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By RANDY COVINGTON Herald Staff Writer Camp Kikthawen and, rated by the Boy Scouts of America as almost perfect, will serve 11,000 youths from Marion, Hamilton, Tipton, and Henry Counties this year. Approximately 200 boys each week of the summer will come to the camp for six days of fun and educa tional activity. Also during the summer large groups of Cub Scouts will come in for a day to get a taste of Boy Scout life. In winter, around 124 boys will spend some time at the camp, each weekend. The 216 acre camp was found ed in 1927. Continued improve ment has brought the camp up to the point that it was given a rating of 98 out of 100 points by the regional scout inspectors. A score above 9 is considered excellent. It is located 14 miles west of Anderson and 3 miles south of Frankton. During the summer 24 people staff the camp. Ages of the summer campers usually range from 11-15. The summer campers come in by units, of which there are 125 in Madison County. Of these units, 103 are located within the city of Ander son. There is a total of 5,200 scouts in Madison County. A typical week at camp starts at 2 p.m. Sunday when the units check in. The scouts will be at the camp until 10 a.m. the next Saturday. This first evening is usually spent orienting the youths as to what they will be doing during their stay. The campers live in tents, but eat in a main dining hall Among the campsites where the tents are pitched, one is con sidered luxurious. At this site, paid for by local resident C. A. Rinker, the tents are pitched over concrete slabs, thus pro viding them with floors. A typical day starts at 4 a.m with breakfast. Camp life tends to stimulate the appetite, and some small scouts can put away rather large amount of food, regardless of their size. After breakfast, brief speeches on top ics such as competition are de livered. be used for housing 40 scouts overnight. Probably one of the most pop ular activities at the camp is hiking. There are 7 trails that total 2242 miles in length. Dif ferent trails have different pur poses — one trail, for example, is used for nature study. One of the most competitive parts of the camping experience j is campground cleanliness. The various campsites are graded ‘and given awards each day. ‘Every afternoon staff members ‘grade each campsite. , Nondenominational religious ‘services are held every evening in a little valley that surrounds ‘an altar covered by a modernis ‘tie roof. The little chapel, which was donated by Mrs. Goldie Ferris, and which is named fur ther, symbolizes playing hands in a Swiss style of architecture. ‘Barry Callan, a camp staff member and theological student j at Anderson College, conducts ‘the services. Some buildings have been uilt through the efforts of vari ous service clubs. Those respon sible for the construction of var ious types of buildings are the Anderson Lions and Kiwanis ‘Clubs, the Elwood Kiwanis Club, and the Tipton Rotary Club. Just before each week ends, and the campers go home, they are given a copy of The Chief, a newspaper describing the week's activities. A few campers are assigned the post of scribe each week to copy down for the news paper items worthy of note. Running the camp are 5 seni or staffers and 19 junior staffers. Camp director is Robert P. De Noon. All members of the camp have had national Scout leader ship training. Scouts are given swimming instructions in the modern camp pool by Larry Wente of Ander son. The scouts are also in structed n archery and rifley since ranges for both can be found on the grounds. Instruct ing youths in the use of .22 cali bre single shot rifles is Bob Woodruff. Woodruff also serves as the camp ranger, making his residence there all year long. The stress on physical fitness is an integral part of the camp program. In addition to a physi cal fitness course, an obstacle course is also utilized. Camp ers go through a series of ob stacles that require — crawl ing, climbing, and jumping, as examples, in a race against the clock. Records are kept at the fastest time each week and for the summer as a whole. One building on the grounds houses a craft lodge Leather and wood crafts are stressed. The building is especially pop ular on rainy days, when the scouts are in search of some thing to do inside their tents. Another building houses a na ture lodge. In addition to dis plays of various types of in sects and rocks, live specimen are displayed. Very popular live animals on display are snakes and a pet hawk. In case of illness or injury the camp possesses a three year-old health lodge. Other buildings on the grounds house barracks for staff members. At present,a new barracks