Letters, Oh We Get Letters!

I received a delightful letter today. Naturally I am going to share it with all of you.


I was a Fort Scott legacy...my dad attended FS from 1948-1953. And so, at the ripe age of 7, I attended my first 2-week session of FSC...and my life has never been the same since! My brothers Todd and Jeff and I all attended every summer – always for the “Variety Show” session (end of July til early August) –until we were too old to go to camp anymore. And each of us was heartbroken when we turned 15, knowing we could no longer meet up with all the friends we’d made over the years.

Believe it or not, I now live less than 5 miles from camp...whoddu thunk? I have yet to muster the gumption to drive by the “remains” of FSC, knowing that it’s now a community of homes. I juts don’t think my heart could take it! Hardly a week goes by each summer that I am not transported back those hallowed grounds...so many memories, such good friends, lots of life lessons learned. How can it no longer exist? How is it that I won’t be able to send my daughters to Fort Scott? That is the reality...and yet, I prefer to look at old pictures, and allow thoughts of those wonderful summers to creep in whenever the spirit moves me.

Here are just some of my favorite memories of people, places, and things...maybe some of these will bring smiles to your faces, as well.

*Girls’ camp counselors and directors Miss Wanstrath (first taught me to ride), Miss Wiwi, Miss Gruber, Miss Wolfe, Miss Enright, Miss Bonekamp, and of course, Sister Mary Morley (do you think she still has that whistle around her neck?)

*Boys’ counselors Tom Murphy (whose siblings Maureen, Todd and Molly were campers); Steve Kunkemoeller (younger bro Danny was camper too.)

*Remember the smell and the creaks of the floor of the girls’ lodge? The dances held there, and the dance *practices* for the variety show? How unbelievable hot it would get in there. And we simply didn’t care.

*The wonderful masses at the chapel? Those of us who helped plan the liturgies and participated (vocals and guitar) loved every minute of it.

*How much did we love our canteen cards? FunDip, Twizzlers, and frozen candy bars?! Remember walking into the mess hall in the mornings with the scent of bacon wafting thru...and at dinnertime, the fresh green beans that I’m certain had boiled all day long...

*Remember having to know the difference between sassafras, oak, and elm leaves?

*The 4 am. raids with water balloons on the boys camp? Well planned and always well executed!

*Why did our moms feel the need to send us to camp with numerous cans of bug spray? We obviously didn’t care to use it...that’s why we looked like infected lepers by the time we went home. The combination of mosquito bites and poison ivy was quite a sight. Again, we simply didn’t care. We had way too much fun to notice (except, that is, for the summer I wound up with large spider bites all over my legs. I was on Senior Hill by then, and was very conscious of how the cutest members of the boys camp might react!)

That’s all for now...I will check in soon with some other memories...

FORT SCOTT ROCKS!

Beth (Brinker) Landfried
Email bethland@fuse.net