Victor Valley Station and the History of Hug-A-Tree

Beginning in 1982 members of San Bernardino County SAR began to offer Hug-A-Tree presentations to local scout and church organizations. From early 1992 to 2005 the team did approximately 100 presentations for over 90,000 kids. This was done by attending school programs at assemblies and local church and scout units. These programs involved hundreds of kids at each assembly with up to four assemblies in the day. This was not the best way to get the information across due to the large audiences.  It was sort of like herding cats or chickens.

Walt and I talked to Linda Dailey of the Volunteers of the Angeles Forest at Grassy Hollow about doing the program during their normal school program.  It was a perfect fit!  They have various schools come to Wrightwood’s Grassy Hollow and talk about the mountains, trees, animals and it was a natural fit for Hug A Tree.  It has now become the majority of our presentations.  The volunteers there put together the list of schools that contact them for the program.  The relation we have with Grassy Hollow now provides a target audience of K through 6th grade students that are interested and come in smaller, easier to work groups for communication and discussions.  We had a great fit to be part of their program.  From then on, our team goes to Grassy Hollow in Wrightwood and does about four programs each day of presentation.  We divide up the school kids into four units.  Two units go on a 0.9 mile hike to learn about the flowers, trees, and PCT.  The other two units go to either the animals of the forest or our Hug a tree program.  The programs last about 25 minutes then we switch with the kids from the animal program to our program.  After about one hour, the hikers come back and then we do it again with those two groups. In 201

Walt and Leah did the program in the 1990’s.  I started in 1999 with Walt and Leah.  In 2000, Walt passed away, Leah left our team a year later and I took over the program.  I have had help in the later years from Wrightwood team members, Ingrid Hinnig and her search dog Spanner, and Casey ??.  Last year, 2013 Marty Emert and Bob Hall joined our Hug a tree team and were a major help to my voice.  This Year Marty and Bob and I were joined by Bonne Ebright, a real teacher.  This way we can have time off during the month and during 

On 7-17-1999, Walt Peterson and I talked to Linda Dailey (her husband, Pat Dailey was Sgt of the Phelan station), the Volunteers of the Angeles Forest at Grassy Hollow about joining their schools program.  They have various schools come to Wrightwood’s Grassy Hollow and talk about the mountains, trees, animals and it was a natural fit for Hug A Tree.  It has now become the majority of our presentations.  The volunteers there put together the list of schools that contact them for the program.  The relation we have with Grassy Hollow now provides a target audience of K through 6th grade students that are interested and come in smaller, easier to work groups for communication and discussions.  We had a great fit to be part of their program.  From then on, our team goes to Grassy Hollow in Wrightwood and does about four programs each day of presentation.  We divide up the school kids into four units.  Two units go on a 0.9 mile hike to learn about the flowers, trees, and PCT.  The other two units go to either the animals of the forest or our Hug a tree program.  The programs last about 25 minutes then we switch with the kids from the animal program to our program.  After about one hours, the hikers come back and then we do it again with those two groups.  

Walt and Leah did the program in the 1990’s.  I started in 1998 with Walt and Leah.  In 2000, Walt passed away, Leah left our team a year later and I took over the program.  I have had help in the later years from Wrightwood team members, Ingrid Hinnig and her search dog Spanner, and Casey O’Leary.  

In 2010, I transferred to the Victor Valley team and they were kind enough to allow me to continue this program with their support. Last year, 2013 Marty Emert and Bob Hall joined our Hug a tree team and were a major help to my voice.  This Year Marty and Bob and I were joined by Bonne Ebright, a real teacher.  This way we can have time off during the month and during presentations.  We end up giving approximately 80-100 presentations during the month.  We have been averaging about 2000+ kids a year with this system.

Number stuff:

1748 for year 2005, 3530 for year 2006, 2055 for year 2007, 2040 for year 2008, 2141 for year 2009, 2048 for 2010, 1230 for 2011, 2171 for 2012, 2236 for 2013, and 2386 for 2014.  Total 21,000+

Program History

On a Saturday in February 1981, three brothers were together on Palomar Mountain approximately 60 miles north east of San Diego, California. They were walking on a popular nature trail a half-mile from the camping site where their parents were preparing lunch. Two of the brothers believed that 9-year-old Jimmy Beveridge was racing them back to camp, but he never arrived.

The family spent one hour searching on their own, then contacted a Park Ranger who contacted the Sheriff's Department. As often happens during February in southern California, the weather was unpredictable. The day had been clear, warm and beautiful. As night fell, clouds and fog moved in and the temperature steadily dropped. 

