Scout Potraits - Part Four

JOSH BOWER

Josh Bower. Where to begin? He was part of the last group of staff members I worked with. His enthusiasm and energy was unmatched. He was ADHD personified. Like Tigger - bouncy, bouncy, bouncy. . .

He and Argus (previous post) were buds from Montoursville. Josh also spent lots of time with Jack Willliams, Kieth Yiako, and Chris Barsis.

Any updates on any of the m would be appreciated.

Scrapbook 1996

The Scrapbook is slowly coming together. I am not happy with the size or detail. I would like to be able to click on an image and have it blow up for closer scrutiny. For the meantime, I have placed each page in a Snapfish Album. If you would like access, e-mail me (kurteeck@gmail.com) and I will send you an invite in return.

Flip Book of 1996 Scrapbook

I am trying to get a flip book to work on the bottom of the blog. Zip down to it to see how it is working. I seem to have some difficulty with some of the pages.

Portriats - part three

The internet does not do the blue sky justice in this picture. The subject is Dave Barsis and he is sitting in the Lifeguard chair at the pool.BABY BARSIS

Scout Portraits - II

Argus was is from the Montoursville unit. He was a good friend of Josh Bowers. This picture was taken for part of a slide show. If I remember, the song for the slide show was "Where Eagles Fly" by Sammy Hagar. I don't believe that Argus ever served as a staff member.

"ARGUS"

Scout Portraits

Over the years I have spent at Camp Karoondinha, I took many pictures. They were often for slide shows. Some were for promotions. Others contribute to my scrapbooks and provide me with triggers for my many memories of Camp Karoondinha.

A few 'portrait' type pictures have been blown up used as 'art' in my home. I will share some of these pictures over the next weeks. First up - one cool Staff member -

"Zeph"

Big Towers for Thunderboomer

One of the best programs I was involved in after I returned from the Navy was Thunderboomer Girl Scout Camp. Thunderboomer was held at Camp Karoondinha after the end of regular scout camp.

A few select Boy Scout Staff Members had the chance to serve as staff members at the Girl Scout Camp. In this picture, Jack Williams and Eric Erdman have climbed into our tower. The male staff always kept a site on the far side of camp. The cooler the site, the better. It was a one week no-holds barred scoutfest. The Boy Scout Staff was responsible for a lot of the camp functions and we were always on the go.

More on the antics of Thunderboomer in the future.

Hi Steve! (G type)

Steve Geist and manual typewriters! I remember that Smith Corona. It used to be what we typed meal cost sheets on in the dining hall. Steve was the Steward in 1980 and Don Geise was the cook. Steve's enthusiasm that year is largely responsible for bringing me back to camp the following year and starting a 10 year run as a staff member.

Don Gensel

I received an e-mail from Kay Trick this morning.

Don Gensel, who has been in a nursing home since last September due to a stroke, passed away Saturday night.

Kay, and I as well, ask that you --

"Please keep Cathy and daughter Kendra, Cathy's son Richard and his family, and daughter Jolene and her family, in your prayers as this family goes through this most difficult time."

Catherine Gensel and Family
PO Box 272
New Berlin, PA 17855

Camp Kline and Red Cross Canoe Course

I wish I could get a date on these pictures. I know they are from Camp Kline and were taken at a Red Cross canoe course. I can tell it is Camp Kline because of the Dining Hall in the background. The Dining Hall is no longer in existence. It was falling apart and a few years ago it was leveled and the wood burned.

The large flat on Pine Creek in front of Camp Kline made it an ideal place to learn to canoe. The current is minimal. But you can paddle up-stream just a short distance and you are on the down side of the Ramsey Rapids. This gives new paddlers the opportunity to experience some basic white water skills in a low skill area. Camp Kline is still a good place for this. You jut have to bring your own canoes now.

I was surprised to see who I think is Stan Sieple in this picture. Just to the right of the man in the green jacket is who I think is Stan. I am almost positive that the man in the green jacket is Dave Haas. He was the Ranger at Camp Kline until he was basically driven off by Jerry O.

The Camp Kline High Adventure Base fell apart in the mid-eighties. Bill Hawkes, Dave McGinniss, Walt Nicholson, and other volunteers were basically undercut by the Council Board members from the southern end of the Council and by the professional staff. Now, with the Rails to Trails program coming through the valley, it is easy to see that the vision that these volunteers had, could have been realized. What a shame.

Check out the following web sites for information on the Pine Creek Valley and the Rails to Trail program --

Tioga County Visitors Bureau
TrailLink.com
DCNR - Pine Creek Trail

Stats in for February

I have the blog stats for February. Their were 120 visitors to the site in February with 52 being returning viewers. Thanks for checking in on the site. I appreciate the support and seeing the numbers has motivated me to keep this up for at least another month. For a while I was thinking only my Mom checked out the Blog on a regular basis. As always, leave comments (no one seems to do that) or e-mail me at kurteeck@gmail.com (many of you do that) with your thoughts, suggestions, and recommendations.

Thank You!

The Red Citation and "My Pants are on FIRE!"

We were, in many ways, fearless. I think Dan, Steve, Mark Beck, and many others of us, would have done anything to make the program better - more exciting - over-the-top.

I had mentioned earlier that people would crawl up on to the roof of the dining hall for various reasons. Here is a picture that shows the roost by the chimney.

I don't feel that it was a lack of 'safety consciousness'. It was just that we did not let things worry us when it was not warranted. Sure, sure ... The nay-sayers are thinkin' - "It's all fun and games, until someone pokes an eye out"!

No-one ever fell off of the roof. No one ever drowned on our make shift rafts. We never had anyone stabbed by a toy sword, and, as near as I can tell, we never had a turtle choke on any stray remnants of water balloons. (we did clean-up after the water balloon battles.)

But just in case, we practiced lots of first-aid. In fact, I used to set my pants on fire to simulate . . . well, having my my pants on fire!

When Dan and I weren't trying to burn each other to death, we would crash our cars and run car crash scenarios. What ever happened to that Citation?

Maurice Pap La Rin is in the above picture with serious wounds sustained in one of our mock car crashes. Anything to keep Camp Karoondinha fun.