One year I took the troop to Lowden. I was provisional Scoutmaster. I had 69 boys in all. I was also provisional Scoutmaster when I was with Troop 8 and had 72 boys in all.

During these years I have worked with the Order of the Arrow. I have gone to most all of the fall conventions [held exclusively at Camp Lowden during these years], worked on the old and new council rings and stone retaining wall that goes from the parking lot up to the trading post. I have repaired the pool fence and bathhouse and helped build the Order of the Arrow lodge and flagpole. For many years I made the fall convention slides on my own and gave them out to all members.

I made an all steel electric red arrow for the Order of the Arrow at Camp Lowden. It was six feet long and was made out of 10-gauge steel, which is 1/8” thick. The arrow has 50 red light bulbs in it. Lawrence Thomas, our son Charles, and I put the electric arrow on a cable up by Highlander campsite, facing the council ring. This was in 1951. A few years later, they changed the council around and took the arrow down. A year or two later, we found it and Tim Hooper, Tony Lombardo, and I put it on two posts by the parking lot on the path that leads to the council ring.

In 1964 I took it upon myself to repair the Statue of Liberty that was damaged by out-of-council Black Hawk Trail hikers. I bought copper spray paint and had Tony Lombardo paint it and we fixed the broken crowns with wood sticks. This was Tony’s Ordeal at the fall convention. I made a gateway for Troop 23 for the 1976 spring district camporee. We also used the same gateway by changing a few dates, for the Winnebago Scout show in 1979. The high winds took it down.

For years, up to 1971, I made 275 Region Seven neckerchief slides out of brass or aluminum. I gave them out each year I was at camp to the camp staff and Scout leaders that were there. I also gave them out around the council and in some parts of the world.

For years, Lawrence Thomas and Bob Jansen have taken on the responsibility to see that the Arrow totems get made for the [Order of the Arrow] in our council. Dave Seal, a longtime Scouter, stamps out the totems, the I solder the clips on the back of them. Thomas then takes them to be plated, the last few years to National Lock.

I have received a 25-year and a 30-year plaque for consecutive years at Camp Lowden. I also received a Camp Lowden Staff Emeritus Plaque in 1976, which means an honorary member of the camp staff at Lowden.