Spillin' the Tea: Troop 241 and Buddy Wilson

By Paul Tollefson

Contributor

The year was 1992 and Troop 241 was enjoying a pleasant May evening on a camping trip at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bubba Crosby on the banks of the New River in Pritchardville. Buddy Wilson, troop leader, had set up his camp site far enough away from the boys that they were able to feel independent and on their own. Each of the boys had helped set up their tents and were winding down for the night.

“One of the boys comes running up to me and excitedly tells me that they found a big timber rattler and Darell keeps poking it with a stick!”

“You tell Darell to leave that snake alone, this is his territory, and we are just guests,” said troop leader Buddy.

As the boy runs off, Buddy continues to get set up for the night at his camp site, hopeful that his talk with the boy will be the end of the snake stories. Not 10 minutes later, the boy comes running back again.

“Mr. Buddy, Mr. Buddy, Darrell keeps messing with it, and it keeps striking at him and the stick he has!”

“You tell Darell to leave that snake alone! You tell him that If I must come down there and take care of it, everyone will be eating that snake!”

The boy runs off once again, and Buddy continues his camp set-up duties, trying to make it as comfortable as possible for the evening.

“Mr. Buddy, Mr. Buddy, Darell will not stop, I told him he’s going to get everyone in trouble, and he just keeps messing with it!  This time the snake almost nabbed his leg!”

As Buddy follows the boy down to the others, he can see everyone standing around, obviously enthralled by the rattling creature.

“I told y’all to leave that snake alone, boys,” Buddy frustratedly told them. “I told you guys I’m going to make each one of you eat some of this snake if I had to come kill it.”

“The boys learned a few lessons that day. Listen to adults when they tell you not to do something. But they also learned that if you cut up rattlesnake and mix it in with the evening’s campfire burgers, you can’t really tell you’re eating a snake,” laughed Buddy as he told me this story. “I made everyone of those boys clean, skin and eat that thing!”

Lannie “Buddy” Wilson loved his time as a troop leader, and he played that role for over 25 years. He taught many of the youth, boys and girls, of the area a wealth of life skills.

“I helped them I feel in a lot of different ways, but I think one of the biggest was how to depend on yourself when there was not anyone else around. Learning how to be creative, learning how to use what the earth can give you, learning simple things like how to start a fire with flint. At that time in the 1980s through the early 2000s, there was not a whole lot for the kids to do around here, and I think that I showed them about what a wonderful place that they live and how to use the land to the best of its ability.”

“There were so many wonderful people in the area at that time that helped me as much as they could. Some would give cash donations to help the troop purchase new equipment, but some would help teach life skills as well. As an example, James Bradford, who owns the Bike Doctor, would help to teach the kids how to fix their bikes if they broke. George Scott was always willing to give us groceries at cost for the troop. Jim Flood, Murray Boughman, Kenny Himes, The Ulmer family, the list goes on and on of folks that would help out and help the kids or donate what they could.”

Not only did the kids learn basic life skills, but they also learned many other valuable lessons. They learned how to fundraise. They learned how to help the Marine Rescue Squadron when someone in the river came up missing. But most of all, they learned how to be leaders. They learned how to be creative and lead by example.

“Some of these kids didn’t have the best home life or a father figure. Being able to teach these kids, and have fun with these kids, I wouldn’t trade that feeling for anything. I hope I made a difference in some kids lives, cause I enjoyed every minute of it!”

Paul Tollefson is the Director of Tennis at the Hampton Hall Club in Bluffton. He found his love for the Lowcountry in early 2002 after graduating high school and unsure of what career path he was destined toward. After moving from Hilton Head to Bluffton, he became enthralled with the history of the town and the people and cultures that called it home for many generations. He has found a passion in writing and enjoys being able to share the stories and pictures of long-time locals. He is the co-creator of the Facebook page “Bluffton Then and Now.”