Much of this page is still under construction but I'll add stories, campout by campout, so check back once in a while.
My first Scout outing occurred while my son was still a Webelos. Troop 131 holds their Annual Winter Event (AWE) during the first week in December. They usually hold it in the Hollows conservation area just southeast of Crystal Lake, but someone beat them to it by registering early in the year. So the 1998 AWE was held at another conservation area west of Harvard.
The title of the event was temporarily changed to "Awfully Warm Event" because of the unseasonably warm temperatures. It was nearly seventy degrees! So everyone was running around in short sleeves shits and shorts.
My son had a great time and is den, the Hawks, won the event. The award is a trophy that a former Assistant Scoutmaster made from three pieces of turned wood found on one of the previous AWE sites (not the Hollows either). He did get permission prior to removing the dead wood. The inside of the cup has some gravel sealed inside to represent the usual site, the Hollows, which was once a gravel pit.
Lunch was a feast of Scoutmaster Stew." Everyone brings a can of soup. The cooks toss the soup into two big pots, one for red soup and one for white soup. They add some browned ground beef and some vegetables and serve it with a huge box of bread loaves from Sam's Club discount store. It tastes surprisingly good. Everyone lined up for seconds, which is the real test of a meal.
We only spent the day because the Cub Scouts don't sleep overnight on the outing. My son Joey selected Troop 131 as the one he wanted to go to becasue of A.W.E., so next year we'll be doing some winter camping at next year's event, which I have never done. Unless we have a repeat of the Awfully Warm Event!
Since Pack 214 graduates early, My son was the first boy for the new scout patrol. The troop groups the boys by age, which is different than the way we did it when I was in scouts. Since he's by himself, he's acting as the Patrol Leader until the others join and the elect a patrol leader. So I attended a few of the Patrol Leader Council (PLC) meetings with him so I could get a feel for what was happening.
A few weeks later other boys graduated into the patrol, about ten boys in all. Their first campout is a cabin campout in March. The troop specifically bars parents from this campout as a way for the troop to get the kids used to being part of the troop and start becoming self-reliant.
I was leery about this. Not because I was afraid my son would become home sick, but because of his allergies and asthma. We've never done any real camping so we weren't sure how he would do. But the camp was only a half-hour drive from home and one of the parents is a paramedic and the Scoutmaster's son is a medic with the Illinois National Guard. So we relented, although we were still very apprehensive.
Well the call came just before midnight Saturday night. It seems that a wood-burning stove heats the cabin and the accumulative smoke inhalation caught up with him. So we told him to take his medication treatment and that I would be there within an hour. I pulled up and he was standing outside with the Scoutmaster and one of the older scouts, John. He was pretty bad but not critical. So we didn't have to go to the hospital for treatment. He still ended up missing most of the next week of school because he was still sick.
On the way home we went through the Taco Bell Drive-Thru window for a couple of tacos. So he was feeling better. He also told me about how they earned their Tote-n-Chit and Fire & Chit cards. He was in good spirits and really enjoyed himself. He actually felt sad that he had to leave early. So even though he had to leave early, his first outing was a success in terms of him becoming a scout.
This trip was to a scout camp just south of Baraboo. A gentleman, Mr. Carlson, who built the camp and graciously allows scouts to camp there for free, owns it. Mr. Bauman, an Assistant Scoutmaster with our troop, meet Mr. Carlson the previous year when our trooped camped at Baraboo. Mr. Bauman visited the camp and liked it a lot. It’s a nice wooded camp right on the Wisconsin River.
He did tell us that there was a caretaker that Mr. Carlson allows to stay in a small cabin at the camp. He mentioned that he seemed a little odd, but he had worked with Mr. Carlson for years.
It was dark when we pulled into the camp. We were the only ones there. Mr. Wright led our caravan as we wound through the camp. We ended stopped at the end of the road where there was a small cabin lit from inside with a string of Italian lights. Outside there was the dying remains of a small campfire. But no sign of anybody could be seen.
So we picked a suitable spot to set up our tents. The next morning, we checked out the cabin. The lights were still on but there didn’t seem to be anybody home, at least from the outside. "Oh, well."
So we picked our site, set up camp and went to bed. Or at least we tried to. Nothing like a camp out to turn a bunch of boys into gabby hens. They were up half the night playing games and talking away hours. It was late when I drifted off to sleep, but it was sooner than some of the other leaders did.
The lightning patrol decided that everyone should get up early Saturday. They were up and about playing some awfully loud game outside our tents around six in the morning. Mr. Novak called out that they should be quiet until at least seven, which the sort off obliged.
This was the Wolverine Patrol’s first campout where they were on their own. They decided to set up their kitchen in a pavilion that was up around the bend. It was a bad call. It was a nice spot, but they didn’t have the experience yet on working together to cook their meals and clean up afterwards as a team. As a consequence, they stile were cooking and pointing fingers at each other on who should do clean up long after all of the other patrols we done and out in the woods hiking and exploring.
They eventually finished "breakfast" around 10:30. The leaders than led them on a nature hike so they could identify ten plants for a rank requirement. We worked our way to the Wisconsin River and back just in time for them to start lunch. Luckily, their lunch didn’t require cooking so they managed to complete it in a reasonable amount of time. It’s tough for them, but they’ll learn. I wish they had selected a spot closer to the other patrols so they could see how the others went about meal preparation and clean up.
In the afternoon, we all marched across the road from the entrance to the Wollerscheim Winery. The winery took us on a nice tour of their grounds and buildings. They explained everything that goes into wine production, from growing the vines, to harvesting the grapes, to fermentation, all the way through bottling. It was a nice tour. Many of the scouts bought bottles of the non-alcoholic wine to accompany their diners. It must have been an interesting sight to the casual observer to see scouts carrying bags of bottles out of a winery!
That evening after the scouts headed off for their tents and the campfire was dying down, Mr. Wright wondered about the cabin and the caretaker. "I wonder if we shouldn’t go over there and check it out. What if he’s in there hurt and we’re just sitting around here while he may need our help."
