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REMEMBER WHEN.....
          A collection of stories & articles from our District & Council past. Anybody with stories to share please contact me.
 
 
 

The following, an article from the Bucks County Courier Times on November 15, 1975, was written by George L. Feller.  If you look at the larger picture you will see current Unit Commissioner & Bristol Twp. School Director W. Earl Bruck in a checkered flannel shirt.  In the smaller picture your's truly is the fella on the right with his arm on his knee.

                    SCOUTS EXPERIENCE CAMPING OUT

                          
    It rained and it rained and it rained some more.  The weatherman said all week the weekend would be bright, sunny and dry.  Despite the bad weather, Falls Township Boy Scout Troop 53 invited the Webelos of Cub Scout Pack 100 and their fathers to accompany them to Tinicum County Park for a weekend of camping and the teaching of Scout skills to the younger boys.
    Webelos are the elite corps of the Cub Scouts.  Cub Scouts are in the eight to ten year old range, with the Webelos all being 10.  When a Cub Scout reaches 11, he is then eligible to join a Boy Scout troop.  The camping trip is a way to introduce the Webelos to Boy Scouting.
    The caravan traveling to Tinicum got under way a little before 7 pm. Friday, already almost an hour behind schedule.  There was an advance scouting party of a pickup and a station wagon followed a few minutes later by two more pickups, two station wagons,a van and yet another station wagon.  It was the greatest collection of trucks and station wagons seen since the last trip to a used car lot.
                                                       TENT GOES UP
    After the hour long drive, camp was set up in rapid fashion,considering there must have been 20 tents and dining flies.  The adult leader's tent, a 10x16 monster belonging to George Bruck, Assistant Scoutmaster,was erected.  It is dubbed the "Taj Mahal" by the Scouts and will sleep six without undue intimacy. A seventh can be crowded in.  That night only three were in it and it was spacious.
    Before retiring for the night, the Scoutmaster ( Bill Delano) and the Committee Chairman , John Yurgel who teaches Biology at Delhaas High School, called the boys into ragged formation and read off the agenda for the following day, beginning with reveille at 7:30.  "What's reveille?" piped up a ten year old.  With a note of exasperation in his voice, the Scoutmaster explained reveille is when you get up.  "Oh" came the squeaky reply.
    Delano and Yurgel continued with the list  of Saturday's classes taught by the older boys in such Scouting skills as fire building, campsite construction, First Aid, and ending with that Scouting tradition to end all Scouting traditions__ the campfire...Then came taps.  The Scoutmaster quickly added that taps is when you go to bed.  "Oh" chorused the Webelos. Unfortunately, Troop 53's bugeler didn't make the trip so the ten year olds never actually heard taps and reveille played.
    The boys were pretty wound up about what lay ahead the next day and little sleep was taken that night  The Scoutmaster predicted that because of the workout planned for Saturday, the boys would be ready to hit their sleeping bagsat 10 pm.
    Lying awake in your sleeping bag that night, after having consumed far too many cups of what truckers call 100-mile coffee, youcan identify the ages of the boys by the octave levels of their voices.  They ranged from the pre-pubescent alto of a Webelo to the husky baritone of 15 year old Tim Delano, the Scoutmaster's son, Pennsbury High Junior and Troop 53's Senior Patrol Leader who looks and sounds several years older than his age would indicate.
    The older Scouts, having been on countless camping trips before and having slept little during the night, snoozed right through the 7:30 non-playing of reveille.

