1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:02,640 Welcome to the Great Central Fire. 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,720 In our new episode we have George Simmons joining us. 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,080 A long time Camp Cooch member and served on the board for many 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,480 years. We had a great conversation 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,680 talking about how he got involved in camp back in the 6 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,920 50s, a funny story about flipping a canoe, Arctic trip, 7 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,960 stories starting O Getchi and some key people that he admired 8 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,640 during his time up north. So sit back, relax, and I hope 9 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,720 you enjoy our talk with George Simmons. 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,360 Boy, this is going to be a fun one today on this episode of the 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,680 Great Central Fire. I've been looking forward to 12 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,760 this special guest. I can't wait to sit down and I'm 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,240 sure there's going to be a million stories today. 14 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,560 We have George Simmons joining us. 15 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,240 George, I would say that if there was a Mount Rushmore for 16 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:03,400 Cam Kuchicheng, the Simmons name would certainly be one of the 17 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,000 one of the names up there for sure. 18 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,880 But we thank you for joining us today and how you doing. 19 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:10,520 Pretty well, thanks. Good. 20 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,760 Although I had a little dental work this morning so. 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,400 OK, George, I mean from Saint Louis, How how did you remember 22 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:19,240 how your family found out about camp? 23 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,120 I mean, do you remember back? Can you remember where you and I 24 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,280 think your first summer as a camper was in 54 if I remember, 25 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,720 if that's correct? Yeah, I, I saw a Tump line 26 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:37,480 article some some days ago though that said 52 and I I 27 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,880 think that's wrong. I'm, I'm kind of pretty sure 54 28 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:48,320 was the the year and we we ran into camp through a guy named 29 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:49,280 Stubb. Mole. 30 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:50,680 Oh, OK. Wow, wow. 31 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:57,240 Back then who was a football coach at University High School, 32 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,520 another community there in Saint Louis where where we grew up. 33 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:09,320 But camp was a a thing of our family. 34 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:14,080 My dad had gone to camp when he was young and my older brother 35 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:20,320 Paul had gone or Simi had gone to camp and a year before out in 36 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,960 Colorado. And then he and I both went to a 37 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:31,120 a boys camp, actually a boys and girls camp in central Minnesota 38 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,840 called Camp Lincoln. I think I went there when I was 39 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,160 11 or 10 or something. OK. 40 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:44,240 When we went there just one one year, that was yeah, Camp 41 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,280 Lincoln. OK. 42 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:53,280 Anyway, anyway then we ran into this guy Stubbed Mall from 43 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:59,840 University City and he I think he introduced this to to Kuchi 44 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:01,800 Chang back in the day. OK. 45 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,320 And then and then another brother you had go there, David, 46 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,640 and, and, and of course, your sister's son. 47 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,880 Younger brother David, yeah, when he was, he went, he went a 48 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:20,160 long time and yeah, son went. Oh yeah, I know, I know. 49 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,880 Your sons will get to them. There's a yeah, there's a good 50 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,160 family history in there. And now in professionally, 51 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,360 George, you're retired now what what, what you were in the oil 52 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,280 business, correct? Is that were you always in that? 53 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,120 No, pretty much in oil and gas business whole time exploration 54 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:40,440 side. OK. 55 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,720 And you were down in Texas for a while, I if I remember right. 56 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:50,840 Well, I started my career down in Fort Worth with the old Pan 57 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:59,360 American company that was later brought out by Amoco Corporation 58 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,200 that now is a part of the British Petroleum. 59 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:08,200 OK, Yeah, OK. Like, like, like all the 60 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,520 industries kind of went through a number of mergers and 61 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,240 whatever. Yeah. 62 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,519 OK, retire now living the good life here in Florida and and you 63 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:20,079 still spend your. Suppers pretty much retired and 64 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:24,280 we moved to to Florida here two years ago. 65 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,120 OK, And still have your place at Grindstone up on Rainy Lake? 66 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:35,680 Oh yeah, We've, we've had that since 199097. 67 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:40,680 We've had a place there on Grindstone Island and we, we, we 68 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,840 sure enjoy it. We go there every summer now. 69 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:45,240 Yep, vanquished then. Right? 70 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,320 Right at six months there. It's great. 71 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:49,920 Hard to get away from that place, isn't it? 72 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,840 Once it's in you, it's in you. It is, yeah. 73 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:59,240 It's there's some roots there since 1954 or whatever. 74 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:05,600 Well, I remember as a kid, like if I remember, I mean, the whole 75 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,520 Simmons clan would like run out, basically the whole island view. 76 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,440 Your, your parents came up and, and I, you know, I just remember 77 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,200 going over there. That was just such a big thing 78 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,520 for me as a young kid in the camper. 79 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,880 And of course my parents up there was the final week and all 80 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,480 of the alumni coming back and seeing all that was such a big 81 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,280 thing. And, and your family was such a 82 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:27,640 big part of that. Well, they, they were over the 83 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,960 years, you know, from the time they sent us to camp, they, it 84 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:37,120 seemed like they always came up for a visit either at mid season 85 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,520 or at the end of the season to, to visit. 86 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:48,360 And then dad became a great friend of John Holden's back in 87 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,680 the day and then also served on, on the board of directors that 88 00:05:53,680 --> 00:06:00,120 he had and actually was on the board, I think with when John 89 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:06,640 was leading the, the founding of the the Camping and Education 90 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:11,960 Foundation to, to get Cooch on a nonprofit basis. 