Why I am still here

[Basementdweller]

Spun from the other thread

 

I will say the pinewood derby had it's high points for me.....the car that won was built by a boy in foster care, he did it himself and has been running around the church on the carpet since january. It was decorated with sharpie's and I think he used only sandpaper to shape it. It was ugly for sure, but it was scout made and I couldn't have been happier for him. Sweet justice, especially compared with some of the custom built machines. It puts a smile on my face, even now as I type it.

 

The webelos built fires a couple of weeks ago.....the joy and determination they showed when they succeeded.

 

the pictures shown me of the bird houses we built a couple of years ago that actually got hung in trees and are occupied now.

 

A couple of boys want to do the lizard hike again.....we were hiking a local natural area and ran into more lizards than I had ever seen before. The boys went crazy.....chasing them and enjoying them.....it was a time for sure

 

Fishing derbys are fun too, again most of the boys have never fished before....and I enjoy hearing the shouts and screams of the first one.

 

 

In the end it is worth it, but the parents flat out ruin it. Scouting would be fantastic if you could exclude the parents.

[perdidochas]

I've been lucky in terms of parents. Most have been supportive and help out when they can.

 

I love your PWD story. That is sweet justice.

[Eliza]

Wow, I am SO glad to hear about the boy who won the PWD -- put a smile on my face too (and a tear in my eye).

[Eagledad]

>>Wow, I am SO glad to hear about the boy who won the PWD -- put a smile on my face too (and a tear in my eye)

[Eliza]

>>Yes, boys are amazing. Our pack of about 120 scouts is pretty competitive with pinewood. Its a big family event for us also. One year a Tiger won the whole thing with a car he built himself. His dad might have helped a little, but he is mildly retarded and was very limited in his skills. It was pretty amazing and fun.

 

Barry

[jamist649]

I'm glad Basement started this thread. Here's a few reasons "Why I'm still here":

 

-The boy in my Pack with aspergers syndrome who gets super excited over every beltloop, patch, and award.

-The younger boys who almost fight over who is my son's (Webelos I) BEST friend. LOL

-The handful who make a point to come up to me after every meeting and say "Thanks Mr. J"

-Getting at least 3 or 4 "Scout handshakes" when I go into the local Walmart

 

and on and on and on...

 

 

[briantshore]

A few years ago, I was at work at a local big box store. I was putting a bicycle on the bike rack. I hear a loud voice.

" Mom, Mom, It's him!! Thats the guy who taught me to shoot bow and arrow at camp. I look over and this guy is dragging his Mom by the hand, down the isle to meet me. I ask him if he was at Cub Day Camp. Ask if he hit the target, and did he get a bullseye. Yes, I hit the target, but not the bullseye. Out of 240 kids that went through my station over the week, I do not remember him, but he sure remembered me.

[Eamonn]

Back when I was the District Commissioner, the District Chairman got into it with the SE.

They were fighting about the FOS goals that the SE had set, the Chair. Thought they were unfair and the SE wasn't willing to move.

It ended with the Chair swearing at the SE, telling him in no uncertain terms where to go.

The Chairman then and there just quit.

I liked the Chairman, in fact we were really good friends.

As well as serving the District, the Chair was active in the OA was and had been active in Training, both his sons are Eagle Scouts.

But there he was gone.

Talking with him.

He was very full of his own feeling of having done the right thing along with his feeling of bravado.

But I really think that when he calmed down and a little time had passed he missed a lot of the things that he enjoyed.

 

There are times when no matter at what level we serve Scouts and Scouting does seem to sap the life's blood out of us.

The more passionate we are about what we do and the more involved we are, the more it can turn round and bite us on the tail.

We do what we do because we feel that it's important.

That doing might be rushing out of the house to be at the next meeting on time so we don't leave a group of Scouts standing outside in the cold. It might be trying to get a committee to agree to something that will improve something that the Scouts will benefit from or it might be sharing our money and treasure that will pay for a needed improvement.

It's kinda odd that deep down we all know that when we are gone someone else will do the job. Scouts and Scouting was here long before we were around and there is every likelihood it will be around long after we have gone.

When our District Chairman left, we had a reshuffle and I took his job and we found someone else to take on the job of District Commish.

Each of us has promised that we will do our best.

This best can change over time and from time to time.

At one time I was out doing something involved with Scouting almost every night of the week.

I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed the people I was doing it with. I was having a wonderful time.

But things changed.

I cut back a lot.

In fact I cut back so much that not only did I get used to not doing it, but also when I looked around a good many of the people I had worked with just weren't there any more.

I still believe in the ideals of what I think Scouting is all about. But I've changed. I found other interests, other causes.

In many ways I think it was time to make room for new faces and fresh ideas.

Sure I still toddle off a couple of times each month to attend a meeting which for the most part never gets much done. I still enjoy going for a drink with a couple of other old codgers and re-telling war stories.

I know I'm never going to get into it with any SE.

No SE means that much to me. It just isn't that important.

Ea.

[Gary_Miller]

I serve as an adult leader to ensure that there is a program available for that one boy who wants to be a scout. Because, when I was a boy and moved there was no program for me.

 

I stay in the program because today somewhere there was a little boy born who will need the influence scouting has to offer to help him become a functioning adult in society, and I just maybe the adult who can provide what he needs.

(This message has been edited by Gary_Miller)

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Eamonn,

 

 

>

 

 

 

The biggest service we can do for Scouting is not to do more ourselves, but to invite and encourage more people to be volunteers. That's my theory these days.

 

I'm not especially good at that, but I try to keep it in mind much of the time.

 

There an e-learning course on the Myscouting.org website, I think it's on staffing the district committee. It has good ideas that apply just as much to Cub Packs or Scout Troops.

 

 

 

[Eamonn]

"Why I am still here "

I have been trying to get a jump on my tree pruning. Trying to trim and tidy up the trees before the leaves come.

Taking limbs off the trees and trimming isn't the hard bit.

I've been taking note all winter of which tree and what limbs I was going to attack.

Armed with my trusty chainsaw,pruning saw,looper and a couple of dogs. I set about the task.

Within a couple of hours the yard looked like it had been hit by a hurricane.

Tree limbs scattered all over the place.

I was faced with the task of cutting up these limbs into manageable log sized pieces and then burning them.

Faced with this Friday the small terrier gave up and went and sat on the porch. Dudley the Goldie is not old enough to know any better.

I'd just started my clean up effort when Dudley took off.

He is a very friendly dog, I looked up to see him greeting a couple of Sea Scouts who had come to work on the boats.

They off course made a fuss of Dud and without asking stated working along side me helping clear up the monumental mess I'd made.

They worked their tails off for almost 3 hours.

We lit a fire and had a wonderful time hauling the wood, talking and just having fun.

We didn't get it all done, the rain came. But before they left they asked if it would be OK if they came back and finished it all?

I of course said that it wouldn't be a problem.

Next time I rant on about the kids of today, I hope someone will give me a kick in the pants.

Ea.

(No this wasn't a Scout activity and before anyone brings up the G2SS. - I really don't care!)