What Makes It Worthwhile ?

[Tampa Turtle]

- Having a scout who was a handful (one of my 'project scouts') who moved away get in touch with me years later and thank me for believing in him when he was a PITA. He did straighten out and get his Eagle.

 

- Have an older boy (I didn't know) when I was a newbie ASM tell me at a late, late campfire that he appreciate all the Dad's who took there time to make the campouts happen. He said his homelife was awful and the only thing that kept him sane for the last few years was knowing once a month he could get away for a weekend.

 

- Having a Tiger cubscout loudly in a grocery store "Mom, Mom thats my den leader" like I was a rock star,

 

- Hiking alongside a teenager who worked up to ask me why all the nice girls liked bad boys and should he start treating them like dirt? (I said hang on)Said he could not ask his dad.

 

- Two years later when he came up to me and said "remember what you told me at the river hike? You were right"

 

- How the troop came together when our Scoutmaster died and how his widow keeps getting mentor pins from the older boys as they make Eagle.

[Hedgehog]

When my son realized we were going the wrong way on a trail and turned the patrol around to backtrack despite another adult insisting that we were going the right direction.  Followed by my son being respectful to the adult who insisted we were going in the wrong direction when my son was proven right.

 

The smile of a new scout after his first campout when his worried mom asked him if he had fun.

 

My son addressing the parents and telling them about our week as SPL at the end of summer camp rather than the adult leaders doing the talking.

 

Our last Court of Honor which was (with the exception of handing out awards) entirely run by the boys.

 

The SPL announcing at the Court of Honor that the TLT weekend that I organized was a lot of fun.

 

Being named a Eagle Scout mentor by a scout based on what he learned from the Troop's adventures in the outdoors.

 

My son getting selected for NYLT staff two days ago.

 

The inside jokes that I share with scouts in the troops because I've been there.

 

The comradarie of scouts and leaders around a campfire.

[zsdad]

When you have twin Tiger Cubs standing with Mom on the steps of the school and they're both crying because you're running late and the thought we wer'nt having Cubs that night .Makes you realize that you might be doing something right and good after all.

[Deaf Scouter]

My moment was unexpected.  I chair an annual district merit badge day event.  During an EBOR, I was reading the scout's letter and he mentioned he wanted to become a dentist after taking the merit badge. When I looked at merit badges he had taken, couldn't help but notice when he had taken Dentistry.  (I always bring up something about them to avoid conflicts of questions/topics with the other BOR members being deaf.)  Was a nice feeling to see the impact that after I got home I emailed the counselor to include them in the moment.

 

I know many knock day merit badge events but one of the things I do see is scouts taking a merit badge they or the troop would not normally do.  I really try hard to get those least earned merit badges into ours.