91 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:18,880 And anyway that I can, I can remember those days and John and 92 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:27,040 John and dad were great friends and, you know, drank a lot of 93 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,000 whiskey together. We're we're good friends. 94 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,280 That's great. No, that's 222 great people and 95 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:40,040 you know, big part of this place where we are today. 96 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:47,080 That's that's for sure. You were. 97 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,480 My dad has told me a few stories and I like to tell stories. 98 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:57,440 So boy. But you, he had, you were in his 99 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:03,000 canoe one time and coming back or somewhere a few times, you 100 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,840 flip this canoe because it was hot, too hot. 101 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:07,320 What? What was that all about? 102 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:14,440 Well, it I can I can remember we were paddling down the lake is 103 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,960 dead quiet and the sun was just beaming down. 104 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,520 It was probably 90° and he was a stern man and he was kind of 105 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,280 complaining about the heat. So I stood up on the gun, all 106 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,680 the the canoe and tipped us over. 107 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,000 What do you say? He wasn't very happy about that. 108 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,480 All the gear floating around in the lakes. 109 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:37,120 Probably got a cigarette sweat or something. 110 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:39,080 That's what probably that's what probably made him mad. 111 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,040 Couldn't have got his smoke wet, no doubt. 112 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,800 But this is what's great about this place, too, Georgia. 113 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:50,520 So that you were in my dad's canoe and then I had your son 114 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,920 Jeff on a trip. He was not in my canoe. 115 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,960 He was in a camper canoe with his cousin Austin, with Steve 116 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:58,360 Upson and I down the English River. 117 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,760 But then I had your son Curtis in my canoe going down the Savon 118 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,560 English trip, which was an outstanding thing. 119 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,240 It's just amazing that you know the full circle. 120 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,160 You know, the, the, how this happens at camp and it's, it's 121 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,160 not just us, the Coleman and the Simmons, it's this happens to a 122 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,200 lot of people and it's just, it's fun to see. 123 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:18,960 But those two kids were outstanding. 124 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,320 Well, the blood. The bloodline runs over what, at 125 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,000 least three generations? And maybe 4. 126 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,160 Right, right. Yeah. 127 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,799 Yeah, they just. But those guys were great. 128 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:36,280 We had so much fun with Jeff and so many stories on that trip 129 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:40,039 with him and Austin Gonsmueller, who's your nephew and, you know, 130 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:43,799 your sister's son. Austin. 131 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:45,760 Austin, yeah. And then? 132 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:51,040 All those, all those guys are still great friends and they 133 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:58,360 still come up during the summer. And in fact, Austin is building 134 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:03,560 a house there on Rainy Lake across from the, the Thunderbird 135 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:07,160 Lodge. And so he's, he's there and then 136 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:14,200 I'm my, my grandson was up this summer with, with our great 137 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,280 grandson and visiting with, with Austin where he's building his 138 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,880 new house over there across Thunderbird. 139 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,840 So yeah. There are 4 generations standing 140 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,040 there. That's I mean, it's great. 141 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,600 It's great to see you guys every year up there when I I know I go 142 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:34,600 up at the end and if you weren't there, we would notice like if 143 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:36,920 the Simmons family was not there, we noticed right away. 144 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:38,240 You know, we look for him right away. 145 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,080 And I know we're not the only ones that do that now. 146 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,520 The other one, the other and I don't know this story. 147 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,800 You're going to have to remind me what what was going on with 148 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:52,240 the you and my dad but and for those that don't know that he 149 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:58,040 was known as Bugsy at Cam Cooch with the foxes smoking the foxes 150 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,200 out of their dens on the eye. What I mean, what was this all? 151 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:07,040 About well, your dad and I were were good friends as well as 152 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,440 kind of a camper, counselor relationship with. 153 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:17,440 Anyway, we got busy. I guess that we were thinking we 154 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:23,120 had seen a fox out there going out along the Bear Trail or 155 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:27,720 whatever it was called. And then this north of the big 156 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:33,760 ball field, I think we thought we saw Dan Fox, Dan out there. 157 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:38,160 And we kind of convinced herself by digging poop out of the hole 158 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,720 in the ground and saying, yeah, Oh yeah, this is fox poop. 159 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:48,480 And so we decided we'd see if we just couldn't folks the smoke 160 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:54,800 that thing out. So we, we built a fire on one 161 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,200 end and then we found a hole on the other where we thought, 162 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,200 well, maybe that fox could get away. 163 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:07,240 So we plugged up the hole on the other side and put a bunch of 164 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:13,360 Moss in there and stuff and some dried kindling and let lit it on 165 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:19,200 fire. And sure enough, there was no 166 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,040 fox coming out of the ground and your dad had to go on a canoe 167 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,080 trip that wasn't going with him the next day. 168 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:32,560 But sure enough, we put that fire out in the evening. 169 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:36,520 And then bugs went off on a trip the next day and I came out 170 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:38,480 there just to make sure the fire wasn't out. 171 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,920 And sure enough, there was smoke coming out of the hole on the 172 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:45,120 other end of the what I guess might have been the den. 173 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:51,840 And I spent the next actually two days going back to that 174 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,480 place and dumping water down the hole trying to get to the the 175 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:00,560 the smoke to quit smoking or get the fire out. 176 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,440 It did take two days to finally convince myself the fire was out 177 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,440 because I had to go on a on a canoe trip myself that third 178 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,040 day. I mean, anyway, I I didn't want 179 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:17,640 to leave there and have the fire catch up, catch the darn island 180 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:20,200 Island. On fire your idea or his idea to 181 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:21,840 trap the fox? Smoke the Fox. 182 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,880 I might have just a joint dumb idea between us. 183 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:27,760 We're not going to. We're not get there anybody 184 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,200 under the bus. I know you got a ton of stories. 