Does anyone remember this bracing foray on Fort Pond Bay?
We know that the year was 1963, the group were Montauk Girl Scouts, the leader wearing glasses was Betty Morici, and the photo was taken by Frank T. Moss. A Montauk troop—Troop No. 1 – of the Girl Scouts had been formed on February 16, 1939, starting with 27 members. We don’t who the members were then, or in 1963, or the names of the adults besides Mrs. Morici.
We also don’t know exactly what the girls were doing in this photograph, which comes from the Frank and Barbara Borth Collection in the Montauk Library Archives. It is labeled, simply, “Girl Scouts on trip to Navy Road, 1963.” That was around the time that Betty Morici opened Betty’s Bloomers, the outdoor flower shop/nursery she operated for more than 20 years. It was also at around that time that Barbara Borth was morphing from Girl Scout leader to 27-year teacher at the Montauk School. (She and Mary Pospisil are credited with having revived the Girl Scout troop in Montauk.)
The Girls were pretty busy in 1963. Community notes in the East Hampton Star in that year reported that, among other activities, more than 150 mothers and daughters attended a covered-dish supper and that the Girls marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, went to a powwow in Riverhead and rollerskating in Greenport, pitched tents at Camp Edey in Bayport, saw the sites in New York City, and back in Montauk had a hike and cookout on the beach in June as well as a lovely ice skating party in January:
“The south end of Fort Pond was alive with swiftly moving figures by the light of the full moon and the new floodlights. Leaders of the Troop furnished hot chocolate and cookies, while several boys built a bonfire near the shore to warm cold hands and toes. Many other town residents joined the girls on the Pond.”
In November of 1963 came this shorter, less poetic report, as well: “Some of the Montauk Girl Scouts went frostfishing Sunday evening, accompanied by several leaders.”
Could frostfishing be what they were doing that day on Fort Pond Bay? Drop us a line if you have any details!
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