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Growing up in Bynum, Ala.

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Camping With Doodle

One of the most fun activities a boy at Bynum
could look forward to was a camping trip with the Boy Scouts.

Doodle Bug (Donald) Gamble and I always wound up
being camping partners. It was an interesting
match of the smallest scout (me) and the largest
scout (Doodle). Doodle always said that he
enjoyed camping with me as his partner because we
got along together so well. I guess you could say
we both had a knack of getting into trouble together.

One time, we went camping on Coldwater Mountain.
The Scoutmaster at that time was a Sargeant in
the Army at the base. He was intent on teaching
us to march, obey rules and keep ourselves neat.
I guess the road to hell is paved with good
intentions. We did learn to march but, the
neatness thing just did not develop. When we went
to the regional camporee that year we marched the best.

On this particular camping trip, Doodle and I had
smuggled a signal flare into camp. We had found
the flare down by the railroad at Bynum. We
intended to use it to scare some of the younger
boys in the troop. Bruce Jansen and some others
stole the flare from us and snuck off in the
night with it. They lit it up on the side of
Coldwater Mountain and caused quite a stir.

The Scoutmaster called us all together to see who
set the flare off. Well, I think he knew Doodle
and I had the flare and was sure he would catch
us doing wrong. Surprise, surprise! His loyal
pets were caught doing the dirty. Doodle and I
plead innocent. Brucey and H.B. Thompson got
caught and tried to put the blame on us.
But.. we, the two little innocents, were in camp the whole time.

Doodle and I got into other troubles that trip
but the flare was not one of them. We were put on
KP a lot by the Scoutmaster. But, that was ok
because Doodle and I liked to cook and we loved
to eat raw carrots. So making camp strew was
actually fun. Not to mention we would put a lot
of pepper in the pot after we got our serving.
Woo! Woo! A lot of water drinking going on there.

When Cooney, Henry, Day Day and I went to see
Doodle recently, he recalled those fun camping
trips with me as his partner. He said I always
got along with him and we always had fun. After
all, what is a camping trip all about?

I used to use an old Army duffel bag to haul my
camping trip stuff in. Doodle and I used to put
enough food in that thing to last a week. Most of
our camping trips were a weekend deal. So, Doodle
and I spent the whole weekend eating. Our
favorite goody was a jar of pickled olives. We
loved those things. Our favorite breakfast was
scrambled eggs, bacon and pork and beans.
Actually, we ate that all weekend. Needless to
say, we had a drafty tent because it required
extensive ventilation after all those eggs and beans.

Doodle was the ideal barterer on a camping trip.
If one of us saw something the other kids brought
on a camping trip and it caught our eye, he would
manage to trade around until we got it. Many a
time Doodle and I would sit in our tent munching
on something like orioles (too expensive for us
to buy) that actually cost us maybe a serving of grits.

Doodle was actually a very bright kid and knew
everything about Scouting. You just had to know
how to ask him for the information. He taught
some of us a lot about Scouting and more
important, how to be a good friend. If you needed
help learning how to earn a merit badge, Doodle
would show you a lot of good skills.

We really enjoyed camping together.

Ronny Wheeler, Apt. No. 10



Photographs published by permission and courtesy of the children of Bynum and remain their property
© Copyright  Bynum Kids 2009

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