historian for the Association. His contributions there include:

  • He researches and documents the histories of Camps Cachalot, Noquochoke, and local Scouting in general
  • Publishes dozens of articles on that history, including the origins of the “Five Mile Pond” name, the “Brief History of” series in the Cachaletter and our web site, and the “Friday Night Campfire” series on Facebook that shows the history of the songs we sing at camp
  • Documents Association events with new photos and videos
  • He has scanned thousands of historic photos and documents, photographed memorabilia, and digitized or donated the cost of film transfers, video and film for the Association’s archive, which currently stands at over 8,000 photos, over 1,000 documents, and more than 40 hours of video.
  • He continues to conduct interviews with numerous long-time local Scouters
  • He spends many, many hours researching newspapers, magazines, and book archives both online and at libraries on microfilm
  • He donates archival storage materials for those items given to the Association
  • He produced the 75th Anniversary history video
  • He maintains an archive of meeting minutes for the Association
  • He has helped provide archival material for the OA’s history project celebrating the Order of the Arrow’s 100th Anniversary, along with providing archival material for Mike Vieira’s History of Noquochoke book
  • Dennis designs and coordinates much of the Association’s merchandise except for silkscreened items. These include polo shirts, stickers, Euro decals, and the “unofficial” print-on-demand store on Zazzle
  • He has served as the unofficial photographer for events at Cachalot for most of the time the Association has existed
  • Dennis continues to donate the proceeds of photo print sales to the Association
  • Since 2017 to the present Dennis produces a photo calendar at no cost to the Association, and donates both his costs and the proceeds to the Association, amounting to over $7500 to date

Since the Association’s founding in 2004, Dennis continues to pay for much of what he does, often not seeking reimbursement from the Association, and those contributions well exceed $10,000 over that time frame, not including the photo calendars.

 
Web site design and maintenance by Dennis J. Wilkinson, II.
All content copyright ©2004- by the Camp Cachalot Alumni Association, except where otherwise noted.
 
This page was last modified on Fri May 31st 2024.

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