From the Archives: “President of Trail and Mountain Club Picks Committees”

1926 Newspaper Article: “President of Trail and Mountain Club Picks Committees”

This month the Books and Records Committee would like to share a short newspaper article from 1926 that was printed in either the Star Bulletin or the Advertiser.

The follow up to last month’s article will be postponed until next month because I am currently writing from Japan on a hiking trip.

The new HTMC President in 1926 was Fred Truman.  The outgoing president was Ray J. Baker, photographer, who had served as HTMC President for four years. (The article mentions that Mr. Baker  was entertaining members of the club at his home at 1911 Kalakaua Avenue, which is now where McCully Street runs into Kalakaua.) With the approval of the Board of Directors, Fred Truman  named seven committees as follows:

Membership 

Entertainment

Clubhouse

Publicity 

Guide

Librarian

Automobile

At the time the article was written, HTMC maintained an office in the Alexander Young Hotel, which was located at the corner of Bishop and Hotel Streets. The Hotel, which also had offices, was one block long, six stories high, and according to wikipedia: 

“The hotel opened on July 31, 1903, with a gala reception attended by 2000 people.[3] It quickly became a social center for the city.”

Although  the hotel was added to the National Registry of Historic Places on August 5, 1980, it was demolished beginning July 7, 1981.  

With regards to the Entertainment Committee (now the Events Committee), the article mentions the first event to ever be held at the “new clubhouse”! It was an upcoming “”Hallowe’en Party and Dance” that had 200 reservations!  We could hold a centennial event in 2026!

The Publicity Committee included members who worked at the Star Bulletin, the Advertiser, and at the Hawaii Tourist Bureau, where information about the club’s weekly scheduled hikes was disseminated.

The article mentions that they named a “Chief Guide” for the Guide Committee, which is what the current Hike Committee was called. 

The club owned several automobiles which carried guests and members to trail heads and was also rented out to club members. Photograph(s) to follow in a subsequent newsletter.