Jonathan Phillip working at Northern Wisconsin National Canoe Base on White Sand Lake

My name is Jonathan Phillip and my story begins 1978. In the summer of 1978 I worked as what was called then as a “Party Trainer” at the Northern Wisconsin National Canoe Base on White Sand Lake. My job was to train Scout crews from all over the country on how to canoe and camp responsibly. In 1978 northern Wisconsin was much wilder and many private lands were open to the Scouting Program. We canoed on most of the lakes around Boulder Junction. I loved the daily work of camping and canoeing. To show responsible use of fire and to show we had used a camp we would ground the wet ashes by hand into a square mound and then put a cross on it. We got one day off a week, Saturday noon to Sunday noon. Therefore, since Boulder Junction was the nearest town to the base, we spent time off in town. I have a lot of wonderful memories of the Base, the north woods, and Boulder Junction.