Seely Cabin
[Seely Cabin has been removed . February 2023]
Seely Cabin is a single room cabin overlooking Lake Linnea. It features a field stone fireplace with nautical -themed merit badges painted above the fieldstone fireplace. An exterior fireplace for cooking shares the chimney.
Fisheye view of the cabin interior as deconstruction began.
History
Seely Cabin was named for Warner and Emma Seely. Emma was the commissioner of the Cleveland Girl Scout Council 1931-1933.
Warner was the chairman of the fundraising campaign to purchase the Kirby estate for the Cleveland council in 1937
Warner was the chairman of the fundraising campaign to purchase the Kirby estate for the Cleveland council in 1937
According to the Lake Erie GS council history, A Promise Kept, Seely Cabin was built in 1950. ( page 113 ). A 1940 camp report recently discovered suggests that it has actually been built in 1940.
Before 1960, Seely Cabin was at the one of the primitive camp sites furthest from the camp entrance. It was an outpost for the most adventuresome girls in camp as well as a campsite for Mariner Scouts. When the Neal property was added to the camp, Seely was near the new central area.
In the 1990s Keys to Campsites, it was designated to have an overnight capacity of seven. Later, it was used to house camp monitors.
In the 1990s Keys to Campsites, it was designated to have an overnight capacity of seven. Later, it was used to house camp monitors.
Back of Seely Cabin in 2009. The back porch was removed during a camp improvement work session by a team of sisters, Lynn Richardson and Gail Oleksy
Richfield purchased the former Crowell Hilaka property in 2015 with the help of a Clean Ohio grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission. According to the terms of the grant, certain areas of the property were partitioned off for additional protection and restrictions. The land around Seely Cabin was part of the Clean Ohio Zone, and the understanding was that the cabin would have to be torn down.
In the spring of 2017, the Commission received some complaints about the administration of the property. They sent an an inspector to tour the grounds. When the inspector was told that Seely Cabin was slated for demolition, she suggested that it be saved as an open pavilion since it's location overlooking Lake Linnea and its beautiful and historic fireplaces would be a benefit to the citizens of Ohio. This finding was documented in a letter from the Ohio Public Works Commission to the RJRD.
Conversion of Seely from Cabin to open shelter began on August 26, 2017 with the removal of windows, interior paneling, stove, and ductwork.
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Removal of the paneling revealed painted trim between the windows
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Removal of the ductwork over the fireplace revealed the two additional badge designs on the wall
The Life Saver Badge
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The Boating Badge
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The Swimmer Badge
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At the time of this writing, there is no record of when these were painted or who painted them. All we can guess is that they were painted before1963. All three badges are included in the 1940 edition of the Intermediate Program handbook ( left ) and the 1953 edition ( right) . "Intermediates" were girls ages ten through fourteen. Only Intermediates earned badges, although Senior Scouts interested in boating could become a Mariner Scout. In 1963, the Intermediates were split into "Juniors": (grades 4,5,& 6) and "Cadettes" ( grades 7,8, & 9). All three badges were options for Cadettes, but the designs changed to include red or yellow accents.
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November 2022, it was noted that the field stones had been chiseled off. This was alleged to have been an act of vandalism.
The remaining chimney was demolished February, 2023. |