David Vann Archives

Troop 14 raised most of the money it took to go to Camp Lewallen in the summer of 1966. When their sales of soft drinks at the Arena Park stock car races and distributing posters came up a little short of being able to send all the boys to camp, the Cape Girardeau Jaycees made up the difference.

Somehow or another I managed to convince jBlue to devote the whole July 30, 1966, Youth Page to the boys. It’s the only single-topic page I can recall. That made me happy, because we ran eight pictures, which brought in almost as much money as I made in salary that week. I’m missing a couple of the photos that ran, but I substituted some that were close. The information under the photos came from captions that appeared in the paper for the most part.

Doing their swim checks

Most Scouts take to water with the fervor of ants heading for a picnic basket, and these members of Troop 14, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Jaycees are no exception. Hitting the water for their swim check at Camp Lewallen are Roscoe Newbern, 304 LaCruz; Ed Slaughter, 532 College; David Vann, 522 South Frederick; Raymond Ward, 1211 South Sprigg; Harold Webb, 620 Vine; Calvin Sides, 548 South Frederick, and Larry Ross and Ervin Williams, 1622 South Sprigg.

Medical check

Before they go swimming, they are given a quick medical check to detect any major physical disabilities that might limit their participation at camp. Dr. Tim Talbert listens to Ed Slaughter’s heartbeat, while a nurse examines Calvin Sides for possible skin infections that could keep him out of aquatic activities.

Some quiet time

Ottis Johnson, 1610 South Sprigg, finds that there’s even time for a little solitude worked into his busy schedule of axemanship, horseback riding and a little advancement work. [I don’t know if ‘Ottis” is the correct spelling, but that’s what was in the paper.]

Acting Senior Patrol Leader Ervin Williams

The responsibilities of an acting senior patrol leader are mirrored by Ervin Williams’ wrinkled brow. Ervin, the oldest scout in the troop, was elected to the post at the group’s first meeting at the camp. [This wasn’t the photo that ran, but it’s close.]

Jaycees helped out

[This isn’t the photo that ran, so the names won’t match up. I wanted to get them listed, even if they might not be in this particular photo.]

Talking over the plans for the week are are, from left, Harold Webb, David Vann, Acting Scoutmaster Roy Dzurick, Ed Slaughter and Troop Committee Chairman Jeff Ryan, a Jaycee. Because the boys’ regular scoutmaster couldn’t attend camp, a Lewallen staff member was in charge of the nine scouts.

Newbern and Moore sell drinks

Roscoe Newbern seems to turn up everywhere. The Missourian photographer caught him and Joe Moore dishing out soft drinks to Jeff Ryan at the Arena Park stock car races. Proceeds from the stand helped pay the troop’s way to Camp Lewallen.

A pensive Tenderfoot

Roscoe is silent, pensive, wondering, perhaps how it was possible to cram so many projects into a six-day period.

Making a tent a home

Roscoe and his tentmate Calvin Sides worked so hard to make their tent liveable that one of the other boys shouted, “Hey, Roscoe, you’ll make some woman a good wife someday.” Roscoe, always a good Scout, didn’t reply.

Most boys advanced in rank

At Lewallen, most of the boys advanced at least one rank and some of them picked up merit badges.

“Kind of spooky”

Long-term camping was something new to most of the scouts, but a few random comments would indicate they they got along all right.

“It was great – the food was good and there was plenty of it…those Indian dances Thursday night were terrific – I really liked the Hoop Dance… I had trouble getting to sleep that night we spent out under the stars: it was kind of spooky.”