10 Things: Cabin Alder

Just a side note, sorry I haven't posted much lately things have been incredibly busy. Life to get back to normal and in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, here are some things I remember about Cabin Alder.

1. The door spring was weak, so the wind would blow the door open and shut it night.
2. The cabin was at the edge of a hill, so it was up on blocks to keep it level. I would always have to look under there to make sure campers weren't hiding.
3. Again was also under the trees, so it night, it was really nice when the wind was gently blowing, you could hear the wind blowing through the leaves.
4. Because of the cabin's placement the speakers on top of the Lodge weren't pointed at it. So was quieter than the rest of the cabins on the Hill.
5. Sometimes I would have to say something to the counselors living in the Boy's Shack, because when they get rowdy you can hear everything that was said.
6. Fred Hornback was assigned to Cabin Number Two or Buckeye, whatever you'd like to call it for several sessions.
7. It always seemed like the walk to the Lodge or the pool or to the Playhouse was shorter from Cabin Alder
8. The walk to the 8 1/2 was naturally longer.
9. I think Cabin Alder was my favorite cabin on the Hill.
10. I don't think we had a clothesline on the back of cabin alder.

See you soon,

Bob

Ten Things....

I got this idea from other Blogs and decided to fit it to this one and make it a series

10 Things I remember about....

The Play House
1. it was the first Fort Scott building I ever remember being in. My first incoming Sunday as a camper, they processed all of the new campers there, took temps and so forth. I remember it like it was yesterday, Carol Leonard telling everone to "squishy wishy" together.

2. playing dodgeball or floor hockey in there was always so much faster that it was in my school gyms because it was smaller and the floors were slick

3. when they installed the new lights in there, it would always take them forever to come on

4. I was in there one night shooting basketball and Allen Fazenbaker's dog Cinnamon, chased a skunk in there.

5. There was that one basketball hoop that was set lower than the others. It was fun seeing the kids jam a basketball in there

6. I saw the movie Star Wars there for the first time.

7. I suprised more than one couple that had chosen the play house as a place to spend some quiet time. I never did it on purpose, I was usualy as embarrased as they were

8. I remember a troop of tumblers and acrobats that camp brought in, and they had set up in the playhouse. One of the men on his tumbling runs was jumping on a mini tramp. I was sure he was going to hit the ceiling

9. We used it for midget junior dances. I think the counselors had as much fun as the campers

10. There was gravel underneath the bleachers.

Bob

Sleeping arrangements

So who decided which bunks were the cool ones to sleep in and which werent? When I was a counselor, I always slept in the bunk that was on the bottom and to the right of the door when you went in. It seems like most of the counselors chose this same arrangement. Was this because it got the best breeze? Or was it easier to sneak in after bed check without waking your kids?

It seemed like there were prefered spots in the cabins for the campers as well. You didn't have as many choices when you were in a cabin on the hill, but there were definitely prefered bunks in Senior 1. My first year in Senior 1, the bunks of choice were the farthest from the doors, on the bottom. I was stuck in the bed right next to the door. Although I got the best breeze at night, I also nearly drowned during the raid that period. After that, I chose the bunk on the counselor end in the corner, on the bottom.

The only thing that was better was when I was actually a counselor in Sr. 1 and got the counselor corner. I even brought my stereo and had a dresser. That was really living the good life.

Bob

A letter from Matt, October 4, 2007

Hey Bob, I still remember my first experience at Fort Scott, and it wasn’t even with my own cabinmates.

I think it was either my first or second day that 1st 2-week session in the summer of 1982 (I believe the big activity that session was the Olympics). I seem to remember being in a small group of campers headed up by Tom Fairbanks and we headed into the woods. It had rained the past couple of days, so the timing was perfect for the activity. We finally reached our destination: the Mud Slide. I must have gone down the Slide at least a dozen times, as I was covered from head to toe with all sorts of nature: mud, tree bark, and other things I couldn’t recognize.

I could hardly recognize anyone in the group, we were so covered. Tom let us know it was time to head back, as it was about an hour or so until supper at the Mess Hall. I headed straight for the 8 ½ and its showers. Soap and shampoo were as useless as trying to clean up an oil spill with paper towels. After 30 minutes or so in the shower, I still had nature in my hair. My clothes were then marked as broken in by the Fort Scott experience. I think it was like 4-5 days later that I finally had every bit of the mud and stuff out of my hair and off of me.

I do remember we had our group picture taken when we got back to camp, but I never did get a copy of it; wish I had.

I remember my first counselor that session, Brian Spears. That session was very memorable, up to the final nights, as I took down many camp awards, including the revered “Rec Tan Award,” and our cabin took first place among the Midget cabins for cabin clean up. I was glad I could make it to that awards ceremony, as I had become sick the night before. Brian took our cabin to the front field, where we joined up with some others for roasting marshmallows in the campfire. I still cannot get over what I did there with my marshmallow; I put it over the fire, allowed it to ignite, and watched it burn and expand to a large black charred bubble on my stick. I still cannot believe I ate it---I think that was what had made me sick.

All of my memories of Fort Scott, from the mudslide to being guest emcee at the Variety Show in the summer of 1988, to the numerous all-camp games of North vs South capture the flag (er...popsicle sticks), to all the other great times I had, will remain in my heart til I am long gone from this earth.

Matt

More than the sum of our parts

Though I may be stating the obvious, the camp staff was always greater than the sum of its parts. As a camper, your view of the staff was myopic at best. You knew your counsellor, and the counsellor in your buddy cabin. You knew the counsellors that were in charge of the departments, and if you were lucky you could remember their names after a day or two.

As I grew older, I became more aware of the staff, and the administration, but it really did not become clear to me what a wonderful collection of people it took to make Fort Scott run, until I became a staff member. I really cannot count being a CIT. Although it was a job, and we did have assignments, it was still pretty much like being a camper.

As I spent more time on the staff, I also realized that certain persons within the staff shaped who we were, and gave the staff its own personality. I am talking about people like Tom Beiting, well really, the whole Beiting family. And there was Steve Sincheck, and of course Cathy. Who could forget the trio of Dale Siegal, Mike Strong and Bob Hunnenfeld (spelling?). Those three spent many afternoons teaching me lessons in humilty on the volleyball court. There are dozens of others, but the person that I wanted to talk about today was John Farmer.

I will come right out and say that I admired John Farmer a great deal. He was one of those people that never seemed seemed to get rattled or flustered, and we all know that there were plenty of things that could do that for you at camp. John always seemed to have a kind word for any kid, and his smile would cheer you up, even on a pretty lousy day. He was just an all around nice guy.

Two things that really stick out in my mind about John but were very telling. I think it was during staff orientation, and we had broken up into small groups and were filling out surveys. We were asked questions about our favorite place to go on vacation, favorite food, etc. Then we were asked about our favorite book. I only remember one answer, and it was John's. He said his was the Bible. I think that gave real insight into what made John what he was.

The second incident was on cabin walk. As I recall, and as was usual, the first night there was always one really rowdy cabin. The common response among the less experienced counsellors was to kick the door in and try to intimidate a some order into the campers. And we had tried that a couple of times. On the third time, John told us to just stay put and he walked down and talked to the kids. It worked. He didnt raise his voice, didnt kick the door, he was just John.

I think we all could take a lesson from that, and be a little kinder to each other.

Bob