                                            
    I was assigned to eat with the Senior Patrol, which is made up of the older Scouts, and the meals were the last served.  They set a great example for the Webelos , most of whom got up a half hour before reveille both mornings.
    The worst meal was Saturday night's, consisting of dehydrated beef stroganoff and vegetables in a cream sauce.  It seems both dishes had aged too long in their respective bags.  They both had the same taste, odor, and texture;wet cardboard.  Fortunately there were also hamburgers and a salad.
    It rained off and on all night Friday and Saturday morning but it failed to put a damper on the day's activities.  The worst casualty of the trip occurred when Cubmaster Earl Stalker wrenched a knee in the ongoing pickup football game early Saturday afternoon and was forced to hobble about camp the rest of the weekend.  The cubmaster will be moving to Churchville and is about to turn the reins over to Assistant Cubmaster Jay McHugh.  No doubt the football injury helped convince him of the wisdom of that decision.
    Father and son teams were all over Tinicum Park on this trip.  In addition to the aforementioned Bill and Tim Delano the list included:  Assistant Scoutmaster George Bruck Sr., also a former Webelos leader.  He was accompanied byEarl, 12, and George Jr., 13, both members of Troop 53.Troop Committee Chairman John Yurgel, Webelo Peter, 10, and Scout Jay, 13.  Cubmaster Earl"call me gimpy"Stalker and his son Earl Jr., 9, a Cub Scout.  Assistant Cubmaster Jay McHugh and his sons John, 8, a Cub Scout, and Mark, 6, the camp mascot who was nicknamed "Baby Hughie" .  All in all there were eight Webelos fathers 13 Webelos and four other sons( three of them Cub Scouts) in addittion to the Boy Scouts of Troop 53.
    The most touching father and son team of the trip never actually camped overnight.  Chuck Jordan, a Boy Scout Assistant District Commissioner, didn't camp with his son Chris, 13, because both Chris and his mother were in St.Mary Hospital.  Chris had abdominal pains and Mrs. Jordan was in for tests.  Even that sobering thought didn't stop the elder Jordan from trying to enjoy the weekend.  Friday night he took a load of boys a camping gear to Tinicum and helped set up camp.  He promptly drove back to his Levittown home to be by the phone in case of emergency.  He returned to camp Saturday morning to help with the day's activities.  A little past noon he drove down to St. Marys to visit his wife and son.  Before the campfire Saturday night he returned once agoen bringing Chris with him, just released from the hospital.
    Saturday night Oct.25 in Falls Township, 12 youths were arrested for underage drinking.  Saturday night Oct.25in Tinicum Park, over 30 Falls Township youths sat around a campfire listening to Jordan, in full costume and headress, tell an Indian story.
 


     I believe this article was from April of 1972:

Fiesta Is Theme
   "Fiesta" was the theme at a recent meetingof Cub Pack 107 sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln PTO at the school on Plunbtree Drive, Plunbridge, Levittown.
   The highlight of the evening was the breaking of the pinata. Each Cub was blindfolded and had a chance to break it with a bat.
   Pat Wersler was introduced by John Goetter, Cubmaster, as the new activities chairman."Project Soar" will take place tomorrow. There will be a flea market Saturday, May 5, a Webelos Weekend Saturday & Sunday, May 19 & 20, and a trip to the Shrine Circus Friday, June 8.
   Awards for the evening were as follows: Bobcat, Louis Batchelder and Robert Huber; Wolf Badge. Todd Lipton, one gold and threesilver under the Wolf.
   Silver arrows under the Wolf,Mike Kern, Andy Blakely, Bill Everett, and Kurt Boehringer with three.
   Bear Badge, Ronnie VanHorn, one gold and two silver under the Bear; Robert Huetworth, Bear, one gold and two silver
   Silver arrows under the Bear, Jeff Goetter, Ken Kern, Earl Collins, Mike Semler(two),and Bill Nissley.
   Webelos Awards were presented by Webelos leader Jim Master, including Frank Bennett,Aquanaut,Artist, Citizen, Craftsman, Engineer, and Sportsman; Doug Konvalinka, Citizen, Engineer, and Sportsman; Ricky Stringer, Aquanaut, Artist, Citizen, Engineer, Outdoorsman, and "Arrow of Light".
   Andy Semler, Citizen, Engineer, and Geologist; Ricky Lancaster, Engineer, and Jim McLaughlin, Artist, Citizen, and Engineer.
   Steve Englisch recieved his Engineer badge and his "Arrow of Light" for his graduation into Troop 123.
   Arrow of Light pins were presented to Lynn Stringer for her help to the Pack, and to Ellie Englisch outgoing activities chairman.