Pioneer camps (memories of a pioneer and a camp counselor)

As soon as the morning bugle (recorded on the loudspeaker) sounds in the camp, a real pioneer adventure begins. After all, daily exercise will not only give you a boost of energy and vivacity for the beginning of the day, but also prepare you for a long day at the pioneer camp. Then all the pioneers will gather for a line-up to raise the pioneer squad flag together. On duty in the canteen, we will peel potatoes to our favorite songs. Our life at the camp is full of various events and competitions that help us develop and show our skills. And in the evening, a disco is organized, where all the pioneers get together, dance and have fun. After the camp, someone will change their pioneer tie for a new one, because friends from the squad will put their signatures and phone numbers on the old tie as a keepsake. Of course, we will hardly ever see these guys again. But nevertheless, this summer will leave unforgettable memories and positive emotions in our hearts forever.

Postage stamp Artek (Public Domain)

I had to visit pioneer camps three times. Once as a pioneer, once as an athlete (in a sports camp – sports team) and once as a counselor. So I had to try the taste of pioneer-camp life in different guises.

Pioneer.

At the beginning of the shift, there is a very important procedure. The division of the pioneers who have arrived into squads. The senior squads are on duty in the kitchen and therefore peel potatoes. Many would not like this very much. And everyone wants to get into the junior squad, but preferably the oldest of the juniors (so that it would not be so shameful). This was the 7th squad. Then the 6th – this is already the oldest. My friend and I were unlucky and we got a place in the 6th squad. And we peeled potatoes when the squad was on duty in the canteen.

I remember the songs that were repeated several times a day on the radio (that’s what we called the bell-shaped loudspeakers hanging on every pole). Apparently there were one or two cassettes that were played in a loop.

Night entertainment – smearing girls with toothpaste (girls from our squad, they lived in the neighboring building). Each squad occupied 2 buildings. I don’t know where this entertainment came from. Apparently some kind of tradition.

The toilets are shared by all units and are located outside. It is really scary to go there at night. They also told some horror stories about these toilets. The wash basins are also outside and also shared.

After lights out, our group (and I think the others too) were not going to sleep. The leader entertained us with stories about ancient Greek myths.

For entertainment, there were aircraft and ship modeling clubs. We weren’t allowed to swim – June was cold. A popular game was 12 notes. The first note indicated where the second one was. But not directly, and in a riddle. When you found the second one, it indicated where the third one was. The prize was usually candy. The whole camp played this game. We often found other people’s notes and sometimes received other people’s prizes.

There was a game like this at the farewell disco. Everyone had badges. And there were several so-called postmen. You could write a note to someone you liked, invite them to dance, for example, and the postman would deliver it. A girl I liked wrote to me. But I got scared and took off my badge…

Usually the camp also has such entertainment as Pioneer Campfire and Zarnitsa. But for some reason they weren’t there during our shift.

On the bus back, we agreed with the whole group and the counselors to meet at the fountain on September 1st. I don’t know why we chose that day. It fell on a Sunday and everyone decided that no one would study on that day. But they did. It turns out that Knowledge Day is a holiday in reverse. And on that day, they study even if it’s a day off (usually they don’t study on holidays, even if it’s a work day).

Sports team.

Sports teams were physically in the same camp as regular pioneer teams. But the athletes lived in huge tents for 40 people. For example, in one tent there was a gymnastics section, in another – cyclists, in a third – basketball players, etc.

Training took up almost all of our time. Morning until lunch. After that, a quiet hour and then evening. In essence, these were sports training camps. Minimum communication. I remember the sambo wrestlers (everyone feared and respected them) entertained themselves by throwing kapitoshki (rubber balls with water) on our beds. But we were not sambo wrestlers and could not respond to them.

Gymnasts asked us for cycling shorts (yes, we were cyclists) to go to a disco. At that time, you couldn’t buy something like that in stores. Elastic, tight cycling shorts. Now, you won’t surprise anyone with that. But at that time, going to a disco in those was probably considered a special delicacy.

Counselor (pioneer leader).

Strictly speaking, I was no longer a camp counselor during the Soviet era. But the Union had just collapsed – a year or two had passed. Nothing much had changed. The pioneers were no longer formally pioneers, but they were still called that in the old-fashioned way. The traditions and way of life of the pioneer camps changed gradually. Soon, many camps closed down altogether, since the companies simply did not have the money for this. But that is another story.

The most important memory after a shift as a pioneer counselor is the constant desire to sleep. After lights out and checking that the children were asleep (and sometimes we had to put them to bed – tell stories or sing “lullabies”), the counselors would start “Night Shifts”. For example, a disco for the counselors, or a birthday party for someone they knew at the camp, or a night hike with a campfire and songs. In general, the counselors always went to bed much later than the children. And in the morning, the counselors got up an hour earlier than the pioneers – for a daily planning meeting (they discussed the planned activities for the day). There was also a quiet hour. But it was exclusively for the children. The counselors were forbidden to sleep – they were forced to do some things. For example, prepare equipment for Zarnitsa or rehearse a performance at a concert. Training and rehearsals were every day. In the end, when I was allowed to go home for one day (the counselors have a day off – one for the entire shift), I slept through that whole day at home.

There was a rich camp nearby. We went there to a disco. Their disco was a real disco with equipment, light music and a DJ. We took a tape recorder with 10W speakers per channel to the gym. Approximately like these:

Columns Moscow-80 (From personal archive)

It is clear that the discotheque of the neighboring camp was incomparably cooler and everyone was trying to get in. But not everyone was allowed in. For example, one girl was asked not to come there anymore, because her dance seemed indecent to some counselor from the neighboring camp. That is, there was control of guests. You could say face control. Although in principle they could have banned it altogether, but they didn’t. And that’s okay.

Our camp was particularly poor. In addition to the lack of a disco, we had no shower. More precisely, we had one, but it didn’t work. The counselors used connections to wash themselves at the medical center. And the headmistress arranged for another camp, which was across the river from us, to wash the pioneers. The river wasn’t big – you could wade across it. But after the bathhouse, we were tasked with carrying the pioneers who wanted to cross the river on our backs. I then lost my voice for a week.

At one of the sporting events there was a tug-of-war competition. Here I decided to show “heroic strength”. And to perform alone against five pioneers from my squad. I didn’t take into account one thing – they had five times more supports than I did. And the sports ground was made of sand. In short, they buried me in the sand as a result. A fighting draw.