Hankins Tales: Remembering John Hurley

(Originally posted to social media on May 24, 2021)

And the hits just keep on coming. I was just notified that my old friend John Hurley has died. Yet another gut punch. I can think back to the late 60s when I worked in the kitchen at camp Powhatan during Ordeals. My Scoutmaster, Old Bill Mason got me that job and I recall that we always got a big steak on Saturday night. One of the kids working the kitchen with us was a robust young man named John Hurley. He was older than I am but not much. He showed me how to keep from being eaten alive by the Dishwasher which was known to be a man killer.

John was known for his unfailing good humor and he was somebody that you wanted to hang out with. He had almost as many stories as I did and some of his were true. He was somebody that I always looked up at Conclaves over the years and he was always there. He was a friend and mentor to many young people who came through the Powhatan and Tutelo Lodges. I find myself on the edge of an emotional plane where everything has just been stacked like cordwood. There have been too many stresses lately, too much pandemic, too many rules.

I need to just drift back to that old kitchen, to the taste of that steak and the laughter of John Hurley. At least for a little while.

Swift travels old friend, you will be missed.

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: Remembering John Hurley

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