So Mr. Wright, Mr. Novak and Mr. Swegel headed down the road to check out the cabin. I said I was going to check on Joe to see how is breathing was. This was his first real campout in tents. He was fine so I decided to catch up with the other leaders as they check out the cabin.
I approached the cabin without a flashlight, a habit I developed at scout camp, so they didn’t see me coming. They were just exiting the building as I neared and they didn’t see me coming. "What are you doing in my house?" I called out in a gruff voice. All they could see was a dark silhouette of my figure. They could not tell who it was. And even though it was not my intention to sound serious, they assumed I was the cabin’s occupant.
Mr. Novak started to offer and explanation, "Well we just checking to make sure that no one was hurt or needed help…," he began. I had continued to walk forward and was now near enough that they could tell who it was. Mr. Novak suddenly stopped and everyone laughed.
They then showed around. The Christmas lights were still on and the door was literally wide open. No one was inside. Nor did it look as though it had been recently occupied, although it was clean. Mr. Wright found a crudely written poem on a paper plate that was held to the refrigerator door by a magnet.
The prose described driving home from a snowmobile trip, eating spark plugs and stuff along the way. Praying to the snow gods to get home. I cannot relate the true sense of the odd metaphors and phrases this little ode used. But it was very ODD.
We then left the building and shut the door behind us. We shined our lights around the building, searching for more clues. Then we found an odd monument. Behind the cabin there is a steep hill, the continuation of the Wisconsin River bluff. There, up about thirty feet or so, was a tall pole with a plastic snowman decoration lashed to the top. It was the type you set up in your yard for Christmas and was about three feet tall.
I don’t know if the snowman was our poet snow god incarnate, but it was kind of eerie. We may go back to the camp someday because it is such a nice place for a weekend. If we do, and if that "Snow God" is still there, I’ll have one heck of a campfire story already!
Troop 131 has allowed its scout to decide where to go to camp. So they don’t end up going to the same place year after year. There are some good points on this strategy as well as some bad. Not returning to the same summer camp means that you have to learn a whole new routine every year. Plus all of the councilors will always be new faces and names to learn. But it also means that you get to visit new places and meet new people. And you also can uncover some great places to camp with good programs. This was the case with Camp Tesomas.
Hot! The weekend we left for camp it was hot, hot and humid. It was forecasted to be in the nineties in the Chicago-land area. So I was looking forward to camping up north were it was bound to be a good ten degrees cooler. That’s still in the eighties but I wasn’t going to complain!
The troop rented a tour bus to take us up there. It was first class. Of course, ANY vehicle with air conditioning would be viewed as first class. It also had a VCR with monitors down the aisles. Several of the scouts and Mr. Skolnick brought tapes to occupy the time.
We had an early morning departure time, 6:00 a.m., because the camp had a very narrow window scheduled for our arrival time. So my son and I stopped at the Riverside Bakery on the way to the church for some donuts. We were obviously not the only ones with this plan. The girl behind the counter asked, "What are the scouts doing today?" We were the third or fourth group in uniform to by donuts that morning and it was only 5:30 a.m.
Hot! Hot! Even at this early hour the heat was starting to become uncomfortable. I was glad to get on the bus with the air conditioning.
The trip up was nice and scenic. I had the front seat to the right of he driver so I had an unobstructed view out the front window. We actually made very good time, so Mr. Novak asked the driver, Harvey, to pull over at a wayside rest area `to let everyone stretch their lags for a while. It was mid-morning and you could feel the mid-day heat building. Still, it was cooler here than it was when we left McHenry several hours earlier.
We arrived on time and Mr. Wright was there in the parking lot waiting for us. He had driven up in his pickup truck along with his son, Kevin, and Mr. Nelson. He pulled the troop trailer with all of our tents and troop gear. He had already driven the trailer back to our site by the time we arrived. Fortunately, he was able to take a load of personal gear in the back of his truck to lighten our load as we trekked into camp. I was able to toss in everything except my backpack.
After he dropped off our gear, Mr. Wright returned to the main camp to join up with the older scouts. They we going to partake in Tesomas’ inaugural season of High Adventure. They were of hiking, biking and canoeing across the backcountry of northern Wisconsin while the rest of us stayed at the regular summer camp. With the addition of the High Adventure camp to Tesomas and its sister Webelos camp, Akela’s World, across the lake, Someset council renamed the camp to Crystal Lake Scout Reservation. This new name takes all three camps into account.
Hot! Hot! Hot! That’s all you could really think of as we hiked back to Delaware, our campsite. It was one of the furthest sites from the main cam area. Our councilor was giving us the tour on the way, but I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have because all I could focus on was the buckets of sweat pouring down my back. I just wanted to get to the site and take of this pack.
Finally we arrived and I was able to take of my pack. My shirt was soaking wet. We were instructed to change into our swimsuits immediately, even before we set up tents, to head back down for medical check in and our swim tests. That was fine by me.
It was late afternoon and it was hot and sunny down at the waterfront. We stood in line for our test for a good hour before we got in the water. The sun was merciless. Some of the scouts, my son included, lined up for the beginners test instead of taking the swimmers test. I called him over and asked why. He said it was because the line was shorter and they’d get into the water sooner. I also think he might have been slightly afraid and intimidated by having to take the test at the far end of the pier in a lake. I convinced him that he should give it a try anyway. If he didn’t make it, he would still have gone far enough to pass the beginners test (50’). Also, he was planning on going for swimming merit badge that week. He couldn’t do that if he wasn’t a swimmer. He was still reluctant, but I had convinced him. So he joined in behind us in the swimmers line.
The leaders led the line because there was a leader meting that afternoon that afternoon. It was getting late so it was going to be close if we were going to be there on time. We had five leaders in camp so the first three, Frank, al and Larry jumped in first to start their test. After they swam a bit own the length of the first of four legs, Gary and I jumped in.
