Send-a-Kid-to-Camp: Boy Scouts and Watts family celebrate 100 years sending kids to camp

It’s hard to imagine the local Boy Scouts without a member of the Watts family.

There have been four generations of the Watts family in the Scouts, starting with the patriarch, the late Albern Watts — who was in the Scouts for 70 years.

He was followed by his son, John, who was a Boy Scout in the 1950s. John and his wife, Gale, had a son, Mike, and a daughter, Cynthia. Mike was a Scout in the late 1970s and became a third -generation Watts Scout member.  He and his wife, Debbi, have a son, Gavin, who became a fourth-generation Scout in the 2010s. Gavin will soon graduate from the Santa Ana Fire Academy.

In 2018, when the Boy Scouts opened its doors to girls to become members, Gale Watts and Debbi Watts were two of the 10 women inducted as the first class of female members.

“I am so proud of our Scouting background,” Debbi said.

She said she was able to teach her son, Gavin, so much because of the Scouting experience.

In 2019, John and Gale’s daughter, Cyndi Watts-Williamson, was inducted into the Tribe of Tahquitz as an adult member, along with her daughter, Bryce Andrus.

The entire Watts family are members of the Tribe of Tahquitz community and all have spent time serving on the summer camp staff at Camp Tahquitz in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Whew!

Marc Bonner, Scoutmaster of the Long Beach Council, said the Watts family has been a fixture at Camp Tahquitz for decades.

“The Watts have a heart of service that has benefited thousands of youths over the years, oftentimes serving quietly behind the scenes,” he said.

As such, Bonner said, there would be no bigger honor for the Watts family than to help send more youth to the camp they love so much as part of the Press-Telegram’s Send-a-Kid-to-Camp program.

This is the 26th year of the campaign by the P-T and its sister publication, the Grunion Gazette, in partnership with the Long Beach Community Foundation, to send kids to one week in nearby mountain camps operated by the Big Five youth organizations: the YMCA of Greater Long Beach, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, Camp Fire Long Beach, the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts (now Scouting America).

We are asking readers to make donations to the campaign, which has a deadline of June 15. We also are asking readers to match a $30,000 donation given by Frank and Margie Newell.

The Newell grant is conditioned on readers matching the $30,000.

It costs, on average, $600 to send one child to camp for a week of unforgettable experiences spent in the mountains. Last year, we raised $166,000 for the camp program.

The Watts family members will be at Camp Tahquitz on June 28 for the 100th anniversary of Tahquitz. Tahquitz started with 15 Scouts in 1925 in Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains. As the Scouts grew in members, Tahquitz was moved in 1959 to a 640-acre site in Barton Flats in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Albern Watts was born in Illinois in 1914 and became a Scout in Champaign, Illinois, when he was about 14.

He moved to Long Beach in 1942 to join an uncle. He worked for Douglas Aircraft as a tool engineer supervisor and became a member of Camp Tahquitz when it was in Idyllwild, eventually receiving the coveted Silver Beaver award. The award is the highest recognition a Scout council can bestow on an adult volunteer leader.

He was a scoutmaster when his son, John, became a Boy Scout in 1948. John, who also worked at Douglas Aircraft, said he has enjoyed everything about his 65 years with the Scouts.

“It is the finest organization for youth with its ideals, activities and opportunities,” he said.

He married Gale in 1967. She was active in the Girls Scouts. In addition to their regular jobs and Scouting activities, John and Gale were also foster parents for more than nine years to children who needed emergency foster home care.

“Our work with children makes me feel great,” Gale said.  “It is so worthwhile helping kids.”

How to donate

Online: Donations with a credit card via the Long Beach Community Foundation’s website are preferred. Go to longbeachcf.org.

Mail: Send a check with “Send-a-Kid-to-Camp” in the memo, payable to Long Beach Community Foundation, 1 World Trade Center, 8th Floor, Long Beach, CA 90831.

Donations

This week (May 30-June 5): $15,323.55.

Campaign total: $83,207.59.

Donors:

• Robert Alban.
• John Boyes.
• Linda Burch.
• Sherri Buss.
• Judith Clarke in memory of Jerry Clarke.
• Gordon Cohn.
• Ray Corbell.
• Tom Daellenbach.
• Mark and Charlene Ebright in honor of Frank and Margie Newell.
• Bob and Nancy Foster.
• Anonymous.
• Gwen and Steve Gibson.
• John and Kathleen Green.
• Janet Hawk.
• Douglas Hodson.
• Bob and Val Hoffman.
• Cathy Jaquess.
• Kenneth Johnson.
• Elizabeth Lucas.
• Joan Maguire.
• Jeanne McKay in memory of Sid Katz.
• Robert Merz.
• Jeff Miller and Melinda Cotton.
• Joe and Sally Paire.
• Susan Rachlis.
• Joyce Ricci and Mike Donnelly.
• Roland Riopelle.
• Mimi Scully in memory of Ron.
• Virginia Spina.
• Pamela Spoo.
• Diane Kay Stewart.
• Linda Tate.
• Judith Thiel.
• Albert Thuente.
• Delores Van Leuven in honor of Claudia Lowry.
• James and Tina Vince.
• Sandra Wallace.
• Judy Weldon.
• Anonymous.