Hankins Tales: Recalling Tutelo’s First Years

(Originally posted to social media on February 6, 2023)

My old friend Steve Warren is trying to assemble some memories in regard to the formation of the Tutelo Lodge at Camp Powhatan. There are not a lot of us left kicking who have strong memories of those days so it is probably a great idea to record them in any way possible.

50 years ago the old Piedmont Council which was based out of Lynchburg was phased out. They merged with the Blue Ridge Mts Council out of Roanoke. The old council served such places as Blackstone and Danville. They were caught in a vortex of other councils that drew population away. Charlottesville, Richmond, Winchester and Roanoke were always nipping at the heels of this small council. The council was dying the death of a thousand small cuts.

A decision was made on a regional basis to phase out Camp Monacan and to eliminate the old Koo Koo ku hoo OA Lodge. At the same time the Powhatan Lodge would be eliminated, and a new lodge would be created. As you might imagine everybody was thrilled with the new arrangement. In trying to look at this in an objective manner, the boys from Lynchburg were losing everything. On our end we were simply losing the Powhatan Lodge. Change does not happen easily in an organization like the OA. There were some very angry and bitter people on both sides of the issue. But the good news is that there were even more people who wanted to make this new situation work. I was one of those people. I knew a number of the Monacan boys from interaction at Pow-Wows or Conclaves. Camp Monacan was one of the prettiest camps anywhere. It was located down near Nellysford just below the slopes of what is now Wintergreen.

I can remember a bunch of Staff members driving down to the Lynchburg Scout office and loading chairs and tables and cash registers etc. All of that stuff was absorbed into Camp Powhatan. We did the same thing up at the Camp. I have never seen such heavy tent platforms. But we salvaged what we could. None of this was done out of spite. We were acting on orders from the main office. It would take time and a lot of growing pains to see the new Tutelo Lodge emerge from the ashes of this merger. After 50 years there are very few who remember the situation. Over time the Kooks and the Powhatans began to fade away into dim memory.

I remember being asked to design the first Tutelo flap. There were a few concept drawings floating around but none of those guys could draw worth a damn. We decided to retain the shot tower as a

major symbol for the camp. The Lodge number 161 was carried over in honor of Koo Koo ku Hoo. The background in the patch was very similar to the old Powhatan colors but in the end it was a whole new creature. I am sure that if you cast a wide enough net you could still find people who are upset about that whole situation. But just be patient, they will be dead soon and it will not really matter.

With permission of the author, these stories by noted scouter and storyteller John Hankins are featured here at Natahwop.Org. He shares these as part of the history and lore of Camp Powhatan, Camp Ottari, and the High Knoll Trail, where he spent many years of his youth. John has an incomperable first-hand knowledge of this scout reservation, as he blazed most of the original trails for High Knoll, and has hiked the rest of them several times over.

John Hankins grew up in Troop 50 (Woodlawn United Methodist Church) in Roanoke, VA. He attended Camp Powhatan as a young scout, then worked at Philmont Ranch as a ranger. He returned to the reservation to serve on camp staff from 1968 to 1978. He was a legendary naturalist who could interpret the outdoors unlike any other. As a teacher, John often relied on the element of excitement to get his point across. His weekly lectures at the nature lodge, for example, introduced scouts to either a live rattlesnake or copperhead – usually dangling on a stick within a few feet of the front row.

John and several others first envisioned the now-legendary High Knoll trail system. They took it to council leadership for prospective funding, where the idea gained several key advocates (but no funding). John recalls how – in those days – they couldn’t pay the staff with money, so they gave them patches. The High Knoll Trail would go on to become one of the best outdoor programs in the country.

John applied in 1979 for the open job of Camp Ranger, but the council said he needed more experience in that post. With his rejection letter in hand, he was immediately hired by Camp Chickohominy, and then by Camp Brady Saunders where he served for 33 years as Camp Ranger. John moved with his wife, Cheri, to West Virginia where they enjoyed the spoils of retirement: grandchildren, travel, and the great outdoors. As of 2024, they are living on the outskirts of Richmond where they can be closer to family.

(“Hankins Tales” are shared here by permission of the author. Each story is copyrighted by John Hankins, and may not be reproduced in any form without his express written permission.)

The Natahwop

Hankins Tales: Recalling Tutelo’s First Years

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