Why MLV?

As I said before, MLV is when the staff gets up, sings, and essentially jumps off the docks. The real question is why? What would possess so many people to do something as crazy as that, especially while in uniform?

The answer is tradition. Back in 1970s some of the staff members only showered on Saturdays. The Camp Director decided for the sake of everyone's nose that having the staff jump in the ocean would force them to take a shower. Nowadays, the staff showers much more often than that (or at least I'd like to think so), but we still enjoy jumping into the ocean and all the madness associated with it.

Ghosts

There are various areas around camp that are haunted. One such place is the fourth A-frame. I have spent enough time there to say it's true. But is it really true- that's the mystery.

MLV

If you've been to camp since the 80s, you know that the staff do this weird thing one day at lunch. We all get up, play Follow the Leader while singing, and jump in the ocean. Followed, of course, by a buddy check and inevitably by some sort of water war. Well, the first time I saw this I wondered what they were singing (along with "wow, they are crazy"). So here are the words to Man's Life's a Vapor (our MLV song):

Man's life's a vapor, full of woe

He pulls a caper, down he goes

Down he, down he, down he, down he

Down he goes.

Requirements for the Patch

Every year the patch is redesigned, but some things remain constant. Each patch must have:

- a fleur-de-lis

- the year

- "Camp Emerald Bay"

- a pirate

- one more unmentionable

Some years the requirements are harder to find, such as the pirate in the 2000 patch. Others are not, such as the pirate on the 1999 patch. The mystery is finding them every year and figuring out the unmentionable part.

Who wants to walk on the bottom of the cove?

Before the Emerald Bay dive program, there was the infamous "dive helmet". This was a hard hat type of dive helmet attached to a tube which was attached to a two-sided hand-operated pump on a floating dock. Three scouts were required to use the helmet, two to work the pump on the dock and one to walk on the bottom of the cove.

The floating dock was anchored just off of Doctor's Point, where current day war canoes leave the camp. The water there was only about eight feet deep. As there was only one helmet, the three scouts were given instructions on land; however, the diver would be all alone underwater. Due to the length of the tube the diver could only walk about 15 feet in any direction.

The real mystery here, one even I don't know the answer to, is where is the dive helmet? It is said that the helmet is still somewhere in camp, but even with all of my years at Emerald Bay I do not know it's current location.

A Rare Emerald Bay Treasure

Larry Munson.

Enough said.

Area Colors

Each area has a different color, but many of the colors are not widely known or used today. They are:

Ranger- red

Waterfront- blue

Nature- green

Handicraft- purple

Scoutcraft- orange

Field Sports- gray

Maintenance- brown

The exception to the rule is Ranger Red. Any ranger who has a Ranger Red jacket is very lucky.