185 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,920 You know, I want to I want to get into the the startup of O 186 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,760 get you to this great, wonderful girls camp that we have now. 187 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:43,040 But before that you were an Arctic trip member, correct? 188 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,240 You took the Arctic. Well, it did. 189 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,360 The other one on the Hood River. And who, who was with you on 190 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:52,080 that trip and what do you remember? 191 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:53,400 I mean, what sticks out about that? 192 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,400 I mean, we've got a lot of teams that do that now. 193 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:58,760 You were one of the original groups that went out. 194 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,520 I'm sure you know well. The guys that the guys that I 195 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:07,960 went on that trip with were, we're some of my best friends 196 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:16,280 and still are today, notably notably Jim Van and Bart and his 197 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:21,080 brother Tom Van and Bart. And then a guy I grew up with 198 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,880 who was my best friend in Saint Louis, the guy by the name of 199 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:27,400 Nelson Spencer. Oh yeah. 200 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:35,480 And then it was Fred Patterson who who was on that trip since 201 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:41,680 passed and fellow by name of Tom Bloom, who's still a doctor in 202 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:48,360 in Minneapolis. And let's see who else we had on 203 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,440 that trip. I'm forgetting somebody. 204 00:13:55,320 --> 00:14:04,200 Anyway, Tom and Jim and Nelson had actually been on a had taken 205 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,480 an Arctic trip the year before and I had been invited and they 206 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:13,880 went on the Copper Mine River. And then there in 1966, we took 207 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,000 a trip on the Hood River. Yeah. 208 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,000 How many days were you out? Do you remember? 209 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:29,640 Well, we left around, I'm going to say early June sometime and 210 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:35,600 we've added up about the 10th of August up on the, on the, on the 211 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,160 Hood River above Willow Forest Falls up there, which is a 212 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:47,440 pretty significant falls. And then that was interesting 213 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:54,320 for me because I had just graduated from college that year 214 00:14:56,120 --> 00:15:01,800 with a degree in geology. And when we got to the end there 215 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:06,280 the, the Hood River, we did, we really didn't have a good plan 216 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:10,360 to, to get out off the Arden coast there. 217 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:17,320 We had no arrangements. We ran into a, a mining camp 218 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:22,040 there on the toward the mouth the Hood River. 219 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:28,080 And we, the guy there, I, I became friends with the 220 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:33,000 geologist that was kind of leading the mining crew there. 221 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:41,720 And he said he was behind logging core samples and he 222 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,520 found out I was a geologist geologist and asked me if I 223 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:52,800 would help him log core and if I'd helping kind of get caught 224 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,000 up identifying the war and stuff that's in the core samples. 225 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:02,080 Then in turn, they'd give us a flight out of they, they take 226 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,800 our whole trip and fly us back to Yellowknife in the Northwest 227 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,160 Territories. So that was kind of an unusual 228 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:17,640 and a trip and kind of the the back end of that story is then I 229 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:23,240 was backed up in that same location actually north of where 230 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,800 we ended the trip. For the next two years 231 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,560 afterwards, I was hired by the people that were running that 232 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:37,560 company to come up there and do some mapping up there. 233 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:43,720 And I actually turned that into my graduate thesis for to get my 234 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,560 master's degree. So well, anyway, one, one thing 235 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,600 always leads to that. That's right. 236 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:52,640 But it's a great time. I'm sure you guys great 237 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,200 adventure and you know, some of you guys, it's great. 238 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,040 You still got your friendship with all those guys. 239 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,960 And of course the van embarks. You know, we all know that name 240 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,480 too. You know what their what their 241 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:07,720 kids going to camp too, and that that's another group of some fun 242 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:08,839 characters too. Some. 243 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:11,720 Colorful people. We we, we all keep in touch 244 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,560 still. And yeah, it's great to great 245 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,760 friendships. And you, you have to say that 246 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:23,160 about about camp. That really builds some lifelong 247 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,359 friendships. Oh, some of the best. 248 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,840 Yeah, yeah. In, in, in, in socially and in 249 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,120 business actually so. Yeah, it's without a doubt. 250 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,360 Been rewarding, yeah. Yeah. 251 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,000 So let's talk about the, you know, you you've been, you were 252 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,440 the one of the, if not the big one big, you know, players 253 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,120 behind the the start of the O Getchi. 254 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:49,600 Can you can you take us through how this all came about? 255 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,720 I mean, this has been such a great success and such a great 256 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,240 addition for the camping and Education Foundation. 257 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,720 And you know, I know you had a lot to do with that. 258 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,760 And I think a lot of people like to know and hear, you know, how 259 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,760 this all came about and, and your role in it. 260 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,240 And, and obviously you've done a good thing here. 261 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:13,800 Well, it's it's really like N ES then a start up. 262 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:25,400 It comes in bits and pieces and actually they're then maybe at 263 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:31,160 least two other attempts to to perhaps get a girls camp off the 264 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,760 ground. And actually one was led earlier 265 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:40,240 on by by Tom Vandenbark, who we went on the Arctic trip with, 266 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:44,320 had a guy named Brad Schinkel. He had been a guy that was 267 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:50,520 interested in in that. And I guess what what got me 268 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,960 involved is as a as a younger geologist with the Amoco 269 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:03,600 company, I was involved working on field parties, mapping 270 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,960 parties in Alaska for a number of years. 