What a shock! The water seemed ice cold after standing in the sun all afternoon. I almost sucked down a gallon of water because it took my breath away and a gasped uncontrollably from the suddenness of it all. I regained my composure but I never quite got into stride as I started my swim. I would cough every ten or fifteen feet or so from the water that was still in my lungs. After the third leg, I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to make it. I was gassed!
I did make it. But as I climbed out back onto the pier, I almost toppled over because I felt lightheaded and dizzy. Gary mentioned he felt the same way. I’m sure it was because of the heat and then the sudden cold.
But now I was worried about my son. He knows how to swim but not that well. And he doesn’t know any of the resting strokes, such as the side stroke or the breast stroke. He would end up doing the first three legs using the American Crawl, and he still hold his head up in the water doing that stroke, which requires more energy.
While the other leaders took off, Gary and I stayed to watch our sons take their tests. He had similar concerns about his son. Sure enough, he jumped in and started doing the heads up version of the crawl. I was afraid he would not make it. But he pushed on. The fourth, and final, leg is done using the elementary backstroke, which he knows. He tended to favor his right arm, which caused him to turn to the right, as he swam. But he made it.
I was so proud of him. Not only did he go ahead and decide to try the test, even though he had some fear about it. But he also persevered and passed under difficult conditions. Even if he accomplished nothing else the rest of the week, his trip to summer camp was a success because of his swim test. I later stopped at the trading post and bought him a big Tesomas jacket patch that I gave to him as a reward for his achievement. I hope he is reminded of that swim test every time he looks upon that patch, and always has the courage that he displayed that day to over come any challenge he may face in life.
It was steamy all day Monday and Tuesday. The forecast was for some thunderstorms to roll through with some cool air behind them for a few days. I was in the program center Tuesday evening checking on the counselor’s progress sheets they drop in our troop’s mailbox every day, when it started to rain. I was smart enough to bring my poncho with to that evening’s meal (Be Prepared). Our site was so far away that you rarely, if ever, returned to it during the day as it took twenty to thirty minutes one way. A round trip burned almost an hour out of the day, which we didn’t have.
I figured I’d wait it out for a while to see if it would let up. It didn’t. And it got worse. It started to come down in sheets, cutting visibility to nearly zero. I definitely was going to sit put and wait for it to let up. Then the siren went off!
I guess I wasn’t going to stay here nice and dry. The drill is for everyone to assemble in the dining hall during an emergency. The siren is the alarm to alert troops to an emergency. I slipped into the dining hall to find a couple of our guys, including my son, were already there. They had taken refuge from the storm earlier and were playing a game of cards (poker with their own set of rules that would make a serious card player faint.) There they were totally unfazed by the weather or the siren.
After twenty minutes or so, only a few kids from our troop wondered in. So the camp sent a couple of runners out to our site to see what was going on. It turns out that they never heard the siren. Our site was too far out and the noise from the wind and the rain drowned it out completely. They were busy trying to zipper up a couple of tent were the kids left their flaps open since breakfast and to hold down the dining fly, which wanted to take off like a kite in the wind.
They finally made it to the dining hall but they were soaked from the rain as even a good poncho provided little protection from this storm. I kept wondering how the High Adventure crew was holding out.
It turns out that the weather reports were right on target. The next couple of days were beautiful. I pretty much spent them relaxing. I’d walk around the camp checking on a couple of our scouts to help make sure they were doing what they were supposed to be doing when they were supposed to be doing it (like earning merit badges).
During this time, I’d sit and work on my hiking staff. It started as a branch I found on the ground about fifteen years earlier. Pam and I were visiting Owasippe and we were down by Camp Stuart’s waterfront. It was long abandoned by then, but the lake was still a beautiful site to behold.
I found this branch on a slope behind campsite 2 and instantly thought it would make a good hiking staff. It was a couple of inches in diameter at the top but was rather lightweight for its size. I stripped off the bark to reveal channels up and down its length were some type of larvae had eaten their meals under the protective covering of the bark. The groves gave the staff character.
I brought it home and carved off the nubs where the side branches protruded and then carved a custom hand grip for my grasp. Then it sat in my garage for years untouched. We moved into two new homes since then and each time Pam couldn’t believe that I was actually bringing a "stick" with us.
Now, back in scouting, with a week of summer camp facing me, I readied it for the trip. I sanded it down, stained it and put on several coats of finish. Then I attached a few metal medallions from the Boy Scout catalog along the face of the staff; the Scout symbol, the Life rank and the National Camping School logo. I ordered an Order of the Arrow logo too but it was back ordered.
The top of the staff was notched out were I intended to carve an image of a hand making the scout sign of three fingers. It was an ambitious intent, but now I’d get a chance to see if I could make it come to life.
As the week progresses, it started to take shape. Each day it started to look more and more like the hand I envisioned. Near the end of the week, scouts, leaders and staff would stop me to take a look at my work and to compliment me on it.
I have to say that I was pretty impressed myself. Have never tried my hand at carving before and this was turning out rather well. It exceeded my expectations. I intend to keep this staff and continue to embellish it with images or tokens of major events in my scouting career, including accomplishments from my sons, which I am even more proud of than my own. Some day it will be a family heirloom to be passed down to the next generations.
One of the disappointments I faced when I became involved with scouting as an adult, were the changes to the Order of the Arrow induction. The OA elections were secret and the candidates didn’t know if they were selected or not until he was lifted on his feet for the "tap". The secrecy created an aura around the whole affair. Now the candidates are told on the night of the election. This is due to a number of rough tap outs that became more of a hazing than a somber ceremony. What a shame that a long-standing tradition is lost because of a foolish few.
The Tesomas chapter, Tom Kita Chara, was an exception. He national OA allowed them to maintain their long-standing ceremonial tap out tradition. And I am glad because it was a beautiful ceremony.
What made it special was so much the costumes or their rendition of the legend, which were both excellent, but the manor in which they selected the candidates that was really impressive. Their election results are still held in secrecy. At the beginning of the week, the scoutmasters give the OA staff at camp a list of their candidates. In the days preceding the campfire, the team memorizes the scouts and scouters faces. So if there are 30 candidates, then each will memorize 10 faces.
