On a typical London night in 1909, when England’s capital was in the grips of “pea soup” fog, traffic had come to an almost complete standstill and the feeble lights from the street lamps penetrated only a few feet into the gloomy murkiness.

Through the darkness a man walking slowly along the street stopped under a lamppost. He was hopelessly lost.

Suddenly a dark figure emerged from the gloom, walked past the man and returned. “Can I help you, sir?”

When the man saw that it was a young boy, he explained his predicament. “I have a business appointment somewhere around here, and will be much obliged if you’ll tell me how to get there.”

There was no mistaking the man’s nationality, as he spoke with a decided American accent.

“If you’ll give me the address, I’ll take you there,” said the boy.

When they reached the destination, the American pulled a shilling from his pocket to pay the boy for his help, but the boy turned it down.

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“And why not?” the American asked.

“Because I’m a Scout! Haven’t you heard about Baden-Powell’s Boy Scouts?”

This was incredible. A boy refusing money was more than the American could understand. “Please tell me about them.”

After the boy finished the story of his experiences in Scouting and how much fun it was, the man was anxious to hear more.

“Our headquarters is close by. The general may still be in the office.”

“The general?”

“Baden-Powell, himself, sir.”

The American being curious, asked the boy to wait until he had kept his appointment and then take him to the headquarters of this “general.”

When the two arrived at the office of Baden-Powell, the boy disappeared into the fog before the American had a chance to learn his name.

At the Boy Scouts’ headquarters, 51-year-old William D. Boyce (newspaper and magazine publisher from Chicago, Ill.), met the founder of the Boy Scouts movement, Lieutenant-General Robert S.S. Baden-Powell, and learned about Scouting from the Chief Scout himself.

As the two men talked, and Baden-Powell related the story of his life in the military, and how his commanding reconnaissance missions into enemy territory first gave him ideas of teaching these same skills to young boys, Boyce was impressed. Although he’d had many dealings with young boys through his business enterprises, nothing had ever struck him as forcibly as his first encounter with a Boy Scout.

A few days later, when he left for the United States, Boyce carried with him a trunk full of Scout literature, uniforms and insignia, ready to take steps to introduce the Boy Scout idea to America.

On Feb. 8, 1910, William Boyce, along with Edgar Robinson, James West and other interested men, formally incorporated The Boy Scouts of America., an organization founded on the premise that to be a good citizen you must do for others.

To this day, Feb. 8 is celebrated as the birthday of Scouting in the United States.

A mere 12 years after the Boys Scouts of America had been incorporated, the PTA of the Orcutt School agreed to support an Orcutt unit. When the unit charter from the national organization was given, it designated the Orcutt group as Troop 1.

Some of the Scout Masters during the troop’s early years included Porter Clevenger, Lewis Crain, Sam Stotts and Charles Correll.

At various times between 1922 and 1928 the charter was allowed to lapse, until it was finally re-chartered in 1928.

During the 1950s the National Office of the Boy Scouts decreed that only the first unit in a Boy Scout Council should have the honor of being designated as Troop 1. Because a Troop in Santa Barbara had been established before the Orcutt unit, Troop 1 Orcutt had to change its numeral, and became Troop 91, a name that continues today.

On July 26, Troop 91 of Orcutt, the oldest continuous troop in the valley, will celebrate its 80th year of continuously functioning in helping Scouts to “put their right foot on the right path of life,” while also giving unceasing service to the community.

Whether camping or hiking, Scouts learn to work and plan. They learn what to carry with them and what to leave behind. Knowing that this is the path that they all must walk, whether in the forest or in life itself, they learn how to work as a group to ensure the safety and success of an outing.

As the Scouts describe it, “Scouting is a game with a purpose.”

The troop’s log cabin clubhouse was built in early 1930s. The property that the original Orcutt School was established on was deeded to the school by Union Oil, and a small corner of that large expanse of land was intended to be reserved for a Boy Scout unit as long as one existed. However, in the 1930s a handshake was all that was needed, and there is no record of title referencing that agreement.

The original log cabin on the site was over time declared unsafe and burned down. The current structure, which was formerly a Camp Fire Girls meeting place, located on city of Santa Maria property, was offered to the Boy Scouts when the city learned of the Boy Scouts’ need for a new building, and Camp Fire Girls were no longer using it. The building was moved to its present location, behind Orcutt Junior High School. It has only in recent years been referred to as the “Hut.”

In addition to the Hut’s being the home of Troop 91, it was filled with banners, plaques, pictures and many other mementos of bygone days.

The names of former members of Troop 91 reflect those who created the history of the Santa Maria Valley. Families, such as Bettencourt, Black, Clevenger, Glines, Hummel, McGinley, Nightingale, Righetti, Siler, Soares, Souza, Stubblefield, Tognazzini and Twitchell have all had sons or grandsons serving as Scouts in Troop 91.

Although many of the former troop members were members Troop 91 in earlier days, memories of awards, trips and Jamborees are still fresh in their minds.

In 1939, with Joe Nightingale (8th grade teacher at the Orcutt School) as Scout Master, the boys traveled by bus to Yosemite at a cost of $10 per Scout. The boys were gone a week.

In July of 2002, after spending 18 months preparing for a 12-day 100-mile trek though the Sequoia National Forest, the boys left on a trip that soon proved to be as memorable as it was dangerous.

One day into the trip the boys found themselves fleeing a wildfire that eventually destroyed 60,000 acres of forestland. Working together and using skills learned through their years in Scouting, the boys took two trips and five hours to get safely away from the fire and on their way home.

In true Boy Scout tradition, the boys work hard to help keep trails clean and safe, as it’s important to them that they leave little or no sign that they’ve passed through.

The videos that the boys have made of their many trips have been produced and edited by the Scouts themselves.

Service to the community has always been a very important part of being a Scout. Troop 91 has put in more than 3,000 hours of community service, in such activities as participating in the annual beach and airport clean-up programs, and the annual “Scouting for Food” drive, where the food collected is donated to the local Food Bank in Santa Maria.

In addition to the boys volunteering their time in such things as working for local churches, they’ve participated in local parades and memorial services on Veterans and Memorial Days.

The backbone of this program is the parents and families who provide the transportation and manpower for the many activities of the troop. They sit on the advancement committees to make plans in a way that allows this to be a Scout-run organization.

James Calahane now serves as Scout Master, while Assistant Scout Masters include Alexander Razo-Myers, Michael Nash, Joe Hughes, Frank Spark and Marie Thompson. Alan Munch serves as Scouting Advisor.

Orcutt’s Troop 91 recently learned that “The Hut” was deemed to be unsafe for occupancy and would have to be torn down, and the school district, which owns the property, has plans to develop the property for the district’s new charter school, Orcutt Academy. In short, the troop is being evicted.

Although several organizations have offered to help, as of today, nothing is concrete, and Orcutt’s Boy Scout Troop is still without a permanent home. The American Legion not only wants to find a permanent meeting place for the Scouts, but they would also like to preserve