The Boys
Waverly "Whitey" Groves
Whitey Groves left the city of Norfolk on a train and hours later found himself in the back of an Army truck bumping up a steep dirt road in the pitch black dark. "I'm in the back—I think there were nine of us—and I'm wondering where we are going. You couldn't see anything out of the back of that truck!" The truck dropped the boys off at Camp NP-2 at Big Meadows. Whitey had made the choice to join after his father lost his construction business in the Depression. They burned leftover construction materials to keep warm and Whitey caddied at a nearby golf course for a dollar a day. But an offer to join the CCC brought his family of seven the money they needed to survive.
During his time in the CCC Whitey helped clear the dead chestnut trees, and worked on Big Meadows campground. When the nursery needed seeds he climbed pine trees to pick the green cones so they could be dried. Whitey took typing in the Education building at night and that earned him a job as company clerk, along with a raise. He also made a few extra coins typing letters for other enrollees.
Whitey loved the CCC and in all the years he lived, he never missed a CCC Reunion!