CAMP READ ASSOCIATION
Letter from Camp: Big Red
Fall 2026
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Big Red in 1955, from the Boland Archive
2026 Fall Hike
Camp Read Association held its annual Fall Hike in September. 35 former Staff and Friends of the Curtis S. Read Reservation took part in this capstone of another successful camping season and enjoyed the early fall Adirondack weather, the foliage, hiking, and fishing in the company of friends.
At Saturday night’s dinner, a celebration of life for Jim Smith was held. Jim was a legend at camp in the early 50s and 60s. He died in June at the age of 90. Many old friends and colleagues, and some new ones, offered stories about Jim and his impact on their lives and in many cases, their careers as professional scouters. Smith began as a Scoutmaster in 1956 and went on to become Camp Director of Tomahawk for many seasons. His influence and mentorship of camp staff and creation of innovative ideas made Camp Read a memorable experience for generations.
On Jim’s birthday and on St. Patrick’s Day, Zooms were organized and tales of Big Red, the camp's truck in the 1950s and onward, were shared. During the recent Fall Hike, more stories of the trucks of Camp Read were unearthed and shared during Jim’s Celebration of Life dinner.
Big Red
There have been many trucks in Camp Read’s motor pool, but Big Red, a stake bed truck, was renowned for being powerful and from stories told, a heaven-sent transporter for camp staff during days off and Saturday night adventures.
Google images confirms that Big Red is a Dodge “Job-rated” Truck, built from '39 until the late 40s, when its military configuration was replaced with a civilian market model.
This 1955 photo from the Boland Archive on the Camp Read Association website (campread.org) shows the truck with Van Patten, Camp Read Ranger staff for many years.
The above vehicle may have been replaced by a Ford F4 which served as the Camp Ranger’s truck in the 60s and 70s. No photographs of that truck appear in the archives. A plastic model truck of the same vintage, a Chevrolet 1 1/2 Ton Cargo Truck that closely resembles Big Red, is under construction by the author. It is a test of 80-year-old eyesight and fine motor skills. Wish me luck.
Big Red Stories
Members of the Camp Read Association told tales of Big Red in all of its iterations: Hijinks on trips into Chestertown for the Saturday night movies, a mishap that led to a trip to Warrensburg for a few stitches, a crushed bugle on a muddy morning, whining wake-up calls from Big Red’s snow-plow lift, and tips on parking the original downhill for easy jump starts as its starter motor no longer worked.
Sweat
Dick Trier, Scoutmaster: “I’m not sure, but I think that truck may have been “Big Red.” We kept it in the Butler Building in Tomahawk because it didn’t have a functioning starter so we had to jump it and keep it running as we delivered cots and tents during pre-staff week around 1963-64. Might’ve been a GMC.”
The late Jim Smith, former Camp Director: “I think it was a Ford and it was red going on to orange….”
Later memories of camp trucks include Bob Newton’s wake-up calls during Greg Pitonza’s years as camp clerk. Greg is now director of CSR STEM Ranch. “My daily wake-up call was the rattle of the snow plow lift on his truck. BTW, and contrary to rumors - Bob never had to wake me up with the sound of a 12-gauge!”
Peter Scott Oberdorf, staffer in the 50s and 60s, recollection from a phone conversation in 2026 is that the truck was frequently used by camp staff for Saturday night movie trips to the Carol Theater in Chestertown. Everyone rode in the back, with their hands on the roof or standing on borrowed dining hall benches, slip-sliding on the metal floorboards which had replaced the original wooden boards. Apparently these trips were marked by smoking clandestine cigarettes, hollering at passersby, and generally misbehaving during the mushy scenes in the movies.
Blood
Russ Borner was on the Camp Staff in 1960. “During post-camp clean-up, I was riding on the passenger-side running board holding onto the open Fisher (vent) window bar, when Billy Boy Gamble snagged a low-hanging branch that shut and shattered the Fisher window glass. I injured my right wrist and was whisked down to Doc Lawrence's office, in either Chestertown or Warrensburg, where I was stitched up and returned to duty. The scar is still visible on my wrist today, 60 years on.”
Tears
The author’s memory of a much later Big Red began on a misty Saturday morning in 2021. “Our troop was moving from down the hill from Hurricane to the parking lot for departure. All the troop gear and Scout duffles were loaded into the back of the current Big Red. I placed my vintage Official BSA Bugle in a 5-gallon “Homer Bucket” for safekeeping on the washed out Waubeeka roads and did a final walkthrough as the truck pulled out.
By now it was raining. I picked up my backpack and headed downhill on the muddy trail to the parking lot when a scout ran up to me clutching my beloved bugle. Crushed. It fell off the truck and was run over.”
Wm Langham
Rye, NY Fall 2026
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For generations, summer after summer, scouts have been making memories at Camp Read. In 2020, the pandemic may have forced regular activities to pause, but campers from years gone by are sharing their stories here in an effort to fill in the gap. Read on to get your fix of Camp Read hijinks until we can safely fill a parade ground once more!
Have a story of your own? Please submit to webmaster@campread.org!
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