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72 years of Camp Wilson
Editor’s Note: As Camp Wilson weekend draws near we took the opportunity to scour our microfilm, bound back issues and photo cabinets to find some old pieces on the weekend. We wanted to give new people in our community the chance to understand the long history of the event and to remind long time residents of all the fun times that have been had there. We hope you enjoy this history piece.
Camp Wilson sits on the back side of the Old Casey Ranch, which was owned by Lucile Wilson and her daughter Ann Wilson Neighbor. In the earlier years of Camp Wilson, wanting to reward the Scouts for their hard work and dedication, the families began to change the meal to a pot luck event. Each family contributed part of the meal. This led to the idea of a barbecue in the Scout's honor.
On May 2, in 1997, the 50th anniversary, also known as the Golden Anniversary of Camp Wilson, was celebrated. Boy Scouts, new and previous got together to show the skills they had learned on their journeys. The celebration started on a Friday in the early week of May and would continue until Sunday, finishing with a fantastic large barbecue which has always been open to the public.
On this special Golden Anniversary of Camp Wilson, scout troops came from as far as Mesa, AZ. A number of Boise troop scouts were unable to attend this celebration due to a schedule conflict, which kept the attendance smaller so organizers were able to focus more on scout worthy and tougher competitions between patrols. Scouts started their weekend by making a hike with all of their gear into Camp Wilson from Johnson's Bridge, just North of Pine. The first of the campers got into camp around noon and continued to pile in through Friday afternoon. Scouts started setting up camp and preparing for the opening ceremonies that were to come on Friday evening.For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper's online edition.