By Sara Gregory
sgregory@salisburypost.com
NEW LONDON ó Never have so many kids volunteered to drown.
When swimming instructor Clay Sunding asks Wednesday for a Boy Scout who will pretend to need help so he can be saved, hands shoot up in the air.
To the “lucky” boy picked ó rest assured, he’s in no danger ó Sunding throws the boy a line and pulls him to the pool’s edge as the Scouts tell him what they’ve learned about rescuing people from the water.
“I like seeing the pleasure of the kids being happy and realizing that they learned something,” he says.
It’s all part of the activities at Camp John J. Barnhardt, the Boy Scout Camp built by volunteers in the 1960s. About 1,100 Boy Scouts from across North Carolina will attend one of the five weeklong camps this summer.
“It really encompasses the whole meaning of and the ideals of Scouting,” Camp Director Richard Davis says. “The boys do things they have never done or would never have been able to do otherwise.
“They make memories that’ll last their lifetime.”
The camp sits on about 1,000 acres near Badin Lake. Campsites, a pool, climbing center, fields, forests, biking and a newly renovated shooting range made with wood from the set of “Leatherheads” keep campers busy from Sunday afternoon until they depart Saturday morning.
They learn cooking skills and make arts and crafts, and earn merit badges for their work during the week.
This week, Scouts from troops 315, 476, 401 and 320 in Rowan County are among those working toward badges.
The summer camp wouldn’t be possible without support for Scouting programs from the county and United Way, says Jim Sawyer, a district executive for the Central N.C. Council, BSA.
“Rowan always helps keep summer camp alive,” he says.
At the shooting range, the boys practice skeet shooting. Tyler Schenck, of Troop 476 in Salisbury, has been shooting since he was 5 years old. He hit 4 of the 5 targets Wednesday.
“You have to aim correctly and have the proper stance or else it really hurts your arm,” he says.
Teaching the boys safe shooting practices is also about teaching them to have fun with the guns, shooting director Rhett Teems says.
“(Shooting) is something they can enjoy their whole life,” he says. “You can’t play physical sports all your life, but you can shoot all your life.”
Teems, who teaches at East Rowan High School, talks the eight Scouts in his session through the process of shooting before they head over to the shotguns.
“Alright, who’s ready to shoot?” he asks.
“Gentlemen, to the lines.”