Hankins Tales: Breaking Camp in 1969

(Originally posted to social media on May 21, 2021)

In 1969 we got to the last couple of days of camp and the decision was made to take down the staff camp ASAP. I think there was a big rain on the way. In those days at Camp Powhatan, the rain could sweep in with a vengeance and soak everything in sight.

And it came to pass that we got all of the canvas down and we stored all of the mattresses in the warehouse and we were left with nowhere to sleep. We had a final staff banquet which was a raucous affair and the decision was made to sleep the whole staff in the warehouse which was attached to the main office building.

And so at about 11 o’clock, we all began to load into the warehouse to get some kind of sleep. After a brutal weekend of taking down tents and cots and moving platforms, we were exhausted. The stacks of mattresses extended 10 feet into the air and we were now sleeping within just a few feet of the roof of the admin building. Everybody’s gear was scattered across the floor.

Even though we were tired, there was a lot of collective horseplay and people throwing things back and forth. At some point, some fool broke into the Camp Powhatan song and it was a bittersweet moment to hear the joined voices singing a familiar refrain.

It was the end of a spectacular summer. It was the end of a unique group of people that would never work together again in this same combination. I laughed and I cried and I praised God that it was over and at the same time I cursed God that it was over. I drifted off to sleep on a ten-foot-deep mattress, not unlike the princess and the pea. In the morning I would return to the real world where the bugle never sounds and the water does not taste like iron…

never sounds and the water does not taste like blood and iron…

Never sounds.…

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: Breaking Camp in 1969

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