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By CAROL ROESLER Herald Youth Correspondent The wonder of a boy as he packs for camp is fascinating. He may fancy miles and miles of rich green fields or woods, anticipate eager boys his own age sharing his excitement, or treasurer smiling faces of the staff who dedicate themselves to the development of these young men. Camp, for most boys, is a period of time away from home where they become independent of chores and have more time to experience the wild and wonderful outdoors. Camp Kikthawenund, Rt. 1, Frankton, is such a locality. On June 8 the staff came to prepare for the arrival of the first group of boy scouts. The scheduled date for these scouts was June 15 and they are ac cepted up until the beginning of August. The boys check in on Sunday and depart the following Saturday. All in all, approxi mately 140 boys enjoy the ben efits of this fine camp. The dining hall, where most of the meals are eaten, is in use twelve hours a day. Both scout troops and staff enjoy the nour ishing food provided for them by head cooks Mrs. Al Barker and Mr. Robert Neileigh .After dinner, individual worship en titled “Scouts Own” is perform ed. This way, each scout can pray to his God separately. The impressive chapel is lo cated where the boys can be seated up on a hill looking down into a hand-made dome. Serving as chaplain is Dave Van Norm an. One of the highlights of the camp is the obstacle course, which is to be run at least twice to keep the boys both phy sically fit and well fatigued. Dale Boone and Dave Carlisle preside over the swimming pool area. Some activities carried on lessons in canoeing, Swimming and life saving, and an interest ing pastime which is catching gold fish in relays. To tackle a greased water melon seems a big undertaking. But the scouts try as “little” harder when they know that the group that secures it, wins the melon as their prize. Friday night at 7:30 in the pool, the Water Carnival begins. All scout groups participate in the different type relays as an end to their week’s stay at Kik ihawenund. Tug of war is also a popular sport offered for camp enjoy ment. Swim cards, badges, and various other awards are re warded at Awards Campfire or the grand finale on Friday eve ning. A warehouse is located at the entrance to the main camp where all sorts of utensils can be found. The trading post has always been a favorite and still is with scouts of today. Mike Williams and Jeff Huffman can vouch for that. Anything from badges, magazines and knick knacks, to scout crafts, candy, and post cards can be purchas ed there. The camp operates off the profit obtained from this post. A cabin set aside for nature is in the center of the campsite also. It is here where John Morse guards snakes, toads, possums, and other wild life. Every week a nature contest is held where the scouts are re quired to catch reaccons, foxes snakes or others. An archery range is one of the main attractions, along with the rifle range, run by head sportsman, Wayne Sempsrott. Commerce is directed by Phil Phifer, while Gordon Pickett is noted as a distinguished outfit ter. There are two well - known trails at the camp. One is the Red trail, eminent for its long paths into depth of nature. Another is the Blue trail which is 5 miles and functions mostly for camping and hiking outings. Akela Day serves one pur pose at the camp, and that is to urge cub scouts to become boy scouts. Activities provided for their entertainment are trail the obstacle course, roasting weiners and competing in a na ture contest. Camp teaches young men how to work as a unit or patrol. In Little Turtle campsite the troop together designed a sundial. Their next project will be build ing a gate with a spindle. Mr. Howard Wile is the di irector of Camp Kikthawenund. He, along with his talented pro gram coordinator Ban Smith, schedule events and activities for hundreds of young men. Mrs. Wile, who dedicates her time and effort to meet visiting den mothers, assists her hus band by serving coffee and dis playing crafts. The abundance of walnut trees throughout the camp enables the staff to make future plans of selling walnuts. This is to trans form the low area into a scenic manmade lake. Legends play an important role in the history of the camp. One is about Chief Tomalpus ‘who travelled with a mission ary from a foreign county over the camp. One day the Chief set out to search for food but never returned, so the concerned com panion went out to find him. He discovered that the chief was dead from a heart attack, and then buried him in a surround ing area. all so happened Chief Tonalpus had a star tatoo on his chest, as a result the trees roots lifted the chest tatoo into the tree itself. So not if you go see the burial site you will see that a twig may be whittled, and a perfect five point star re mains inside. In 19%5 Camp Kikthawenund was rated as one of the top ten camps in the country. Yes, whoever said ...“‘man power begins with boy power” did know what he was saying for men like John Glenn and President John F. Kennedy were once boy scouts, too. Men such as these made our coun try what it is today, but men like the boy scouts mold step ping stones for our future.
Newspaper Details
Anderson Herald
Anderson, Indiana, US
Wed, Jun 24, 1970
Page 37
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 29 Jul 2026
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