Chester David Myers,
Harold “Moe” Stephens and I were selected to be staff members at Camp Packentuc
BSA camp near Ozark, Illinois. I suspect
the name came from the road being impassable a lot of the time and gear was
packed and tucked down the long winding rock and gravel road. It was unusual to have more than two staff from
one troop or Explorer post. Moe had been
there before and I had both Red Cross and BSA lifesaving and they needed
waterfront personnel.
The camp was located in the Shawnee national
forest and there was a eighty foot waterfall with a cave and big spring
underneath the falls and a creek splitting the camp in half. The cabins were little more than tents with
roof`s and screen. Each had four built
in bunks. The staff cabins were a bit
larger with army bunks and screened but more house like. I think we had eight bunks. The small cabins were grouped on the hill
sides so that each troop had three or four cabins separated from the other
troops. This was much better than the
barracks type usually seen in camps.
The first day Sam Linebaugh and I
volunteered to clean out the storage in the snack bar. We knew that each year at least one rattler
was found in there. We were nearly
finished when we heard a buzz. We slowed
and one of us carefully picked up a lawn sprinkler and realized that was where
it was coming from. Just as we got it to
the door the biggest bunch of bumble bees I ever saw came pouring out. We dropped it and took off running. Lucky neither was stung. We went back later and finished the job and
never did find our rattle snake. He and
I were setting up a nature exhibit and really wanted one. We caught a couple of pine snakes and the
prettiest corn snake I ever saw.
The first week was to open camp and get
ready for the campers. The life guards
had to close the gate to the dam and raise the water level making a small lake
for swimming in cold water. There were
several big rocks with one that was easy to climb with rope and the rock made a
great diving platform. On the cabin side
the water was shallower and was roped off for non-swimmers. Even for a 16 yr old life guard can be a
stressful experience. We had trials day
one and the water was divided by depth with two ropes and floats. Without fail at least two kids would swear to
be swimmers who could not swim a lick or panic after three or four
strokes. We soon learned which to watch
the closest. In a public pool or at camp
the weak swimmers would get a panic look on their face when they reach too far
and we usually hit the water before they gave up.
We also taught BSA lifesaving and this was
a treat to do. Most who took it were really
good swimmers. Once we had two of them
pretend to be drowning and I was to demonstrate s-l-o-w-l-y how to separate two
people about to drown and holding on to each other with a bear grip. I was to put my hands on ones chin and place
my foot on the others shoulder and push.
I had no idea that one of them had panicked and was really bear hugging
the other. When they thrashed my foot
slipped between them and they both clamped on each other. Knowing that someone about to drown is doing
anything possible to get up to air I pulled them both down deeper. They both let go and started climbing for
air. I pulled the one out and the other
kid was OK on his own. My two coworkers
on the bank and Warf had no idea what was transpiring in the water.
The very first task, to open camp, was to
clear the road of large rocks and boulders.
This took all hands and was an all day job. The only vehicles allowed to use it were
service and emergency vehicles. Everyone
parked their transport at the top and packed and tucked their gear. On Thursday
nights families were invited to share supper in the dining hall and participate
in the evening campfire afterward. This
is the campfire that the Order of the Arrow would usually pick to perform their
Indian dances and tap out the new initiates to the Order.
There were lots of trails and the rock
formations were huge. There was one
called Bread Loaf that no one was ever able to climb. There were two trails to the top of the
falls. One by was by rope and the other
a long steep walk.
The year after the camp closed our post took
a week camp up there. Upon arrival we
had to clear the road to get our buss down the hill and then it was treacherous
because it had not been dozed in over a year.
Everything was as it had been left.
At our first campfire I told the camp story
about Mad Myrtle who lived above the falls, in the 1800s, and had lost her mind
and took a hatchet to her husband and children, killing them all. It was said that her ghost returned to the
falls quite often at night. I noticed
Pat Green was really taking it in. Ed
Roberts had already taken a white shirt and flash and went to the top of the
falls early. He was ready with the shirt
pulled over a small bushy limb.
I asked for three volunteers to go with me
to the spring under the falls for cold drinks. This was the ideal place to keep anything
cold. After we crossed the creek I pointed to the top of the falls where Ed had
his light inside the shirt and was walking it around. I pointed up at it and turning off my light I
threw it and took off running and screaming, leaving them in the dark. I hid near the campfire and I heard Pat
report to Dr. Barber. “Doc I just know
she got him” he said. That was when I
made my appearance.
One night during the week we would give the
troop leaders a break for an evening by taking the troop on an overnight rough
it. Different troops would go on
different nights and most times the leaders whose kids were camping out would
take off for Harrisburg and a meal and movie.
Usually two or three troops each night would be on camp out. Two staff members would escort. Sam Linebaugh and I would take ours over the
falls and up the creek a ways to a bunch of pine trees. We would demonstrate building a shelter and
proper cooking fire and how to make a pretty comfortable bed. This trip and the swimming hole seemed to be
the favorite camp activities.
The camp was eventually closed and the new
camp at Kentucky Lake was opened. It was
just not the same.
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