First-Year Memories Collected stories from alumni’s first years on Kia Kima staff

My first week on camp staff, we had campers interested in joining staff eating ice cream in the Cherokee Staff Center on a Wednesday. The staff all went around the room telling campers what our favorite things were about being on staff. Having only been on staff for a few days, I didn’t have a lot to share yet, but I didn’t want campers knowing how new I was. to try to see how amazing it was. I thought it sounded good and wasn’t the stock answer about being able to pee wherever we wanted all summer. I said it with as much confidence as I could. The Cherokee Program Director called me out by saying that I would definitely know all about it after all of half a week! It taught me that sometimes bluffing is a bad idea. Patrick Howie First Year: 2003 - Cherokee Scoutcraft - Black Staff Shirts

I gave some answer about it being an awesome experience that they would just have

I had recently moved to Memphis from another council in north Florida so I wasn’t familiar with Kia Kima, nor did I know anyone on staff. My first morning of staff week in 1993, I was awoken with extremely loud music from the “bungalow” and also a seemingly grumpy and impatient Jeff Hodge walking tent to tent yelling at all of us first years to get our butts out of bed and that “if we don’t work, we don’t eat!” The older guys had this work ethic that was tough, but they made it fun at the same time. I still remember hoping to be picked to be on a crew with Paul and Jim, Ken and Boksa, Stew and Walter, Hodge and Allen, Donnie and Ricky, or any other combo from that era, as you knew the work would be tough, but you could slowly earn respect as a hard worker and prove yourself as a valuable member of staff. The “old guys” preached a love of camp to everyone and built a sense of loyalty around it. So much so that even while folding tents in the blazing sun in front of Central Showers, you were sad the summer was over, but at the same time you couldn’t wait for next year. Everyone who has ever worked camp knows that feeling. From plat moves to trash runs, from compound crews to campsite cleanups, this standing tradition of making work fun continues today as I see a new staff every year singing songs and enjoying work while on one of these crews. Brian Leith First Year: 1993 - Osage Nature Lodge - Dark Green Staff Shirts

There are so many memories from my first year, and I could write a short novel about my memories. Some highlights though include the Team Spirit, our pre-camp training, and MANY rain-soaked hikes led by Program Director, Roy Riddick. I spent summer after summer working at camp. I kept coming back because I loved teaching aquatics (swimming, life saving, canoeing, and rowing). Which all led to my eventual position as Waterfront Director in 1957 and 1958. David Fleming First Year: 1954 - Prov. Scoutmaster, Administrator/Banker, Waterfront White Staff Shirts with a Colorful Thunderbird

#KiaKimaWorldTour

Chuck Barber

The White House — Washington, D.C.

Andrew Schrack

The Valley of the Gods — Utah

I turned 16 in the spring of 1984 and came to work on Camp Cherokee’s Camping/Pioneering Staff. The staff lived up on Tick Hill, which is now where Ozark Venture Base is located. During Staff Week, guys like Johnny Mac or Jimmy Henley would bring over one of the kamp trucks and haul us to the dining hall for breakfast and then on over to CC to set up camp and back and forth as needed for meals. One Thursday, Cranor Roberts and I were setting up our program area. We were putting up tarps over our tables, and, being the new guy, I was tasked with holding the peg while Cranor drove it in with the backside of an axe. Needless to say, I got a nice scar on the back of my right hand that morning when Cranor missed. First trip to the Health Lodge that day. A little gauze and tape later, back to work. Later that afternoon we were loading up in Brown Truck for supper. I happened to be one of the last guys to the truck, and my options were to walk from Cherokee to the dining hall or stand on the bumper and hold onto the tailgate. Jimmy Henley was driving, and he didn’t waste any time getting to the dining hall. I made it all the way to the last big left-hand curve to the dining hall: the curve in front of the current Osage Staff Area. Gravity took over, and the last thing I remember was flying through the air. My next few memories are patched together— flashes of being driven to the hospital and waking up freezing in the Health Lodge air conditioning. My first real memory was from the next morning as Keith “Mr. V” Von Almen’s gravelly, grandpa voice asking me if I was okay, and if I wanted breakfast. “Yes sir,” I responded, “I’m pretty darn hungry, but I’ve got this headache.” When we go to the dining hall, I was greeted by a wave of cheers, yelling, “TRUCK! YOU’RE ALIVE!” And then I was back to work that afternoon. In the end, I had broken my face/head (fractured right maxilla with maxillary sinus involvement) and had a concussion. These were worth ending up with a lifelong nickname and a curve—that same curve in front of the Osage Staff Area—being named after me. A few days later, a “Robinson Curve” sign appeared on a cedar tree before the curve, but not a soul would own up to who put it there. Dave “Truck” Robinson First Year: 1984 - Cherokee Camping/Pioneering - White Staff Shirts

