And Then, It All Makes Sense....

[SSScout]

I visited a local park, my purpose to re-connect with the leadership there. I had once , some years ago, been a trail guide there, but ... another time....

SO, I came into the office and asked for the person I had read was the Educational Program Manager. The young man behind the counter told me that person no longer worked there, would I like to speak with the "NEW"  Educational Program Director?  Absolutely, I replied.  He called him on the radio , and came back to me and said,  are you a Scout Leader? Well < I thought , I hadn't mentioned that, but I replied , Yes, I am, that is part of the reason for my visit. He smiled and said, I thought so ! You were the Archery Person at the camp!  I mentioned another park where we had held Cub Scout Day Camp, and he said YEAH !  You were great !  

I did some quick math in my head, this fellow looked to be about 25, 26 maybe 27....   about right...   I said  well,  I guess I made an impression.  He replied, you sure did. I made Eagle a few years later.  And now you're working for the County Parks, I smiled.  He said yeah.   I shook his hand, and then the "New" Education Program Manager came in. 

We introduced ourselves to each other. I spoke to him about the possiblity of finding Eagle service projects thruout the Park. My "Cub Scout"  was able to chime in.  The "New" EPM had not been a Scout, did not know anything about Eagle Projects.  We exchanged information. 

I said goodbye to my new/old Cub Scout, and went back to the "real " world with a smile..... 

[skeptic]

Again, the truth of Scouting over time.  This is the real image of the program, and representative of I would suggest over 99% of those that experience it.  When our unit was regularly pushing popcorn and I was one of the adults in support, I often had past unit members visit and reminisce, or simply former scouts.  Many were proud of being Eagles, but just as many admitted that they just had it as a great youthful experience and learned many beneficial things.  Sadly, in a few instances, someone attacked the program, and worse the youth that were there.  Twice I was forced to step in and ask an adult to please refrain from the verbal harassment and not cause problems.  But, overall, these were positive encounters and even once we ended up with a former member of the unit rejoining us for a while, just out of college and wanting to help.  Similarly, a couple of the old timers visited our meeting and spoke of their time in the program.  I might add that on one of my visits with the master historian and collector Joe Price, he told me how he came to collect while in the service in WWII.  He said that he was asked to find as many Scout Handbooks and related materials, especially the they new Hillcourt Field Book, as they were used as part of the training for the men in uniform.  That resulted in his fascination with collecting the material and learning about it.  That was a few years back now, but I believe it was the jist of our discussion, though time can muddle things.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by skeptic

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

19 minutes ago, skeptic said:

Many were proud of being Eagles, but just as many admitted that they just had it as a great youthful experience and learned many beneficial things.  Sadly, in a few instances, someone attacked the program, and worse the youth that were there.  Twice I was forced to step in and ask an adult to please refrain from the verbal harassment and not cause problems. 

We had an Eagle do this very thing last Saturday. It was very sweet. And it reminds current scouts of that there is a wide lineage that they're part of.

May I ask, what were the adults angry about?

That's very unseemly of the adults, no matter what it was. Even the Russian ambassador gets only a cold shoulder. And especially to attack youth directly is not ok. The time it happened to us I was very grateful that my scout didn't put the underlying message together and was simply confused about why the man was so agitated.

[skeptic]

4 minutes ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

We had an Eagle do this very thing last Saturday. It was very sweet. And it reminds current scouts of that there is a wide lineage that they're part of.

May I ask, what were the adults angry about?

That's very unseemly of the adults, no matter what it was. Even the Russian ambassador gets only a cold shoulder. And especially to attack youth directly is not ok. The time it happened to us I was very grateful that my scout didn't put the underlying message together and was simply confused about why the man was so agitated.

May I ask, what were the adults angry about?

 

At the time it was in relation to the Dale mess, but later, it was in relation to the current issues.  But, as already noted, it was totally wrong, period, especially with the kids present.  My real point of course is that the vast majority of encounters are positive and reflective of the larger truth of the success of the program over time.  Scouting is part of the larger society, and it will always unfortunately have its bad members and detractors.  But it is their very base tenets that also put us in the headlights when things go wrong.  

[Ojoman]

On 9/4/2023 at 11:26 AM, skeptic said:

I might add that on one of my visits with the master historian and collector Joe Price, he told me how he came to collect while in the service in WWII.  He said that he was asked to find as many Scout Handbooks and related materials, especially the they new Hillcourt Field Book, as they were used as part of the training for the men in uniform. 

At a United Way agency show at a mall some years back I had a scouting display including handbooks and a gentleman came to me and said, 'You should be proud of what you do'... meaning promoting and running scouting programs. I told him I was but aske why he said that. He said, 'I was in Viet Nam and many of us made it home, not because of what the military taught us but because of training we had, things we learned in scouts." Needless to say, I was impressed and his message stayed with me.