They then select the candidates at the campfire from memory. Each member of the ceremony team has a backup who has memorized the same candidates. The backups keep a tally list off to the side while the candidates are chosen from the fire ring. The team takes a couple of breaks to run of and double-check with their backups to verify their selections and to see who is remaining to be selected.
The team did this twice. During one break, another member came out and performed a Feather dance, a traditional Indian dance. During another break, a staff member came out and did a Hoop dance. This was spectacular as the metal hoop is on fire! It’s a carefully orchestrated dance where the dancer spins the hoop and jumps in and out of the circle of flame, without being singed.
After all of the candidates were selected, the audience is led out in silence while the candidates remain behind to start their ordeal night under the stars.
The whole presentation, pyrotechnics to light the fire, authentic Indian costumes and dances, the telling of the legend, all made for a fantastic presentation. My son bombarded me with a bunch of questions about the OA as we hiked back to camp. He was excited about the prospect of being elected and inducted into the OA himself. I truly hope he is. Hat would make me very proud.
Joey was doing fine with the Eagle Quest (rank) advancement program and the merit badges. He impulsively signed up for Metalworking merit badge after he spent a free period in the Scoutcraft area on a cold, rainy Thursday. He went back Friday to finish off the requirements.
Swimming merit badge is a more involved award that takes all week to finish. Scouts often don’t finish the harder badges and come home with a partial. There were two requirements that were getting in his way of completing the badge. One was the 400-foot swimming requirement. He could swim the distance but his breast stage during one of the legs, wasn’t up to the councilor’s liking.
The other, more difficult, requirement was the jumping into the water, removing your clothes, then inflating the clothes as a floatation device. He had trouble tying the ends of his pant legs together. He only had jeans and the wet denim was to heavy to tie the knot.
Thursday night I was urging him to try and finish off at least the clothes inflation. The swim test he could do in a pool later on, but all of he pools in town won’t lt you jump in the water fully clothed. He said that Shannon, the Aquatic Director, said that anybody could come down to the lake before breakfast Saturday to complete outstanding requirements. (we left for home immediately after breakfast)
He really didn’t want to do it. I offered to get up with him and walk him down to the lake. He said, "Dad, your starting to change my mind." He finally relented by countering my offer with a request that I jump in the lake with him. I agreed.
So we woke up around 5:30 a.m. in the cold, cold pre-dawn morning to put on our swim trunks and jump in a lake… literally. "I must be crazy," I thought to myself.
The sun was starting to rise above a few of the smaller trees when we got to the waterfront. But it wasn’t quite strong enough to offer much warmth. Two other scouts were in the water when we got there. They were there to test for BSA Lifeguard. No one else from my son's merit badge class took up Shannon’s offer.
When it was his turn, he turned to me and said, "You first, Dad." So I jumped in. Man, it was cold! But in a few short seconds I was numb to the cold. "It’s fine." I lied. And then he jumped in. He managed to inflate his shirt with no problems, now for the pants. We had borrowed another scouts Boy Scout trousers so he didn’t have to use his jeans. The light cotton material of the pants did the trick. It took a little effort but he soon had the pants inflated and he swam the required length of the swim area. He did it!
Shannon then had one of the other councilors work with him on improving his breaststroke. After about ten minutes of practice he was ready. He jumped in to retake the swim test. He showed remarkable improvement but you could tell that he had finally mastered the mechanics, as he would correct him self if the stroke got out of whack.
It had been a wonderful week. The few beautiful days we had reminded me of my years at Owasippe. The staff at Tesomas had a great program and it reminded me of the feeling of accomplishment I felt as a councilor, teaching scouts.
And my son had come full circle. From that first night as a green rookie scout, to the final pains of saying goodbye to a place that's suddenly special in your heart. He had filled himself with memories of the impressive campfires, corny dining hall skits, and dynamic camp councilors. I felt a special warmth towards him that week because of his joy and his accomplishments. My wife even remarked that he seemed older when we got home. Camp tends to do that to scouts.
South Manitou Island is one of two islands several miles off shore of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Shoreline. North Manitou Island is slightly larger and is maintained as a total wilderness area. South Manitou Island is a wilderness area too but it does have the ranger station and several water wells near the campsites.
The logistics for this trip are more complicated than our normal camping trips:
Friday Drive to Manitowac, WI., to catch the S.S. Badger car ferry
Cross Lake Michigan on the ferry to Ludington, MI.
Drive from Ludington to the Empire Township public campSaturday Drive from Empire to Leland, MI. to catch the Manitou Island Ferry
Ride the ferry to South Manitou Island
The return trip is similar only in reverse
Monday Ride the ferry from the island to Leland.
Drive to Ludington and camp overnight in a city campgroundTuesday Drive to the dock to catch the carferry.
Cross Lake Michigan on the carferry to Manitowac.
Drive back home from Manitowac.
Not only was a complicated schedule but we were also had to keep a tight schedule in order to catch the ferries. We didn’t want to bouts to leave without us! Fortunately, Mrs. Novak provided all of the drivers with detailed maps and driving directions from her home PC. And thanks to Mrs Nelson’s detail planning while making the arrangements, everything went off like clockwork.
The drive to Manitowoc was easy and uneventful. In my car, one of the younger scouts spent the entire ride waving at every car and motioning every semi driver to blow his or her horn, which several did. I think every truck driver north of the Illinois border knows his face now!
We arrived at the boat dock with plenty of time to spare. The ferry was running late and had not arrived from its morning crossing from Luddington. Being the landlubbers we are, we did not interpret anything into its tardiness. But we should have as we soon found out.
The folks working for the ferry were very attentive and helpful. They made sure we were all gathered together and got us on-board as a group before the other passengers boarded. Soon after we got under way, they served us our pizza party lunch and the food was great. Everyone wolfed down their lunch and split off to explore the ship.
The trip is scheduled to last four hours and they have bingo and music sing along events, there’s a small museum and gift ship on board. There are also a couple rooms for TV news and one for a couple of movies they show. So there were plenty of things to do during the four-hour cruse… a four-hour cruse (sung to the tune of the Gilligan’s Island theme song).
