Unpublished Memorable Camp Events

Wayne always rose early on camp outs and made his breakfast first. Then he let the boys have the frying pan to cook their breakfast. “Burned food?” Camper “No that's the way I like it cooked black like this. They don't make it good like this in the kitchen.”

The campers that were preparing for the first Boundary Waters – Canadian trip challenged Wally and Wayne to a race on the Waupaca River. They said fine we will pick the course. The course Wally picked out was from Weyauwega to Waupaca, up stream. Knowing that the campers had only practiced going down stream gave the counselors an advantage. They had to slow down their pace in order to keep the campers in view.

On an Eagle River Trip camper D. B. saw a small tree that had been cut with its leaves still green. When the camp was set up D. B. said he needed something he had left in the bus. He was gone a short time when he returned with a big smile and announced, “D. B. saves.” We could not understand what he meant until the next day when we went to town. The cut off tree was standing beside the path. “See,” D. B. said, “I saved this poor little tree!” No one told him that the tree would not grow without roots.

There was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor in Eagle River where the boys all went for a treat. Wayne and Wally also made a stop there to pick up the energy it took to control the campers. A couple of campers did not have enough money to pay their bill. Wally noticed them picking up tips and quietly left, hopping that they would not have to bail out any campers.

The Eagle River area was noted for the large muskies that were in several nearby lakes. One trip there the group decided to try to catch one. All went to a small lake that was noted for the phantom fish of Northern Wisconsin with high expectations. The fish known as the fish of a 1,000 and 1 casts waited for the 1,000 times a lure hit the water in vain. One camper said he had a hit, but the fish got away. It was most likely a submerged log.

Before signing up campers for the second Sylvania trip Wayne warned the campers that we would be camping in bear country. A camper, D. B. said he was not afraid of bears. At the ranger station where we registered for our campsite the ranger said, “We have had a lot of bear problems this summer so be sure to hang your food packs high.” In the bus on the way to the launch site D. B. kept saying, “I thought you were kidding about bears.” That night when it was time to bed down D. B. asked, “Will bears come into the camp if we have a fire?' “Fire will keep them away, but unless you have food in your tent they will not bother you.” “I'll keep the fire going.” D. B. replied. The next morning there was D. B. wrapped up in his sleeping bag by a fire. All the rest of the party had a good night's rest. The next night after an active day of exploring and fishing D. B. slept the night while a bear kept banging the cover on the bear poof garbage can. He was the only one of the party to sleep soundly that night or the next.

When Jim Dover was on the Early Bird Trip to the Wisconsin Dells he had an adventure with a girl who was taking tickets at Family Land. As usual whenever Jim was attracted to a young lady he came up to the “Light of my “his” life with, “Honey you are the sweetest gal I've ever seen.” She asked him to meet her by the train station when she was on break. They sat together in a train car as it chugged through the park. Jim never said what they talked about or did in the ride. Anyway, he learned that she was the daughter of a mafia gang member. After the ride he kept asking when we were leaving. That night at the Tommy Bartlett Water Show he was very nervous and jumpy. After the camp was broken and all the gear on the bus Jim told Wayne let's get out of here as fast as we can. He kept looking for any car that might be following until we got to Friendship, Wis.. As Wayne drove through the town Jim opened the bus door and put his foot in the space of a broken window in it and swung out over the side of the street clinging to the door. “You won't find me now,” he screamed as Wayne slowly parked the bus. “Get your ass in the bus and stay in a seat until we stop at Camp Waupaca,” Wayne said with anger and authority.

Camp sites in the area were hard to find. Hartman Creek State Park was tried but it lacked privacy. They had outhouses in the group camping area. Gosh that is not the same as peeing on a bush or digging a shit hole. Also, the campfire was in grills. The supply of dead wood had been depleted by previous campers so it was hard to come by. Gathering around a grill for campfire stories is just not the same. What Hartman Creek had was a great sand beach, apple trees to pick and a waterfall to walk under. The one trip there that was outstanding was the “Star Watch Trip” sponsored by Bob Moen.

The camp mechanic, Mr. Muck, had a meadow that he invited the camp to use. It was used for one year, but the bugs were terrible because it was a damp place. It was here that Wayne was talked into a strange act of stupidity. Jim Dover said he had some Indian blood. He could juggle a fire ball if he did a ceremony. Jim showed Wayne how to play with fire without getting burned. How dumb could Wayne be. Anyway, they went to the far field and practiced. True to Jim's word neither of them were burned. At a camp out on Muck's farm they played catch with a fire ball to entertain the campers. Jim did not teach Wayne the word to the secrete ceremony so he never did the fire ball trick again. “If you believe that you will be safe,” Jim said, “you will never be burned.” “Don't try this at home,” Wayne told the campers. Well, why didn't the fire dancers at the Tommy Bartlett Show not burn their, you know, off? Believe now?

One of Wayne's assistants asked for some orange and grape juice for the trips. It seemed strange that it disappeared before it was taken on any trip. Then there were some bottles in the camp out refrigerator. “What's in those bottles?”, Wayne asked. His assistant said, “Why that's some tonic I made for when we have to stay in camp.” Tonic or not it smelled bad and it was made behind the cabin. However it was made, it never exploded and the assistant did not die.

Ghost Valley was named for the glowing lights that were made from a thing called Fox Fire. There was a story about a family that lost their lives there in a sudden early snow storm. The Fox Fire was said to be the family father trying to summon help for his freezing family. Stories about strange things that happened there were told by people who lived in the area.