My first year of camp staff was 2015. I remember wanting to be a part of the Cub Camp campfire skit. But unfortunately I didn’t get the role. They gave me and a few others the role of being flies in the background. I was a little disappointed but still excited to participate. When it came time for the skit, all of my disappointed thoughts went out the window. I remember having the best time with people I had just met. We had no lines at all. We literally just ran around buzzing, but it was the most fun ever. It really taught me that no role at Kia Kima is too small because you feel just as important. It was also cool having a Scout run up to me afterwards asking if I was a fly in the skit. In that moment I gained a memory and friends that would last a lifetime Malik McIntyre First Year: 2015 - Osage Tech Center - Brown Staff Shirts

My first year, Erin Coates, Sarah Kelly, and I had a tent fortress over in the Cherokee Staff Area. I was on one side with the biggest plat porch, and Erin and Sarah’s tents directly faced mine. We had tarps stretched out, and it almost all connected to one glorious hangout spot. One evening, I got a grand idea to pierce my cartilage, and Chris Carlisle offered to do it. After a trip to Walmart for supplies, we all gathered on the porch, and Chris started the piercing. When he felt the cartilage of my ear crinkle, he got queasy and turned a little white. So I grabbed the ice cube from his hand and finished the job myself. Jeremy Palazolo, who was just the Cherokee Camp Director at the time, teased Chris mercilessly about it, saying that I was tougher than Chris could ever hope to be. We were some of the first girls to ever live in the Cherokee Staff Area, and we definitely felt like we had to prove our stuff and show we were tough enough to “rough it” over in nature with the boys of Cherokee. And having this moment on my résumé really helped to show that I really had what it took to be a true Cherokeean. Jonea Mohn First Year: 2008 - Cherokee Waterfront Director - Black Staff Shirts

Before coming to Kia Kima, I had spent two summers working for Camp Orr on the Buffalo River. My mom, Rhonda Wright, convinced me to come work with her at Kia Kima where she had already been working for two summers. Needless to say, I was nervous. Orr had felt like home, and as much as my mom reassured me that I would love Kia Kima, I just wasn’t sure it would ever be the same. She whispered to me, “You don’t know me, but I’ve heard so much about you, and we are going to be best friends.” I don’t know if I did a good job of hiding how confused and freaked out I was, but it didn’t matter. Within five minutes, Erin and Rhonda had me thrown into a camp truck for my first work crew, collecting benches from Cherokee. Hannah Wright First Year: 2010 - Life to Eagle, Climbing - Skin-colored Tan Staff Shirts

As we drove into camp for the first time, passing each sign that displayed the Scout Law, the nerves hit hard. Just through the gates of this new camp, my mom pulled over at the triangle to chat with Jim Charbonnet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bundle of curly red hair sprinting across the lawn towards my mom’s van. Before I could do anything, this girl, who I would later find out was the wonderful Erin Coates, threw herself through my open car window, and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. By the end of the work crew, any nervousness I felt was gone. And by the end of the summer, Erin’s promise had come true. To this day, Erin Coates is my go-to adventure partner, and like many, many other friends I’ve made through camp, Erin is essentially my family.

To this day, I still get nervous tingles when I come into camp, but not because I’m unsure. It’s because my mom was right, I love this camp, and Kia Kima feels more like home than any other camp could. ⛺

Past Issues issuu.com/KiaKimaAlumni

Fall 2019 “Welcoming Girls into the Scouting Program and Kia Kima” by Ken Kimble “Leadership in Service” by Chuck Barber Museum Excerpt: The Name “Kia Kima” 2019 Program Director Reports

Winter 2019 Alumni Spotlight: R.J. Case “The One That ‘Goes’” by Erin Coates

Camp Memories by Michael Honey 2018 Awards

Fall 2018 Alumni Spotlight: Boyd Billingsley “The Fire at Philmont” “End of My First Year” by Noah Feder 2018 Program Director Reports Cherokee Tech Center

Spring 2018 Alumni Spotlight: Brian “Jethro” Day Meet the Ranger: Mike Holder “First Year on Staff” by Noah Feder History: The Ma’kya Trail

Winter 2018 Alumni Spotlight: Ken Kimble “Hardy to Honduras” by Kevin Kuehl

History: Masera/Mesara/Mesera?