m_orbeck

A Missed Opportunity I am sorry to hear about this Mom?s displeasure?and her missed opportunity as a Scouter. I am a registered ASM from Troop 264 in Keller, Texas and we attended the same Chisholm Trail Adventure (CTA) program the same week she was there, no doubt sat near her Troop in the dining facility and slogged through the same mud along the roads, during the record setting rain events of the first week of camp June 6 2004. We had 12 Scouts in the Base Camp program (5 of these were rookies) and 7 older boys in the CTA program and I must admit that I have never witnessed such an awesome display of God?s ability to put on Weather Merit Badge class. The 10,000 acre lake rose 11 feet in 2 days. Were we ready for this one, even those of us who were seasoned campers and Texas natives? Absolutely not! Many of my fellow Scouters in 264 have prior military experience, and consequently place a high regard towards being prepared and adapting with changed conditions. We all have our personal experiences, tips and speeches and never pass up a chance to teach a valuable lesson. But every once in a while, Mother Nature will step in to provide us with the training props and Audio Visual aids, as she did that week, so that the aspect of realism is truly paramount. And thinking back on the countless number of times we have lectured our boys about the good sense of always stowing our personal gear together, in a dry place, or taking a few minutes to check that tent flaps are closed before we set out in the morning, I know too well that the comparison with first hand experience is indescribable. When that storm blew in the first night, we all got soaked to the bone, trying to throw extra tie down lines on the tents and actually lashing rocks to the tent walls in a valiant attempt to combat the high winds. We repeated this process over the next two nights and once again on Friday. And not once during that week did I have to explain to those boys about the luxury of donning dry socks and boots in the morning or that wonderful sensation of sliding your cold feet down to the far end of a dry sleeping bag. And to the Mom?s remarks about the camp staff?? Another miss, wide left and off the black. I have attended a few summer programs in which the weather cooperated with us, when the food was so tasty and the drinking water was excellent. We as adults have a tendency to be highly appreciative of those camps, giving out top scores in the post activity evaluations. But when matters take a turn for the worse and storms come in, we often criticize the staff for our own inconveniences. Too often we forget that the staffers require our attentions and concerns also. They are for the most part only a year or two older than the Scouts we claim to be responsible for and we need to be ready to step in during a merit badge class to guide and assist, always from the background. The staff endured the same downpours we did that week, but they had to muster at least an hour earlier than we did each morning, and they did not eat until we were all served, and they returned to their wet tents well after we were all tucked away. And this was week one for the rest of the summer. Shame on the adult that does not recognize this virtue of sacrifice and their desire to be trainers for our boys. Three years ago, our Scoutmaster, Gordon Carter and I took five boys through the same CTA program. We would both agree that it was the most fun ?vacation? we ever had, especially the Texas Rangers portion, of which we are both avid readers. This year we took our turn in Base Camp with the younger Scouts, but we made a special request to the CTA director to ?help out? with the Texas Rangers when our own CTA boys attended. With our ?previous experience?, we volunteered to be the bandits, the bad guys, sneaking in and stealing the payroll and a few horses on the side, and of course, kidnapping the women and ?lightin out for the hills?! Our boys, as newly deputized Rangers were in hot pursuit with a fervent desire for vengeance, a steely look of reckoning in their eyes. ( It is truly amazing how contagious your adult enthusiasm can be with these boys). Of course they overtook us as we retreated up the hill, guns blazing, always running from rock to rock for cover. Before the smoke cleared and the paper wadding blew away, the Rangers had won the fight, and in true fashion of the times, took no prisoners. They stacked our dead bodies up like cordwood in the road, placed their boots upon the backs of our necks and posed for the victory photo. Later, one of the Ranger staffers told our adults, ?You know this week has been truly miserable, but you guys made it fun today. Thanks for helping out!? Helping out as an adult is our job in Scouting?and getting to act like boys again is the biggest secret of it all. Our new Scouts are no longer rookies after that week. They have a little bit of a swagger now, with a healthy dose of a ?Bring It On? attitude. And that is exactly what we want them to be. What a blessing to the Scouting Program if these boys ever register as adults and actually be adults when they, in turn, take their troops out into the storms. Dr. James Dobson once wrote an article about families that form the strongest bonds after the worst camping trips. Dobson explained about the unique bonding that is formed when we suffer and persevere together, overcome together and later reminisce together. How true of Scouting! Mark Orbeck Asst. Scoutmaster Troop 264 Keller, Texas Stand Alone ? Stand Together