The Council Room

[Jim Culleton]

For me, I always looked forward to military drill and the parades we had twice a week . . . . . . Tuesday & Saturday (?). I'm not sure what year Wyanoke discontinued military drill but it was in force for the 9 years I was at Camp. Nothing like a bit of regimentation for young kids and the ability to work as a team with other campers! The biggest thing was winning the parade that night! There were nights when I knew that the "Blues" should have won, but yet the "Grays" got it. We always thought that some of the decisions were rigged so that the competition would be close between the Blues and Grays throughout the season. Looking back I don't think that was the case, eventhough the Blues and Grays were pretty evenly matched . . . . eventhough the "Blues" were better!

Remember the 2-3 days of drill on the baseball field while the Wyanoke band was practicing their tunes and marches? Mike and Pat were part of the band lead by Walt Scheirer and Burtis Vaughan. Left face, right face, about face, dress right dress . . . . . . . I still remember today but the Army also reinforced that later on in '70. I always think we got points taken off by campers turning around and telling others to knock off the small chat and giggling during formation!

My biggest question is who nominated me for the Blue Company Commander position back in '61? For some reason I had no input into that decision but I was chosen to perform that function. Did I dare say NO? And yes, I did have to march up with the Gray Company Commander (Roland "Rusty" Evans) and the color guard to the "reviewing stand" during each parade. It was a responsibilty awarded to me back then and grew to love it. It was certainly scary at first but we got used to it. I think the "Blues" won that year!

My fondest memory was when Brad took Rusty and me to Bailey's for ice cream sundaes after the last parade for the season! Just the three of us. That was a great experience at age 15!

Remember that little cannon they used to fire during parades? Man, it was loud!
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'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

[David Bentley]

Oh, wow, how times flies !! This morning Sherry, another lady, and I went to Town to watch the local Memorial Day Parade and Wreath Ceremonies at several location in Town. FIVE minutes before the start of the event, the local Legion commander came up to me and asked me to be the right side rifleman for the color guard leading the parade. He said I was wearing a hat that matched the hat of another man he had recruited.

Hey, I was fresh out of the Army (would you believe 1968), was a recent graduate of manual of arms training (would you believe 1956), and had my shirt tucked in...so how could I say "no".

I won't bore you with the details, but let me tell you, the deeply repressed muscle responses sprung into action at the sound of, "Parade Group, ATTEN - hut", forward HARCH !! An hour later, when all was said and done, we had been to 4 sites for ceremonies, marched and maneuvered our way through people, traffic, and roadside trees, smiled and nodded at the applause by the bystanders, and received thanks from the Legion commander.

The lady with Sherry went about her business, and Sherry and I went out to lunch, had a big old hot fudge sundae for dessert, and returned home.

In retrospect, I am very happy with the way I spent Memorial Day 2007.

And, at this time, we should all pause to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day; pause to give thanks to the military personnel serving around the world so we can have these ceremonies in our home towns; and offer prayers for our leaders in their pursuit of our happiness and safety.
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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

[Bob Kennington]

Wyanoke prepared me well for the service. (And the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office Police Academy, as it turned out).

One command that wasn't on the Camp Wyanoke march-menu was [left and right] oblique. Or is my memory faulty?

That cap that matched? It wasn't a blue ball cap with a gray "W" on it, was it?
_________________
Gordon B. (Father) Wyanoke ~1929-1937
Midget C-1 (1952, 53) (Belden, Edwards)
Junior J-7 (1954, 55) (Scheirer)
1967-1971 Military-Naval Security Group
Sister: Winnemont 1955-56

Blue: there's another color?

[David Bentley]

David Bentley
Brad


Joined: 10 Mar 2005
Posts: 51
Location: Wolfeboro, NH
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:02 pm Post subject: Military Drill at Wyanoke

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I don't think we had an oblique march command, probably because for a 14 year old Company Commander to issue the order, "Blue Company, Forward, Oblique,....HARCH" would be a bit of a mouthful, and may only be understood by the two ranks immediately at the front of the column, with the rest of the company populous parading off into lands unknown.

The hat in question is something I bought off the internet at a sit where I could "customize" the printing within their guidelines to indicate my overseas assignment. Basically, the matching qualities were that both hat fronts said "Vietnam Veteran", and I also had my unit designator and geographic location and name. I am very sad to say that I do not have my Camp Blue hat with gray W. Bummer.
_________________
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]

Military Drill and Manual of Arms were two things I'll have to say did me some good later in life, even though I was never in the military (pulled a 347 in the '70 lottery about 5 minutes before receiving my draft orders). I had a particularly unpleasant gym teacher, an ex Marine, who lived to harass me and a couple of other not-particularly-athletic guys. He introduced military marching into the gym curriculum. I knew everything he tried to throw at me, thanks to Wyanoke. Yet another reason to be grateful for Wyanoke.

BMB's admonition during the pre-first-parade practice assembly "The manly boys like it, the other boys need it" spoke volumes about me I guess. I didn't like it. That line certainly served to keep (a lot of) us from expressing any dissatisfaction with the drill. Parades thoroughly trashed a free evening too, especially after the Grays lost, which motivated the powers that be ("big kids") to insist on further marching to hone our skills. Right up 'til first call.

A lot of that dislike for it came from the fact that I couldn't tell left from right (I still can't. Ask Pat, who says "turn THIS way", pointing a finger in the appropriate direction, when I'm driving.) As a result, I was always looking some other kid in the face or in the ass, depending on whether he was taller or shorter than I, after a "Riiiiight ...HACE". Then, of course, I got yelled at by one of the "big kids". Fortunately for me, the parade always went to the left, and I had plenty of time to figure it out before my row reached the turning point. I could always do the maneuvers quickly and crisply, for which I took some pride, but I always did them in the wrong direction, knocking off the pride factor. I've always said that there's a 100% chance of losing a 50-50 bet. Play black/red on a roulette table if you don't believe me.

Now Manual of Arms I enjoyed. First off, it was elective. I would have won some competitions if they hadn't insisted on shouting "LEFT shoulder, HAHNH". To me, that meant "right", at least briefly. The pause between "shoulder" and "HAHNH" was too short to go through central processing in my system.

So, I joined the band.

And Denny "Pad" Stires introduced football band routines and Dairy Queen hats into the parades. Interesting cut on military tradition. I just did what I was told.
_________________
'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

[Bob Kennington]

I was unable to locate it, but surely, this historic photo must be in a gallery somewhere here. ("Borrowed" from winnipesaukee.com)

[DavidAyars]

Cool! They're actually in good formation and step, better than we were decades later, I must admit.

Where is this, Bob? Are we looking west, up Main Street?

Apropos our ice cream/dairy discussion in another thread, check out the Hood's awning in the grocery store on the left...
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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

[Bob Kennington]

The view is towards Forest Road and Camp Wyanoke, with Melvin Village about 9 miles away. The opposite direction—behind the photographer—would be towards the Clock Tower of Wolfeboro's Town Hall—or Brewster Memorial Hall, as it is referred to today.

Perhaps "they're in step" because 1930s campers were directed by the same generation who could remember World War One. (Just as the WW2 generation were directing campers into the late 50s).

A better photo: