Chapter 41

Saturday, June 11th

I woke to the sound of my cell phone ringing. Groggily I answered, "Yeah?"

"GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED, LITTLE BROTHER!" my brother Will commanded. "We got work to do at camp today."

"I said I would be there by one o'clock," I replied. "I'll be there. I just want to enjoy one more morning of sleeping in."

"One o'clock sharp!" Will said.

"I'll be there," I agreed before I clicked my phone off. Will could just leave me a message on my voice mail if he called to bother me again. I slept another hour before showering, getting dressed in my uniform and heading out.

Noah, Connor and Hunter got hugs and kisses before I left. I said good bye to Mom, Dad and Liz before I left. Andy was at work. I had said good bye to him last night. I hopped in my car and headed for camp. I grabbed some lunch on the north side of Lancaster. I pulled into the parking lot at camp around 12:45, earlier than I promised my brother (and boss).

I checked in at the office with Rob Young. Rob was returning as program director again this year. We talked for a couple minutes then Rob sent me in to see Mr. Holloway, the camp director.

"Kyle, it's good to have you back at camp," Mr. Holloway said as he stepped from behind his desk and shook my hand.

"It's good to be here, sir," I replied.

"Don't stand on formality, Kyle," Mr. Holloway replied. "You're senior staff now. Call me, John."

"OK, I will ... John," I agreed.

"Your brother and sister-in-law arrived about half an hour ago. Get your things in a tent, see Abby with your medical and then get over to the pool. Your brother is anxious to get things set up over there."

"I know," I agreed. "He woke me out of a sound sleep to make sure I would be here on time."

"That sounds like your brother," John said. "You better get to the health lodge, see Abby and then get over to the pool."

"On the way," I said as I headed out the door.

Abby gave my medical form a pro forma look-over and sent me on the pool. Will was working on cleaning the pool office. He sent me to clean the staff showers while we waited for senior staff to show up for their swim tests.

When I finished with the showers I said, "All done, Will," as I set down the mop and bucket.

"Excellent," he replied. "Hop in the pool and take your swim test."

"Swim test?" I teased. "Why in the hell does the assistant aquatics director need to do a swim test?" I knew the BSA policy but I couldn't resist tweaking my brother.

"Every person in a scout camp takes a swim test," Will answered patiently. "You know that."

I headed down to the deep end of the pool as I talked, Will following me. "Who gave you your swim test?"

"Course director at National Camp School," Will said.

I stood at the side waiting for Will to tell me to go. I jumped in when he gave me a nod. When I came to the surface I yelled, "What happens if I don't pass this test?"

I took off down the pool. Will yelled back, "You're pretty handy with that bucket and mop. I could put you in charge of cleaning up this place."

I flew through the first three lengths using freestyle and then rolled over on my back. I used my best form on the elementary backstroke as I glided back to the deep end of the pool. Will pulled me out seconds after I started floating on my back.

"Red, white and blue," Will announced. The two of us walked back to the office. Will made out a buddy tag for me, colored it in and handed it to me. I placed the tag on the buddy board in the staff section.

A steady stream of senior staff came to the pool for their swim tests over the next hour. It was reunion time for our staff. Almost everyone had worked at our camp previous years. Paul Carpenter, the shooting sports director, was the only new hire among the senior staff. Ed Fritz, Eric Connell and Dustin Carter were being promoted to senior staff this year. Nancy Clark was head cook again. Mike Lafferty was running campcraft for his second year. Sean Clark had the nature department again. Sue Smith was in here for her tenth year as handicraft director. Dan Beiler would supervise the CITs. Eric got permission for Sammy Hoover to arrive a day early so she could ride to camp with him. Sammy was Sue's assistant director this season.

Will briefed Dustin, Eric and me about pool operation after the swim tests were over. Any of the four of us would need to be able to regulate the chlorination system, filters and pumps during the summer.

Will opened up the pool from four to five pm for a staff swim. Nancy cooked a nice dinner for us. After dinner John and Rob reviewed the training plans and daily schedule for the staff. I volunteered to give the Effective Teaching lecture on Monday evening. Others volunteered to lead various training sessions during the week.

During the day on Monday and Tuesday the staff would finish erecting tents and setting up campsites in the troop's camps. The OA (Order of the Arrow) had done good work the previous weekend but hadn't finished all the set up at camp. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday would be spent setting up our merit badge areas and reviewing the teaching sessions for each merit badge.

Will and I would have the whole staff at the pool on Wednesday working on Swimming and Lifesaving skills. Thursday Dustin and Eric would check out the entire aquatics staff with the rowboats and canoes. Will wanted every staff member to be able to teach anything in our program area.

Eric, Ed and I set up the computers in the staff lounge that evening. I wanted to be able to keep in touch with my sweetie. I sent an e-mail off to Kelly before Ed and I headed back to our tent to work out.

"Do you mind if I join you, guys?" Dustin asked.

"Sure man," Ed said. "You're always welcome."

"Absolutely," I agreed. "It's good to stay in shape even if you don't have to worry about playing football anymore."

"Actually," Dustin responded. "I may still be playing football."

"Oh? Last summer you told me you didn't plan to play football in college," I said. "What happened?"

"After I confirmed my acceptance at Shippensburg the football coach called me and asked me to try out for the team," Dustin explained. "I'll be a walk-on and I'm not guaranteed a spot on the team. Still, it's football and I love it."

"Good for you, Dustin," I said.

"Who knows?" Dustin replied. "Maybe I've learned enough trying to cover you in the past three summers so that I can play decently against other Division II players."

"Let's see if we can get you ready for college football," Ed said.

The three of us lifted and then took off out the camp road for the entrance. Dustin did a good job keeping up with us on the three and a half mile run. It was impressive that he kept up with us given the training regimen Ed and I had been on for the past six years.

Will, Eric, Dustin and I cleaned the pool Sunday after breakfast. Ed, Dustin and I used our free time later in the morning to toss the football around and to relax. The remainder of the staff came in after lunch. Will, Eric, Dustin and I ran all twenty-seven junior staffers and eighteen CITs through swim tests.

Chip Brinton was one of the first to arrive at the pool. We exchanged high fives when we met. "What do you think of our camp?"

"Nice," Chip agreed. "It's different but it looks well kept. I love this new pool."

"New?" I asked incredulously. "They built the pool when the camp opened. That was in 1969."

"Exactly," Chip replied. "Camp Horseshoe's pool is almost eighty years old. Everything is about tradition at my camp."

"Cool it with the 'my camp' around here," I said. "We take pride in our camp. I don't want the other guys getting bent out of shape while you praise your camp. You work here this summer."

"Point taken," Chip replied. "I like my camp here," as he gestured an arm towards the office and dining hall. "What's next, boss?"

"Go see Eric down at the end of the pool for your swim test," I directed. "After that you can go move into the staff area."

"Do you have room in your tent?" Chip asked. "I wouldn't mind rooming with you again like we did a couple years ago."

"Sorry, man," I replied. "Ed Fritz and I always tent together. We have since we started scouts. You'll have to look around for another tent mate."

"OK, that's cool," Chip said. "I'll catch up to you later."

He headed down the side of the pool and checked in with Eric for his swim test. A steady stream of staffers showed up. A lot of the guys had worked here previous years. It made the afternoon a reunion of sorts, since most of us hadn't seen each other since last summer.

About a quarter of the guys looked a little lost and bewildered as they went through the check-in process, they were new to staff. The youngest, greenest of the new guys were the CITs – counselors in training.

Matt Sauder, Cody Stevens and Dave Mitchell came in the middle of the crowd of staffers arriving for their swim tests. My younger friends were in a boisterous mood. Cody summed their feelings up best when he said, "We get to spend the whole summer in scout camp and they pay us! If there is a better job, I don't know what it is."

Matt, Cody and Dave were done with their swim tests and were standing with me while I made out their buddy tags when Josh Hunsecker arrived at the pool. I knew Dave and Josh tented together last summer but I was surprised at the obvious delight on each boy's face when they greeted each other with bear hugs. The three kids from my school hung out and waited until Josh finished his swim test before the four of them headed back to the staff site to change.

Patrick Finnegan's appearance surprised me when he showed up. I remembered Patrick from two summer ago when he worked at the aquatics area for a few weeks with his older brother Justin. Patrick was a scrawny kid, maybe 5'-7" back then. He was around 6'-1" now and hairy! I don't know many seventeen year olds who can grow a decent beard but Patrick could.

Patrick's older brother Justin used to be the assistant aquatics director at the pool for my brother Will. Justin stopped working at camp two summers ago when his parents were killed in a car accident. Justin, who was twenty at the time, had to take care of fifteen year old Patrick and twelve year old Niki.

I caught up on Patrick's life when he finished his test. Justin graduated from Millersville University last month and got a job with WLAN, the local radio station. He was working as an assistant to the program director for the station. Patrick had one more year of high school. Niki was doing well. She would start high school in the fall.

The three siblings had adjusted to life after their parent's death. Justin encouraged Patrick to come work at camp this summer in spite of Patrick's misgivings. Patrick felt he should stick around home to help with Niki while Justin was at work. Both Niki and Justin disagreed and convinced him to go and have a normal summer for a teenager. Niki could get help from a neighbor lady if anything went wrong.

More of my staff arrived. Pete Good, a sixteen year old I knew from last season who worked with Trent at the pool came next. I knew Alex Maddox from last season. He was a fifteen year old guy who worked as a CIT last summer. He had worked with me one week down at the boat docks. The last guy on my staff to arrive was Adam Zimmerman. I didn't know Adam well. He was a CIT in the second half of the season. He didn't work in the aquatics area before I headed back to State College for football camp. Eric, Dustin and Will all assured me that I would like Adam's work this summer.

Two familiar faces from my scout troop showed up as we were finishing the swim tests. I had wondered when they would arrive. Gary Harrison and Chris Nauman got a ride with Chris's dad, Mr. Nauman. They got caught up in traffic around Lancaster. I wasn't really surprised they were late when I heard Mr. Nauman gave them a ride. He was notorious in our scout troop for being late for nearly everything.

"You guys getting settled into camp?" I asked as I gave each of the boys from my troop a high five.

"I guess," Chris said.

"It's weird being here without Mr. Clark and the rest of the troop," Gary added.

"You'll get used to it," I replied. "After all, our troop or crew has eleven people on staff this summer."

"That many?" Gary asked.

"Me, Will, Abby, Ed, Eric, Samantha, Matt, Cody, Dave..." I said counting them off on m fingers. " ... and you two. You will have fun."

"I know," Gary agreed. "Cody and Dave told me about what it was like when they were CITs last summer. I'm especially looking forward to working with you some more on football. Do you plan to do passing drills after lunch the way you did last year?"

"Absolutely," I replied. "One of the quarterbacks from Penn State is working here this summer so he can work out with me."

"Really?" Gary asked. "That's pretty cool. You taught me so much the last three weeks of school. I can't wait for football camp so the coaches can see what I have learned."

"I'm sure they will be pleased. You guys go see Eric for your swim test," I directed. "I'll talk with you some more later."

"See you, Kyle," "See you later," The two boys replied as they headed for Eric at the opposite end of the pool.

Will, Eric, Dustin and I closed down the pool after Gary and Chris finished their tests. We headed back to the staff area and hung out until dinner time. Most of the staff spent the afternoon moving into their quarters. Chip ended up bunking with Patrick Finnegan near the tent Ed and I shared.

After dinner Sunday night Mr. Holloway, er ... John had every member of the staff introduce themselves and briefly talk about their experience in scouting. He went over the staff code of conduct, reminding us that alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs were grounds for dismissal. Having sex in camp was also grounds for firing.

That was more significant than it had been when I started working there five summers earlier. The staff was all male then. Now three other female Venturers worked in camp beside Eric's girlfriend, Sammy Hoover. One worked in the kitchen, a second worked with Sammy in handicraft and the third worked in the camp office.

After John dismissed the staff everyone headed back to the staff area. Will, Ed and I invited Chip to workout with us. Gary Harrison joined Matt, Cody, Josh and Dave in working out with Matt's weight set. All nine of us did the three and a half mile run out to the camp entrance and back after that.

