50th Anniversary Winnebago Scout Reservation, Winnebago Council

Winnebago Scout Reservation, better known as WSR, celebrated its 50th Anniversary this last weekend with a fall camporee. Elizabeth and I joined the troop, her first camp out past the front yard.

Friday, September 26th

Al checks in with Tammy. " Roster? We need one of those?"

Tents and dining fly are set up. Its cracker barrel time.

Saturday, September27th

Breakfast is served thanks to Greg, the morning cook for the adults.

Scrambling up some eggs. Scouts cook for themselves.


Morning flags.

Off to rifles.

Elizabeth tries archery.

There is plenty of lashing involved with building a gateway. It was pretty neat to see the guys (and E) problem solve, find building materials, and construct. The older guys helped younger Scouts. The way it's suppose to be.

Lunch time.


Christopher made it up in time for lunch.
Doing dishes the Scout way.

One of the afternoon activities was water ball.


One of the judges is an architect that got his start in
design and construction in Scouts building structures such as these.

Mixing up pineapple upside down cake for the Scout dessert cook off.

Ready for baking in the dutch oven.

Off to the judging.

Well...it tasted great anyway. After the judges got their tasting portion,
the rest of the cake was taken care of while we waited for
Elizabeth to talk to the judges about the cake.

Here is an entry for the main dish adult division.
It looked beautiful and smelled wonderful. It won.

Casey got his biking fix on a camp bike. He said it was
one of his favorite things for the weekend.

Pizza dough is ready to go.

I got to hang out all weekend with 9 Dads.

Winners of the gateway competition.

The camp celebrated with a great program and some spectacular fireworks.
The troop ended the day on a sugar high (smores).

Sunday, September 28th

We load up on our way to breakfast.

The old dinning hall.

Still hanging. Woodbadge 6 years ago. Can it be that long ago?
I enjoyed woodbadge. I'm lucky that 2 patrol members are in T55,Deb and Chuck. I see Jeff and Gaylen on occasion. I don't believe Marty is involved with scouts anymore.
We really jelled as a group.

Favorite part of your weekend?
Mtn bike riding, fireworks, gateway, cooking, taking pictures.

Policing the grounds. Then fluff the grass.


Later that day I went on a bike ride with Mary and Holly and saw these Scouts doing a service project on the bike trail. Good job Pack 55, Den 2.

I enjoyed the weekend. Getting to know the guys from the troop was fun if not interesting. Camping really makes you appreciate the little things. I really appreciated my bed.

Take care and take pictures,
Kim

Flood, Reminders are Everywhere.

Three plus months after the flood, a common topic is still flood: recovery, dealing with and trying to move on. You see signs everywhere. Every person still has been affected in some way, whether catastrophic or in a lesser way. I believe that it is times of difficulty not the smooth sailing that unites people against a common enemy. Long term or short lived, these times of banding together can erase the lines of the categories that we think separate us. We truly become one people. A theory that is proved true over and over again by history. Enough reflection. Have a great day!

People are going into the woods and
gathering the stuff that the flood washed over the banks.
Who knows where this is washed down from.

This heavy log rests on the slender branches-a reminder of the power and craziness of water.


Corn was washed down from the grain bins after they burst.
Yet another reminder of the waters that were everywhere.

It was a nice little spin with Mary, my lifesaver,
who got me out to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Take care and take lots of pictures.
-Kim
P.S. Washington Park club house is still standing.
We did not feel brave enough to go over and peek inside.

Gunderburger!

This weekend, while my sister was out mountain bike racing at Chequamegon, Wisconsin, (She used Leadville to warm up for this race just like Lance used Leadville to warm up for the Tour next summer. That's my observation) She did fantastic by placing 1st in her age group and placing 7th of all the women and 120th of all the racers ( there was well over 800), we stayed at home enjoying a 3 day weekend. We capped it off by doing a mini road trip to Gunder, Iowa.

Gunder, Iowa is home to The Irish Shanti, and birthplace to the Gunderburger. We have heard about this and wanted to see and taste for ourselves. It took a little over an hour to get there from Cedar Falls. It is on the list of Worlds 100 Best Restaurants, Essential Iowa Food, Des Moines Register (July 9, 2006, 100 Things to Eat in Iowa Before You Die.
But don't just read about it. Drive out and eat one yourself!

We arrived about 6:40 after calling them to tell them
not to turn their grills off before we got there.

Pictures were taken to tell the guys tomorrow.

All dressed up and ready to go.

I like mine clean.

Member of the clean plate club.

Owner Kevin Walsh does a Kilroy or a Wilson from Home Improvement.
Kevin is from Boston and noticed the NY Yankee shirt right away.
We told him, yes were embarrassed and "yes" he is adopted.

Christopher also joined the ranks of the clean plate club. Placing a DNF, Did Not Finish, I took a large portion of mine home. Elizabeth stuck to her tried but true chicken tender/sticks/strips.

It was a very nice time spent together. Here's to another spur of the moment road trip!

Take care and take lots of pictures.
Kim

Farewell to Washington Park Golf Course

For 81 years the golfers of Cedar Falls were treated to a fun 9 hole course. Yearly fights with flood water came to an end this year with the catastrophic flooding that was as high as the rafters of the clubhouse.

My friend Mary and I rode down to check out what is left of the course and to say good bye. We have both played rounds there. She with her husband and I played quite a few times with my dad, brother and boyfriend. Fond memories were recalled. I can still vividly remember hitting the clubhouse off the first tee and the lady coming out to yell at me to, "Stop doing that." As if I meant to do that. Mary and I had both heard the "bonk" when balls driven off the first tee hit a hood or two. Of course I NEVER parked on the south side of the clubhouse. I knew better.

Looking in the driveway at the south end of the course.
It has been plowed up and reseeded.

The club house will be coming down soon.


You can make out the vinyl chairs . The white you see is mold. Yuck. We are looking through mold on growing on the windows. Mary wondered if the Hole In One board was still around. She said names were written on Popsicle sticks.

These pull carts were left behind by the flood.

The only tracks on the course now.

Looking down the first fairway. The cars were parked off to the left.

All that's left of the ball washer over by the northeast side of the long pond.


Was this sand from the sand traps? I was told there were no sand traps on this course.

You can see the line of the water on these mature trees.

All that's left of the pond by the 8th hole.
Water near the top of the bowl when I last played.

Goodbye Washington Park. You will live on in the memories of many generations of Cedar Falls golfers.

Take care and take pictures,
Kim