I was a member of the Boy Scouts of America when I was growing up. Before becoming a Boy Scout I was a Cub Scout. You don't have to be a Cub Scout to be a Boy Scout but it's kind of like going to pre-school before you go to kindergarten.
I remember the first year I went to summer camp at the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation near Osceola, Missouri. It was a 10 day camp and cost $18.00 per camper for the entire time. Our Troop #266 in Oak Grove would have paper drives and other work projects so we could apply our earnings toward the cost of camp. I was a "tenderfoot" with all of the anxieties you have going to summer camp for the very first time. All of the stories you heard only added to your already preconceived ideas of horrification about what might happen to you. They were all true!
I remember being horribly homesick after the first three days of camp. Our scoutmaster told the first year campers parents not to send any letters because it would make us homesick and that is something he didn't want to happen. For me it would have been better to get a letter during mail call. Hearing most of the other boys names called at mail call and not hearing your own name wasn't fun.
The highlight of camp for me was swimming. In order to be able to attend the "open swim" sessions you had to be able to swim 50 yards. If you couldn't swim the 50 yards you had to attend a swimming class for beginners. Well, I couldn't swim the 50 yards and I was labeled a "Sinker" and had to wear a circular red tag with a hole in it around my neck. You were required to wear it outside your shirt at all times. This was humiliating and embarassing because I was the only one in our troop that was a "Sinker."
The second year I was able to swim the 50 yards and was labeled a "Frog" and got to wear the Frog tag. My third year I was able to swim 100 yards and earned the coveted "Shark" tag. I was proud to wear it on the outside of my shirt. I even took Life Saving merit badge my third year and received Red Cross certification in Life Saving.
Meal time was a real experience at camp. We ate in this huge dining hall. I don't know how many tables there were but it seemed like there were a hundred. KP (Kitchen Police) was not a duty you wanted to do. You had to go to the dining hall 30 minutes early and set the table(s) for your troop. Then you had to go to the kitchen and get the bowls of food and put them on the table. Of course all the first year campers had to rotate for KP duty. I think I did it about every other day for the 10 days.
My least favorite foods included "Shit-on-the-shingle" (Corned beef on toast), "Buzzard Puke" (Oatmeal with raisins), and Breaded Tomatoes (we had no special name for this dish).
I'll share more of my scouting experiences in future posts.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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