TEXARKANA, Texas - Even though it's been 85 years since he first camped out at Camp Pioneer, former Troop 15 Boy Scout Jesse Linam said he still remembers the campsite like he was there yesterday.
"Back in 1935, when I first went to the camp, there were no showers, so we were just handed some soap bars and told to bathe in a nearby creek," Linam, who will be 100 years old later this month, said. "We learned how to tie various knots and that sure served me well when I joined the U.S. Navy in 1940."
Linam, who said he remembers wanting to earn a cooking merit badge, managed to build a cooking stove by assembling rocks in the woods.
And with his meager allotment of only three matches, he lit a fire and made rice pudding.
For Linam, who was born July 21 , 1920, joining the Boy Scouts of America happened because he was living in the same Texarkana, Texas, neighbourhood that a Scoutmaster lived in back in 1932.
"He lived about a block west of me and there were also Scouts living in the neighborhood, so I just decided to join them because it sounded like fun," Linam said "I asked if I could join and at the time I didn't have the $1.25 entree fee required to join, but after I collected a basket of Irish potatoes for the Scouts, they let me join since I gave them something they needed."
Besides knot tying, Linam said he enjoyed learning Morse code flag signaling, first aid, campfire building and other skills.
Once he had visited Camp Pioneer, which had to be sold recently, Linam, 15 at the time, said he especially enjoyed hiking on the nature trails and getting to camp out overnight.
"We actually had barracks to live and sleep in," he said. "I was really impressed with the camp because the whole area was surrounded by woods and the creek water was cool enough to swim in during the summer.
"We were there just one time, for one week back in 1935, but I've always remembered it and I was heartbroken when I heard it had to close. But I will always remember it."