Some Suggestions on Opening a Boy Scout Camp in the Rain.

This is a "work in progress". I will continue to add to the story and the lists as I have time and oppertunity.

We were scheduled to open camp on June 13th. The Thursday before; Jody and I were actually on our way to pick up the U-Hall; it was raining very hard and Bill called to suggest we wait until the next Tuesday. I wondered why, and he said he thought the weather might be better. I wondered why. I reasoned that since we go to scout camp to face difficult challenges and grow by overcoming them we might as well start on time. I had been up the Saturday before. The six of us got within five miles of camp before the snow blocked the road. We hiked in and out – that's ten miles for the old man. I was so cold and tired when we got back to the car I couldn't turn the key. It is very nice to have strong young men around. I judged we would be able to drive in by the next Saturday. I was right.

It was a cloudy day, with rain here and there as we drove through Pocotello and Idaho Falls. As always, we stopped in St. Anthony. We had lunch at the little park by the river, the memorial park. In 1918, twenty- four young men from St. Anthony were killed in a day in the “war to end all wars”. We stood at the foot of the bronze doe boy.






He towered above us on a pedestal of volcanic boulders; a clutch of German helmets hanging from his belt. I asked the crew to consider how those boys chose to spend their summer, what they gave for their country, and suggested we should ask our selves what we will make of our summer in the mountains they fought to keep free. We hurried on, trying to keep ahead of the rain clouds. It was raining in Ashton, but not on the road to camp. Not yet.

Here is a list of the stories I told or read to staff over next two rainy weeks, as they struggled to rest paradise out of the jaws of the Wyoming winter.

Vern Dunn's “Vern, we need you.” story
My first days a Bartlett – “If I could go home I would”
Oscar Wilde's “Happy Prince”
"Abeu Ben Adam" by Leigh Hunt
Seton's on Sympathy from Two Little Savages
Service's "The Three Voices."
“The Little Blue Engine” by Shell Silverstein
Meeting the fox from the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
“The Spell of the Yukon” also by Service
Arm wrestling form The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway
Karol's Frog Princess
Meno's Boy from Plato's Meno
"Rokurokubi" by Ueda Akinari; as told by me
Styles of Leadership S1, S2, S3, S4
"Because You're a Scout" from the 1954 BSA Hand Book, with my story of Engelton's
Tough Kids
Sacae warriors in the forest and snow from Thermopile by Ernle Bradford, pg 96
“Good Timber” by Hugh Mallach
“The Old Juniper” by Carlo Clumsee
“The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes
“The Deacon's Masterpiece” by Oliver Wendell Homes
I bet I've seen more flag ceremonies than you have.
Scout Pool and Saddam Husein
Craig Miller's letter
“Opportunity” by Edward R Sill
“My Hope for Your” by Paul Harvey
"Moon Face" by Jack London
“Hitler's Mistake” from Stephen Ambros and the NPR
"The Wimp" from Celestial Navigations
"The Coach" from Celestial Navagations
Goethe's "Conclusion"

Movies and Videos:
The Wolf That Changed America
Rio Bravo
Bill and Tedd's Excellent Adventure
Amazing Grace