The Council Room

[Mike Freeland]

I've never been clear on which the preferred spelling of the word was at camp, but I've settled on 'counselor', because I always thought they were more than just members of a council. Dave, what was the official, preferred usage? You remember?

I said in another thread that the counselors were elite, but I didnt mean rich or snobby (not in general anyway). They were a really cose-knit group of guys who really took their responsibilities seriously. When you think about it, suddenly having some strange little kid dropped off with you one day, and being instantly responsible for him, from correcting his table manners and reading to him at night, to his regularity --for two months -- is one really heady assignment. Im not sure I'd take it on these days. No, I know I wouldn't. I (most of us actually) personally never lost sight of the fact that these were someone else's kids, and pretty fragile. In truth, there were some kids along the way I tried to forget that with, damn near succeeded, but decided you gotta take the bad with the good.

Kids at all the age levels we had to deal with had their own unique load of baggage, some more than others, and some a HELL of a lot more than others. I started in Cabintown and graduated to the Junior Camp when Garth and I took over the trip program (Juniors are just fine with an absentee counselor. Not so Midgets.).

The little'uns (my thanks to William Golding) in Cabintown needed help tying their shoes and pulling up their Brines and more often than not, in the avoidance of drowning at night. When I see the pics of me with my cabin in '65, I realize how tiny these kids were. I'm not sure how I even talked to them! They were fun, enthusiastic, giggly, into underwear jokes and entirely incapable of intellectual conversation. But boy did they scare easily!

The Juniors seemed to be just learning how to be seriously competitive. That's what struck me right away. They seemed to be constantly poking at each other (Hey, knock it OFF! Miiiike!) They went about their games and matches with fierce, red-faced, grown-up determination, then cried when they didn't win. Learning how to be consoling while simultaneously telling the kid he needs to grow up a little is one of those things you learn by being forced into the situation. It's a wonderful skill that I failed at several times.

At that age (11-12 or so), kids are most vulerable to the horrors of 3-fingered Willy and side-hill gougers, so of course, we felt the mature obligation to instruct them in such adult matters, then rattle the leaves outside the tent after dark. On the other late night hand, Garth and I would sometimes buy a couple of pizzas and bring them back to the kids at 11:00 or so. Wake me out of a deep sleep and show me a pizza, and you're likely to be wearing the pizza and sporting cheese burns. Not so these guys. Coke too. That could be dangerous.

Those pizza nights were some of my best times as a counselor, though it wasn't the best thing to teach the kids: We're reeeeeealy breaking the rules here guys, and if you just stay quiet about it, we might do it again. Oh well, a little collusion helped the esprit de corps in our respective tents. So we bought the kids' cooperation. So what? It worked. Some of these guys are still good friends to me. That makes the eight bucks for the pizza worth it.

Seniors are teenagers. 'Nuff said. I'm pretty sure though that Wyanoke served a great purpose in turning off, or at least mitigating, that natural teenager-ness in those who continued to return summer after summer. I'm talking about the guys who, at 15, when EVERYthing embarrasses them, had to tell the gang down at the drug store that they're "going to camp" for the summer instead of hanging out at the pool. Once you get these kids in the tent for the summer, they're a gas to be with, in part because they "get it". The plays on words the Juniors responded to with "huh?" or "what happened?", are suddenly funny.

They're still kids but more adult, with the added bonus of being more skeptical and cynical and yet miraculously less malleable than their compatriots in the Junior section. Except of course for the delightful and useful fact that they STILL worried about 3-fingered Willy and that insane asylum over to Tuftonboro. It didn't take THAT much more work to keep them convinced. But they, unlike the Juniors, were ready to throw something when the leaves rustled after dark.

Of course there were always exceptions to the Good Kid teenager rule, but for the most part they never got to be JAs, and there started the in-house filtering system for the counselors. It was the out-house (?) filtering system I'm most proud of.