271 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:14,320 And we always had, from time to time, we'd have young women, 272 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:20,880 young graduate geologist, female geologists assigned to our field 273 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,520 parties or field the expeditions in Alaska. 274 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,760 And during those times, always thought, damn, why, why doesn't 275 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:35,880 Kuch Ching have a girls camp then? 276 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:41,360 You know, I was aware of that. There'd been some attempts to 277 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:52,680 get one going and then I guess 1 summer around 2001 or 2002, and 278 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,040 I think it was the year before John Holden passed. 279 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:02,880 He had come to me and said, George, do me a favor. 280 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,600 Don't forget about the girls and so. 281 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,200 That was kind of a inspiration for me and I remember by times 282 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:19,880 working and camping with these girls in in Alaska doing field 283 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:27,680 work. And so in 2001, I got a group 284 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:33,200 together in Cincinnati and I was just kind of thinking about, you 285 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:38,240 might ask about that today. But there were, we got some 286 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:46,280 people together and in Cincinnati and and started AI 287 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:50,280 guess, if you will, an initiative really to get that 288 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,720 camp going. And the guy who probably was the 289 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:58,360 impetus really to drive it at that time was Jay Stair. 290 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:05,400 Jay Stair is no longer with us, but he had called and said, you 291 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:09,440 know, would you help me start a girls camp? 292 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:12,360 I said, well, I said I'm glad to do it. 293 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:15,080 But I said, you know, we're going to have to get serious 294 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,320 about it because there's been a couple of different run ups to 295 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:22,080 try to get that done. And it just loses momentum. 296 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:27,280 And people would say girls can't do this, girls can't do that. 297 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:35,080 And I told him I'd be glad to, to jump in on this, but you 298 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,680 know, I don't want to just come over, come away with a lot of 299 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:39,760 spend a lot of time and get nothing done. 300 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:45,320 And so I told him I'd, I'd be glad to head up a group to do 301 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:49,200 that. And Jay said, well, he said, I'm 302 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,480 not going to be able to spend a lot of time with you. 303 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:55,480 He said, I just, he said I'd like to see a girls camp start, 304 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,600 but I'm not going to be able to really work with you on that. 305 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,320 He says I'm really business with busy with our family business. 306 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:12,560 Anyway, we did, we got a founders committee together with 307 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:14,480 the idea. Well, let's let's give it a 308 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,440 shot. And I just was been looking at a 309 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:22,560 piece of paper today and I was able to get a a number of people 310 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:26,200 together and we created a founders committee at that time 311 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:30,880 and some names you that might recognize they called Gina 312 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,760 Vanenbark, which was Jim and Tom's sister. 313 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:34,680 Yeah, I know, Janet. Sure. 314 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:41,240 And she she had been to a girls camp, Northland camp out of 315 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:46,560 Bemidji and and she had a great number of friends that she still 316 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,240 kept in touch with. And I said, would you jump in on 317 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,720 a committee to help start a girls camp? 318 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,360 She was all about it. And then we had a long time 319 00:22:56,360 --> 00:23:00,560 photographer and great friend, had always been with the around. 320 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:06,280 Kuchicheng fell by name and that's who's no longer with us 321 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,040 and was all excited about a girls camp. 322 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,280 And then we had a gal by the name of Karen Strauss who had 323 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:18,960 been a camper at Northland Camp with Jenna Vandenbark. 324 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:25,200 She was interested, old time guy. 325 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,040 That's I think maybe still on the foundation board. 326 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:29,400 Jeff Patterson. Yeah. 327 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,800 Yeah, I saw him last summer. Yeah, sure. 328 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,280 Great guy. Jeff had daughters and he he 329 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,600 thought, boy yeah, a girls camp would be great. 330 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:42,600 So he got on this Founders committee and a fellow by name 331 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:50,040 of Terry Tierney, who was a son-in-law of Jim Woods, no 332 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:55,360 longer with us, but Jim had been a then then the president of the 333 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,600 Camp in Education Foundation. He was a great friend from Saint 334 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,640 Louis. We'd I'd gone to high school 335 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,400 with. And then, of course, Jim shook 336 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,080 who you know, who is chairman of the foundation. 337 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:17,680 And so Jim threw in with us and off we went. 338 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:21,200 There were times when this little Founders committee would 339 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:26,320 meet and we had people drop off from time to time. 340 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,400 We'd have others that would join. 341 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:32,360 But by the time we got got really the camp got it founded 342 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:36,880 and got it blessed by the camp and Education Foundation. 343 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,000 We we had a great time doing it and. 344 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,520 Now at that time was Rainy Lake Lodge. 345 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,000 Had we owned it when you guys started the. 346 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,440 That's that's where my parents stayed. 347 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,120 And when? Of course, when my brother and I 348 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,240 first went. To. 349 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:02,000 Stayed at the lodge, in fact the the girls camp, the director's 350 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,240 cabin sits right on top of my mother's ashes. 