The Redwood gazette., 1936-10-29
Friends and
Ideas Fruit
of Vacation
CANDLELIGHT SERVICE
IMPRESSIVE, YOUTH
REPORTS
By Wesley SIaymaker

New ideas in conservation
new friends-a new appreciation
of All club spirit and purpose
were the treasured things which
l packed into my mental luggage
and brought home from my trip
to All conservation camp in Itas-
ca state park from October % to
October %.
I left my farm home in Red
wood Falls at 4:30 a. m. Wednes-
day, October %, to meet four
other campers selected for their
work in conservation from Rem
vile and Sibley counties. We
were to meet at Olivia to accom-
pany Elmer w. Wrinkle, Sibley
county agent to the northern camp.
Some were late and we finally
started at 7:30 a. m. travelling in
a Chevrolet at the terrific rate of
80 to 35 miles an hour all the
way.
Nevertheless, our conveyance
swung us into camp among the
first to arrive and we were COM
missioned by those in charge to
arrange sleeping accommodations
for the 180 campers who were yet
to come.
The camp consisted of an as
sembly hall, mess cabin, a large
dormitory in which the boys slept
and eight cabins, all situated
along the edge of beautiful Lake
Itasca, for the girls. The build
ings were part of the state for
estry station, permanent in the
park.
Up at 6 a. m.
Our days began at 6 a. m. when
we were awakened. At 6:45 flag
raising ceremonies took place and
at we rushed to the mess hall
for breakfast. We met at 8 in
the assembly hall for regular
classes which took the form of
lectures by well-known authori-
ties on phases of conservation.
An auspicious beginning was
the talk by Mr.. Cruikshank of the
National Audubon society who
enlivened his address by showing
slides.
He refuted the old idea the
hawk and owl are harmful birds,
pointing to their value in the de-
struction of rodents. Pictures of
the life of the monkey-faced barn
owl were especially interesting as
they showed the nest to be made
of the skin and bones of rats and
mice. We watched the develop
ment of four eggs and were told
that when one of the birds is two
weeks old it is able to swallow a
mouse whole in five minutes of
constant gulping. One of the pic
lures showed a fedgling toppled
over in utter exhaustion after ac-
complishing the feat. Although
an almost constant search for
rodents is maintained by the par
ent owls, one of them is with the
nest at all times, the older birds
taking turns in watching the
young.
Besides his discussion on the
benefits of birds to man, Mr..
CruikShank entertained us by i'm
itating the calls of every sort of
bird imaginable while describing
a trip down mountain-side,
through swamplands and over
plains.
Hear 3 Lecturers
Other lectures during the four
day period were by Mr.. Peck, Mr..
Culla and Mr.. Munse, the latter
pinch-hitting for other speakers
whenever there was a lull in
camp activities.
An angle, unique among the
general discussions of conserva-
ton of wild life was presented us
by Mr.. Peck in his talk on conser-
walton of people. He spoke of
the conservation of health, of in
dependent thinking and of oppor-
tunities and described the waste
of natural purpose on the part of
many persons.
Mr.. Munse spoke on the mean
ing of conservation which he told