To the Editor:

Sometimes overcaffeinated Scouters made Horton’s coffee, cowboy style, by a smoky campfire or reluctantly in a stainless steel coffee pot on a propane burner; these elders wanted to keep the outing in scouting for generations. To them, a winter campout was good honest fun where their wisdom could be passed on along the scouting trail for the improvement of their community and country.

“Memories light the campfires of my mind” (go Barbra go). Many misty water-colored paddling memories too.

All of the above renowned geezers have a canoe on the troop trailer with the name of the elder embossed on the bow of the Scout ship. The biggest Scout ship of them all is the SS Howard Coughtry.

Below are many of countless adventures launched from the Coughtry Woods of Hilton Road. Every outing included flipping flapjacks, slapjacks, griddlecakes, Polish bliny, Russian blintzes latkes, and even peanut pancakes in memory of Jimmy’s good deeds daily, after his presidency.

On a paddling trip, they calculated that 4.3 miles of Scout energy should be expected from an oatmeal fortified go-jack, perhaps 4.7 miles if GORP [Good Old Raisins and Peanuts] was in the batter! However, if it was cold or rainy as usual on the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron’s 30,000 islands, less mileage would be expected.

In that case, a shore lunch was served by George Wuttke. The usual crêpes with a side of Spam cubes deep fried in butter in a large Chinese wok was a booster shot, to “keep it moving” to quote 250,000 paddler Verlen Kruger.

Saranac Lake Slovenian Potica pancakes had air-dropped delivery by Bill Morisson from a yellow Beaver float plane.

Bob Shedd and Joe Colburn taught us the proper way to plump raisins fat for the flipping. 

Tom Roe was always there in his basement building a team for a -20F two-night campout at Stillwater reservoir, but forgot to get the coffee beans ground at the store. Fearlessly, Tom ground the coffee with an ax in a 12-inch Dutch oven that he brought in his plastic sled.

Lanny Parsons was always pretty busy running ahead of the cubpack, and he probably did flip out a few go-jacks, but I only have anecdotal evidence of this achievement from the vapor trail that we were left behind in.

Scout Lou Van Zutphen was at the fire tower at the top of Black Mountain after trailing Mr. C, the billy goat, Howard Coughtry. Although winded, Lou did flip a few gorgeous George cakes beneath the fire tower overlooking the Lake George Islands.

Emperor’s Pancakes, Austrian Kaieserschmarren, otherwise known as shredded pancakes, Dr. Mike K, have accidentally been made many times by Scouts working on the global-warming merit badge, with a campfire big enough to melt the toes on a hiking boot. Recent demonstrations at Great Sacandaga’s Scout Island have shown running shoes to be very flammable.

Newfoundland Gross Morne National Park Newfy Cakes amidst the caribou do do dew, Windy Valcour Island Champ cakes, Tibbitts Point Lake Ontario Fog Horn bicycling bliny blintzes and then throw in a dose of rice and lentil Indian Dosa for gluten itinerants, and there we go to the International Gourmet Flip-Athon. We do need a new Saucerer's Apprentice again for the front page of The Enterprise as Dan Hihn has flown off into the outback of America.

Once again, Troop 73 thanks Indian Ladder Farms for providing the Scouts with the appealing work of gourmet applesauce artisans. This letter has been made possible by a personal grant from School Road resident Frank Person.

That’s what you get when the Enterprise editor gives permission to relive decades of pancake-flipping.

 MJR Jarus

Voorheesville