Gary lagged behind on the run. I dropped back and talked with him about the importance of workouts if he wanted to stand out in football in high school or college. He understood. Gary remembered how his brother Greg had been fanatical about lifting weights and running.

All of Monday and most of Tuesday were spent setting up tents, dining flies and picnic tables in campsites. Will opened the pool for an hour each afternoon before dinner so everyone could relax and cool down.

Monday evening I did my effective teaching lecture to the staff. I emphasized the demonstrating and enabling the learners to try the skill as opposed to pure lecture. The scouts were in camp voluntarily. Camp needed to be VERY different from the lectures the campers were used to at school.

The staff broke up by program area around two o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, after the last campsite was set up. Will and I took our staff over to the pool and started reviewing and testing all aquatics staff members on the Swimming Merit Badge skills. Will went over emergency procedures too before the staff swim.

"You feeling, OK Abby? I asked at breakfast Wednesday. I noticed this was the second morning in a row she barely ate.

"It's just a little upset stomach," Abby explained. "I'm going to the doctor for a checkup in the afternoon."

"I hope everything goes well," I said.

Will and I drilled our staff at the pool that day on the remainder of Swimming Merit Badge and then moved on to Lifesaving Merit Badge skills. I didn't think about Abby again until lunch time. She missed lunch with the staff.

Will and I finished drilling our staff on Lifesaving Merit Badge after lunch. We did a neck or back injury drill at the end of the afternoon. Will had me be the victim. The guys did not do very well on the first try. They didn't come close to drowning me but a normal swimmer would have been in trouble. Will made the guys repeat the drill. This time they got me immobilized and out of the water successfully without risking neck injury to me.

Will had me run the staff swim that afternoon. Rob Young came over and hung out at the pool during the swim. He provided the adult supervision component necessary for me to run a safe swim.

I was surprised when Will and Abby missed dinner. John Holloway told me they were having a private dinner at their cabin. Will showed up in the dining hall after dinner just before John started his evening lecture on emergency procedures, hard cover and youth protection.

I finally got to talk to Will after the evening training was over. I let Ed and Chip do their weights first. It gave me a chance to talk with my brother.

"How did Abby's checkup go this afternoon?" I asked. "Is everything OK?"

Will stared at me for a few seconds, took a deep breath and let it out. "What the hell," he said. "You're going to know soon enough." He broke into a big grin. "You're going to be an uncle again."

"Abby and you are going to have a baby?" I gushed. "That's such good news." I gave Will a slap on the back. "How far along is Abby?"

"Five and half weeks," Will replied. "She is due February 7th."

"Congratulations 'dad'," I replied. "This is wonderful news."

"Yeah, congrats, Will," Ed added. "This is excellent news."

"Truly excellent," Chip agreed.

Will looked into my eyes. "You seem a little surprised, Kyle."

"I didn't think you and Abby would be starting a family quite this soon," I replied. "I kind of expected that you would want to wait until after Abby finished med school and her internship."

"That was the original plan," Will agreed. He gave us a sheepish smile. "Abby and I weren't trying to have a baby just yet. Let's say we haven't been as vigilant as we could have been with our birth control. We're twenty-four, married and have a place of our own. Starting our family now isn't the end of the world."

"No, it isn't," I said. "I think it's a wonderful thing." Ed and Chip agreed. Matt, Cody, Dave and Josh offered their congratulations when they heard just before we did our evening run. I passed the news on to Kelly later that evening before I went to bed.

Thursday the whole aquatics staff went down to the boat yard. Eric and Dustin had everyone go through their rowing and canoeing skills to make sure they were ready to fill in at the boat yard if needed during the summer. Will and I mostly observed, letting Dustin and Eric take the lead that day.

Chip had done pretty well with the swimming and lifesaving skills Tuesday and Wednesday. He was OK at canoeing. His troop did a lot of canoeing during the year. Chip wasn't good at rowing. He explained that Horseshoe, the camp where he learned, used the Octoraro Creek for boating. It was 20 yards wide at the boat yard. The deep pool where scout canoed and rowed might have been a hundred yards long before the creek got too shallow.

