Photos, Poems and Videos
from the celebration
of Ben Kimball's 100th Birthday

Tributes to Ben Kimball and Camp Dry-Kye

A TRIBUTE TO DIRTY OLD  BEN

By Butsy Winer
(A Parody of the Poem Gunga Din)

You may talk o' Perch and Bass
When the snow’s up to your ass,
And you’re sent to petty work an' Aldershot it.
But when it comes to fish you take,
You will do your work on Graham Lake,
An' you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ‘im that’s got it.
Now in Ellsworth’s sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time,
A’counselloring from dawn till who knows when,
Of all that cruddy crew
The finest man I knew
Was that Shakespeare quotin’
Dirty Old Ben.

Yes Ben Ben Ben,
The man who always said “God made the world”.
How often I have thought of you,
And missed the sight in a sky of blue
Of the Dry Kye flag upon the hill unfurled.

I shant forget the night
When I skirted round the fight,
And the big guys were lined up on the hill.
I began to aim my gun,
Like I was shooting at the Hun,
And the silence in my ears is with me still.
For the cap gun would not work ---
And I still feel like a jerk ---
As that Pirate Pistol gun did Butsy kill.
Yes that was Monster Caps,
Which we sometimes played till Taps,
And he always gave us kids a great big thrill.

Yes Ben Ben Ben
The man who might have known the Wendigo.
Who at the Falls did save my life
And taught me how to use a knife,
And how to fish at Trout Brook where I go.

The stories he recalled
Always kept us kids enthralled.
For Panama City and Three-Fingered Willie
We vigorously chewed our gum.
And we never did get nervous
About his good friend from the Service,
That intrepid hero Bull Durham.
So when I go by boat
To a place I know by rote.
A place I’ve loved since from a lad of ten,
I’ll gaze upon Trout Brook,
And as I take a look,
I’ll thank the Lord above for Dirty Old Ben.

Yes Ben Ben Ben
A man who’s always been my friend.
I’m glad that I have known you,
And that nothing’s ever thrown you.
You were a better man than any
Dirty Old Ben.