is un der construction by the volun tary efforts of adult scout lead ers. In winter, the building was In the camp at the same time as the regular campers, there are other campers from a var liety of units studying in a Juni or Leadership Training Pro gram. They have a separate building that is used as a meet ing area and a classroom. These Scouts make their camp sites in more primitive areas han the regular Scouts do. The highlight of this program to many Junior Leadership Train ‘ees is when the Scouts subsist on iplants. A particular favorite is strawberry tea. An interesting sidelight about the camp concerns the road leading out of the camp. It is the f last remaining part of an old ‘stage coach trail from Indian apolis to Fort Wayne. Just re cently, a log toll house on the ‘trail was torn down. Above the staff members is Cedric Dunkerly, executive di rector of the Kikihawenund Council. Staff members include: R. P. DeNoon, Tipton, camp di rector; R. John Craig, West Lafayette, program director; Larry Wente, Anderson, water front director; Barry Callan, An derson, chaplain and dining hall director; Robert Woodruff, camp ranger and rifle range instructor. Others on the waterfront staff are: Joe Chalfort, New Castle: Ric Dunkerly, Anderson; Chuck Kinsey, Anderson; James Bray Noblesville; and Mark Mumow Anderson. The head cook is Mrs. Rober Woodruff, and she is assisted by Mrs. Bary Callan. Others on the kitchen staff include: Steven Fox, Anderson; Dick Humpkins ,Anderson; Cordy Hinton, Alex andria; and David Hoppis, Pen dleton. Junior Leadership Training director is Allan Weisheit, New Castle, and he is assisted by Steve Ingram, Knightstown. The outfitter is Paul Thurston, Sum mitville. Sportsman is Don Jones, Anderson, and he is as ‘sisted’ by Mike Buis, Alexandria. Public relagions are handled by Jim Czarnicki, Anderson, and David Mills, Noblesville. Mark [Kemper and Ric Wall, both of Anderson, are trainees. Art Wedmore, Noblesville, is the clerk. Steve Chalfort, New Castle, is the trading pest manager. Help ing him are: Bruce Neckar. Noblesville: John Mason, Nob Noblesville; Steve Cox, Ander derson; Joe Wodork, Carmel, is the senior roving ranger. On the ranger staff are: J. Griffin oblesville: Steve Cox, Ander son; and Bart Precup, Ander son. . Naturalist is Jeff Gill, Ander son. He is a biology major at Ball State Teachers College. Nature Trainer is Danny Speek man, Anderson. Paul Justad, iCarmel, is a nature staffer, Jahn Craig before the entrance to a model campsite set up on the camp grounds. The Kikthovenund Council is com prised of 71,000 youths in Madison, Hamilton, Tipton, and Henry Counties. (Herald Photo) SCOUT MOUNTS WALL ON CAMP OBSTACLE COURSE An Anderson Scout meets an obstacle on the Camp Kiktha wenund obstacle course. Each Scout is timed and week and summer records are kept. (Herald Photo) KIKTHAWENUND MODEL CAMPSITE — Cedric Dunkerly (with clipboard), executive director of the Kikthawenund Council, confers with Camp Kikthawenund program director SCOUTS ON THE WAY UP — Campers make their way up a steep hillside while hiking on the local camp grounds. The flag in the background designates a particular group of campers while also displaying their insignia. (Herald Photo) BOY SCOUTS PLUS BIG APPETITES EQUAL LUNCHTIME— Kikthawenund, it is somewhat amazing how many extra Campers intermittently eat and talk in lunch room of Camp portions as small Scouts can handle. (Herald Photo) A RIFLE RANGE INSTRUCTION PART OF CAMP PROGRAM Scout campers are given instruction in the use of .22-calibre single-shot rifles by Camp Ranger Robert Woodruff. Strict safety rules are followed on the range. Scouts are also given instruction in archery on another range. (Herald Photo) Is SCOUT-BUILT SIGNAL TOWER — Jim Czarniecki, Anderson Scout and camp staff member, signals to another tower located in another part of the camp. The tower was built by Scouts utilizing only tree branches and twine. (Herald Photo) SCOUT HIKERS UTILIZE LOG BRIDGE — A group of area Scouts keep their eyes on their feet as they cross over about three feet of water on a log bridge. The camp has seven trails totaling 22.2 miles in length. (Herald Photo) RELIGION INTEGRAL PART OF CAMP PROGRAM — Nondenominational services are con ducted at this modernistic altar setting every evening by Anderson College theological stu dent Barry Callan (center). The chapel is named for Mrs. Goldie Ferris, who donated it, symbolizes praying hangs in a Swiss style of architecture, (Herald Photo)
Newspaper Details
Anderson Herald
Anderson, Indiana, US
Wed, Aug 05, 1964
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 29 Jul 2026
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