Chip's innate athleticism showed during the day. Frankly, he sucked at rowing in the morning. By the end of the day he did OK. Will did not plan to send him down to the boat yard, except in an emergency. He would be with me at the pool for the whole summer.

Chip and I packed up our things Thursday night after our run. The two of us needed to leave camp immediately after breakfast on Friday to drive up to State College for the weekend football camp. Matt, Cody, Dave and Josh were getting a ride with Josh's dad Friday afternoon. Cody's dad was going to bring the four boys back to camp late Sunday afternoon.

The drive up to State College was routine on Friday morning. I pulled into the parking lot in front of the Lasch Building around 11:30 am. Our appointment with Coach Burton wasn't until 1:00 pm, but both of us hoped to snag lunch by getting our eLion cards loaded up with credits early. We headed inside to see Marie at the reception desk.

"Hey, Marie, how's it going?" I asked with a big smile. "Is Coach Burton in?"

"Hey, Marie," Chip added.

"Sorry boys, no luck," Marie replied. "You just missed him. He left for lunch a few minutes ago. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"We were hoping we could our meal credits a little early," I explained. "We didn't get lunch on the way up here."

"Sorry guys, no can do," Marie replied. "That's already set up – dinner tonight through lunch on Sunday."

I turned to Chip and asked, "Baby's?"

"Baby's," Chip agreed with a nod. "Burgers, shakes and fries."

"Tell Coach we'll be back by one o'clock," I said.

"I'll do that, boys," Marie replied. "Enjoy your lunch. I'll see you later."

Chip and I walked downtown to Allen Street. Baby's wasn't busy. We enjoyed the burgers, fries and shakes at the retro 50's restaurant. We were back in plenty of time for our meeting with Coach Burton.

Chip and I found out who the other resident assistants were for the weekend while we waited for Coach. They were Josh Bruno and Shawn Byrd. The four of us talked until Coach called us into his office.

Our primary duties for the weekend were to look after the kids when they weren't at practice or meetings. We would check them into the dorms, get them to meals, do bed checks at night and get them to meetings and practices. We were welcome to help coach the kids if we wanted, but it wasn't required.

Coach sent us on to the housing office in East Halls when he was done. We met with Mr. Johnson, from Housing and Food Services. He charged up our eLion cards for the weekend. He took us over to McKean Hall, the dorm we would be staying in for the weekend. The third and fourth floors were reserved for the football camp.

Chip and I took the third floor while Josh and Shawn took responsibility for the fourth. Mr. Johnson gave us the paperwork with the room assignments and keys for all the rooms on our floor. We didn't use the regular RA's room since it didn't have beds for two. We took the next room down the hall near the elevators.

Chip and I went upstairs to Josh and Shawn's room after we moved our stuff into our room. The four of us talked for a few minutes, trying to decide how to kill a couple hours until it was time for dinner.

"I wonder what Jay is up to?" I asked. I knew Jay was taking summer classes.

"Anybody got his number?" Shawn asked.

"I do," I answered. I dialed his cell phone right away.

"Hey Jay, it's Kyle," I said when Jay picked up. "I was wondering what you were up to."

"Just chilling," Jay answered. "I finished rehab half an hour ago. You got free time at the pool?"

"No, I'm here with Chip, Josh and Shawn," I explained. "We're on campus this weekend helping with the high school football camp. We were wondering if you wanted to hang out for awhile."

"Sure, that's cool," Jay agreed. "Come on over to my apartment. I'm sure I have more space here. They put you up in the dorms right?"

"Yep, that's right," I replied. "Where are you at?"

"#12, Nittany Apartments," Jay said.

"You're in the apartment we have this fall?" I asked. "Cool! I'd love to come over and see my digs for next semester."

"Come on over, guys," Jay said. "I'd love to have some company this afternoon."

The four of us headed down the hill to the apartments. My future residence was in the first row of apartments closest to the Lasch Building. That was going to be convenient. Jay let us in after the first knock. Jay greeted his ex-roommate, Shawn, future roommate, me, and rival for the starting job, Chip, warmly.

Jay took us on a quick tour of the apartment. It was a mirror image of the apartment that Zack, Jake, Evan and J. T. shared this past year. It came with basic furnishings. Jay, Trevor, Damian and I would need to do some decorating and bring a decent TV, sound system and DVD player for our apartment.

