I love this Scouting stuff!

[Twocubdad]

Apologies to Barry for stealing his tag line, but it fits. But we spend so much time carping and whinning about small details, we sometimes need to remember the big picture.

 

Just came back from our first pack meeting of the year. We've got 36 new Scouts and counting, most of whom have not had a den meeting yet, due to the late date of our Roundups. So for most this was their first real Cub Scout meeting. We had originally planned an outdoor campfire meeting with Dutch oven cobblers, games, the works. But as any of you living on the east coast know, we were rained out. So we did exactly what we were trained to do -- we winged it.

 

We had the old dens get up and teach the Tigers some of old standby skits and silly songs, the Webelos did a rap they learned at resident camp, we told bad jokes (did you hear about the cat that ate a ball of wool? She had mittens!) and generally acted like idiots for an hour. After the meeting I was standing behind a dad and son who had just moved to town. The dad says to the kid, "These guys are a lot of fun, aren't they." And the boy says "Yeah, they're a lot more fun than our old Pack."

 

But even better (from this Committee Chairman's view) at the parent's meeting afterwards, we recruited den leaders for two new Tiger dens and a Bear den, a secretary, a treasurer, advancement chairman, webmaster, camp registrar and a bunch of dads who are going to build shelves for our storage room. Whew! All seem stoked and eager to get trained and get going.

 

What's that line again, Barry?(This message has been edited by Twocubdad)

[Twocubdad]

Along the same lines, here's a nice column from the morning paper:

 

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Eagles soar with family's love

by KEN GARFIELD

 

When you've spent 18 years raising triplet boys, this is the moment you've lived for.

 

Forget the diapers, ear infections, dirty laundry, driver's licenses, college tuitions and girls -- all times three.

 

Your three sons just became Eagle Scouts, together.

 

Who said these guys have been anything but three times the pride and joy?

 

I admired Dwight Dana of Darlington, S.C., long before he and Paula had Brenton, Payson and Radisson. I'll let you figure out why one is named for the old uptown Charlotte hotel.

 

We were both young journalists in South Carolina back in his pre-triplet days. He was a good-natured sort who couldn't have known then what was about to hit him.

 

It hit, and he and Paula dedicated their lives to raising the guys as good as they knew how. They just sent them off to college -- Brenton to Florence-Darlington Technical College, Payson to Coastal Carolina and Radisson to the hell that is freshman year at The Citadel.

 

"He says it's the hardest thing he's ever done, but he says he's going to stick it out," said Dana, 58, a reporter at The Florence Morning News.

 

But my old friend didn't call to tell me about college or the fact that the bedroom with the "three little single beds," as he put it, is suddenly empty. He called to tell me that the three boys simultaneously earned the rank of Eagle -- an apparent first in the history of the Boy Scouts of America.

 

Brenton conducted a food drive for his project. Payson and Radisson each found old church cemeteries to clean in Darlington.

 

But the projects aren't the greatest achievement here.

 

The greatest achievement is that three boys dodged all the temptations that get teenagers off course; they stuck with scouting until the end. They didn't worry about the daily tumult of life in the home of triplets. They refused to let the normal, everyday bickering between brothers take their eyes off what mattered most:

 

Starting something special. And then finishing it.

 

"It was," their proud dad told me, "just the pinnacle."

 

Dwight and I talked some more about the boys, and wrestled with correctly identifying their three photos. You try sorting out triplets some time by phone.

 

Then he said something that helped me understand how they made it all the way to Eagle Scout -- how any child has a better shot at growing up great if there are parents behind them. Truly behind them.

 

"There's not a day in my life that I didn't tell them I loved them," he said. "And they told me the same thing."

 

 

[Laurie]

I've been hoping that as we kick off our new year and get more active that I could contribute to such a positive thread I can--yippee!!

 

Our den leaders were getting tired last year, and they just needed some help and encouragement. One way to get help was to get a den chief. During the summer, one of our Cub siblings, a Boy Scout in a local troop, was helping with activities. He is quiet--so quiet you'd not know he was around, even if right next to him! However, he treated adults and younger boys with respect, was willing to help in any way he could, and just had this way about him that made me wonder if he'd be interested in becoming den chief. I asked the Scoutmaster if it would be ok to request this young man, and he said yes. So I did, and the SM approved his new role, and he received his den chief patch and cord at the Troop Court of Honor this past weekend. He has helped with two den meetings, and I was around doing other things at the same place at the same time. I was amazed last night. There were 5 boys, one brand new, and they were having a ball--not too rowdy (other groups meeting there too), but happy and active. They look up to this young man, and he loves his position. He approached me after the meeting to see how else he could help. Over the summer, he could not talk to me unless I approached him first. It's those small steps toward confidence that I'm thrilled to witness. From all accounts, it came as a suprise that I'd want this particular boy as a leader, for noone had ever thought of him as such. Our Cubs--all the Cubs, not just the den he's in--call him "our Boy Scout". I love that!

 

Last night something else happened. One of our 8-yr-old Cubs came over to me while I was talking to a new Cub and his dad. He looked at the boy and said hi. I asked him if he'd like to introduce himself (ready to help him with this if he was uncomfortable, but he seemed ok with it), and he not only introduced himself, but he led this boy into the den and introduced them to the other boys. It was just a great thing to see--that warm welcome. Surprisingly, this came from a boy who is so active that I think this is the first time I've seen him STILL

 

It's been a frustrating month, but it's those things--not huge, not noticeable to many--that make it all worthwhile. The privilege to see a boy's growth, to even be part of that--wow!