By Matt Strother
There have been at least four towers at Camp Bradley
at various times and for various reasons. Some were built for fun, others
for decoration, and others just to show off.
The first was at the waterfront, and was used as a lookout tower until 1998.
The staff always thought it was pretty boring to sit up there, and it took up a lot of
space at the waterfront. When Wendi took over as waterfront director in 1999, she
decided it wouldn't be there anymore, and that was the end of it. I've heard that the 1998
aquatics staff soaked the ropes in gasoline and lit it on fire...
When I came on staff in 1999, I thought it would be cool to have a tower next to tent
city. So the youth staff (mostly Collin, a Scoutcraft guy, and myself) built a double
tripod tower about 30 feet high right outside our campsite. It took us
until the last week of summer to complete it, and we almost killed one of our
own in the process. But when we were done, we put a lemonade jug on top,
and had a grand old time. We built it again the following year, with much more
help and much more success. It looked better too. I wanted to leave
it up, but the camp director that year wouldn't let me, so I threw a mattress at him.
We started to build it again in 2001, but we never finished.
Troop 105 built another tower in the lake in 2001. Ingenious design.
They used the weight of the tower itself to force the bottom down into the mud,
and that held it in place. It looked like it was moving though, because
the dock would drift back and forth about six feet. We actually liked this one
at the lake. While BSA regulation says you can only jump from up to four
feet
into water, it doesn't say how high up you can trip and fall from...It
also allowed us to play tricks on each other. While I was coming down the
ladder once, the rest of the aquatics staff pulled the dock away, and made me
jump. I actually did hit the dock, but my weight was too far back, and I
fell into the lake. (while wearing my uniform, including the jacket). This
tower met it's end at the OA ordeal that August, when Wendi and others had to
pull it out. I laugh at their misfortune at having to wade through that
mud.
In an ironic twist of fate, Scoutcraft seems to be incapable of constructing towers.
Their failed attempt in 2000 prompted Troop 2 of the Montana Council to include
in their cheer, (to the tune of Iron Man) "They don't know their knots, they
built a tower but it fell apart." They tried again in 2002, and succeeded
with moderate success. Except that it made the Leaning Tower of Pisa look
strait. Collin, Jaime, and I tipped it over one Sunday as we
were going out to play paintball. We blamed it on the windstorm we had had
the day before. And Little Johnny saw us do it. He
must have had such a hard time not telling anyone...
