The Council Room

[Chris Gill]

I went to my Father in laws house last weekend and he served my kids cereal in those little individual serving boxes. The last time I saw those was at Wyanoke. True to form the flavors were Frosted Flakes, Chocolate Flavored Coco Puffs, Froot loops Etc. The boxes didn't have those perforations down the middle so you could use them as a bowl. Any more recolections of food back at camp.
_________________
1965-1975
C7,C8,J8,S4,S3

[Mike Freeland]

This topic came up in an email exchange between Chris and me, which got me thinking about breakfast at Wyanoke in general. "Hot or cold cereal" always headed the menu board in the Senior dining hall next to the sliding tent-group waiter-order thing. My favorite of the hot cereals was Ralston. That stuff looked exactly like the sand over on Melansen's beach, and it was great with brown sugar. Those little Kelloggs boxes made great projectiles, and the fact that they could be made into their own bowls was generally not imparted to the kids because they always wanted to do that, and it was a hell of a mess. Most of the milk went outside the waxed paper liner, and if it didn't, there was a hole in the liner to provide the leakage otherwise.

I can safely say I never had a hot pancake at Wyanoke. Same goes for toast. The syrup was hot. Only rarely in my 20 years there did the kitchen come up with fried eggs for breakfast. I always enjoyed watching the kitchen crew slapping melted butter on the toast with a 4-inch paint brush I wondered if they'd borrowed from Freddie. Now that I think of it, the only breakfasts I remember were the pancakes, bacon and toast and scrambled eggs (which were absolutely homogeneous in color and texture, and always seemed to have some watery stuff to lie in in the serving bowl. Made me wonder how they made them). There must have been something else for breakfast, right? Oh yeah, french toast.

I never liked the syrup. It seemed too watery to me. These days I don't use anything other than Mrs. Butterworth's. That stuff will redeem just about anything.

The best breakfasts were on the Saco trips. In my camper days, Henny Knowlton would throw a couple pounds of bacon in a huge frying pan (along with a handful of sand, it seemed) and burn the hell out of it, stirring constantly . When it was done, he'd deep-fry a few dozen eggs in the grease. Good and good for you! Then there was the evaporated milk on the oatmeal, and brown sugar. I didn't want it to end
_________________
'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

[Jim Culleton]

Anyone remember the notorious New England "Boiled" dinner which was comprised of cabbage, but not sure what the meat was . . . maybe ham? I don't think it was served on a weekly basis, nor on a particular night, just an occasional evening meal which wasn't too bad if you liked that sort of stuff. We had to have the tent flaps open those nights along with the nights we had baked beans & brown bread!

One of my fondest memories was when I was asked to wait on the Bentley table (on the dining hall porch) as an Aide (2nd year Senior). As I remember the "tour of duty" was supposed to be for just a week, and I believe it was for all 3 meals for those 7 days. I don't know whether I was being punished or complimented since my "tour of duty" lasted 2-3 weeks straight during that summer! Mrs. Bentley Sr. always gave me her hot fudge brownie and vanilla ice cream dessert during our Sunday main meal! That made up for all of the work!
_________________
'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

[Mike Freeland]

Oh yes I remember New England Boiled Dinner. What an amazing catharsis that stuff was. Those onions were killers too. I think it was pot roast as opposed to ham. Anyone else remember?

Then there was the Welsh Rarebit - the thin cheese(?) stuff poured over delicious Saltine brand snack crackers. Mmmm good, and hearty too.

Dont get me wrong, I though Phil Hodgson was a genious. I just didn't much care for the Welsh Rabbit.
_________________
'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]

The NE Boiled Dinner meat was brisket, an economical cut of beef. I'll write more about the Camp food soon - believe it or not, there was a rhyme to it all, and I guess a reason. Before I sign off: PRUNES !
_________________
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]

I always loved those few times when we were invited to the Thursday nite chicken barbeque in lieu of our normal tent or cabin cook out! The chicken was great, cooked over those hot coals inside the cinder block frame covered with the big steel grill! I don't remember what the "sides" were . . . . coleslaw and bug juice maybe? Fond memories.
_________________
'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

[DavidAyars]

I remember the New England Boiled Dinner (yes, brisket) as well-- lean, it wasn't-- and also waiting on the Bentleys table as an aide.