Jay took us upstairs. "I hope you don't mind that I took one of the upstairs bedrooms Kyle," Jay said.

"I don't care at all," I agreed. "I don't care where my room is if I get one of my own. It will make things great for Kelly and me next fall."

"Yep, that it will," Jay agreed. The five of us headed back downstairs. I noticed Jay still had a slight limp.

"How's your leg doing?" I asked.

"Not too bad," Jay answered. "I'm about 90% on my range of motion with my ankle. The trainers are finally allowing me to lift. I have a ways to go but I will be there by the end of July."

"You keep working at it, roomie," Shawn added. "We're counting on you."

"I'll be ready, count on it," Jay replied. He pointed at Chip. "You can bet I won't be conceding the starting job to you."

"I never expected you would," Chip answered quickly. " ... but you better be at your best. I'll take the job otherwise."

"We'll see," Jay countered.

Both of my friends let the competition for starting quarterback drop after that. We had seats in the living room and talked. I found out why Jay wasn't helping with the football camp. He already worked one last weekend. Coach Burton wanted to get as many players involved as he could.

We talked for awhile about how last week's camp went. "Does anyone want a beer or something?" Jay asked during a pause in the conversation.

"Maybe sodas," I suggested. "We have to work with a bunch of high school kids and our coaches this evening."

"We should probably pass," Shawn agreed. Jay brought sodas out from the kitchen for the four of us. He did have a beer. We relaxed and discussed the football team's future.

All of us were confident about our team's defense in the fall. We lost one guy on the defensive line, albeit an all-American. Our line would be solid. We lost Karol Zizka from our linebackers. Josh was up to the task of taking over the middle of our defense. Shawn and Tyler would make sure the defensive backs played up to last year's standard.

Offense was going to be the challenge for us in the fall. We lost eight of eleven starters on offense. All of us had read pre-season predictions that identified that problem. We talked about our prospects. None of us expected our team to score the way it did last year. We did feel our offense would take a little time to jell but it would come together in time.

We started off with home games against Boston College and Cincinnati. We expected to win both. We flew out to LA for our third game to play the USC Trojans. We were going to face a lot of pressure that game. We had a bye week after that and then played our Big Ten schedule of games.

The one saving grace for us was that Jay, Chip and the rest of the second string played a lot of minutes last season. Hopefully they would be ready to join Ben Walker, Mahmoud Greene and me as starters in the fall.

Jay, Josh and Shawn asked me how things were going with Kelly. They knew about the fight we had at the end of the semester but didn't know what happened after we headed for home. I assured my friends that Kelly and I had reconciled. I told them about the enjoyable weekend Kelly and I had together at the end of May. They were envious of my getting into a Phillies game and having dinner with Chase Utley.

Jay decided to join the four of us when we headed to the dining hall for an early dinner. I think Jay enjoyed having some friendly company. The campus seemed deserted to my eyes. I was used to the 40,000 students at University Park. Probably 10% of the students were here over the summer.

Josh, Shawn, Chip and I headed for the IM (Intermural) Building for check-in for the camp. We hung out in one end of the gym while athletic department staffers processed the arriving high schoolers. They came over to us one or two at a time as they finished registering, dragging their overnight bags with them. My teammates and I welcomed them, getting their names and making them feel comfortable.

We had collected half a dozen when the first two guys from home joined the group. Matt Sauder greeted me with a hearty, "Hey, Coach, how's it goin'?" followed by a high five.

"Coach, you got everything set up for us?" Cody Stevens added as he joined the group. "Hey Chip, how's things?" he added when he saw Chip in our group.

"I'm good guys," I replied. "Did you guys lose Davey?"

"Nah, the R-Z line was short," Cody answered. Cody gestured towards the line at the registration table and added, "He's still over there registering."

I introduced my friends to Josh and Shawn. Dave Mitchell joined our growing crowd a couple minutes later. He greeted me with a strong hand shake and, "Hey Coach! I guess you guys take us to our rooms?"

"This is the place," I agreed. I was still introducing Dave to the others when Josh Hunsecker and his dad joined the crowd.