By Monday, it was raining almost continuously and fog continued to shroud the mountain top. The helicopters could fly only when the cloud ceiling retreated enough to permit a safe take off. The wind and rain had neutralized Jimmy's scent, so tracking dogs were of 

no use. The only hope was to systematically search the entire area, 

and pray for a visible sign of the boy.

Tuesday morning, the weather broke and the sun came out. There were about 400 searchers on the scene including about 200 Marines. The search was the largest in the history of San Diego County. That afternoon the boy's jacket and one shoe were recovered and his direction of travel was finally established. Wednesday morning Jimmy's body was found, curled up next to a tree in a ravine, about two miles from the campground. He had died from hypothermia.

A great anguish overcame many of the searchers for this lost boy and his family. It was a deep and personal feeling that you could see in many faces, on the mountain and for months afterward. There was grief in it, for a young boy who had lost his life, and also a feeling of great wrong that had occurred, with nobody to blame.

Many people were affected by this tragedy and had a desire to prevent it from occurring again. The tragedy gnawed at Ab Taylor, a Border Patrol agent and renowned tracker, and Tom Jacobs, a free-lance writer and photographer. Both had been members of the search team looking for Jimmy. It was the first time in Mr. Taylor's thirty-one years as a tracker that he had failed to find a missing child alive. The experience prompted him to collaborate with Jacobs, Jackie Heet, and Dorothy Taylor in the development of an educational program designed to teach children, ages 5-12, very basic principles for staying safe in the wilderness. The program derives its name from its primary message: If you are lost, stay put-hug a tree-until help arrives.

In the decades that followed, the original developers of the program-along with a number of committed others-- including Lillian Taylor, Ab's wife--trained hundreds of individuals to present the program. Up to this point, the program had enjoyed a significant level of success in the United States. But, in 1999, the program's concepts were translated into Swedish and the program began to be presented by volunteers in Sweden. In 2001, the right to develop a Canadian version was granted to the RCMP and an explosion in the number of children receiving the program in North America occurred.

 In 2005, Ab Taylor donated the rights to the Hug-a-Tree program and materials to the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). The intent was that NASAR would modernize the program and continue to get the important Hug-a-Tree message out to children. In 2007--after two years of development and using only private donations of time and money--a new video was distributed for use in the program. In 2008, a new presenter trainer video was released that shows anyone how to present the program, and numerous new supporting documents were developed and distributed for 

use with the program (e.g., activity/coloring book, program 

handout, presenter manual, etc).

It is the sincere hope of those who have contributed to this project that all children will someday be exposed to the lifesaving principles of the Hug-a-Tree program.

