Ev Worrell

Everett Worrell joined the Boy Scouts on his birthday, July 15, 1944. He recalls,

Our first task in the troop was to collect one ton of newspaper for the war effort. When completed, the troop bought my uniform. I had my First Class by the next camping season. I earned my first three merit badges in camping, hiking, and cooking, and never looked back until I was an Eagle Scout with two palms.

At Northern Illinois State College (now Northern Illinois University) he was involved with Alpha Phi Omega, the Scouting fraternity. After graduation he became a teacher in Rockford and a volunteer Scouter. He has served as assistant Cubmaster, Cubmaster, assistant Scoutmaster, Scoutmaster, Commissioner, assistant District Commissioner, Roundtable Commissioner, Wood Badge staff member, council training chairman, council executive board member, and council advisory board member. Ev was the first director for camping on the Scout side at Northwoods and then came as an assistant at Camp Lowden for a year before becoming camp director in 1965.

Ev Worrell is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. In July 2015 he completed his 65th year in Scouting, 55 of those in Blackhawk Area Council.

1965 - Silver Anniversary
The year 1965 was the silver anniversary for Camp Lowden. Nineteen sixty-five was known as the "Silver Arrow" year while 1966 was known as the "Wawulamallessin Tschitanigachen" year, meaning, "To be always well-established." Though no special celebration was held, it sparked a desire to have some form of written history of the camp. One of the annual attempts to clean out the Quartermaster Building brought a plaque to the surface. No one could figure out where the plaque belonged and thus started a digging into the history of Camp Lowden.

Ev Worrell began to write letters to a number of people who might have some knowledge of things. Those people included Florence Miller, daughter of Governor Lowden; Stanley Worrell, a district executive at the time camp opened and a staff member the previous year at Delevan; several volunteer leaders from years past, and professional Scouters. Letters came back with bits and pieces. Meanwhile staff members made notes of all the plaques that were posted throughout camp. As the summer wore on, Scout leaders coming to camp put in their recollections and history. Matt Schramer, the camp clerk, talked with friends in Oregon and added to what we had. Men like Larry Thomas, Ed McCarthy, Bob McCarthy, Dick Mulford, Ev Gaston, Bill Incontro, Ed Vorisek, Howard Fox, Ben Phelps, Don Albright, Dana Dawes, and Snuffy Whitaker were very helpful.

All of this information was noted, categorized, and laid aside by Ev with the intention of writing a twenty-five year history. Twenty-five years later the task was begun anew and the initial edition of the camp history book was published in 1990 for the 50th Anniversary of Camp Lowden.