“Camp Emerson was the first camp I attended for summer camp in the summer of 1983. I was 10 1/2 years old, I had just finished Webelos and the 5th grade. I had only been part of Troop 44 in Redlands California for a few weeks and I was whisked off to summer camp. I was excited and also very scared. This was my first time away from home for so long and I didn’t know a lot of people in my troop yet. I was young and small and I was very intimidated by the older boys in my troop. My troop had been around for a long time and there was a lot of history and traditions I was still learning. About an hour after we arrived and set up camp it started to rain and it didn’t stop for the entire week. I did not have a waterproof tent so all of my stuff was drenched. My scout master moved me into another tent with two older guys who had obviously been to camp before. Both guys were already Eagle scouts. They both graduated from high school and were over 18. They were going to college and working in Redlands but still hung out with the troop and did a lot of activities with the troop. They hadn’t quite become adult leaders yet, but they weren’t really boys any more either. They had a large waterproof canvas tent that was about 10ft by 10ft and almost 7ft tall. You could easily stand up in it. They also had their own bunk bed cot and a large stash of soda, chips and candy that could easily feed the entire camp. They both slept on the top bunks and they gave me one of the bottom bunks. It was very intimidating that first night. I felt like I was encroaching on their sacred space. That first night was rough because my sleeping bag and all my clothes were wet. It was very uncomfortable. Since it rained all week, my stuff never really dried out. But those guys welcomed me in and were very friendly. I came to really look up to them that week and in the years that followed. It was still a very tough week. Due to the rain we spent a lot of time sitting at picnic tables under tarps. All of that down time made me think about my dry bed at home and I battled some serious homesickness that week. But I did earn my first five merit badges and was on my way to Eagle scout and also bringing other young home sick kids under my wings in the years to come.
Camp Emerson was also the location of the Buckskin Leadership. This was a two week camp for scouts from all over the council (San Bernardino County). That week really pushed my limits mentally and physically. Anyone who has been through Buckskin knows what I’m talking about. We were put into patrols with other Scouts we did not know from all over the Council. We had to come together as a team and learn to work together. We lived together, cooked our food together and competed with other patrols throughout the two weeks. We had surprise campsite inspections in the middle of the night and were awakened by the Buckskin staff to wash our dishes again and clean up our camp at 3am. It was another amazing experience in Scouts that I will never forget.
Camp Emerson also means a lot to me in association with the Order of the Arrow. I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow in June of 1985 and joined the Lodge Ordeal Ceremony team in 1986. I played the part of Meteu the medicine man. I attended every Ordeal at Emerson from 1986-1989. I started as just a ceremony team member. But as I rose in the leadership of the Lodge I found myself planning, running and being the “Ordeal Master” of all of the Ordeals in 1989.
Finally at the Emerson Ordeal of 1988, I was inducted into the Vigil Honor of the Order of the Arrow. My Scout Master Gary Johnson was my guide and gave me my Vigil letter Friday night of the Ordeal, shortly after we arrived. The first words out of my mouth were, “Oh shoot! I got to stay up all night!” I was not the Ordeal Master that year, but I still had a lot of responsibilities the next day and I was hoping to go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep. Gary just laughed and said “Get some warm clothes and come with me.” We met all of the other Vigil candidates and their guides. We went through the Pre-Vigil Honor Ceremony then we were led to our various locations where we would stay up all night tending our Vigil fire. I still remember the location vividly and go up there every once in a while to visit and wander around the camp, reliving good memories. At dawn we attended the Vigil Honor Ceremony where we were given our sashes and became full Vigil Honor members, just in time for breakfast and to get the day started. My pride in wearing the Vigil Honor sash all day and the memories of the night before were more than enough to keep me going all the next day. Closing the day off by conducting the Ordeal Ceremony that night wearing my newly granted Vigil sash is a night I will never forget.”
Bob Blanck
“Camp Emerson was the place of all my best memories as a Scout and as an Order of the Arrow member. Our troop went to Idyllwild every summer and camped there other times of the year. I fondly remember a winter trip, where we stayed in the cabins and snow-showed along the trails. Hikes to Tahquitz Rock were a summer favorite, as was the Lifeguard Merit Badge at the pool. Instead of watching the moon landing, I washed dishes and learned how to make a roux in the kitchen, the summer I was on staff.”
Dick Jackson
My Ordeal, Brotherhood, and Vigil Honor ceremonies were all held at Camp Emerson. And I led ceremony teams for several years there. We even competed at Nationals in 1970, with a memorable trip to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, escorted by Mike Goldware. My personal Scouting and Order of the Arrow journey began in Camp Emerson and was centered there.
“I first went to Camp Emerson, Idyllwild, as a Cub Scout, Den 4, Pack 76, Riverside County Council. Mrs. White was our Den Mother. We ate hamburgers cooked on the old stone barbecues that stood in Wagon Wheel for 60 years. I first lived at Emerson summer 1971, as part of Troop 76, Palm Desert. Camp Emerson is a really good camp for Scouts, BSA between ages 11 and 14, from Riverside, San Bernardino, the Banning Pass, the Coachella Valley. It is wonderful to lower the temperature 15 to 30 degrees F in summer. The lake was a lot more full back then. Emerson was the site of my OA Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil. There are many camp sites lost now, up the steep hill. My favorite was Whispering Pines, where Troop 76 ran the camp-wide penny-ante card games after lights out, in that stone hiding place. I can show you.”
Larry Krikorian
“Camp Emerson, 1969. My first summer camp. Stepping out of the Pontiac Bonneville station wagon, that I rode up in and my first memory is the smell of vanilla from the Jeffrey Pines that surround the parking lot. We camped at Eagles Nest and humped all our gear up the hill.
We cooked in the campsites then and every meal we headed down to the Main Lodge to collect our milk crate full of food and humped it up the hill.
I distinctly remember two camp staff who made a lifelong impression, Terry Tyson, and Kevin Shaughnessy (or Moose). They were true servant leaders, even at that young age. Terry took on a nature hike early mid-week.
The Tahquitz Lodge conducted a tapout, one evening during the week. We were all in a circle near the nature lodge. Two arrow men walked behind the campers and as names were call they would grab them and run over to the other side of Strawberry Creek with the inductees. I believe they finished their ordeal while at camp, so the tapout must have been Wednesday or Thursday night.”
Chris Manning
“It was Camp Emerson where I had my Ordeal. The day’s work, the food, the camaraderie with Scouts from other areas made for a memorable weekend. But the ceremony and receiving my sash were moments I’ll always remember. The following year, I went back to Camp Emerson and had another wonderful weekend and achieved Brotherhood. We were making a difference and helping to make camp a better place for other scouts.
I served on staff three summers at Camp Emerson at the encouragement of Ken Jeske. My first year, on the aquatics staff, the next year with archery. I got my camp name “Thumper” by chasing down a homesick scout, the sounds of my boots thumping on the pavement as I ran. I made great friends at camp and the weekly OA campfire and tapout – Brian Cahill, Kevin Walker, Doug DeWitt and a host of other staff and arrowmen! I remember getting a letter at Camp Emerson, informing me that I was a candidate for Vigil. That was a night I’ll never ever forget as I was encouraged throughout the night by my fellow Vigil Honor arrowmen!
My third time on camp staff as Program Director was sweet as I had met Kitti Coulter at the Scout office. She ordered my uniform… and then put on the badges for me, and later, all four of our sons who attained Eagle Scout.”
Rob Roberts