The Evans

The Evans somehow became the name for the Evans Family. They were a very nice group of people, a family including a mother and father and some kids, near to my kids age, and I think one of the kids was a girl. They are nondescript and generic in my memory, but they were always there.

We met them while camping at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes Delaware, sometimes in the early 70’s. They camped near us and had a bunch of kiss as did we. We were all tent campers and as such, there was camaraderie. We were people who were willing to get hot, cold and uncomfortable because it was fun and cheap!

I know we sent Christmas cards back and forth with them for a number of years. I believe we onkly camped together once or twice but the legend of the Evans lives on.
The only story I remember, although my sons may have stiff to add, was called “The Evans and the Bonfire”.

The Evans talked about having a bonfire. and it seemed like a good idea. After all, we were camping and a campfire was a good thing so you could wind down, toast marshmallows and have some fun time sticking sticks into the fire and trying to get them lit and chasing your brothers with the burning tip.

They asked us to follow them down to a secluded beach because there was more wood from an abandoned Army installation. We piled into our cars and followed for a mile or so to the new place. This was, in hindsight, like a scene from the X Files movie.
We drove to a beach and there was an abandoned building. We had some shovels and we dug a pit, about the size of the pit that was dug in “The Thing”, big enough for a space vehicle. We took a building corner, just a corner and two walls about the size of a house, tied it to a big truck and dragged it ti the pit. We got some newspaper, some gasoline and a match and torched the building on the beach. The fire was big enough that people sitting on the beach on Mars were probably saying, “Oh, they must have a fire on Earth tonight!”

This fire may still be burning.