The Lancaster Pirate Ship, 1995

The black pirate ship at Cubworld, officially known as the Lancaster Pirate ship, used to float. When CubWorld opened in 1995, the ship was moored to a set of floating docks. The floating docks formed the boundaries for the swimming area, which of course was the same swimming area that had been used by Camp Murrey since 1960. The boat never “sailed,” but it sure looked real and Cubs loved to play on it.

Seen here is the Lancaster Pirate ship in as close to pristine condition as it could ever be. The photo was taken in December 1995/January 1996, which means while dedications had already occurred, CubWorld itself had yet to experience a working summer. Thus, the pirate ship basically had not yet been used, except for a small handful of kids at the October dedications.

The Lancaster Pirate ship floating in Spencer Creek, 1995. Photo by Russ Parham.

Monkey Bridges, 1986

When Green Bar Bill visited Boxwell in 1986, he brought several things with him. He brought the song “Bananas, Coconuts, and Grapes.” With Lance Ussery, he brought a reservation-wide orienteering course. And he brought a love of monkey bridges.

At Hillcourt’s request (and because they could finally get REAL rope from Tom Willhite), the Activity Yard built a large monkey bridge outside of Craig program cabin. Seen here are three shots of that bridge in action in the summer of 1986. In the background of one, you can also see a tripod and pioneering poles as the Activity Yard was located in that thicket of privet at the time. The bridge is too high by modern standards, but the Scouts loved it.

Craig Monkey Bridge, 1986. Photo by Kerry Parker

Craig Monkey Bridge, 1986. Photo by Kerry Parker.

Sunday Night Campfire Area

In recent years, both Stahlman and Craig have abandoned the two-campfire area approach. They still have two campfires, but have them both in the same location. CubWorld has always had just the one campfire area.

But it was not always this way. All three Boy Scout resident camps had two campfire areas, one for the opening campfire and one for the closing campfire and these were used for decades. Seen here is Stahlman’s Sunday Night campfire area in 1979. Now abandoned, this area is actually located off the road to the OA Lodge, making it a little bit of a hike from the dining hall. Still, the arena aspect of the site made it a great area to use!

Sunday Night Campfire Area, Camp Stahlman, 1979. Photo by Russ Parham.