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Hankins Tales: Claytor Lake Aquatics Base to Close
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Hankins Tales: Claytor Lake Aquatics Base to Close
(Originally posted to social media on August 11, 2022)
I was deeply saddened to see that the BRMC is selling the Claytor Lake Aquatics Base. I worked there for two seasons as a summer Ranger but in that time I fell in love with the facility. The lake itself was the primary feature that was a gateway for all kinds of boating and swimming activities. This multipurpose camp was probably underutilized and there are a lot of kids in the Blue Ridge Council that never got to visit the camp. It was separate from the main 16,000 acre reservation. It was great for training and woodbadge or specialty activities like Camp School. The sale of this camp is just another sad event in the national BSA picture. Many Councils are selling outreach camps and trying to maintain the primary camps in one piece, it is an ongoing process.
I clearly remember taking a hike many many years ago with a young man named Al Croy. Al wanted me to see a piece of land on the lake that belonged to APCO. There was a large house on a big knoll that overlooked a steep approach to the lake. The house needed a lot of work but it had a lot of potential. Al was trying to convince the power company to work out a long term lease on this land to establish an aquatic facility. At that point it was little more than a new concept but it eventually came to pass. The new Camp is located just up the lake from that spot. A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into making the new camp a reality. Raising money and building roads and infrastructure, design and layout and buying all of the boats and gear and lifejackets etc. People had to be convinced it would work. Over time a stellar facility came into being. Hundreds of people camped there and had memories that will last a lifetime. Staff members came and went and many of them are still friends today. Over time, all things change, but it is still sad…
(Copyright by John Hankins; all rights reserved. Published here by permission of the author.)
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.)
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