"Well the weather started getting rough. And the tiny ship was tossed." Same theme song but that’s exactly what happened. Shortly after we finished our party, the wind picked up and the ship started to roll and crash into waves. The weather quickly turned into a nasty wind storm with twelve to fifteen foot waves. I learned later that that waves are measured from the middle so they were actually up to thirty feet tall when measured from the bottom (trough) to the top (crest). Even for a ship the size of the Badger, these were serious waves.
It didn’t take long to figure out that the blur buckets the crew had placed all over the boat were not for popcorn at the movies. These were "barf buckets!" And they were needed.
Soon, almost everyone on board was feeling green from rolling and heaving motion from the waves. A few of our scouts even "lost it." The minority, myself included, suffered no ill effects at all. I actually enjoyed the ride. Standing on deck at the bow, it was a challenge to keep ones feet and dodge the occasional spray from the cresting waves. Mr. Novak was unintentionally the target of such a splash and got pretty wet. Although he said that the fellow standing next to him actually took the worst of the blow.
Even though I was not affected by the waves, the trip started to drag on. It’s no fun wandering up and down the hallways while everyone else is seasick. The crew opened up the staterooms for those that were really bad off so they could lie down. They also passed out free Sprite pop and Saltine crackers to help settle folk’s stomachs. It was a miserable crossing for most of the passengers, literally "most" of the passengers. People were lying all over the place, even on the floor of the museum, clutching their buckets. Mr. Novak overheard someone in the all mentioning that it looked more like a hospital ship than a car ferry.
Finally, we arrived at Ludington. Our first stop was McDonalds for some food and the second was WalMart for some Dramamine. "Be Prepared" is the scout motto and we were not going to be caught off guard tomorrow for the ferry ride to the island!
Because of the delay in the car ferry crossing and the extra stop at WalMart, we arrived at the Empire Township campground late. It was a perfectly clear night so most of the boys slept under the stars while the rest and the adults slept in the cars. No one really felt like setting up tents. Plus it would make it quicker to depart the next morning. We had to make sure we got to Leland in time to check in at the ferry. Plus we still had to divvy up the gear and the food in everyone’s pack.
It was a beautiful, clear night. As tired as I was, I still took a moment to step away from the campsite a bit to gaze up at the heavens. It always amazes me when you get away from the city on how magnificent the stars look at night. To see the Milky Way and actually have difficulty picking out the constellations because the key stars are "hidden" by all of the minor stars we don’t normally see, is awe inspiring. This evening was a little extra special because there were still the some meteorites from the tail end of the annual Persiad meteor shower. Its peak was actually the night before but clouds obscured it.
The next morning we arose and headed off for Leland. Everyone was still beat. Even the noisy scout was quietly asleep in the back seat. We arrived in time and started to divide up the food, gear and Dramamine for the trip. Fortunately, the Dramamine was unnecessary as the ride to the island was calm and pleasant. It’s surprising that it take an hour and a half to reach the island because you can easily see it from the shore, but it is four miles out and that’s how long it takes.
Once everyone was ashore and accounted and we all listened to the Ranger’s orientation, we split up into two groups. The older scouts and some of the leaders were heading to the Weather Station campsite. It’s a hike of just over a mile over some moderately hilly terrain. The younger scouts and the rest of the leaders, myself included, hiked off for the Bay campsite, which was a half-mile away.
Troop 131 camped on the island two years earlier and many of the older scouts and adults were excited about returning. For the younger scouts and their parents, this was the first time on a backpacking trip. I was impressed on how well everyone did.
The site was a small clearing amongst a stand of mature White Cedars, about a city block inland from the lake. The actual site is defined by four wooden stakes the Park Service put in to make sure that campers don’t keep expanding the sites out into the woods. This is a wilderness area and the Park Service strives to keep it that way with low impact camping.
Everyone worked quickly to set up the tents and stash the gear. The bear bags with the food where hung on lines out of reach from the native Micro-Bear (a.k.a. Chipmunks). So some of the scouts went exploring nearby, some just wanted to hang around the campsite, Mr. Novak, myself and a few scouts went for a short hike to Weather Station to see how they were doing. They were set up as well and all of the scouts were off on a short hike. Because they were gracious hosts, the adults offered us weary hikers a welcome cup of hot coffee.
South Manitou Island has many interesting sites easily reachable by day hikes. So we headed out to see the island after breakfast Sunday morning. Our first stop was the schoolhouse that once served the small community that once inhabited this island. It only took less than a half-hour to trek through the woods to the schoolhouse. There we filled out water bottles and peered into the abandoned building. I noticed a clump of poison ivy at the base of a flagpole and called a few scouts over to point it out. Little did I realize that the island was practically infested with the stuff and the real trick would be to avoid it on our hike!
We then split up into two groups. The Lightning patrol went off towards the lighthouse and Weather Station, where they spent a good deal of the day on the beach. The Wolverines went on a seven-mile trek to visit some of the island’s more notable spots.
First we followed a trail that took us around an inland lake. Then we continued south to a spot that overlooks one of the shipwrecks, the Francisco Morizan, that dot the island. All of the others are under the water and are accessible only to scuba divers, but the half of the Morizan is still well above water. Here’s where we stopped to have our lunch. Hmmm… tuna salad on crackers and trail mix, again!
Then we continued west into the Valley of the Giants. It’s a grove of White Cedars, some of which are over five hundred years old. They are not as spectacular as Giant Redwoods, but the giants are still an amazing sight. The entire valley is an example of how nature recycles itself. There are fallen trees in various states of decay, including some huge old trunks that finally gave out.
From there, we continued westward and upward towards the island’s western most shore, the perched dunes. They are aptly named as the dunes are perched high above the beach, 350 feet above Lake Michigan’s waters. It was a beautiful sight to behold, looking out over the lake from that height. But it was a chore getting there.
