Hudson Valley Council Scouter and F.D.R. interpreter Jonah Triebwasser portrayed President Roosevelt at the Museum on July 26, 2003.  Mr. Triebwasser read the same speech that President Roosevelt originally read at Camp Man on August 23, 1933.   Museum Curator Bernie Sussman introduced "F.D.R."

BS: "It is now my pleasure, my honor, and I would appreciate a round of applause for the President when he does appear, thank you.  I hereby present the President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt."

 
      

  

 

 

 

 

"Thank you my friends.  I am delighted to be here.  Before I begin my formal remarks, I have a question for Mr. Sussman."  

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"Tell me Mr. Sussman, do you allow smoking on our camp property?"

 
 

 

 

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BS: "No, Mr. President."

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"Well, then I'd better put this away,

 

 

 

 

 

because after all, if the President won't obey the rules, then who will?"

< applause >
 

  

 

<Squeal from speaker>
 

"Can we have somebody from the Radio . . . Oh there we are."

 

 

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"Fellow Members of the Boy Scouts of America:"

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"I have not been here for two years and all sorts of things have happened up here in that time."

 
 

 

 

 

 

"Among other things I see that you have all joined the cavalry and you have also gone in for a navy on one of the lakes.  I do not know what will happen next but I suppose that we will turn you all into farmers before we get through."

 

   

"Every year that does goes by here brings us a little bit closer to an ideal that a lot of us had in the Boy Scouts Foundation years ago when we wanted our own place in the sun and we wanted a big enough place to take care of the Boy Scouts of the City of New York and the neighboring territory for generations to come." 

   

 

"Well, we got that place and now we are developing it."  

   
 

 

 

 

 

"This is one of the finest monuments to scouting that there is anywhere in the country." 

 

 

 

 

    
< applause >

   
 

 

 

 

 

"When I think that at this particular moment on this particular day there are probably somewhere between 250,000 or 300,000 boy scouts out in camp in the United States, it makes me realize that this is a National movement, particularly when I think of the fact that we are nearly one million strong.  We have about 100,000 scout masters and scout leaders."  

   
 

 

"All that means that we are getting somewhere."

    
 

 

 

 

 

"This Spring, because of my scout training, I took a leaf out of the notebook of scouting in order to take care of a lot of boys who are a bit older than you are."

   
 

 

 

 

"These are boys who had graduated from high school and college who had not been able to work for two or three years."
 

   
 

 

 

"So we started the CCC in this country, the Civilian Conservation Corp, modeling it to a large extent after scouting and today there are 200,000 to 300,00 of these older boys in various parts of the country in these CCC camps." 

   
 

 

 

"They are taking care of forests, preventing fires, stopping soil erosion and doing a thousand other tasks that the country needs.  Of course, when you get a camp of 200 boys together, some of them naturally develop into leaders and 

   
 

 

 

I am told that the boys who have had scout training are coming forward more rapidly than any others and are becoming the leaders of a great many of those CCC camps. " 

   
 

 

 

 

"It is a pretty fine tribute to what scouting has done throughout the country."

   
 

 

 

 

 

"We here are developing somewhat along the lines of conservation.  Some day, before 

   
 

 

 

 

 

you boys pass on, 

      
 

 

 

 

 

this whole 10,000 acre tract is going to be a demonstration plot for the entire country as to what can be done with forestry,  

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not only the planting of trees but also the care of trees.  That is one of our objectives.  We are not only learning for ourselves, but, in learning, we are providing an object lesson to a lot of other people."

   

 

 

 

 
"I am glad too, to see that you have adopted the National Recovery Administration insignia.  We are going to enroll about 130 million people before we get through.  So, when you come right down to it, the National Recovery Administration is based on the same fundamentals that scouting is based on, 

   

 

 

in other words, trying to do something for the other fellow and not trying to

   

 

 

 

 

do somebody.  It is based on cooperation -- and you know what that's all about.  And it is going to work just like scouting is working."

   

 

 

"I am very grateful for these tokens which have been given to me by the different councils."  

  

 

 

 

 

 
"I am going to take them back home and place them alongside some other tokens I got here two years ago on my last trip."

   

 

 

 

 
"I wish that I could take a couple of weeks off and stay with you.  There are lots of things that 

   

 

 

 

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you could teach me.  But I suppose that I will have to be getting on my way and all I can tell you is that I am mighty glad to have been here and to have seen you all today."

   

 

 

 

"I wish I could see all the boys that are up here at camp.  To those who are not here I hope that 

    

 

 

 

 

you will give my very warm regards and tell them I hope to come back again next year."