My grandfather, Freddy
Herrel, is the fellow in the center of this troop of Boy Scouts (with his hands
on his buddy’s shoulders). It looks like they’re having fun, doesn’t it? I love
the wide-brimmed hats.
Fred dated the photo 1929 and
labeled it “BSOA Camp Ro-Fre-Lo” in his scrapbook. He was 15 years old. It looks
like the cabins are closed up for the winter, so the troop may have been there
to help with the opening or closing. My guess is it was taken in November,
March, or early April, because the trees are bare.
A Google search for Camp
Ro-Fre-Lo didn’t give me any results, and I couldn’t identify it on this list
of America’s Oldest Boy Scout Camps. Freddy lived in the German Village
community of Columbus, Ohio, and his troopmates probably hailed from the same
area. So I imagine the camp was in Ohio, Kentucky, or western Pennsylvania. The
name he gave may be short for a longer one. Does anyone know where this camp
might have been?
--Shelley
Maybe the camp name your grandfather wrote down is an anagram of some kind? I wonder if it involves the names of him (Freddy as "Fre") and a couple of his buddies. Love the wide-brimmed hats too, by the way!
ReplyDeleteThat idea occurred to me too, Max. If no one else has heard of it, maybe it was a code name between he and his buddies. Thanks for reading and offering your thoughts!
DeleteOh! Look at those old Boy Scout uniforms! Very cool!
ReplyDelete