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As I look at all of you, I can't believe it. I went to bed last night wondering if 10 people would show up. [Laughter.] They did. [More laughter.] There are among this group some of the finest friends I have ever had. When I walked into this place 25 years ago ... this summer, I had with me two people I knew: my daughter Nelle and George Tolley. I encountered a third very quickly after I arrived here, and you've already heard from him, because our friend over there, Mr. Mehring - at least he had read the lesson, if he read it the night before. That came sort of as a shock to me that he had done that. [Laughter.] But those Survival years [referring to the class Walter taught] were good ones. I really didn't know what I was going to do, because I found things in something of a general mess. But I learned very quickly that if I kept my mouth shut and listened and then tried what the young staff told me would work, then ... a lot of times it did work. And I have been erroneously credited for doing a lot for Nature Camp, and that is not so. I cannot take the credit for it, because I stole most of the ideas [laughter] from you all. And I would be sitting wondering how to get out of some quandary that I found myself in, and somebody would come in and say, "How you ever thought of ... ?" or "Have you tried ... ?" or ADo you think it would work ... ?" And my favorite answer - some of you who didn't come up with me don't know that one of my favorite words is BTHOOM [laughter], and that stands for "beats the hell out of me." [More laughter.] And that's what I said on many occasions - BTHOOM. But let's try it - it if works, we'll use it, and if it doesn't, we will have to discard it and try something else. And for anyone who would follow me here, I would offer that as the best way I know of to keep Nature Camp moving forward: to listen to your instructors, and they will take you there. And a lot of you have not only been campers here, but you have also been staff members. And I had to laugh, because I got some letters before I got here. And one of them was from a young man who said, "There have been times when I hated to be in the same room with you." [Laughter.] And I know that was true. But you see, I have run into some very, very, very special individuals here. I was surrounded by them no longer ago than August. Very special individuals over the years. But this was one character who needed to be toned down, because he could have done anything he wanted, and he could have been anything he wanted to be, as most of us here could or can. But he was trying to do it too fast, and so I used to put stumbling blocks in his way, and he would get excited and upset. But like so many of you, Nature Camp was a place where a lot of ideas were born and a lot more came into fruition. And I am extremely proud to have been here. I am extremely proud that two members of the Board of Trustees of Nature Camp saw fit to join us today: Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Cruisner [?]. I am extremely proud that members and ranking officers of the alumni association are here. And I thank from the bottom of my heart Jenny Banner ... Wheeler - I'll stick that on just for ... [laughter], but I still know her as Jenny Banner - because it was she who I understand and I am quite certain put most of this together for me. I'm not going to take a lot of your time 'cause we're here to have fun. There are many stories I can tell [laughter] - some shouldn't be. [More laughter.] This is the first time all four of my children and I and most of my grandchildren have been together - ever - at one place. And I have to thank Jim Brooks, who did something for me that I didn't know was possible. He took the woman who should receive as much or more credit than I for Nature Camp's situation. He did not have a picture of Trudy and [me] together, so he simply took his computer and put them together. My son-in-law is somewhat older than my daughter, Jim, and he wonders if you could take a picture of him when he was fifteen years younger [laughter] and put it together for him so that they could look the same age and see how that would look. [More laughter.] I told him that knowing you, I suspected that it could be done. But I look around this place and I see what's happened with the alumni association, the work that's been done. I look at that organ and could cry, because it very nearly became a bonfire one time. I had permission from the Board to burn it. Jim took it over and restored it completely. There are so many things like this that have been done here that as far as I know could only have been done at Nature Camp. And I leave with a heart that is both light, with the joys of knowing all of you, and heavy too, that the years crept up on me and have made it pretty nearly impossible for me to continue at the pace at which I was going. So let me say, thank you for letting me be a part of your lives, because you've meant a great deal to me and to my family. Thank you very much. [Applause.] Zia Howell
McConnell: We love you, Colonel.
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