The trail gently rises until the last quarter mile or so. That’s when you face the first climb on a dune. This one has wooden 4"x4" timbers as steps up to the top. The steps are a big help, even though the sand has covered most of the steps. They still provide firm footing under the sand as you climb to the top.
Your heart pounds loudly in your ears once you reach the top. That’s when you realize that you have only scaled the first of several, increasingly higher dunes. And these don’t have the stairs to make the climb easier, just loose sand. It wasn’t easy in the mid-day sun, but it was worth the view.
Luckily, the return trip back to camp was all down hill. Still, my legs and feet were aching from a full day of hiking, something I’m not used to. On the way back, it was interesting to note areas of relatively new tree growth. Even though the Park Service maintains this as a wilderness area, it is still possible to spot man’s mark on the land where they had farmed or lived decades later.
Dawn came with overcast skies and a brisk wind Monday morning. The weather report of wind and rain caused the rangers to ask if we could be at the dock by 10:00 a.m. in case the ferry had to turn around as soon as it arrived. Otherwise, the boat will stay until 4:30 p.m.
We quickly cooked breakfast and broke camp simultaneously. The clouds let loose a few light drizzles occasionally. Nothing drastic, but enough that all of the tents would have to go home to be dried after the trip.
One of the scouts caught a nice Eastern Painted Turtle, while we were packing up. He was playing with it by wiggling his finger in front of its face, like a worm. And like a hungry turtle, he bit it. The turtle not only bit down on his finger, but he than pulled back into his shell and wouldn’t let go.
Suddenly, he is screaming in a obvious painful and panic voice, "Make him let go! Make him let go!" Mr. Novak had one of the scouts pour water over the turtle’s head in an attempt to coax him out. That didn’t work. Mr. Novak finally was able to pry the turtle’s mouth open enough to release his finger. I don’t think Mike is going to wiggle his finger in front of turtles anymore.
We made our way to the dock without any more events. The leeward eastern side by the dock was fairly calm. But as soon as you walked around the point by the lighthouse to the south, the waves were crashing onto the beach. The wind would whip the sand up in your face so you had to squint your eyes. It was beautiful to behold the forces of nature in such a dramatic fashion. But it definitely was not calm sailing weather. We were sure we’d be jumping on board as soon as the Mishi-Mokwa arrived.
But the ranger came up and marked the departure time on the bard as 4:30 p.m. So everyone ate their lunch (the last of the tuna!) and then we split up into groups to spend the afternoon waiting to depart. Some just hung around the dock, playing with the crawfish in the surf or just catching some ZZZs by the boathouse. Others decided to join the ferry company’s day tour. They have a few converted pickup trucks were they added bench seating in the bed and chopped the roof of the cab off so the driver can double as tour guide. They would hit some of the points reachable by the few roads on the island, going back to the a few old farms up past the schoolhouse.
A third group of us went up to the lighthouse for a tour by the Park Ranger. It was an impressive structure for something built over one hundred years earlier. I was impressed that 2/3 of the structure is above ground and 1/3 is below ground as a foundation. Also, the metal spiral staircase that winds up the tower is not attached to the walls. It ‘floats’ inside. They assembled the pieces like a huge Lego set and actually used it as a scaffold while building the tower walls.
The light up at the top is long lost but the view from up there is spectacular. The Ranger wouldn’t let us out on the railing because of the high wind. But he did let us poke our head out to take a quick look. Cool!
The boat crew started to load the gear and people on around 4:00 p.m. The captain came up to me and insisted that "I" make sure that "my" scouts remain seated during the trip back as it was going to be rough. I assured him that we’d present no problems. He was kind of an Old Salt and I think he enjoyed playing the role. He didn’t even make the trip back as he stayed on the island and let another captain pilot the boat.
Several of us went up to the roof. Everyone found a seat except for another passenger and myself. We stood behind the pilothouse and held onto a handrail. My son, two other scouts and Mrs. Novak sat in the first bench right in front of me. A few other scouts were seated a few rows back. Everyone else found shelter down below except for a few brave souls that decided to stand on deck at the bow.
Word back at the boat house was that there were five to eight foot waves, which means sixteen feet crest to trough. The captain announced on the intercom that he wasn’t going to "butter it up" it was going to a rough ride for the first half-hour. And true to his word, we hit the ig waves as soon as we rounded the point, out of protection from the wind.
Wham! Up we went on the crest of one wave and crashed down onto he next. A big wave of water came rushing up on top and soaked everyone in the front row and doused the remaining rows quite a bit too. The scouts in the front row screamed with delight. This was fun! Alan, protected by his pre-trip Dramamine, was thoroughly enjoying the ride. And what a ride!
Wham! Another huge wave hit us. Wham! Another! Every four or five minutes we’d crash into huge wave. One wave actually came over the top of the pilothouse and got me wet. But overall, my spot seemed to be the driest place on the boat. Some of the folks down below were getting wet from water splashing in over the railing where there were no windows. The scouts in the bow were completely wet.
One of the scouts at the end of the bench was in the worst spot on top. The captain pointed the boat slightly off center from the face of the waves. So they would come crashing over mostly on his side. Everyone on top got wet. But he was soaked. It seemed like there was somebody just off to the side of the pilothouse with a huge mop bucket that they were throwing on him.
This continued for a full half-hour. Finally we passed the Sleeping bear Dune point and headed back north towards Leland. With the wind to our back and the protection from the point, the rest of the ride was relatively calm. The boat rolled occasionally, but it wasn’t like the first leg at all.
Everyone was glad to set foot on dry stable land again when we arrived in Leland. We loaded up the cars and the trailer, grabbed a few quick snacks and headed off towards Ludington is search of a fast food restaurant for diner.
We had to take a slight detour to find an open gas station as the "one" station in Leland was closed when we arrived (just after 6:00 p.m.). So we ended up eating at a Wendys in Traverse City, much to everyone’s delight. They were getting tired of only stopping at McDonalds every trip. I’ll never forget the dreadful stares we received from the two teller inside as we lined up outside to distribute everyone’s diner money. Apparently, we arrived just five minutes before closing.
