The History of Camp Wolverton, BSA


Real Scout Camping in Sequoia National Park for 70 Years

1939 through 2009

by Frank L. Glick - August 2009
When you actually count the summers, the summer of 1939 was the first year, and 2008 was the 70th year. But when you look at the dates, 1939 to 2009 is the 70th Anniversary. An earlier version of this history was published in honor of the 60th anniversary of Camp Wolverton in June 2000. It was available in printed copies from Frank Glick and on the internet at wolvertonstaff.org

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE IT

Preface

I first attended Camp Wolverton as a camper with my troop (Troop 64 from Beverly Hills in the Crescent Bay Area Council) in August 1969. (I just spent my 40th anniversary with the camp!) The next summer I attended Polaris Two Star leadership training for a week at Wolverton.

The summer after that I was back at Wolverton for two weeks, first with my troop as a camper again (we alternated each summer between Wolverton and Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina Island) and as a member of the Polaris Two Star staff. This was “typical” for active Boy Scouts in the Crescent Bay Area Council in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and early 1970’s. Those were the hey-days at Wolverton.

Beginning in 1972, I served on the Wolverton camp staff for four summers. My last summer on staff, 1975, was the last summer there was a full, organized, summer camp program. Since then, the Camp has evolved mainly into an outpost camp for high adventure and backpacking. The Camp is run today with volunteer Campmasters made up mostly of the old staff from the 1960’s and 1970’s. I will turn 52 this year and I am one of the young “Old Staff” guys there.

Anyway, during my five years at college I visited the Camp for a few days each summer, but I must admit that I missed a couple of years in the late 1970’s. In 1979 I moved from Southern California to Sacramento.

In 1981, I started going back to Wolverton again for at least one week each summer, and have been going there every year since. Needless to say, I love that place, and the people too. I realized that it is such a special place that I have been going there for 40 years. Others that are still with us on the Staff have been going there regularly for 60 years. And sadly, we have reached the time where the Staff have started to pass.

The summer of 2008 was the 70th summer of the Camp, and 2009 was the 70th Anniversary. I couldn’t let this go by without updating the history. In fact, I started writing this update on a battery-powered lap top computer while sitting in the Camp kitchen. Times sure have changed. (But for the record - there has never been real electricity in Camp. The generator died in the 70’s and we were never connected to the grid. Propane has always been our friend.)

A lot of new information has surfaced since I wrote the first version of the Camp history ten years ago. And, a lot of interesting things have occurred over the last ten years, So, grab an ice tea or whatever you like, relax, and read on. If you know of something I left out, or if you see something that needs correcting, please contact me by email at always@winfirst.com.


Acknowledgements

I must admit that I could not have written this book alone. I have known the Camp for 40 years, but it was being used by the Boy Scouts for 30 years before I was there. The ten years before me wasn’t so tough because there have been dozens of Camp Staff and friends of the Camp to help me. They have contributed greatly to this book. They have their memories, stories, photos, etc. That gets us through the 1960’s with no problem. The 1950’s have come together fairly well, but the 1940’s have been tough to research. We made contact with several campers and staff from the 1940’s, so we are not totally lost any more. We’ve done the best that we could. Sadly, as people pass on, the history is lost, so I think what I am presenting here and what is on the Wolverton Staff web site may be as good as it will get.

I want to extend my sincerest thank you to everybody who made an effort to provide me with information, photographs, etc. I especially want to thank fellow Staff man and author Peter Stekel for helping with the first version of this history. As you read The History of Camp Wolverton, you will see that I have included as many names as possible.


Dedication

I dedicate this book to all the staff and friends of Camp Wolverton who have kept the spirit alive for 70 years since 1939.


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