Wyanoke had a few real gems in the councilor field -- RCES was one, who might not have been as bad as we treated him. Another, whose name escapes me, was so totally out of touch with camp that he doesn't even show up on the rosters. He actually asked Pat if he wanted to "shoot some hoops" as he (Pat) drove into the central area , reporting for work (by noon anyway) one late June morning. Pat, by the way, doesn't "shoot hoops" unless he's guaranteed a touchdown. Even then it's an argument. That guy was on his way home before the kids arrived, I think. Another, who once asked a waitress at the General Wolfe, "Hey babe, you got a handle?", and who set up a candy store in his Senior tent with penny candy he got at Blacks (THAT pissed Irving and the Wyanoke Store staff right off -- their sales, not to mention profits from Candy Line plummeted that summer), was drummed out pretty soon too.

The point here is, is (note the 2 "is"s? Good form. Everybody says that, why not use it in print?) that the staff didn't take kindly to strangers who just wanted to goof off, or saw Wyanoke as a sort of "Meatballs" summer vacation, and sure as hell didn't see the serious side of their jobs. The staff got rid of these and other guys. That's the out-house filter. I really think that's the process that keeps the summer camp counselors, the unknown teenagers your parents entrusted you to, so good overall. Ask Garth -- 21 years directing Agawam.

Looking back on those years, I've nearly forgotten the times I was in some sort of instructional capacity at camp. What sticks with me is the cameraderie I had with my tent groups -- even the kids I didn't like much (and I hope I never showed that). My favorite times were those we spent as a group -- cookouts, Sunday afternoons, overnights. But most of all, I looked forward to Taps because that happened every day, and for two other reasons. The first was that I loved the time I got to spend with the kids just winding down, individually first, then as a group. (It was because of our nightly sessions that Taps after the Farewell banquet was mostly silent). We often went on later than was "recommended" (the guys in J-7 and J-9 occasionally came over to ask politely and discretely that I shut the hell up because their kids wouldn't settle down with all that incomprehensible muttering and giggling going on over in J-8. Sometimes we complied. Sometimes I wanted to say "if you enjoyed your guys as much as I do mine, you'd be bothering me", but never did. We drove the ODs nuts too. -- they'd come storming up the steps according to the OD DISCIPLINARY MANUAL (a favorite of JAs), ready to kick some ass, find me in the middle of it, then walk away wondering what the hell the protocol is for THAT situation.)

The other reason was that the Wolfeboro Inn and Rick Riley's Magic Martini Makin's beckoned. That gave me (us) a little break, and by god we needed it, though maybe not that many ounces of it at a time. We often answered that call. Bob Fox frequently presided, officiated, opined, presented the weather forecast, squared up the archery assignments for the next day, ordered, didn't pay. God what good times those were.

I don't think I could do it now.
_________________
'56-C-9 C. Mosher '57-C-9 Bill Feaster
'58-J-14 H. Peavy '59-J-11 G. Wood, C. Duncan
'60-S-8 R. Leavitt, D. Hemphill '61-S-1 E. Slocum
'62-JA-1 H. Dunbar '63-C-2 (JC)
'64-C-5, (JC) Councilor
'65-C-9 '66 - '72-J-8
'73-JA1 '75-J-6

[David Bentley]

Reading this post through once only served to make me realize that I needed to re-read it several times, but with time between to absorb the content.

I do believe that the "councilor" spelling and definition prevailed, but, and you are correct, you cannot be not a "counselor" and still be effective as a councilor. (I'll see your 2 ises, is that a word)

More after I reflect for a bit.

Great post.
_________________
C-1 49 J-7 52 S-3 55 J-10 58
C-7 50 J-7 53 S-2 56 J-8 59
C-8 51 J-4 54 S-7 57 (JA) J-8 60 - 64
1965 - 1968 Military service
Pine Cone 68 - 75 (with wife,Sherry,
and daughter Tracey)
Wolfeboro - full-time since 1997

[Jim Culleton]

Superb write up Mike!

I, like Dave, will have to reread it a couple of times to get a full grasp of your images and emotions that we all shared to one degree or another as JC's and Counselors! Isn't it funny now how we can reflect upon those responsibilities we had as councilors and counselors for the little ones in Cabintown, not thinking too much about it back then when we were in the thick of things! And yes, that was a BIG responsibility that those parents entrusted in us with, in some cases 6 or 7 year olds . . . . just babies!

And yes there were the great, good and not so great kids that we treated as individuals and as part of the group to make sure that they had a good summer experience. In looking over the rosters one can see the number of "repeat kids" that came back for more than one season. That was a good sign!

