In 1931 the council announced:
"This spring the Camping Committee is erecting a new mess hall and kitchen which will be ready for use this summer. The main dining room is seventy-two feet long and thirty-three feet wide. The kitchen and serving room is thirty-nine feet by thirty-seven feet. These two buildings when completed will be second to no camp mess halls in the state. Twenty-two double-hung windows in the dining hall and twelve in the kitchen, all screened, will provide ample light and an abundance of fresh air. Two double oven ranges, automatic dishwashing machines, modern refrigeration, running hot and cold water, automatic electric pump for drinking water supply are but a few of the modern features to be installed in our new kitchen. It will represent when completed the last word in camp kitchens. "

The kitchen probably used ice for refrigeration in its early years, since the walk-in cooler used in later years did not fit its space, and it appears that the kitchen roof had to be raised to accommodate it. 

The host and waiter system was used for all meals and the waiters entered the food service area inside the kitchen through one door, picked up their dishes, food, etc., and passed through the second door back into the dining room. Waiters were instructed to fill pitchers with water from the faucets in the service area and to fill every cup with water before the meal.  This might have had a dual purpose – to be sure that the boys drank enough water and to conserve on how much milk or punch they also drank.

The “head table” in the center area was where the camp director and department heads ate; all other staff members were assigned as table leaders, supervising seven scouts at their meals. Remember this was in the days when all the Scouts were “provisional” campers, trained in the ways of Camp by the staff.

The dining hall held about 36 8-person tables plus the head table, thus seating about 300 people at capacity. When overcrowded we sometimes had to put nine or ten at a table, causing problems for the cook, who usually set up for eight servings to a table.

By the early sixties overcrowding was a problem, so under the direction of camp director Bill Scoville the dining hall enlarged by 32 feet, adding sixteen more tables to the capacity.  Even so, within a few years we began to seat 9 or 10 at a table, add overflow tables outside, and sometimes established a troop rotation of cookout days, freeing up tables for the remainder of camp to use.

The old kitchen was torn down and a new kitchen was opened for the 1990 season, providing a modern kitchen with larger freezer and cooler capacities and newer equipment, based on a concrete floor.  The fireplace was also added when Marty Kadel was camp director, making the dining hall also useful for evening campfires and programs, with enough seating for all.

In 2008 an outside deck and canopy were added to provide sheltered outside seating for the continuing problem of overcrowding in the dining hall.

The building behind the kitchen was apparently built in the 30s to house the chef’s quarters, a store room for dry goods, and the “potato room.”  That room had a concrete floor with a round drain leading to a dry well. Potatoes and other vegetables were stored there, along with a machine which became the least favorite thing in camp for the Scouts who were assigned to KP duty, then part of the daily rotation of camp chores, known as “good turns”.

The KP patrol quickly learned to operate the electric powered potato peeler, a large steel contraption with a central drum lined with abrasive material.  Water was run through the machine while whole potatoes were dumped in the top, soon to emerge as peeled and ready for the kitchen.  Some days the lucky Scouts also got to chop cabbage, peel carrots, and make whatever vegetables were on the menu ready for the cook.  Often those Scouts missed at least the first hour of scoutcraft, since they weren’t finished until the cook was satisfied with their products.

Everybody rejoiced, late in the fifties, when instant mashed potatoes were invented and added to the camp menu.

Prior to 1958 the dining hall was only decorated on the walls by hand carved plaques of some of the merit badges of the day.  Many were carved by Frank Bailey while others were carved by Scouts in the wood carving classes.  The rafters were bare.  In 1958 Troop 22 of Scout Portland under the leadership of Frank Maguire hung the first troop plaque.  In the 60's many arrowhead shaped plaques were awarded to patrols for various accomplishments and these were also hung on the rafters.  A few of these remain scattered throughout the building - but most have disappeared over the years. 

In 1992 the dining hall was named in honor of Charles Warren "Johnny" Ring, Eagle Scout, Council President, and long time Executive Board member.