Did I get your attention?
In all of the years of scouting, that I have been a part of, I found that the scout camps that I once went to are haunted.
Sure, we had our ghost stories but this is much different.
I have had the luxury of revisiting the camps that I once attended as a scout so many years ago and in spite of all of the changes and improvements made to those camps, I can still find my old haunts that have remained unchanged in over 30 years.
When I was a scout we always went to Camp Bear Paw for summer camp, Gardner Dam for Fall Camporee, Winter camp was on the scout master's property somewhere in the great white North and Rokilio for Spring camp and I now have found that they all are haunted.
Take a walk through any of your camps you have attended and you will soon see what I mean.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Rokilio and I walked one of the trails and although there is now a castle, a fort, train station, space station, miner's village, and viking ship; much of the camp remained the same. The trees are taller. That same rock that everyone tripped over on the way to the mess hall and tripped over again heading back from the mess hall is still there.
It's funny how we could never remember that rock's location until he tripped over it again and again and again.
I discovered the haunted effect of camp this weekend and I was able to remember that all camps have the same spirits and they can be found if you just pay attention.
Walk a trail and listen to the scouts that are there and you will hear scouts laughing and playing throughout the woods and if you listen carefully you will hear Billy and Tommy from your old unit still playing in the woods as if it were yesterday.
Thousands and thousands of scouts and scouters go through the camps every year but the woods always seem to capture a part of us that will always remain there for all eternity.
So the next time you are at camp, remember to listen for those voices for they are calling you.
They want you.
Now if you will excuse me, my best friends from troop 1105, Brian and E.J., are calling and we are going on a snipe hunt.
In all of the years of scouting, that I have been a part of, I found that the scout camps that I once went to are haunted.
Sure, we had our ghost stories but this is much different.
I have had the luxury of revisiting the camps that I once attended as a scout so many years ago and in spite of all of the changes and improvements made to those camps, I can still find my old haunts that have remained unchanged in over 30 years.
When I was a scout we always went to Camp Bear Paw for summer camp, Gardner Dam for Fall Camporee, Winter camp was on the scout master's property somewhere in the great white North and Rokilio for Spring camp and I now have found that they all are haunted.
Take a walk through any of your camps you have attended and you will soon see what I mean.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Rokilio and I walked one of the trails and although there is now a castle, a fort, train station, space station, miner's village, and viking ship; much of the camp remained the same. The trees are taller. That same rock that everyone tripped over on the way to the mess hall and tripped over again heading back from the mess hall is still there.
It's funny how we could never remember that rock's location until he tripped over it again and again and again.
I discovered the haunted effect of camp this weekend and I was able to remember that all camps have the same spirits and they can be found if you just pay attention.
Walk a trail and listen to the scouts that are there and you will hear scouts laughing and playing throughout the woods and if you listen carefully you will hear Billy and Tommy from your old unit still playing in the woods as if it were yesterday.
Thousands and thousands of scouts and scouters go through the camps every year but the woods always seem to capture a part of us that will always remain there for all eternity.
So the next time you are at camp, remember to listen for those voices for they are calling you.
They want you.
Now if you will excuse me, my best friends from troop 1105, Brian and E.J., are calling and we are going on a snipe hunt.
The above photo is the space station at Camp Rokilio, Kiel, WI
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