I remember one set of parents letting me know that their son was gonna be a "pain in the ass" before Camp got underway and said deal with him in the best way that you can. I guess they basically delegated responsibility to me for those 8 weeks. He turned out to be a "pain" but not that bad. He enjoyed Camp but did threaten to tell his mom & dad on me for reprimanding him on occasion

Then there were the parents that sent a nice thank you letter or gift of appreciation once the kids arrived back home at season's end. Of course we as counselors did write an interim "report card" of sorts to each of our camper's parents mid-season. I believe that the parents really appreciated it.

Think about it! Whether we were Cabintown, Jr or Sr counselors we virtually ate, slept, camped, swam and lived thru all of the shenannigans that went on at Wyanoke with these kids thru approx. 56-60 Reveille's and Taps, 112 Swim Calls (2/day), 168 Chow Calls, etc! And with only 2 days off per season! Would I do it today? Probably not. But I enjoyed every minute of the experiences back then.

The culmination today would be to reunite with some of these "kids". Most of the Cabintowners from '63 and '64 have got to be in their late 40's early 50's. I hope some of them find this site!

I wonder how many would remember the Mervin Pifnick spoof that lasted most all summer, and wonder whether Mervin is still locked in his trunk?? And all the great Cabintown Fairs that were hosted by the Midgets! They always took pride in hosting the rest of the Camp during their day of glory each season! Sort of like waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve, many Midgets would get up early just awaiting the onslought of the Jrs & Srs to invade Cabintown!
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[Harry Sloan]

From a camper's point of view you guys did a great job! All of you made it fun to be at camp, trips and just all around camp life would not have been the same without you. I returned to Wyanoke for 3 summers so that has to say something. Thanks for the great memories.
_________________
68 S-6 ( Jon Crane ) 69 S-6 ( Kent Newby ) 70 JA-2 ( Dan Mannis )

[DavidAyars]

[Mike Freeland]

Yeah, the pizza place was over by the laundromat (remember the Bernadette councilors doing their campers' laundry on Monday nights? What a job requirement!). I'm damned if I remember the name of that pizza/burger place. It was the first place I ever went into that allowed you to fill your own coke or pour your own coffee. I thought that was very trusting and cool.

I think you're right about the college-aged councilors. I've often wondered about the Walt Scheirers, Norm Rissers, Dick Ironses, even Bob Foxes etc., not to mention the Brad Bentleys and Irving Vaughans and how they felt about us college-age guys with our boundless energy and lack of maturity. I have an article Garth sent me that you (Dave) read, by a guy who returned to Camp Kabeyun after 10 or so years. Christ, he was in his thirties and he had trouble fitting in with those younger guys. I'll post that here if I can find it. I thought it was fascinating.

As to the late-night ice cream: That sounds damn familiar. Could it have been Garth and me? I'm at the point where I can conjure up memories which maybe aren't memories at all but oft-told tales transforming themselves. Al Ingraham seems to come to mind when I think of that. Anyone? Anyone?

I seem to recall a frappe that spilled on the floor of someone's car, and because of its thickness, was easily scraped back into the waxed-paper cup. I don't know who the recipient was, but as I recall, there was a lot of lint-spitting and hair extraction between sips.

Speaking of frappes, Tom Craig ('67) came from Elkins, West Virgina where "frap" is synonymous with "fart". On his first night with a gang from Wyanoke at Bailey's, someone ordered a chocolate frappe, and Tom reputedly asked "How's she gonna make that?.
_________________
'56-C-9 C. Mosher '57-C-9 Bill Feaster
'58-J-14 H. Peavy '59-J-11 G. Wood, C. Duncan
'60-S-8 R. Leavitt, D. Hemphill '61-S-1 E. Slocum
'62-JA-1 H. Dunbar '63-C-2 (JC)
'64-C-5, (JC) Councilor
'65-C-9 '66 - '72-J-8
'73-JA1 '75-J-6

[Alec Stansell]

Greetings to all from chilly Cape Cod! Mike that was a great post. You councilors were really super. Thanks for that interesting read. Here's to an early spring! Alec
_________________
72: C-4 (Bob Chase)
73: J-4 (Bob Vaughan)
74: J-4 (Bob Vaughan)
75: S-2 (Jim Yetter)
BLUE