Whenever I was a waiter at camp, especially at the Bentleys table, I always lived in mortal fear of dropping the tray, which I don't think I ever did. But I thought dropping a tray in the dining room was one of the most embarrassing things a camper could do. There was actually a formal camp protocol about dropped trays, imparted during precamp staff orientation along with the talks about drinking, smoking, dating the nurses, or what to do if a boy showed interest in... those... matters. (Ask Pat to show you his Bring him to me... imitation.) As instructed in precamp, in the event of a dropped tray, three men from the closest tables got up and assisted in the cleanup without admonishment to the klutzy waiter while all other staff suppressed by any means necessary camper cheering of the accident.

As institutional food went, the food at Wyanoke wasn't bad. It was certainly better than what we got at home in public school cafeterias. At least, I thought it wasn't bad until the first time I ate at Camp Kehonka (my sister went there). Kehonka routinely had food that could have passed for Sunday brunch at the WI.

If you have a favorite or least favorite camp dish, post it in this thread. If enough nominations are submitted, I'll start a couple of poll threads where we can vote. My own favorite: blondie (butterscotch brownie) with ice cream, and least favorite: creamed tuna.
_________________
Camper: J-8 1965 (Kevin Ryan), J-8 1966 (Mike Freeland), S-6 1967 (Russ Hatch), S-3 1968 (Jeremy Cripps), and JA-2 1969 (Dan Mannis).
JC: J-2 1970 (Bill Bettison) and J-3 1971 (Gene Comella). Councilor 1972, J-5 1973, and JA-1 1974 & 1975

[Mike Freeland]

Things took a notable downward spiral after the summer of '67 when Phil Hodgson didn't return to camp. I believe he died a year or so after that summer, but he and his crew were amazing. And this is from a camper (me) and councilor (me). Don't get me wrong -- He cooked some stuff I didn't like (NE boiled farts and Welsh Rarebit, stewed tomatoes (with bread in 'em?) to name a few. But despite the occasional horrific peripheral entree, the meals were stellar because Ol' Phil made everything from the ground up, except for vegetables. Add Leah Morin to the mix as a pastry cook and you had some of the best food in the industry from soup to nuts. The definition of "institutional" food includes the food-for-large-crowds, and the very-low-give-a-shit quotients criteria . To my recollection, their food didn't really qualify as "institutional" except in the first criterion. They really cared about what they were doing.

I forgot about the creamed tuna. That had the Saltine brand snack crackers under it as well, didn't it, DA?

Howzabout Mrs. Morin's fantastic from-scratch cakes and cobblers, and of course those amazing sticky-bottomed dinner rolls they served with Monday Night Turkey Soup?

For a while, the councilors would get those rolls back to the table, scrape 'em onto a plate, and then immediatey send some kid back to the slide for more, scrape 'em off again send another kid (had to be a different kid) back for more. The competition was vicious. Somebody in authority saw what was happening and put a stop to it right now. Back at the table, the competition was in who got the center rolls.

The descent into food service corporation cheffing was noticable the first year they came on board. EVERYTHING came out of a can or a package, except the turkeys. I think even the brownies were frm mix. I don't think Mrs. Morin did anything from mixes (did she DMB?) and hers rivaled the best brownies I ever had outside of camp. I forgot about the blondies -- that supplanted my erstwhile favorite. You talk about competition for extras!

We actually had green salads sometimes didn't we (We the staff I mean. No self-respecting boy would ever come near the stuff).

OK, Most favorite: Blondies and ice cream. Least favorite: Stewed tomatoes (with bread in 'em), close second to Wax Beans.

I like stewed tomatoes (and Kim Chee) 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

[Jim Culleton]

What a great topic!

My favorite was the Farewell Banquet meal, which was not unlike our Sunday main meal . . . . . turkey (real, not fake), mashed potatoes and then maybe either green peas or string beans. Everything tasted better since we had white paper table cloths on each of the tables resembling a fine dining experience, and reserved seating, in the Boyden Chapel! I think we had white paper table cloths, but not sure if we had candles? Maybe that part was in a dream I had?

I loved the Monday evening turkey soup dinner, believe it or not! I'm sure Phil used the leftover turkey from Sunday. Every time I buy a can of Progresso Turkey Soup I think of Wyanoke's soup and how much better it was than anything I can buy in a can, today.