351 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:09,480 Oh wow. That are buried there up to 352 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:16,680 girls camp. But yeah, it just was a it was a 353 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,480 great effort we made, I think we made some enemies along the way. 354 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,200 There were a lot of people that said that there was no way girls 355 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:30,240 could could do trips like the boys do and they couldn't carry 356 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:35,200 a wanigan. And you know, the that's all 357 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,000 baloney. And then the rest of its 358 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,800 history. That's right, girls campus that 359 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:46,120 off and running for 25 years so. And they're already taking trips 360 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:49,080 to the Arctic. I mean, it, it's outstanding. 361 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,120 I mean, to hear their stories and, and the fun that they're 362 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:54,880 having just as much, it just, it's great. 363 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:56,960 I mean, and I know I have three sisters. 364 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,520 I'm sure they would have loved to have been able to do this too 365 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,560 back in their day, you know? It's, it's, it's a nice success 366 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:08,920 story and you know, there were just a lot of people as we, as 367 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,440 we started to gain some momentum and the idea started to catch 368 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,800 on. Or I mean, there's been a lot of 369 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:20,480 people step up and it really be a part of, of the, of that girls 370 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,360 camp. Like, like any organization, you 371 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:27,240 know, maybe there's one or two people who get a idea that are 372 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,880 willing to stand up and defend it and, and move it forward and, 373 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,560 and you know, it, it was a natural thing. 374 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:41,480 You know, the time we talked about starting the girls camp, 375 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,160 people said, well, you, you got to have some background about 376 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,040 girls camps. Well, that was easy to find 377 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,880 because at the time, statistically there were more 378 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:59,200 girls in the United States attending overnight summer camps 379 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,760 than there were boys. So there was a market for it. 380 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:05,560 There's always been a market for it. 381 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:11,000 I think that you know, as as you grew up at Couch where everybody 382 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:16,000 was so gung ho and was so masculine that nobody thought, 383 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,120 well, the girls can do this, but. 384 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:21,760 Oh, they're doing it. They're doing it all right. 385 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:22,920 They're. They're doing it. 386 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,520 They're doing it and I, I think, I think, you know, obviously 387 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,440 your, your foundation group that that got this going was huge was 388 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,720 the whole foundation of it. But I think to from the outside 389 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,160 looking in a little bit, not completely outside looking in, 390 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,400 but a little bit. Two of the people I think were 391 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:44,600 key in this was our our initial director, Kathy Dicks was was a 392 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:46,680 great person to have to start this thing. 393 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,480 She was on the she was on the Founders Committee. 394 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,840 Yep, I think she was great at at that time, you know, for our 395 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:55,400 just get this thing going and did a great job. 396 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,960 And then the other the other couple, they're good friends of 397 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,920 mine, Bart and Peggy Ballmer. I mean what they've done in the 398 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,480 build out that Bart's done and and Peggy right by his side. 399 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,280 I mean, but without them, I don't know where where that 400 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,680 place would be just because I know what he does, you know, 401 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:11,440 he's. Incredible. 402 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,440 That's true because Bart and Peggy had, you know, been over 403 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,160 Kuch Jing and Bart had been part of Kuch Jing for years. 404 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:25,200 And I think after we got going about, oh, I don't know, about 405 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:31,600 three years, 4th year maybe in into the girls camp, we just, we 406 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,880 couldn't get cooks and, and so Peggy had volunteered to come 407 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,160 over and cook and Bart said, well, I want to go over there 408 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:45,560 and be part of the, the build out whatever of, of the girls 409 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:47,600 camp. And sure enough, he came over 410 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:53,080 and so much of the buildings that you see today on the 411 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,200 campsite of Ogunji are, are thanks to Bart. 412 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:01,440 I mean, he's, he's put in a career there and I, I would say 413 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:07,880 he's literally as the, as much of the founder of, of the girls 414 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,920 camp as anybody. I mean, he's there. 415 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,640 There's not a screw or nail at any of those buildings that that 416 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,600 Bart didn't have his hand. Yeah. 417 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:24,480 So it's and and Peggy, she's run that kitchen and all the dietary 418 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:29,160 portion of the of the camp. She, she's just a really a great 419 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,240 lady. Oh, they're, they're both great. 420 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,480 They're great friends. And I know, you know, I talked 421 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,840 to them a lot and they just absolutely love that place and 422 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,720 love the kids there. And it's like it's their own 423 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:39,920 kids, you know, that's how they treat them. 424 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,680 But they're they're outstanding people, so. 425 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,480 Great friends, yeah. Good, good friend. 426 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,760 So I, I got to ask you this too. I mean, where, where, where did, 427 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,560 where did Jackie come from? I mean, everybody that right, 428 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,240 Everybody that knows. I mean, what's up, Jackie? 429 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:06,880 Just just growing up back in Webster St. 430 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:12,640 Saint Louis, we, we, we had some friends that would wander 431 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:14,440 through our neighborhood all the time. 432 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:21,120 And we, we, we just refer to each other as Jack all the 433 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,680 times. And these boys would yell out 434 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,520 and say, say, Hey, what's up today, Jack? 435 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:33,600 And that just caught on so. Well, and your and your kids 436 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,520 knew about it and you're, you're, they were like a chip 437 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:38,800 off of you. I don't know if you know this or 438 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,800 not, but you know, I, I remember you doing the boogerman dance at 439 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:46,600 Kuching and of course you're, you're patented rolling the 440 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:51,760 stomach, which was hilarious. But we had a little kid come to 441 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,800 a camp was a little dinky prep one, your name of Curtis and I, 442 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,560 he got up on the diving board and rolled his stomach and did a 443 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,600 1 1/2 flip off the diving board and said, that's a Simmons right 444 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:03,640 there. That's George's boy right there. 