The main activities at Ghost Valley were campfire stories and hikes. There were hikes to the US Geological marker on the hill behind the camp site. It is the highest point in that part of the State of Wisconsin. There were hikes to the tepee poles that had been rotting in the woods for years. There were hikes to giant stone boulders to climb

Ghost Valley hike that was one-time unusual event. There were two valleys at ghost valley. One where the campsite was and one through a trail in the woods. One day in the other valley a car was parked with a boy and girl in a sleeping bag beside it. “Wayne what are those people doing camping on your land?” Wayne, “Camping.” When the couple saw about ten boys descending on them there was panic. Scrambling out of the sleeping bad trying to straighten their clothes they jumped into the car. Burning grass as they left the valley there was disappointment they left quickly without introducing themselves. Too bad the boys could not ask them what they were doing as they were very interested.

The weirdest happenings at Ghost Valley was the night that two moving lights moved across the sky. Both lights looked like satellites. Both were moving rapidly one from the right and the other looked like it would pass over the campsite. The one on the right and the other light seemed to merge. There was a flash of light and both of the lights were gone. It did not seem to affect the campers, but it ran chills down Wayne's spine. UFO's? Who knows?

Deer Hollow got its name because at dusk almost every evening deer came down to drink across the pond from the campsite. The campers were usually quiet and watched the deer drink and frolic. Wayne cannot remember anytime a camper made a noise to drive the deer away.

Wayne bought a well point and some pipe to make a well at Deer Hollow. It was not for drinking but the cold water from the pump was used to cool off and clean up campers. Also, the water from the pump was easier to get than dip water from the pond.

Pine trees around the campsite were great for climbing. Eatable parts of the pine trees were there for tasting. A true story of a Swedish soldier who escaped from a Russian POW camp was told. He has survived on the “pine nuts” he picked off the trees. The soldier made it home traveling two months and over 500 miles. He told Wayne that he never wanted to ever eat another piece of a pine tree.

The fields had clover blossoms that held a sweet syrup that could be sucked out of the individual parts of the flower. Many campers tried it and seemed surprised that the taste was similar to honey.

With a fork branch from a willow tree Wayne demonstrated how to “witch” for an underground stream of water. Some campers had the gift. Some faked it after Wayne showed them the underground stream. Some thought it fake. Witching for water was taught to Wayne by an old Sioux Indian who had found an underground stream of water after they had drilled a couple of dry wells. This was how the Sioux survived when they had to retreat during the war years.

By charging a glow in the dark “flying disk” several camp outs included a game on the open fields.

This was popular until the disk lost it glow one night and could not be found. Most likely it came to rest in a pine tree.

At the Deer Hollow camp site the last year that Wayne took campers, one night near the end of camp the site was surrounded by fire. Fox fire that is. The piles of decaying wood glowed and flickered as if they were burning. It was weird and scary, but just nature giving the campers one last show.

On the second Sylvania trip the radiator on the old Carry All began to steam so we pulled into a way side stop. There was no pump for water there so we found a can in the garbage can and passed it around. The trip was saved by the efforts of the campers. We made it on to our destination with a vehicle full of piss.

Wayne often drove campers to movies, competitions with another camp, the Amherst Fair, cabin nights out. One time the trip was to a bowling alley. Teams were chosen by the campers with one team one person short. Wayne was asked to be the last man on one of the teams. He told them that he had never bowled so he could not be helpful. The team short of a man would not believe him. They fitted Wayne out with a ball and the game was on. There was no doubt that Wayne told the truth. By the end of the game his score equaled the number of gutter balls he threw. The word must have gotten out as Wayne was never asked to fill a team again.

Campers on a trip from Waupaca, “Can't this bus go any faster? Wayne step on it!” Wayne did step on it as asked, the brakes that is. The bus stopped suddenly. Wayne accidentally turned on the flashing bus lights at the same time and stopped traffic in both directions. The rest of the ride to camp was in silence. (Webmaster’s comment: I was on the bus when this happened!!)

It had been raining one cook out day but it had stopped in mid-afternoon. Although the sticks that campers picked up for the fire were wet the picnic meal was on. A Junior Counselor in cabin 2 stayed at the cabin to get a fire going as the rest of camp was at flag lowering. Wayne was in the Trip Shack working on how to get a trip out for the campers who's had been canceled. Then there was a large explosion in the direction of Cabin 2. He rushed out thinking the water heater had blown up. Standing by the fire pit for the cabin was the Junior Counselor in shock and his hair singed. “What happened,” Wayne asked. He pointed to a 5-gallon gas can. “The wood was wet and I could not get it burning so I threw some gas on it.” It seems that there was a spark in the wood pile that caused the gas to explode as it hit the wood. No one was seriously injured and the wood smoldering.

Story telling was always a mystery to Wayne. If a story was based on true things the campers would often say, “You just made it up.” Yet “Big Mo” the turtle story that was made up on a train trip home was taken as fact. Campers often reported seeing Big Mo in the lake for many years. The campsite in “Ghost Valley” was the site of the tragic death of the Neal Eastman family in the 1800's. The lights that were often seen in the area were most likely made by Fox Fire. An Eastman decedent of the long dead Neal Eastman was living in Rural. His name was also Neal and was on his mailbox. Campers who saw his mail box believed that this story was an entirely made-up story.