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HYDE BAY HOME LETTER

VOLUME 41             July 17, 1967                   No. 3

MONDAY: Hot and cloudy, clearing in the afternoon. In the morning all camp activities were in full swing with many boys spending a good portion of the morning in the water. After milk and cookies Chooch Turner instructed a group of campers in the ancient art of Lacrosse. Of course, many had had previous experience in this fast growing sport. Shortly after lunch a group of twenty-eight departed by truck and Rover for Beaver Valley Park. McKee Lundberg, Chris West, Pete Mehl, Dave Gotshall led this large contingent along with Hunt and Mouldy. It included ULs Terry Fisher, Mike Prowda, Jim Thomas, Stan Poreba, Steve Childs among others. The purpose of the trip was not only for an overnight stay at the Park but a continuation of the development of a large campsite for the campers. The sailboats were very active throughout the afternoon.

TUESDAY: Overcast, humid, rain in the afternoon - heavy at times. This was one of our most humid days which made the waterfront the most popular spot a camp. All the in-Scamp projects were active but the waterfront took precedence. Once the thunder and lightning disappeared, many campers met at a small stream near the Russellorum and built dams of all descriptions — a favorite when there is sufficient rain to flood the stream. Beaver Valley campers came back well soaked — not from the trip itself but from riding home in the open truck — all of which makes for an “adventure.”

WEDNSDAY: Cloudy and warm in the morning; overcast and a brisk wind in the afternoon. Dam building continued in the morning with many consultation groups, breakdown groups, and water pressure grew to the point of crumbling all dams before lunch. There was twelve-and-over practice in the morning putting finishing touches on the team that would meet Chenango in the afternoon. A group of sixteen went to the Farmer’s Museum in the morning led by Jeff Levi and Mike Whedbee and included ULs and campers Tom Inglehart, Andy Andrews, Whit Fish, and Jeff Roberts. The baseball team left immediately after lunch for their game with Chenango. After playing a very fine game, Hyde Bay won 10—4. Four able bodied crews sailed down to Chenango in a brisk wind. By the time of the return trip the wind had diminished and the last boat finally came in at 7:30 p.m. With all back in camp we had our usual Wednesday night movie: “Sound Off” with Mickey Rooney starring.

THURSDAY: Partly cloudy, cool, warm breeze in the afternoon. Shortly after breakfast we began handing out the week’s clean laundry and preparing for the first Trenton Falls trip. This trip was led by Hunt Hilliard with the assistance of John Mercer, Todd Mulvenny, Peter Black, George Radcliffe, and Fred Gale. Camper members of the trip were, to mention a few, Ted Mehl, Jamie Hills, Page West, Price Koch, John Clinnin, Sandy Pickett, and Mike Fish. A fairly quiet morning due to lack of wind and dam activity. A very active afternoon with a good wind for sailing and a Beaver Valley Park departure. Councilors making the trip were Lawry Pickett, Bruce Danzer, and Chris Jest along with campers Alan Lintel, Scott Weldon, Marty Sutton, Dan

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Somerville, and Bill Pearman among several other boys. The boys are certainly enjoying this natural wilderness. A trip does not go by without at least one deer being sighted along with many species of birds and plant life. The rest of the camp enjoyed games in the campus.

FRIDAY: Sunny and clear, slightly cloudy in the afternoon. Shortly after breakfast one of our flat bottom rowboats was loaded on the truck along with seven boys and three councilors for a trip to one of the beaver ponds on Beaver Valley to collect specimans for the Nature Nook. John Diamond, Pete Mehl, and Dick Raymond, co-workers in this department, took Dave Colson, Blake Whitcombe, John Manger, Andy Wheeler, and Todd Galvin. They spent the greater part of the day exploring the upper beaver pond, had a picnic lunch, and came home having seen our two families of blue heron which are nesting atop two dead trees in the middle of the pond. After lunch Alton Davison and Larry Hubert had a large group sign up for the N.Y. State Young Boatman’s Safety Course and they completed the first two lessons. Rusty Pickett and Dave Gotshall took seventeen campers to Sunken Islands where they recovered many bottle caps treasures worth many rewards. This is a favorite warm day activity. Led by Bruce Rice the twelve-and-over baseball team defeated a team from Milford, N.Y., 5-4. Mark Whittlesey was the outstanding batter of the game. We did not take our usual Friday night UL trip due to the fact that most of the ULs either played or watched this after—dinner game.

SATURDAY: Cloudy, cool, overcast, and a bit rainy in the afternoon. It was a quiet day for us. The youngest tents put the finishing touches on their plays and the rest of the camp participated in wrestling, four—square, tennis, handicrafts, and riding. By nightfall the Trenton Falls had returned having had a most successful trip and all were back in camp for Saturday-night-At-The-Theater. The outstanding play for the evening was Tent #7 entitled “Curses, Foiled Again” - a two—act Mellordrama. Best actress award went to Jim Buley and best actor award to John Uhlein. As far as the theater was concerned it was a first at Hyde Bay - John and Henry from the kitchen had roles in the play from Tent #6. They received a free store for their job well done.

SUNDAY: Cloudy, calm during the morning. There was very little activity in the morning except for our Sunday trunk inspection followed by hot showers for everyone. Alton Davison led the church service and gave a very fine talk on the rewards of thinking of others rather than only ourselves. Some final tests were given in the Junior Life Saving course and the rest spent the morning swimming and resting from an active week. In the afternoon we scheduled a large slow pitch softball game for the thirteen-and—under boys. Inspection winners for the week were Tents # 2 and 10. They went in by Rover during rest period for their purchase of goodies. By 5:00 all were down in the water cooling off and getting ready for the outdoor supper of barbequed hamburgs, potato chips, pickles, chocolate and white milk, and fresh plums. After evening store, the Sunday night movies were shown and all to bed shortly after.

The tent plays for this week will be forthcoming from Tents 63A, 67, 63B, and 11. Curtain time is 8:30 p.m.

The mimeographed enclosure for the first month boys is self-explanatory. You are perfectly free to do exactly as you wish regarding it.

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