445 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,160 He just, he rolled his stomach just like you did. 446 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,120 I was losing it. It was so good. 447 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,920 Well. Curtis. 448 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:17,600 Has been a great, great friend. And yeah, you know, I didn't 449 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:24,720 mention Curtis here associated with the girls camp, but he was 450 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:29,320 all about it. And I can tell you that when we, 451 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,560 when we first got down to talking about the girls camp and 452 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:38,240 how we were going to get that launched and it it, it wasn't 453 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:40,200 easy. There was a lot of resistance 454 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:47,880 from people, kind of people who couldn't understand that the 455 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,240 girls could do the Kuch Ching kind of tripping and whatever. 456 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:58,800 But anyway, when we first decided, yeah, we're going to 457 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:04,320 have a first inaugural girls canoe trip, we wondered who's 458 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:10,040 going to lead the darn thing. And the first guy came to my 459 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,480 mind was Curtis. And then we thought, well, who? 460 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,480 Who else could do that? And we thought of another one of 461 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,920 Curtis's good friend, Hank Banger. 462 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:19,760 Hank Banger? Sure. 463 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:25,440 I understand it now, Hank has four girls or something to go to 464 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:36,320 O getchi and but Hank and Kurt took the first girls trip out. 465 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:38,000 Where did they go? Do you remember? 466 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:40,840 They went on a turtle. River Turtle River, OK. 467 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,400 Yeah, yeah. And of course you're going to 468 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:49,400 take 10 teenage girls. And Kurt, I think was only like 469 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:54,920 18 at the time, and Hank Banger was maybe a year younger. 470 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:02,360 So now we were going to take 10 teenage girls, and the oldest 471 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:08,120 one actually was 17, I think on a school bus across the Canadian 472 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:13,480 border there and go on the Turtle River. 473 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:21,000 And we got thinking, well, how these two older teenage guys 474 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,000 with this busload of girls going to get through customs without 475 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,480 being questioned. Well, we thought best thing, 476 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,320 we'd better get a couple of adult women, probably older than 477 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:38,480 those boys to go on a trip. So we got Kathy Dicks. 478 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:39,680 That's. What I thought was. 479 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,640 Always been behind that, that she's always been on the 480 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,120 founders committee for a girls camp, she said. 481 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,280 I'll, I'll go. And then another guy by the name 482 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:55,360 of Karen Straws who had been camper with Janet Vandenbark at 483 00:33:56,400 --> 00:34:00,920 back in the day and at Northland. 484 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:07,840 So those two guys, Hank and Curtis and and Kathy and Karen 485 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:14,719 took these 10 girls on the Turtle Rivers for 10 days and it 486 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,159 it was a hit. The rest, the rest is history. 487 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:21,120 That's great. But we asked them and, you know, 488 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:31,280 on that trip we had just trying to think anyway, there's still 489 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:35,760 some girls associated with girls camp and who actually years 490 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:41,760 later took an Arctic trip. OK, that had been on that trip 491 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:49,440 and the name's escaped me now, but you know, it just it worked, 492 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:50,320 right? Right. 493 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,239 So. That it's that kicked it off and 494 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:55,280 it's, you know how strong it is now. 495 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,400 It's it, it's great. So let, let's go back to your, 496 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,600 your cooch days. I mean, anything that sticks 497 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:05,040 out, George, I mean that. I mean that, that trips or 498 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,280 people or you know, what this place has done for you in your 499 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:13,240 life outside of camp. I mean, do you still, what do 500 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:16,080 you, what do you contribute camp to helping you with anything 501 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:17,440 like that? I know I just fired about 8 502 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,080 questions at you there, but I'll let you take it. 503 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:24,760 You know, you have some, you have some special people that 504 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:31,240 you that you remember from camp and people who, who he idolized 505 00:35:31,240 --> 00:35:33,480 and whatever. And I, I guess one of them for 506 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:39,480 me was John Holden, who again was one who came to me and said, 507 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:45,200 you know, do me a favor. Don't forget getting behind the 508 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:49,560 girls camp. And so that that certainly is a 509 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:56,160 person who's been, you know, just his demeanor, the way he he 510 00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:01,640 did things, the way he managed was an inspiration for my adult 511 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:06,040 life. And I I miss the guy Terrible 512 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,200 still. Well, and you know how brilliant 513 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:10,720 he was, George, but what makes me think that he's even more 514 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:14,800 brilliant is that now we know he picked the right guy to to head 515 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:18,360 this up in you. And he was smart enough to do 516 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:22,000 things like that and know who to pick and who does who together 517 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:23,400 and to know that it was going to get done. 518 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:27,240 And I, I commend him that he chose you and said that to you. 519 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,040 And obviously you were the right guy because look where we are 520 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,440 today. So I hear you about Johnny was a 521 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:37,360 great man. Yeah, one another, I guess it's 522 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:41,400 another person. And I guess to me, what makes my 523 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,080 memories great of any of anything I've ever been involved 524 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,280 in is the is the people that are involved. 525 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:50,800 And so, you know, you have you have John Holden. 