Last time, I talked a little about how my family had been involved with scouting and Camp Long Lake for nearly three quarters of a century. (You can find that installment here.) I’d like to continue with that discussion today.
My father worked on camp staff in the late 1950s, I think ’57 and ’58. He worked in the Trading Post, which is a store where the boys can purchase craft kits, souvenirs, and snacks. Today, there is a large covered area with a fireplace and several picnic tables, in addition to the building which houses both a walk-in trading post and the camp offices. this is where you’ll most likely find the ranger.
When my father was working there (and when I worked there, for that matter) the trading post was a narrow building with a window. The only person in the building was the person working in the store. The boys lined up outside and were served one-by-one through the window. That building has been torn down, replaced by the building I described above. I scoured the internet looking for a photo of the old building, but I didn’t manage to find anything.
As it turns out, I visited Long Lake this past summer to fulfill a promise I made to my son, and I took a lot of photos of the camp as it appears today. The photo below shows the concrete slab that served as the foundation for the old trading post. That’s all that’s left of it anymore, but it does seem to make a good place to put an equipment shed.
My father was fortunate enough to work under “Uncle” Bud Smith while he was the ranger. I missed that experience by about two years, which is unfortunate because there were a lot of stories about my grandfather that Bud wanted to tell me. (I need to get some of those stories from my father while I still can.)
The new trading post building is much nicer than the old, particularly the covered outdoor area. This is where the adults can attach to the flaky wifi and get some work done while the boys are all off in their merit badge classes. It’s a nice place to just relax and chat with other adults while there’s down time. (Down time is something adults should have at scout camp, because the boys should be running their own groups with just a little adult guidance, but that’s a different discussion.) They call the building the Boze, named after the Boze family, who donated the funding for the building.
As it turns out, the kid running the trading post this past summer is the son of a guy who was on staff with me, and is right next to me in the staff photo from 1981. I’ll show that photo another time.
This is the kid who ran the trading post summer of 2015, the son of one of my fellow staffers from 1981.
Looking in through the door of the Trading Post summer 2015.
From the back wall of the trading post looking out past the cash register toward the window and the covered patio.
Adult leaders relaxing on the covered patio of the Boze. My back is toward the building.
This is me, summer 2015, in the Boze with my back to the outdoor fireplace overlooking the painting of the Potawatomi brave who has served as the symbol of the Potawatomi Area Council for the better part of a century. (I’ll discuss the relationship between the BSA and Native Americans in a future post, but I will say that overall it’s a pretty good relationship.) The shirt I’m wearing is vintage early 1980s and is no longer available. The banner advertises 2016 as the camp’s 70th anniversary.
