The Camp Pahaquarra Song

There's a camp along the Delaware.
Pahaquarra is its name.
From the rising sun,
Till the day is done.

There's lots of fun up there.
In the water deep,
We learn to swim,
Come right on in with us.

They have the eats,
That makes you want to look,
For how those cooks can cook,
At Pahaquarra on the Delaware.

.... we don't mean Cowaw

I found this is in some papers given to me by Hugh Callahan, long time historian of George Washington Council. I wrote Larry Gering about this and asked him to verify that this song was used at camp. Here is his reply, (between the dashed lines):

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Yes, it was sung when I was there in 1968 to 1971. I don't know the name of the tune that is used, but I can hum it (hard to hum via email). The minor differences probably could be changes over different summers or just between different groups. Here are some more verses that were sung.

Oh the counselors at Pahaquarra,
They say they're mighty fine.
They rule like Adolf Hitler,
And look like Frankenstein

Oh, I don't want more Pahaquarra life.
Gee Mom, I wanna go,
But they won't let me go,
Gee Mom, I wanna go home

Oh Ranger Jack, oh Ranger Jack, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented the sausage meat machine?
Now all the rats and pussy cats will never more be seen,
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Ranger Jack's machine.

One day a Tenderfoot Scout came walking in the store.
He bought a pound of sausage and laid them on the floor.
Then he began to whistle, he whistled up a tune,
The sausages, they jumped and barked and danced 'round the room.

Oh Ranger Jack, oh Ranger Jack, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented the sausage meat machine?
Now all the rats and pussy cats will never more be seen,
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Ranger Jack's machine.

One day the thing got busted, the darn thing wouldn't go,
And Ranger Jack, he crawled inside to see what made it so.
His wife, she had a nightmare, she was walking in her sleep
She gave a yank and turned the crank and Ranger Jack was meat.

Oh Ranger Jack, oh Ranger Jack, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented the sausage meat machine?
Now all the rats and pussy cats will never more be seen,
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Ranger Jack's machine.

This, of course, refers to Jack Haley, last ranger at Pahaquarra and first ranger at the new Yards Creek Scout Reservation. I recall the time in 1969 that Jack got fed up with hearing Jimi Hendrix's version of Star Spangled Banner being played over loudspeakers at camp across the river. He rowed over in a canoe one night and cut wires and removed speakers.

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Thanks Larry for all the wonderful verses. Hugh would have been at camp, as a scout, somewhere around 1929 to 1935. Larry was at camp quite a bit later between 1968 to 1971. Note that 1971 was the last year of camping at Pahaquarra.

As a personal note, I would like to add that Hugh Callahan was a fine person. He was active in scouting for his entire life, holding many, many positions within the council and giving generously of his time. ... jos

Compare this with the Camp Cowaw song
George Washington Council Camping Page
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