From early 1992 to 2005 the team did approximately 100 presentations for over 90,000 kids.  This was done by attending school programs at assemblies and local church and scout units.  These programs involved hundreds of kids at each assembly with up to four assemblies in the day.  This was not the best way to get the information across due to the large audiences.  It was sort of like herding cats or chickens.Walt and I talked to Linda Dailey of the Volunteers of the Angeles Forest at Grassy Hollow about doing the program during their normal school program.  It was a perfect fit!  They have various schools come to Wrightwood’s Grassy Hollow and talk about the mountains, trees, animals and it was a natural fit for Hug A Tree.  It has now become the majority of our presentations.  The volunteers there put together the list of schools that contact them for the program.  The relation we have with Grassy Hollow now provides a target audience of K through 6th grade students that are interested and come in smaller, easier to work groups for communication and discussions.  We had a great fit to be part of their program.  From then on, our team goes to Grassy Hollow in Wrightwood and does about four programs each day of presentation.  We divide up the school kids into four units.  Two units go on a 0.9 mile hike to learn about the flowers, trees, and PCT.  The other two units go to either the animals of the forest or our Hug a tree program.  The programs last about 25 minutes then we switch with the kids from the animal program to our program.  After about one hour, the hikers come back and then we do it again with those two groups. In 201Walt and Leah did the program in the 1990’s.  I started in 1999 with Walt and Leah.  In 2000, Walt passed away, Leah left our team a year later and I took over the program.  I have had help in the later years from Wrightwood team members, Ingrid Hinnig and her search dog Spanner, and Casey ??.  Last year, 2013 Marty Emert and Bob Hall joined our Hug a tree team and were a major help to my voice.  This Year Marty and Bob and I were joined by Bonne Ebright, a real teacher.  This way we can have time off during the month and during On 7-17-1999, Walt Peterson and I talked to Linda Dailey (her husband, Pat Dailey was Sgt of the Phelan station), the Volunteers of the Angeles Forest at Grassy Hollow about joining their schools program.  They have various schools come to Wrightwood’s Grassy Hollow and talk about the mountains, trees, animals and it was a natural fit for Hug A Tree.  It has now become the majority of our presentations.  The volunteers there put together the list of schools that contact them for the program.  The relation we have with Grassy Hollow now provides a target audience of K through 6th grade students that are interested and come in smaller, easier to work groups for communication and discussions.  We had a great fit to be part of their program.  From then on, our team goes to Grassy Hollow in Wrightwood and does about four programs each day of presentation.  We divide up the school kids into four units.  Two units go on a 0.9 mile hike to learn about the flowers, trees, and PCT.  The other two units go to either the animals of the forest or our Hug a tree program.  The programs last about 25 minutes then we switch with the kids from the animal program to our program.  After about one hours, the hikers come back and then we do it again with those two groups.  Walt and Leah did the program in the 1990’s.  I started in 1998 with Walt and Leah.  In 2000, Walt passed away, Leah left our team a year later and I took over the program.  I have had help in the later years from Wrightwood team members, Ingrid Hinnig and her search dog Spanner, and Casey O’Leary.  In 2010, I transferred to the Victor Valley team and they were kind enough to allow me to continue this program with their support. Last year, 2013 Marty Emert and Bob Hall joined our Hug a tree team and were a major help to my voice.  This Year Marty and Bob and I were joined by Bonne Ebright, a real teacher.  This way we can have time off during the month and during presentations.  We end up giving approximately 80-100 presentations during the month.  We have been averaging about 2000+ kids a year with this system.Number stuff:1748 for year 2005, 3530 for year 2006, 2055 for year 2007, 2040 for year 2008, 2141 for year 2009, 2048 for 2010, 1230 for 2011, 2171 for 2012, 2236 for 2013, and 2386 for 2014.  Total 21,000+
Program HistoryOn a Saturday in February 1981, three brothers were together on Palomar Mountain approximately 60 miles north east of San Diego, California. They were walking on a popular nature trail a half-mile from the camping site where their parents were preparing lunch. Two of the brothers believed that 9-year-old Jimmy Beveridge was racing them back to camp, but he never arrived.
The family spent one hour searching on their own, then contacted a Park Ranger who contacted the Sheriff's Department. As often happens during February in southern California, the weather was unpredictable. The day had been clear, warm and beautiful. As night fell, clouds and fog moved in and the temperature steadily dropped. By Monday, it was raining almost continuously and fog continued to shroud the mountain top. The helicopters could fly only when the cloud ceiling retreated enough to permit a safe take off. The wind and rain had neutralized Jimmy's scent, so tracking dogs were of no use. The only hope was to systematically search the entire area, and pray for a visible sign of the boy.
Tuesday morning, the weather broke and the sun came out. There were about 400 searchers on the scene including about 200 Marines. The search was the largest in the history of San Diego County. That afternoon the boy's jacket and one shoe were recovered and his direction of travel was finally established. Wednesday morning Jimmy's body was found, curled up next to a tree in a ravine, about two miles from the campground. He had died from hypothermia.A great anguish overcame many of the searchers for this lost boy and his family. It was a deep and personal feeling that you could see in many faces, on the mountain and for months afterward. There was grief in it, for a young boy who had lost his life, and also a feeling of great wrong that had occurred, with nobody to blame.
Many people were affected by this tragedy and had a desire to prevent it from occurring again. The tragedy gnawed at Ab Taylor, a Border Patrol agent and renowned tracker, and Tom Jacobs, a free-lance writer and photographer. Both had been members of the search team looking for Jimmy. It was the first time in Mr. Taylor's thirty-one years as a tracker that he had failed to find a missing child alive. The experience prompted him to collaborate with Jacobs, Jackie Heet, and Dorothy Taylor in the development of an educational program designed to teach children, ages 5-12, very basic principles for staying safe in the wilderness. The program derives its name from its primary message: If you are lost, stay put-hug a tree-until help arrives.
In the decades that followed, the original developers of the program-along with a number of committed others-- including Lillian Taylor, Ab's wife--trained hundreds of individuals to present the program. Up to this point, the program had enjoyed a significant level of success in the United States. But, in 1999, the program's concepts were translated into Swedish and the program began to be presented by volunteers in Sweden. In 2001, the right to develop a Canadian version was granted to the RCMP and an explosion in the number of children receiving the program in North America occurred.
 In 2005, Ab Taylor donated the rights to the Hug-a-Tree program and materials to the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). The intent was that NASAR would modernize the program and continue to get the important Hug-a-Tree message out to children. In 2007--after two years of development and using only private donations of time and money--a new video was distributed for use in the program. In 2008, a new presenter trainer video was released that shows anyone how to present the program, and numerous new supporting documents were developed and distributed for use with the program (e.g., activity/coloring book, program handout, presenter manual, etc).
It is the sincere hope of those who have contributed to this project that all children will someday be exposed to the lifesaving principles of the Hug-a-Tree program.