By Kathryn Holt

Special to the colfax record

Winning the National State Park lottery to spend the night at Alcatraz Island was just the beginning of the adventure for Meadow Vista Boy Scouts.

Over the weekend, 33 Scouts, leaders and parents embarked on the opportunity of a lifetime for an overnight stay on The Rock.

For the past 25 years, 18 groups of 35 people have been allowed to spend the night on Alcatraz Island and experience firsthand the inner workings of the infamous penitentiaries.

“I liked the audio tour best,” said Matthew Stonestreet, a 10-year-old Cub Scout. “The sound effects were awesome.”

Matthew also enjoyed learning about the island’s history.

When asked about sleeping in a cell, one Webelo vividly described his experience.

“It was dark, you could hear the sounds from San Francisco. I almost slept in the Bird Man’s cell. You can still see bullet holes from the Battle of Alcatraz. There were 30 bullet holes. All have been patched, except for one. Everything was my favorite and I would go again.”

National Park Service Ranger John Cantwell greeted the group on Friday evening.

Drawing upon history books and direct personal accounts from former inmates, guards and children of officers who lived on the island, the ranger provided an articulate commentary on Alcatraz’s legend.

In addition, they watched a presentation of commentaries featuring people who had experienced life on the island. Later in the evening, the group gathered for a barbecue.

But, the nighttime adventures were only just the beginning. The group had no clue they would be hiking Alcatraz until midnight. They were able to tour areas closed off to the general public, including the gunrooms, isolation dungeons for solitary confinement, secret tunnels and passageways.

“I had been to Alcatraz before,” said Boy Scout Matthew Steffan, 15. “My favorite part was seeing the closed-off areas, behind the scenes.”

Later in the evening, however, Steffan began to sense of history of where he was sleeping.

“Spending the night was really creepy at first, just the idea,” Steffan said. “The thought of sleeping in a con cell, where it was cold. It was unnerving.”

Kyle Brock, 15, enjoyed learning the history of the island.

“The Civil War, lighthouse, fort, prison and Indian occupancy really makes this a national monument,” Brock said. “I have a fascination with the prison battles, Al Capone and the escape attempts. There is definitely a feeling of confinement – not scary, but very eerie.”

Sleeping in vacated prison cells got the best of some Scouts. At the beginning of the night they were in separate cells, but but by morning most had decided to share the experience with another Scout.

“My personal favorite part was the hospital area,” said Ron Edwards, 15. “ They used a hydrotherapy treatment of filling a bathtub with ice, wrapping the convict very tight in a sheet and submerging him into the tub, waiting for hypothermia to set in and causing the convict to pass out. Learning so much in such a short period of time was incredible.”

Assistant Scoutmaster Ron Edwards was instrumental in obtaining a spot for the troop on the island’s exclusive guest list.

For more information on spending the night at Alcatraz, call San Francisco Golden Gate National Park Services at (415) 561-4300.