The North Mountain Historical Society

Meeting: June 2000

June 19, 2000

The History Buffs met at the Brass Pelican on Monday, June 19, with 27 people present. In the absence of Tom Stackhouse, Jim Vance chaired the meeting. The minutes of the last meeting were read. Following this each one present introduced themselves, and Dayne Kline told us that the group from Benton who joined us enjoyed the informative talks and the shared fellowship.
Jim then introduced Jim Dildine a member of the Chimney Stack Hunting Club who gave us a short history of the club. The Club was started in 1934 with five young men as members who were known as the "Wild bunch". The Club originally owned 5 acres of land that had been timbered off and a tar paper covered building. This building burned in 1939. Doyle Sutliff, a part time contractor from Benton, built a new building in 1941. The Club then owned 400 more acres of land. They had a new 8 miles of road built to make the camp more accessible. Their name is taken from a tall rock on nearby North Mountain that is known as the Chimney Stack. The Club now owns 1300 acres of land and a fine stone building. They have 28 living members, Jim Dildine being the oldest both in age and in length of membership. There is an Honor Roll of 24 deceased members hanging in the Club House.
Our thanks to Jim Dildine for his interesting presentation. It gave us a good picture of the fun and fellowship that take place in Hunting Clubs.
The next meeting will be the third Monday in July- July 17 at the Brass Pelican with the topic Native American History in Sugarloaf Township. "Murph" will be giving the presentation. Breakfast will be at 8:30 with the program starting at approximately 9:30.
The August meeting will be a talk on the C.C.C. Camp at Elk Grove with a short walking tour of the site of the camp at the conclusion for those who are interested. Mr. Wilson Ferguson, president of the Sullivan County Historical Society, is doing this. David Kline arranged this. It sounds like an interesting presentation. Thank You, David.