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Home Letter Volume 33, August 03, 1959 No. 6

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HYDE BAY HOME LETTER

VOLUME 33                     August 3, 1959                       No. 6

ANOTHER REMINDER: Camp ends August 21st. The train The train group dparts that morning. Boys leaving by auto will go at various times, some Thursday night and the rest later. The barbecue-bonfire awarding of prizes will take place Thursday night, August 2Oth. Next week you will get a card which will enable you very easily to let us know how your boy will go home and what members of his family will be at the barbecue.

RESERVATIONS: We are told good playwrights mention all important facts twice. If you haven’t gotten your reservation for Thursday night August 20th, you would better act fast. Give us the kind of room you want and your price range and we will do our best for you.

WEATHER: The word “perfect” is not quite perfect as a descriptive adjective. The weather has been a little better than that abused symbol indicates. For variety, night before last found the mercury at 48° above. This morning at 7;OO oclock it was 46°. A bright sun soon corrected both situations. Not even enough rain.

HEALTH: Uniformily excellent. A week of no illnesses or accidents of note. A combination of the two factors of weather and health has created as happy a camp as your editor has soon in many years. Credit a large assist of course to the council. You will recall, they all have been at Hyde Bay in previous years.

IMPORTANT ENCLOSURE: You will find as a bonus an extra shoot in this envelope. Please read it carefully then do as you please. It describes a long tradition at Hyde Bay.

EPOCHAL: This week embraces the first and only circumnavigation  of Otsego Lake without navigation. A group of nine campers headed by councilors Garver and Classen walked, waded and swam around the entire lake. Clad in bathing trunks and shoes, carrying their lunch, they made the trip in two days. Jack, at the close of the first day, drove his staff into the shore at “Three Mile Point”. The Hacker took off the party. The next day the same sturdy craft disembarked them. The staff was wrenched from the ground and the group arrived in camp late that afternoon.

OUTSIDE COMPETITION: Camp Lenape whom we defeated handily in wrestling last year came up this Saturday and gained revenge by the substantial margin of 31 points for the visitors to Hyde Bay’s 11. Our winners were Rob Farber, Tom Dickinson, and Johnny Johnson. Tom pinned his man. Lenape may come back for baseball.

DRAMA: One of our finest Saturday night entertainments found Tent 53B under the leadership of Walter McManus winning the box of candy. They

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were given hot competition by Tents 7, 53A, and 8. The first portrayed with horrific realism life in a tent at Hyde Bay, climaxed by a delightful parody on a Susquehanna trip. Rusty Pickett (we hope there was no nepotism) was awarded best actor. Alan Howell was judged the best actress for portraying so well the princess in “Rumpled Stiltskin”. In this last play, believe it or not, the actors the youngest people in our midst memorized their lines instantaneously. Gnome Armistead appeared mysteriously from the ground and brougt success to the princess in her straw problem.

CHRONOLOGY (JULY 27): Bob Pickett took cut a second Trenton Falls Trip. Councilors Pine and Rodgers with a fleet of rowboats went turtle hunting. This was the day the circumnavigation started. Admiral Lord Jeff and his sailboats contacted the walkers. There was Senior and Junior Life Saving. Gravelly was embellished by the tents of Don Peet and Hydey Wight under the general direction of Scout Walter McMannus.

TUESDAY: The group encircling the lake came back. There was aquaplaning. Gravelly opened its hospitable arms to the Pine and Rodgers families of campers. (observer Peevers from his ????? of vantage report the groups this year the best behaved in Hyde Bay history.) There was a supper trip this evening for our youngest group.

JULY 31st MINUS THREE: Don Peet led out a biking group. We practiced wrestling. A new game of water baseball was started at Sandy Beach. (Stengle please note.) On account of heat, many boys rode after supper instead of in the afternoon. The day was ended as we watched the venerable film “Ticket to Tomahawk”.

NEXT TO LAST DAY OF JULY:Jim Main and a group of pedestrians walked to Cooperstown to see a game which was not played. They were presumsbly accompanied by the little man who was not there. This was our rainy day. The hikers were taken to the Farmer’s Museum. The team and others went to the Baseball Museum. We started our big sailing regatta with Chenango. A storm ended the second race.

FRIDAY: More sailin’ with Chenango. The series has yet to be concluded. The tireless Main with Walter McManus playing the part of Might, again walked to Cooperstown. This time the game was rained out after an inning. Mr. Pluvius also extinguished the Chenango tennis match. He couldn’t prevent our more mature members from going to town to see the movies.

SATURDAY: The wrestling meet and routine activities concluding with the plays already described.

SUNDAY: Professor Jerry Downs preached. Several parents attended. We had a league basketball game in which the Lakers beat the Celtics 26—15 with McPherson the high scorer. After we had our barbecue cut of doors, neatest tents in camp, 53B tied with Tent 7 and Tent 1, went off to town in the bus. We saw a movie on swimming and another on how to honeymoon in a national park.

PARENTAL PRIDE: In case you want to see your sun act, the plays next Saturday will be performed by the tents of councilors Wight, Classen, Bill Brooks and Rockwell. No seats reserved.

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