526 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:56,000 And then as far as camp goes, the guy that I admired growing 527 00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:02,400 up and became I guess one of my very closest friends was Tim 528 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:07,040 Hindley. And of course, Tim is gone too 529 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:14,520 early, but Tim and I just became great friends at camp. 530 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:19,920 Later when he lived in Colorado and even before he lived there, 531 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:27,760 we, we, we skied together and our families, you know, tripped 532 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,280 around together. We're on the board together of 533 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:35,120 camp three years and of the foundation. 534 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:39,760 And of course, he was the chair of the foundation for several 535 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:41,960 times. And then he was the director of 536 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,480 Hooch and all that. And but anyway, that's a that's 537 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:51,440 a guy who just lifelong values that would both shared. 538 00:37:52,360 --> 00:38:01,200 And yeah, it's I I miss Tim to this day and still still see Joe 539 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:05,200 and highly once a week in the either in the summer or down 540 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,680 here in Florida. She lives not far from us. 541 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:13,960 And then of course, her sons, Tim and Steve. 542 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:16,760 It's Cindy, of course, his daughter. 543 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:21,920 And anyway, that Hindley family's just been a a great 544 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:24,360 memory for me. Yeah, they're special. 545 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,760 I, I, I, I can, I understand when you're coming. 546 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,960 Tim and my mom were in the same kindergarten class together. 547 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:34,120 That's how far back they go. And I know my, I think my father 548 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,720 was in their wedding even. And then of course, Steven, 549 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:38,560 Steve and I are best of friends from camp. 550 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:42,520 So, right, I, I, I certainly hear what you're saying about 551 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:47,160 and we do miss him terribly. Yeah, and then another, another 552 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:51,000 relationship, of course is your dad bugs and and your mom. 553 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:58,840 I mean, you know, those, those memories being canoeing with 554 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:03,960 bugs and and yet your mother and during preseason would always 555 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:09,240 prepare and get lunch together for anybody that was around the 556 00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:13,080 island preseason, you know, a month before camp started. 557 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:20,960 And and, you know, it's just and they they're a great part of my 558 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:25,000 memories. And of course, then your 559 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,400 brothers and sisters same, same way. 560 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:33,880 Yeah. Yeah, It's, it's, it's I, I 561 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:37,600 guess the, the whole Cooch experience is, has been just 562 00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:43,880 families that we've known all those years and still, still see 563 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:46,000 them. We see their grandkids at camp, 564 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:52,120 you know, And yeah, that's it's. I love Steven Simmons name to. 565 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:55,560 Me the whole to me the whole camp experience is is the 566 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:59,840 relationship should make no doubt with yeah. 567 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:04,600 Yeah, I mean, look, look at the friendship you and I have after 568 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:05,160 all these. Years. 569 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:07,320 It's great. Yeah. 570 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:09,640 Well, I used to call Tim a lot, and now, now you. 571 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:12,720 Now I'm doing this with you. You know, they get a couple 572 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:15,240 chuckles here and there about some old things here and there. 573 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,520 Yes, we yes, we have some of the rotative games and things. 574 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,200 Oh, yeah. So, hey, real quick, is there 575 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:25,800 any is you have, I mean, I've heard you say so many stories 576 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:28,320 and we've I know we've got to be careful with the stories we 577 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:31,040 share, but anything that jumps out that was just so funny. 578 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:32,640 I mean that you remember it all from camp. 579 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:36,320 I mean, I'm sure there's so many, it's hard for you to pull 580 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,520 one or two out. But I don't know what you and 581 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:41,720 I've been walking out of paths. You'll break one out and I just 582 00:40:41,720 --> 00:40:43,640 start I'm I'm on the ground laughing. 583 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,600 I can't stop laughing. And then and then Tim Hinely saw 584 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,800 us laughing and he ran over and said, hey, what's going on here? 585 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,120 I need to hear what just happened, you know, And awe, I 586 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:56,520 don't know if you can remember anything or not. 587 00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:58,040 That jumps out with the Vanden Barks. 588 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:02,400 I mean, there was a story about a bear that someone, I thought 589 00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:04,160 someone put a bear in Holden's cab. 590 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:07,760 And was that true? Yeah, but that that I didn't 591 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:13,920 have anything to do with that. We we actually brought a bear 592 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:20,840 from Rainy Lake Lodge 11 evening right before Grand Council. 593 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:28,240 Kind of a dumb of a dumb stunt. Was a cub though. 594 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:33,000 Yeah, we, we, there were a couple of bear Cubs that were 595 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:37,880 growing up over at at the old Rainy Lake Lodge where the girls 596 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:42,360 camp is now. Those Cubs were feeding in the 597 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:47,720 garbage dump up there where the shop is actually for the girls 598 00:41:47,720 --> 00:41:55,440 camp. And so we we thought we'd bring 599 00:41:55,440 --> 00:42:02,600 a cub over to camp. Really a kind of a dumb idea, 600 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:04,520 but. Where'd you put it? 601 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:13,560 Well, we the thing was we went up and and grabbed this cub over 602 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:18,360 Rainy Lake Lodge and we brought it and put it in the storm boat 603 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:24,320 and we brought it over to Cooch. We thought that might be cute. 604 00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:32,840 And by the time we got over there, John Holden was already 605 00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,040 standing on the main dock. OK. 606 00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:41,120 And said, you boys, you get that bear back over to Rain Lake 607 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:45,000 Lodge. Over the time we got up back 608 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,880 over there, the mother was down on the main dock over any lake 609 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:55,440 lodge where the swimming dock is now for the girls camp. 610 00:42:56,360 --> 00:43:01,240 And that bear boy was standing up and hind seat and smelling 611 00:43:01,240 --> 00:43:07,560 and smell is coming. And we just kind of cruised by 612 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:11,840 the the dock and threw the bear little the cub in the water. 