A decorated hall filled with dozens of young men and ladies, moving to the variety of music selected by the DJ on stage and advised by an entourage around him, using the technology of the times, through a sound system that could fill a stadium, with an extensive mixture of finger foods and desserts for those on the sidelines. The event described took place for a seemingly few hours of one day within an entire year. The magnitude at its height shot far beyond the premise of a Senior Scout activity during Summer Camp with local girls from the small surrounding New Hampshire towns.

Duane Mitchell tells the younger scouts in the Troop– ‘If you have heard of the Woodstock Musical Festival, when it was going on, my age group were the first ones building Camp Kirkham.’ A message from that Woodstock was to ‘get back to the land,’ and rather directly Troop 25 chose to leave the comfort of the civilized council camp, to carve out of the New Hampshire woods our Camp of 47 years. Before that, had been camping experience at Camp Pioneer, then Lake of Isles. I imagine Camp Kirkham has eclipsed both of them in time and number of scouts.

We are closing in on the 50th anniversary of Camp Kirkham. Through decades of effort by many we are secure, efficient, even relaxed in its operation. It is difficult to comprehend what it took to start the undertaking, and that is why we owe a debt of gratitude to Harold Whiting and the men of his times.

Troop 25 for the decade 1961 to 1971

In 1961,
Roger Maris was yet to hit his 61 homeruns,
Yuri Gagarin had recently been the first human in space to orbit the earth,
John Kennedy had been President for a few months,
And with the 1950 age group, I joined Troop Twenty-five.

The contrast between the surrounding darkness and the bright towers of flame, the single voice projecting ‘WE……..’ (like the baton of a symphony conductor focusing us, and the pause for a moment so that we can all respond in unison) ‘……….Are the Scouts of 25 You’ve Heard So Much About……’.

If you have gone through the Troop, this image needs no explanation. From the beginning to the snap off at the end ‘HOORAY,’ and silence to hear the resulting echo across Dodge Pond. Harry gave credit to a previous Scoutmaster for penning it, and distinctly good to know it is ‘our song’ in every sense.

Harry was a realist. As much as he desired successful fundraising, he understood the limitations of sending Senior Scouts out. ‘People find the young kids cute, and will buy from them.’ On the other side, older Seniors (even dressed in the white Troop sweatshirt) gave the air of thugs approaching unsuspecting houses, thus having a Senior ‘shelf life’ for selling.

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