Mornings started with cold water
in the face and pancakes on the fire — or scrambles eggs. The boys could eat a
lot of both. There would be some bacon or sausage as a side. If a kid or two
got up during the night for a bush visit they would have a fire already to go.
The pattern was to throw more wood on the fire before crawling back in the sack.
Others had to start their fire from scratch in the morning. Then there were the
night owl adults who threw logs on the fire when they were up.
The day was filled with teaching
and games – things the guys loved. They would learn something new about
camping, the outdoors, reading signs on trails, etc. Russ was terrific with
these things. It would change when he no longer came on the campouts. No one
else cold do what he could do.
The two things they seemed to like
the most was football and capture the flag. Part of the day would be spent
setting up their respective bases and then waiting for dark to begin the war. The
bases were often elaborate: prisoner pits, forted walls various noise traps (not too dangerous, we watched). They
worked on these most of the free time.
The year of the bear was a tough
one. A couple of boys hide some raw meat near the tent of another squad. We
already knew there was a bear in the area. Evidence was everywhere. There was
no sign when we picked the site and we did not discover he was near until
Saturday afternoon. I’m not sure when the raw meat was tied to a tree behind
the tent. Most likely the deed was done sometime Saturday. Sunday we found
evidence the bear had moved closer. The camp was a mix of fear and excitement.
The adult leaders could not figure out why he was coming closer. They don’t
usually attack humans and as far as we knew, our guys were all human.
The question about a boy trying to
draw the bear in closer did come up. Our food supply was checked and
double-checked. Nothing was missing. We set up a patrol for Sunday night hoping
that a continuous fire and movement might keep him away. We had no permit to
trap a bear, and we didn’t want to anyway.
It was during “Capture the Flag”
that night that we found the attraction. One of the guys was sneaking around in
the dark and put his hand on something slimy on a tree. He jumped back and
yelled, “What is this?” One of the leaders ran over with a flashlight and found
two raw fish tied to the tree. They were fresh enough that they may have been
put there that day. We brought all the guys together, ended the game and
explained to them what had happened. Someone in our camp had put the whole camp
in danger. A bear wandering through the camp was no laughing matter.
We made no attempt to ferret out
the culprit. No one came forward to confess. We just set up for our final
campfire. Like every youth segment of out church, these guys liked to sing, not
all of course, but most. The guitars came out and we had a great time, we
always did. As usually, the night ended with guys sharing something about this
walk with God while throwing a twig into the4 fire. I loved those times. I got
to know the hearts of the boys and see what they were becoming.
As we were unloading at the
church, one boy told me that so-and-so had small fishing equipment. He was sure
that guy did it. While suspicious, it was not proof.
I talked about trust; dependability
and having each other’s back for the next few weeks in both Sunday school and
youth group. So-and-so was at both. He finally came to me and said he needed to
apologize. “What about?” “I caught those fish at the campout.” “No one seemed
to know you had even been fishing.” “I wanted them for supper, but then through
it would be funny if a bear cam into camp.” “What do you think now?” He was
pretty frightened. I thanked him for telling me. There was no need to give a
lecture. He had lived several weeks with what could have happened. The best
part was we became good friends.
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