Fuzzy Bear

Retraction, Retraction: It is Camp Curtis S. Read. My apologies FB

I want to thank both individuals for their time in responding to my request about Camp Read. I tapped in the websites and looked at the pictures and read about the search for historical items about Camp Curtis M. Read. They too are searching for their roots. I have requested a Memorial Book when it is completed to read for myself about Camp Curtis M. Read. It soounds like a great camp with rock climbing walls, pie eating contests, COPE courses, and white water rafting. Adventure and fun. Thanks, Fuzzy

I collect Scout fiction, so one day I ran across some Scout collectibles from a Camp Read. I thought that was an appropriate name for my collection and that maybe I should find some other items from Camp Read to display. I found patches, a song booklet, and a neckerchief. Naming my collection Camp Read still is kind of funny to me but then that is my idea of humor. What now interests me is the actual Camp Read. I must believe that it was named for somebody with the last name of Read or something like that but, moreover, I want to know about the camp, special places, views or traditions. I am sure somebody out there has spent a week or a night there and has something to share. So, if you have one or more Camp Read experiences, pull up a camp stool and spend some time around the campfire with me and a few others telling us about a camp with a special story. Thanks, Fuzzy

I have thought more about this idea of temporary patches today. I recently visited a school because it is part of my job. They gave me a paper stick-on Visitors badge. After my visit, I was driving down the street and saw a yard sell, so I stopped. I looked at the items, hoping for Scouting collectibles to be sold for a song but none were to be had not even the song. The lady sitting by the table with her zipper bank bag of money asked about my Visitor badge. I replied that I was here on earth only temporarily and that I did not expect to stay long. She agreed with me about how we are all faced with the same dilemma and that maybe we should all wear one or at least be prepared to leave like any other visitor. I later considered that maybe I should have taken it off when I left the school because its use had been discontinued and had only gotten me into another conversation with a complete stranger about life and death and questions beyond our grasp but not our interest. The fun thing about the interchange was that both of our spirits were strangely lifted and all because of one silly badge that probably should have been thrown away. It has been several weeks since that incident and it is still affecting me in the same way as it did then. Fuzzy

Every time I get in a conversation like this there happens along either a military type or a nontradionalist that clobbers me pretty good. So, I almost always get it from both sides. I suppose I should simply shut up but then where is the fun? I sewed most of my Scout patches on one of those small official Scout trophy hides when I was younger and ignorant of life's many obstacles. At the completion, I stood back and gazed the glory of it all. I had been an avid Scout and achiever of most any thing with a patch attached, so you can imagine what it looked like. It took me about five years before I cut them all off and decided that plastic bags in a broken suitcase was an even better idea. I am not sure about the quality of life that existed for me at that moment but it was for all practical purposes the best I could do. Later, I decided that the trophy hide held merit but that it needed to be bigger for effect. Since there wasn't an official Scout hide that was large enough, I held off for another 10 years or so. One day I found my old official Scout hide and gazed at the many holes in it and contemplated the loss of revenue from Scouting collectibles. Then, like a shout from a far cliff an answer appeared to me out of nowhere, which was in the resewing of the patches to the hide but as I looked at the pattern of holes from the past I noticed that many of the patches had been sewn in a straight line but at odd angles to the plane of the horizon of the hide. Once again I had been thwarted but not beaten. (Maybe this would be a good question for us to discuss in another forum, that is, is there hole filler for holes in things like this.) Since that time, I have become worn and weathered by the many events of life, such as the one I am presently describing. I found that life no longer holds sway over me with the many mysteries of youth, so, I finally made a decision to sew the patches on a blanket but I knew that I only had military issue. From my many travels I had discovered that Scouting did have an official blanket but I had been unable to acquire one even from ebay because my funds were at low ebb. I tinkered with the thought of selling part of my collection to get a blanket but then where would I be? I would be warm but without a patch past. I now know that I probably would never use it as a blanket. I would most likely be looking for an official Scout frame that was large enough. I would then need a house with museum sized walls. I can honestly now say that I would wear one of my old camp patches in an official plastic holder to Scout camp. I would then stand by the campfire and reminisce over the many trials that confronted me during those early days of problems without answers. Fuzzy

I can remember the conversation with one young man. He stopped coming to meetings. He was a good Scout and he was missed. I visited with him and his parents. They were somewhat defensive but I wanted him to know that he was missed. He had been a part of the school band program and it was then taking a larger share of his time. He also wanted to play basketball. I let him and his parents know that Scouting was a program that lasted all year. They were told that that if he wanted to return that he could join back in any time. He did not return. He had been given every opportunity to evaluate and to plan the program that was presented to him but it was not enough or it did not meet his needs. We had other Scouts with similiar choices and they were given the same opportunity and many responded postively and remained. Scouting is a choice and it is second to non but we gave every indivdual the opportunity to define themselves and to pursue their idea of happiness.

Over the years I have witnessed many different behaviors related to sexual growth of boys. I know that they are attempting to understand life because they are at the beginning and attempting to learn about an issue that is very difficult. People use trial and error in the face of a problem that has few answers and so do boys. Our discomfort is usually about not being able to communicate simple answers in light of so many complexities. A Scout is Kind and so should we be toward those that are attempting to learn the foundational skills of life. I do not pretend to know the answers because there are so many but I do know that the Scout Oath and Law directs us in our efforts. We are adults and we can rely on all of our resources when the problem seems too great for the present answers that seem so meager.

Are there any Boy Scout book, or Boy Scout magazine collectors?