613 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:21,680 And John Holden was really mad. I mean, that was not a good 614 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:23,200 start. Well, I'm sure he had some 615 00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:25,880 chores for you the next day. That's the way he was, you know. 616 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:30,640 Yeah, he kind of knew what was going on and you had to pay the 617 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:34,400 piper the next day. Yeah, not that's that's such a 618 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:37,440 good idea. Well, is there any one other one 619 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,160 that jumps out? I mean, I won't go too much 620 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:44,320 longer, but. Well, there is one. 621 00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:54,840 Probably six of us when we were on the staff. 622 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:01,200 We're going to go over to Canada and. 623 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:07,840 This is like early 60s. Yeah, the idea came up to hassle 624 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:12,400 the Border Patrol people. I don't know why we had that 625 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:23,720 idea, but we we got in the car of the doc holidays. 626 00:44:23,720 --> 00:44:25,640 Oh yeah. Man, there's a great day from 627 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,800 the past. Doc Holiday had a little Ford 628 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:35,440 Falcon and you could barely get 6 people in that cars. 629 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:40,720 And so we, we, we didn't actually, so we were going to 630 00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:44,400 just kind of go over and hassle with the, with the Border 631 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:48,680 Patrol. There were six of us and four of 632 00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:53,960 us were in the car and two people got in the trunk of the 633 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:59,000 car. And so we went flying over the 634 00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:06,200 bridge to the Canadian side, circled around the Canadian 635 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:10,120 place where you're supposed to stop, circled the car around and 636 00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:13,720 speed back over the US side. We never stopped at the customs. 637 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:18,760 We just circled their customs building with the time we got 638 00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:24,440 back over to the US side, driving across where the red 639 00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:29,120 lights were flashing and people, the US customs guys were 640 00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:36,880 standing blocking the road. And we got over there and you 641 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:40,480 know how they come up to the car and say, where you guys been? 642 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:48,400 Well, that just that, that that didn't work out so well. 643 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:54,040 Joe, Joe Holiday, who was driving the car, he looked out 644 00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:59,360 at the custom guy and said, in answer to his question of where 645 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,440 he'd been, he said, we've been to Canada. 646 00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:07,600 What what's it to you? And the guy said get out, 647 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:13,840 everybody come inside. And anyway, we all got an 648 00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:17,480 official reprimand from the United States government. 649 00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:26,160 And by the time we got back to camp that night, John Holden 650 00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:30,840 seems to know when troubles coming, just like with the bear. 651 00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:33,120 He's standing on the dock to meet us. 652 00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:40,720 And he says, OK, you boys, I'll talk to you in the morning. 653 00:46:40,720 --> 00:46:43,840 You better go to your cabins. And anyway, that just was not a 654 00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:49,160 good, good start, you know? And probably not a fun night's 655 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:53,120 sleep for you that night either. Yeah, not, not a yeah. 656 00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:57,160 We spent a lot of time picking up shells down in the rifle 657 00:46:57,160 --> 00:46:58,080 race. Oh yeah? 658 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:00,240 Oh yeah, Hauling popped on something. 659 00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:05,360 Well, George, you know, we could go on forever. 660 00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:11,720 I know, But I just I want to end this today to say just a few 661 00:47:11,720 --> 00:47:13,440 things. You know, obviously you, you've 662 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:17,560 given so much of your time and talent and treasure to the to 663 00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,760 this place, both the Coochie Ching and Ogichi and then the 664 00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:24,680 whole foundation and you, you did it. 665 00:47:24,680 --> 00:47:27,000 So, you know, I was a young kid, I could enjoy it and your kids 666 00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:30,240 could enjoy it. And, you know, I think I speak 667 00:47:30,240 --> 00:47:32,720 for everybody to say how grateful we are for people like 668 00:47:32,720 --> 00:47:34,560 you and the, and the other ones that have done that. 669 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:38,800 And it's fun for me to come back and do these things now and to 670 00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:40,760 meet with our alumni and to be a part of it. 671 00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:43,200 Because I think, I think it's hard to turn now to carry the 672 00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:46,520 torch that you guys have carried to get us to where we are now. 673 00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:50,120 And, you know, I just hope a lot of the people from my era and 674 00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:53,560 the, and the eras before me are ready to, to, to step up and 675 00:47:53,560 --> 00:47:56,720 share some of these stories and, and to help carry this place 676 00:47:56,720 --> 00:48:01,960 that's still doing so much to touch the boys and girls, the 677 00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:05,160 young kids and helping them out. If there's ever a time that we 678 00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:09,320 need to camp with today's world, with technology and what have 679 00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:12,640 you, now's the time and, and now's the time that we really 680 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:15,080 need to step up and, and, and make this place great. 681 00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:21,120 And again, I, I can't thank you enough for, you know, all you've 682 00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:24,040 done for camp, Most importantly for being a good friend of mine 683 00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:26,520 and being a great friend of my family's and my parents. 684 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:31,000 And I just can't wait to get back up to see you again next 685 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:33,560 summer. And I'm sure I'll be calling you 686 00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:37,640 quite a bit so we can make sure we got the proper rotative games 687 00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:39,800 and little council games ready to go for that evening. 688 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:45,560 So, But hey, thanks Ben. What's that? 689 00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:50,720 And it's been fun. Yeah, right. 690 00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:53,960 We didn't even, we didn't even mention boys of winter we can 691 00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:55,400 talk about. Well, that's I mean, that's a 692 00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:57,360 whole another story. Yeah. 693 00:48:57,680 --> 00:48:59,280 But listen. Well, we can do another one 694 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:00,320 eventually about the boys of winter. 695 00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:01,680 We can come back and do this again. 696 00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:05,640 But give our best to Ruthie George. 697 00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:07,400 You're the best man. We love you. 698 00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:11,040 And you know, can't wait to cross pass here again soon. 699 00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:14,040 Thanks Cole all. Right, buddy, we'll talk. 700 00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:15,720 Take care, pal. Love you. 701 00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:16,280 See you. All right. 702 00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:17,440 Bye. Bye bye.