The ride to Ludington was uneventful. As we neared Manistee, I was remembered he ill fated Pine River canoe trip (See The Pine River Canoe Trip). So I started to tell the story to the scouts in the car. They we soon fast asleep. So I inadvertently found the secret to peace and quite when driving on a scout trip, talk them to sleep!
We arrived at the Ludington city campground late again. So we slept out under the stars and in cars again. We had to be at the Badger doc at 6:30 a.m. as the boat departs at 7:30 a.m. Fortunately, we were literally five minutes away. We got there on time and they ushered us on board again. This morning we were eating their all you can eat breakfast buffet.
This crossing was a complete opposite of the first. It was a bit cool out on the lake but the waters were completely calm. I spent a god deal of the trip sleeping on a deck chair. From Manitowoc, it was an easy an unhurried drive back home.
Twice a year the troop holds an outdoor Court of Honor and family camping weekend. This outing turned out real nice. We were at Rock Cut State Park near Rockford, IL. Our group site was on right on the shore of Pierce Lake. It was really neat to wake up in the morning and look out of the tent to see the early fall mist rising from the lake surface.
The adult leaders woke up earlier than the scouts. And we were treated to a surprise visit from a flock of six bachelor wild tom turkeys! We sighted a lot of birds this weekend; turkey buzzards, grebes, kingfishers, pintail ducks. Mr. Bauman and I also spent some time identifying plants. We only had to walk a few feet to find well over a dozen different trees and shrubs. Some of the scouts brought their fishing poles and pulled some pan fish and a couple of nice bass from the lake.
We spent the morning doing rank advancement. All of the scouts were busy either learning, teaching or testing for advancement. It was great to see them all doing "scouting" type activities. A bunch of them went for a bike ride on the trails after lunch. The park has a nice network of paved trails, which makes it easier for the younger guys.
The family dinner and the evening campfire Court of Honor went off very well. Many parents commented on how nice it was that everything proceeded on time and that they were able to leave for home at a reasonable time, as they had an hour drive back to McHenry.
My son surprised me by volunteering to emcee the Court of Honor, as well as lead a song. His arm seems to have a knee-jerk reaction to rise every time someone asks for a volunteer. I love his enthusiasm so I’m not going to dissuade him from doing it. It’s teaching him how to help others.
He never tried something like that before. Heck. He has never even been to a Court of Honor yet. But he did it and he did a great job. Many parents came up to me afterwards and complemented him on how well he did. He continues to amaze me on how fast he’s adapting and developing. Every camp it seems he reaches for a new milestone. And he has risen to the challenge every time. To me, the growth in developing a boy’s confidence in his capabilities is the most important aspect of Scouting. Even more important than the actual skills learned.
The troop held its Halloween party tonight. Everyone dressed up in costumes and each patrol came up with two games to play. The party was going great. Jeremy Scholnick was due to turn in the last of his paperwork on his final merit badge required for his Eagle rank. He already completed his service project and he was running close to the deadline of his eighteenth birthday. So when he didn’t show up, Mrs. Novak, the Scoutmaster’s wife and a member of the troop committee, called their home to find out why he wasn’t there. She got through to Al, Jeremy’s father and a troop committee member too. He told her the bad news that Jeremy and his younger brother Jonathon, who was also a scout in our troop, died that afternoon in a car crash.
Everyone was devastated. The news was so incredible that you almost thought that it was a cruel joke. But it was not. Jeremy was driving home from school that afternoon when he lost control of the car, turned broadside in the oncoming lane and was hit by a mini van coming the other way. The woman in the van was hurt bad enough to require surgery, but was released in a day or two. Her two young children in the car suffered only minor injuries and were released the same day. So even a greater tragedy was averted.
Jeremy was nearly 18 and had just finished the last of his eagle requirements. He was a natural leader, always ready and willing to lend a hand. He was an Arrowman and a Junior Leader Training staff member. He epitomized what scouting is about.
Jonathon, the youngest of the brothers at 14, was not as active in the troop lately because of his involvement in sports, especially football this fall. But I did see him in action at summer camp. He was a "go getter." He knew exactly what requirements he needed for his required merit badges and completed them quickly and efficiently. He was well on his way to Eagle as well. He was also very excited about becoming a member of the Camp Tesomas staff next year. His exuberance, knowledge and determination would have made him an excellent member of their staff.
The entire troop showed up for the funeral on Saturday in full class A uniforms. It was an impressive sight. In addition, there were dozens of other scouts and leaders from our city as well as many OA scouts from the district. Jeremy was dressed in his uniform with his Eagle patch, which he had earned. Jonathon was dressed in his football uniform, which was signed by all of his teammates.
Later, Mr. Wright placed a stuffed toy skunk in Jonathon’s casket. Jonathon always took "Skunky" camping, even on backpack trips when you’re supposed to travel as light as possible. He then placed a small stuffed fuzzy bunny toy in Jeremy’s casket. At our last campout, the family campout/court of honor, Jeremy led a skit were he made the senior adult leaders stand in front of the fire. He than placed a marshmallow in each of their mouths, after which they were to say "One fuzzy bunny." They repeated this as he loaded more marshmallows in their mouths, one by one, "two fuzzy bunnies," "three fuzzy bunnies," until only one leader could utter those words, semi-legibly, with a mouth full of marshmallows.
This was not the first time Jeremy had led this skit and Mr. Bauman and Mr. Wright pledge to get even by making Jeremy do it at his Eagle court of honor. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see that. Not many people who noticed the small, white bunny really understood the significance of Mr. Wright’s gesture.
Jeremy was a member of the OA so all the Arrowmen were to participate in a Broken Arrow ceremony. Two members of the ceremony team were dressed as Alawat Sakima and Mateu. They led us down the aisle in two columns. The ceremony peaks when a ceremonial arrow is broken in half, to represent going from strife to peace, and was presented to Mrs. Scholnick. It was a tough moment for all in the church, but one for which I am proud to have participated in.