Also the Apple Crisp and Peach Cobbler were favorites of mine. Don't remember whether vanilla ice cream came with them each time or not?

I do remember Phil, on occasion, cooking up a bass or the like that was caught by a camper and was big enough to keep and eat.

Also, wasn't it great if your tent/cabin was 1st or 2nd at the slide to pick up the food? Not as much of a rush to eat as meals didn't last too long as I remember . . . . . maybe 45 mins - hour?

Wyanoke has been on my mind the past couple of weeks, as it usually is during the later part of August . . . . . always remember the mixed feelings leaving the fun times and friends that we made each summer. I would never trade the Wyanoke experience for anything . . . . . . I'm just glad that I had the opportunity to attend for 9 years!
_________________
'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]

The best meal for me was on one of the trips to Huntingtons Ravine with either Garth or Mike and that was pepperoni and rice I thought that was the best.
_________________
68 S-6 ( Jon Crane ) 69 S-6 ( Kent Newby ) 70 JA-2 ( Dan Mannis )

[Jeff G]

Hmmm, I was surprised at how tasty the peach pie was. The crust was wicked good. Very light if my memory is correct. Mike, you had some sort of system for awarding any unwanted dessert, as I recall. Shooting fingers or something like that I believe it was called. Can't recall exactly how it was done.

What the heck was the official policy on dessert servings per table when campers were out-of-camp on trips etc.

I seem to recall a few times that we actually had extra desserts that we sent over to other tables.

Jeff G.

[David Bentley]

Ah, yes, where to start ???? Food was one of the most popular activities at Camp, and I could write forever about it, but won't. Let me use the E-mail by Jeff G as a jump off point. Desserts were a constant subject of discussion at all levels, including Council meetings, and I don't honestly believe the subject was every really concluded. As I remember, I think my Dad used to say that desserts could be used as a reward, but never denied for punishment. If there were extra desserts at a table, for whatever reason, the extra could be distributed by whatever means the councilor found appropriate (or not) for the situation. However, and I must reiterate, a boy could not be denied a dessert as a punishment (which is not to say that this particular rule never was broken). Personally, and I hope none of my former charges are reading this, I always considered myself a leading candidate for the extra, but, and I think I am being fair, I usually declined in favor of a camper. I'm so nice.

Camp had always been its own food service up through the tenure of Phil Hodgson, then, a switch was made to contract service. This proved to be nearly disastrous in the beginning. While Camp was the Service, we kept very accurate records and menus during the years. Some meals appreared weekly, ie., Sunday turkey dinner, and others were on a two-week rotation, ie., spaghetti one week, "pizza" the next. All of this was designed to facilitate the kitchen and provide quality meals for the eaters without falling into a too-repetitive cycle, while at the same time remembering that little eaters (midgets) and not so little eaters (staff) may have different tastes, but the menu needed to embrace everyone. Mike has displayed a dismay at "breaded stewed tomatoes", however, I happened to like them, but not the New England boiled dinner. However, all in all, I don't know of anyone, really, who had a serious problem with the food.

Well, back to the contract services. The first contract service was provided with all the menus, frequency of types of meals, etc., etc., etc., and had all their questions answered and they proceeded to tell my mother that "they know best" about institutional feeding. The first breakfast they offered several types of juice, several cold cereals, several hot cereals, and a buffet of entrees. At the end of the meal they were overwhelmed with left-overs, most of which had no useful after-life and were unceremoniously trashed to the garbage. They went to my mother who remined them about the notes and menus they had been provided with giving ingredients and quantities found to be successful in the past. It took the Service a long time to "catch on", during which time they wanted to re-negotiate their contract. My father remined them that they were the ones who wanted a meal-count contract, not a cost-basis contract, and, therefore the answer was "no". Over times the food got better, and the Services seemed to finally understand what camp people like to eat.

After all, some of the less popular items (welsh rarebit, stewed tomatoes, etc) kept us from getting bored with Sunday dinner, roast beef, pizza, etc.

Okay, I've rattled on long enough. Time to move on. Oh, ya, one principle of food service I still use: When cooking out (BBQ), the 5-second Rule is still in effect, particularly when I try to teach my granddaughter to turn burgers.

