Jul. 5--PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Time didn't exactly stand still when Boy Scouts from North and South started their summer by camping on Redfish Point, just across the bay from downtown Panama City. But the centuries did converge.

The Scouts learned about Americans who lived on the point long before Europeans arrived. From the 19th and 20th centuries, there were lessons on the Massalina family, black pioneers with survival skills honed in the segregated South. From 21st century pop culture, there was a camping trip based on TV's "Survivor" shows.

The campers are from Troop 29 from North Mankato, Minn., and Troop 302, sponsored by Knights of Columbus in Panama City. They take turns visiting each other, every couple of years. This year, it was 19 Minnesotans' turn to come to the Sunshine State.

The troops collaborated on a " Survivor" logo -- Outsweat, Outswim, Outswat. Off the Wall Screen Printing and Embroidery of Lynn Haven put it on T-shirts.

Because Redfish Point is on Tyndall Air Force Base, "it took practically an act of Congress for us to get permission to camp there" from June 7-10, said Scout dad Randy Segler of Troop 302. The natural resources office at Tyndall found a way.

In exchange for use of the camp site, the Scouts built two fire pits, said Wendy Gierhart, a wildlife biologist with that federal office. But they had to dig carefully to make sure they didn't disturb artifacts. "It is a cultural resource site," she said, "from Native Americans and early homesteads from the 1880s."

Cultural resources manager David O'Brien and specialist Craig Dengel came out to show the Scouts some of the site's human history. Forester Daniel Childs told them about natural resources.

Scouts have used the camp site before, Gierhart said, and a group of students coordinated by the Workforce Center in Panama City is working on the site this summer to get it ready for other campers. "We're shooting for an opening date of Labor Day," she said.

"There will be a fee because we have to have outhouses," she said. But costs will be kept low, and volunteer work in exchange will be encouraged.

Management is shifting from the natural resources office to the outdoor recreation office at Tyndall, and details haven't been worked out on fees and logistics. But eventually, Gierhart said, they'd like participation from "Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups, adult groups that just want to go fishing."

"A lot of people think Tyndall is off limits," she said, "but we have hunting, we have fishing, we have recreation.