I have only been involved with the troop since the previous March so I didn't have the years of memories to call upon when reflecting upon these fine young men. But in that short time, it was plainly obvious that they were Scouts. When I recite the Scout Oath and the Scout Law, and reflect upon the human qualities they represent, I can’t help but think how Jeremy and Jonathan wove those ideals into the fabric of their life.
Now they are soaring with the eagles!
"... for friendship and fellowship, we thank thee oh Lord. Amen."
This one was close to home. The troop spends the night in the church watching videos and eating pizza. In the morning they rake leaves and other chores around the church as a way of saying thank you for supporting us and letting us use their facilities. They also planned to eat at McDonald's for lunch on Saturday and then walk down Green Street to the Dam picking up trash. The troop adopted that stretch of road as part of an earlier troop member's Eagle service project.
I decided to stay home for this one. They had plenty of leaders plus it was close to home. And it was in the church so not much was likely to happen, until the phone rang at 3:00 a.m.
It was my son. He was having an asthma attack so I had to get dressed and pick him up. Fall is a bad time for him, and other asthmatics, because of all of the molds. Plus there must be something in the church basement that helped trigger the reaction.
He was upset. It's hard having an ailment like that handicap you while everyone else is unaffected and is having fun. Plus most folks don't realize how serious asthma really is and that it can easily turn fatal if left untreated.
AWE is the troops annual winter campout. For the past dozen years or so, the trop has invited local Webelos Cub Scouts to attend on Saturday for a day of scouting events run by the patrols of our troop. The idea is to introduce them to our troop, and scouting, while providing a training and leadership opportunity for our scouts.
Sometimes the campout two nights and sometimes they stay for only one. Usually it’s only the older scouts who want to stay out for two nights and try to qualify for their Polar Bear patch. The Polar Bear patch requires you to camp out in below freezing weather for at least 24 hours and cook three meals. Lately, the weather hasn't cooperated. Last year, when my son and I attended as Webelos, the weather was nearly 70 degrees out! Other times it's been colder, but not cold enough. Often they end up with rain too, which is not a lot of fun.
I was a little worried about this trip. I have never been winter camping before. My sleeping bag was rated good down to 10 degrees above zero. So I bought one just like it for my son and spent the two weeks leading up to the weekend nervously watching the weather reports to see if was going to be colder than that.
A few days before the campout, the forecast was for warmer weather in the forties and maybe even the fifties during the day and the thirties in the evening. But there was also a forecast for rain on Friday night. I did not relish the idea of setting up tents in the dark in freezing rain. Fortunately, the rain held off until late Saturday evening after we had left the campground. It actually turned out pretty warm for December.
We set up camp and gathered under the pavilion for a leaders' Cracker Barrel. Bob Bauman brought a huge stick of summer sausage he bought at Manards. We joked that it could double as a sledge to drive in stakes. There were a couple slabs of cheese too, including a pepper cheese. The leaders in in the troop tend to like the food on the spicy side!
The kids decided they wanted to eat something too. We gave a few of them a taste of our goodies but started to shag them away when they started to swarm like flies. So they raided their patrol boxes and found some cans of Spam left over from the Manitou trip. Soon, the scouts drifted off into their tents and it was just the leaders.
The temperature started to drop around 10:00 -10:30 p.m. and a crystal haze settled on the campsite. It could have easily been mistaken for fog, but it looked different. You could almost discern the individual crystals of frozen moisture hanging in the air. It slowly settled down, like a blanket, with a bubble of air underneath, slowly sinking onto a bed. The campsite was in a very old gravel quarry so it's much lower than the surrounding terrain.
I decided to call it a night once the haze settled. So I went to the car to get my winter coat and moved on to my tent to go to sleep Boy! It was cold. I put on a pair of light long underwear and a pair of cloth slippers. I climb in and pulled my coat over the bag like an extra blanket and put on my hat to keep my head warm. But it didn't seem to help. I wasn't really cold, but I never really got warm either. I woke up several times during the night because I wasn't comfortable. But I finally drifted off and woke up well after dawn.
The sun was up and it seemed to be warming out, so I put on my scout shorts for the day. After all, the theme for this year's AWE was "summertime!" I don't care much for instant oatmeal, which was the breakfast menu item. So I brought my own egg salad sandwich. I was the last leader up so I wolfed it down with some fresh HOT coffee.
After breakfast, the boys set out to prepare their areas for the Cub Scouts. The Wolverine Patrol was doing a program on First Aid. I helped with the leaders in re-arranging the tables under the pavilion and start setting up or lunch.
The traditional lunch at AWE is Scoutmaster's Stew. Each boy and their parent are asked to bring a can of soup. We pour the cans into two big pots, one for the white stew and another for the red stew. The troop also buys a few pounds of ground meet to brown up along with some extra base, like a couple of big cans of chicken broth and a few bags of frozen veggies. This year, Bob Bauman brought some ground venison from his freezer. The troop also buys several dozen loafs of French bread and spread.
The Cub Scouts and their parents started to arrive right on time. We held an opening flag ceremony where I noticed that Mr. Wright had gone back into our tent to change into his shorts too! He said he wasn't about to let me have all the glory to myself. After the ceremony the scouts headed off to the different stations for the program.
Lunch was a great success, thanks to Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Berger, Mrs. Rudolf and Mrs. Novak. Mr. Bauman and I took over the cleaning of the pots afterwards. What a mess! The stew had burned onto the bottom of the pot, which is normal. But Mr. Bauman was relentless. After he was done those pots where cleaner than they have been in years. We finished just in time for the closing ceremony.
Mr. Wright, Mr. Nelson and I had packed all of our gear and broke down the tent during lunch. So we just finished packing up the troop gear and a few of the younger boy's gear. We loaded everything up in the trailer and the cars in the late afternoon just as the sun was starting to set. And the temperature started to drop along with the sun. So I was anxious to get in the car and get the heater going. I was still in my shorts!
The Hollow's is on the southwest side of Crystal Lake so it's only a fifteen-minute drive home. We just started home when the rain started to come down. What timing!