Have a nice day.
_________________
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

[Mike Freeland]

Great post, Dave. Really interesting about the services. I remember the first year they came in. And I really missed Phil that year. He did die pretty shortly after he left camp, right?

It's amazing how one's tastes change over the years. Those stewed tomatoes gagged the hell outa me then, but I love stewed tomatoes now.

Jeff, you're dead-on about the peach pie. I don't know if Mrs. Morin used a canned filling or not, but I'm pretty sure that the crusts were made from scratch. That kitchen staff was fantastic.

Dave (B), did you remember Paul Byrd? Or did he leave before you were old enough to remember? My database now goes back to 1948, and he'd gone by then. Did he come back to camp for a visit some time in the 50s? Apparently he was a legend. And the Bean Hole?

Mrs. B. and I had a bit of a tiff one time when she wanted to take over the trip food (To that point, Garth and I had designed the menus and shopped at the IGA for things like dry spaghetti sauce and other light and non perishable stuff which was backpackable). That's how pepperoni and rice was born, Harry. Since camp already had its own food supplies, why not just outfit the trips with what was already on hand? Sure, why not?

Well, Garth and I had a trip over Mt. Cannon and the Kinsmans over into the Franconias, and Mrs. B provided us with a load of baggies filled with various powders etc. Getting to theb Kinsman Pond shelters was a screamin' beeotch and extremely hungrifying. Dinner was fine, and our first morning breakfast was to be pancakes, made with a pancake mix which required only water. The kids kept adding water to their powder, and the powder just disappeared into a clear liquid. No pancakes that morning. Just a cup of delicious hot chocolate and a glass of sugar water. Fortunately we were crossing the road that day so we passed out money and everybody gorged up on candy and pop, an even bigger sugar rush than breakfast.

She conceded after that and let us continue the IGA shopping. No hard feelings either.

Speaking of hard, howzabout getting the potatoes out of the cookout pans? A Curly Kate, a handful of Melansen's sand and a bar of generic floating soap were no match for that job.

I don't remember the system for distributing extra desserts I didn't want, Jeff, but I think it ws some kind of raffle thing (pick a number or something like 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

[David Bentley]

This is really just a generic reply to ALL posters. When I read some of the comments I laugh outloud at the humor, and, I really don't think humor is the main object. Quoting Mike F (or so), relevant to cookout potato pans, "A curly kate, a handfull of Melanson's sand, and a generic soap was no match for them".. This is really hilarious, all these years later, because we have all been there. Oh, Mike, how did you manage, in this current culture, to say something sooooo funny and not use any unacceptable words ? Damn, you're good.
_________________
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

[Guest]

A few of you might remember meeting my uncle Bill Donovan at the plaque dedication. This is not my brother Bill. Uncle Bill was at Wyanoke for I think 3 years in the 30's.

A year or two ago he sent me a copy of a letter he'd written to the author of a book called Lost Sounds. I'm going to quote this letter at length:

"...in the thirties at a summer camp in New Hampshire I had heard those songs, or at least songs like them.
The Laughing Song was sung by an entertainer named Joe Lorraine -- he was white -- who came on with a banjo and who would also play on the hand bells. He was an old-timer then and a favorite of the camp's owner, but his style was not appreciated by the owner's son. As soon as the latter took over, we saw no more of Joe Lorraine. The same fate befell the Piney Woods Singers, a group of black men from some school down south who toured the northern summer camps to raise money for their school.
But my favorite, and I think the favorite of all the boys and men, was the black chef Paul Byrd. Paul's rendition of what we all called The Watermelon Song was an annual treat...I enclose my recollection of the words as he sang them.

You may talk about yo' good eatin'
Yo' peaches and yo' pears
Yo' nice champagne, you bet it's very fine.
But bless yo' soul and body
Caze that's no eat o' mine
Whar's to watermelon smilin' on the vine.

Caze a hambone am good, bacon am sweet
Possum meat taste very very fine
But give me, oh give me
I really wish you would
That watermelon smilin' on the vine."

etc., etc.

I actually have a tape that Uncle Bill sent me of a guy named Major Alfred J. Stofer singing a variation of this song.

At any rate, I submit this as a sidelight on Paul Byrd and a slice of Wyanoke life -- read American life -- that none of us would be very familiar with.

Pat