Devil's Lake Campout.
It's always nice to hear stories of yesteryear from the former Scouts of 61. One story in particular has come up from more than one Scout. That outing was Devils Lake, it must have been in the early 70’s. Anyway, it was fall, the troop left the church in the early evening and after the long ride to Devils Lake darkness had set in. But to make matters worse, it was raining, pretty good too. As the story goes, Mr. Milsted gathered the Junior Leaders to determine a plan of action. The Junior Leaders decided that they would set up the troop’s dining flies so there would be a semi dry area to put the troop and Scout’s gear until the tents could be put up.
After the dining flies were up, and with the rest of the Scouts still in the bus, the Junior Leaders preceded to put up the tents. Ed Lutze, continues the story; "when all tents for a patrol were up, each scout could put their sleeping bag inside, then go to dining fly. A cracker barrel was enjoyed, then bed due to how late it was. The next morning a number of family campers were very surprised to see a complete Scout troop [of over 40 boys and adult leaders] set up a block away, since due to the rain they hadn’t heard anything the night before."
What a great example of servant leadership by the Junior Leaders on that outing! That is something I am sure the younger Scouts never forgot, and is probably why this story has come up on a number of occasions.