Troop 19 at the 1970 Saranac Lake Winter Carnival. (Enterprise photo)

To the editor:

The 1970 Winter Carnival, held over the weekend of Feb. 13-15, was indeed a memorable Carnival for 13 scouts and their leader.

During the two weeks preceding Carnival, the village of Saranac Lake’s public works department trucked in a mountain of snow at Riverside Park so the scouts could carve out igloos and spend the weekend camping and putting on demonstrations of scouting skills for Carnival visitors. Many weeks of planning by the scouts went into ensuring there would be plenty for the public to see at the campsite. However, the scouts didn’t foresee the 20 below zero weather that would put them to the ultimate test of their cooking, camping and sleeping skills. Fortunately, they had a good supply of firewood and there was always someone to make sure the fire never went out during the entire weekend.

The mound of snow was so large and well-packed that each scout made their own igloo at different levels of the pile and some even made connecting tunnels so they could visit with their buddies without going outdoors. The scouts spent a total of 40 hours, including two nights of sub-zero temperatures, cooking all of their meals, demonstrating scouting skills and surviving. They even assisted with the Paul Smith’s College Woodsmen’s demonstrations held in the park on Saturday morning. Of course, the main reason that they volunteered was that they were looking for more wood for their campfires. Now, 56 years later, most of them can probably still recall every chilly detail. But, like they would say many years later: “That was back when we had a sharp troop.”

Scouts included: Adam Brayshaw, Bill Clark, Scott Bordeau, Jim Russo, David Goff, Richard Taylor, Mike McKenty, Norman Miller, Bryon Tuthill, Brian Wells, John Cimbrec, Mike McNamara and Gerard Delancy, along with Scoutmaster Sandy Hayes.

Sandy Hayes

Bloomingdale