I received your letter and wanted
to thank you for thinking of me and sending the photos and list
of names. Your package brought many fond memories flooding back
into my mind. I find it interesting that the mind can reopen so
many circuits after they have been inactive for so many years.
All of that said I can’t remember the names of any of the
unidentified faces.
I talked to Bill Ellison the other
night and we had a bunch of laughs reminiscing about camp days.
Bill says you might have another get together this year. It is
a long way but I would be interested in getting the word. Perhaps
I can use some of my free frequent flyer miles. The only problem
is finding a seat on an airline that hasn’t restricted virtually
every seat on every flight.
I moved to Hawaii in 1970 to work
for a year on a development of a resort on the Island of Kauai.
Got hooked on the lifestyle, the climate and the people. Decided
to stay and married a hula dancer. Had a couple kids. Semi retired
13 years ago in Honolulu and settled in Hilo looking for a less
urban environment to raise our children.
Being the Outfitter was one of
the great jobs at Tomahawk. Lots of toys to play with. Remember
the time those guys took all the leftover cans of fuel and “burned”
the dump. Shocking! (eds. note: Yes I remember it very well indeed!).
I have thought of Bob Bryant many
times over the years. I remember all the hours we spent tearing
apart and fixing all of that old equipment Molby kept dragging
home from the military.
Bob was a wizard at fixing things.
From vehicles to dish washing machines and from freezers to coolers.
He had a solution to most every breakdown and we had plenty of
them. He was a great guy to work with but you knew what a tongue
lashing was if he caught you speeding on the camp roads. He was
one of the good ones.
Catching snapping turtles in the
spring for the annual feed at a tavern across the lake was one
of Bob’s things. Fortunately he taught us how to grab them
and keep our fingers.
George Cherny was a good friend
to have when you found yourself in a bar facing down a few of
the locals who claimed a proprietary interest in some young girl
you had been admiring. George was a 23 and 1/2 beer guy. His 24th
was always for the ride home and he claimed he could never quite
finish it.