History

It’s been called many things in its past: “The Scout Cabin”, the “Youth Cabin”, and “Grandpa’s Cabin” to name a few. But by any name, it has remained one of Crete’s greatest treasures.

In 1936, Ben Miller and C.H Velte searched for land along the Blue River for the purpose of providing the scouts of the area a permanent site on which to learn from nature. Mr. Velte served for many years as the Superintendent of Schools in Crete. Mr. Miller was the early owner of the Crete Telephone Company. When they found the perfect tract of land, Miller purchased it. They moved an old house from downtown Crete to the site of the present cabin to serve as the first “meeting lodge”. In 1938, Miller tore down most of the old house, leaving only the kitchen at the rear. To that, he himself added a corn-crib style structure that became the cabin as we know it today.

As it happened, Miller’s wife, Florence Hazen Miller designed the Nebraska State flag and planted the nation’s first living Christmas tree. It’s likely that the seedling pine was transplanted from the cabin grounds to near the City Hall in Crete. From its inception in 1936 until the mid 1950’s, the Millers generously allowed the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts in the area to use the Cabin to conduct campouts and other scouting activities. In April of 1956, the cabin was donated by the Millers to the Crete Civic Youth Association for permanent use as a nature retreat and scout camping lodge.

Unfortunately, there was no provision in the original donation that provided for a means to sustain the property, so over time it fell into near abandonment and terrible disrepair and on two occasions, it was almost lost.

During the 1960’s, 1970’s and ‘80’s, various local service organizations (Rotary, Lions and Sertoma) did enough upkeep and maintenance to keep the facility alive. These groups informally assumed responsibility for maintenance and repair of the youth cabin and raised funds some from individuals and area businesses. During this time some minor repairs were made, but nothing was done to improve the property.

Throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s, several volunteers are credited with taking the cabin under their wing and keeping it going using their own resources and whatever donations they could gather. However, because there was no formal managing organization, there was very little money to make any major repairs or to maintain and sustain the property. Structured leadership was absent. At times during its life as a youth facility, it became so overgrown with weeds and underbrush that its lanes were barely passable. The cabin and outbuilding structures had fallen prey to the wind, weather, a leaky roof, and vandalism. Only the mice and spiders, or perhaps the occasional trespassers having parties were using the facility. The boy and girl scouts had nearly given on up on it as a lost cause. Interest in the Youth Cabin had almost completely waned.

Around 2012, the Crete Rotary Club started making annual visits to the cabin to do some “clean up” and make minor repairs. During those outings, some mowing, raking of leaves and general cleanup would take place, and the grounds would look somewhat presentable for a while, then slip back into decay. Very little was done to the cabin structure to repair or recondition it. However, on one such cleanup detail, the Rotary Club got the idea to apply for some available Rotary District Grant funds and replace the rotted and dilapidated picnic tables in the front yard of the Cabin. They not only replaced the tables, but new concrete pads were poured to place them on. The next year, an additional Rotary grant was secured to restore the great stone fireplace and chimney in the Cabin and to purchase paint for the exterior. This was the first significant repair done to the Cabin for many years. It was then that a group of dedicated volunteers got down to the business of restoring the property.

In March 2017, the informal volunteer group chartered the “Crete Youth Cabin Association, Inc.”, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Since then, and due mainly to some generous donations and lots of sweat equity by the volunteer Board of Directors, local Scout troops, and the Crete Rotary Club, the property has not only been restored to usable condition, but many improvements and enhancements have been completed or are in the planning stages. The Board of Directors has developed both short and long term plans for the Cabin’s future so that it will serve the youth and the community for many years to come.