Ideas for Retiring Scoutmaster

[CA_Scouter]

The SM of our troop is retiring next month, and we would like to give him a nice send off and a meaningful gift. He's been involved in Scouting for 16 years now as a Committee Member or Scoutmaster and has obviously devoted many hours of his time to the cause.

 

I would like to solicit ideas from the forum on ceremonies, gifts, speeches, etc. that we can use to give this great guy a proper 'thanks'. Anything ideas involving the boys would be of special interest.

 

Thanks much.

 

 

[SemperParatus]

I am sure you will get a lot of ideas.

 

My favorite "gift" is to create a perpetual unit-award in his name. For example "The Joe Scouter Leadership Award" could be presented each year to the scout selected by his fellow scouts (or the scoutmaster staff) as best exemplifying the leadership qualities of Joe Scouter. Maybe endow a fund so that future award recipients can attend council JLT training at no cost.

[OneHour]

I pulled together all of the digital photos and regular photos of our Scoutmaster (a lot the candid shots). The boys and I put together a slide show with funny captions and songs like Follow Me Boys, Military songs, etc. The Troop ordered him a very nice plaque. We held it after a Court of Honor. The slide show brought tears to his eyes as well as laughters. We had folks come up and roast him. Afterward, a nice reception to relive some of the memories.

 

1Hour

[SemperParatus]

As far as cermonies - it looks like there was a thread on that from May 2002, although it seemed pretty short.

 

Here is a ceremony idea -

 

Have 16 candles - one for each year of his troop career. Have 16 scouts come up one at a time to light a candle and say a few prepared words on how the scouter has modeled the scout law, impacted their life, fond memory, etc. Preferably, invite scouts from the past to come and participate in the candle lighting ceremony. Have the scouts remain standing behind each candle to emphasize his long history and out of respect. When all the candles are lit, the retiree is invited forward for his final words to the troop (past and present). New scoutmaster comes forward thanks him profusely for all his time and leadership. Salutes him - maybe presents a specially made 'Scoutmaster Emiritus' patch or neckerchief (obviously, unit recognition) or if he is continuing in some role with the troop present his new POR patch.

 

The words should be heartfelt of those who are participating, so I would not want to provide a 'canned' ceremony speech.

[EagleInKY]

Definitely a ceremony where you get as many of the past scouts there would be great. I believe that will - by far - mean the most to him.

 

The honorary award is a very nice idea too. Unfortunately, it is will mean ongoing work, and future members may not appreciate it as much as the current ones do.

 

Do you have a bunch of Eagle's from that time period? An Eagle plaque, like the scout shop sells, is very nice. You can list all the names of the Eagles through the years. Also, a plaque on the wall at your meeting place honoring him is a nice sentiment.

[Eamonn]

Do people really retire?

I am not keen on plaques. Her That Must Be Obeyed isn't keen on stuff on the walls and as yet I have not got Eamonn's Scout Room.

I like the idea of some sort of fund that will help pay for something that was near and dear to the recipients heart. Maybe a campership fund or money to help pay for leader training. The hard thing is keeping a fund like this going.

There is always the Council Endowment Fund, we have a plaque in the Council Service Center, which has little brass plates that name all those who are James E. West members.

We have as a District recognized outstanding people.For Scoutmasters I got a list of old Scouts and I sent out a letter saying that we were honoring the individual with a James E. West and asking for a donation. Along with the checks people sent really nice letters. We mounted the letters in a very fancy "Scrapbook". We also held a dinner, where we read the letters,presented the award along with the book, we then just invited people to share their memories about the individual. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. We have also made the dinner the way of paying for the award, using the profits from the sale of tickets. This really excludes a lot of people.

The trick to getting this right is keeping it very simple. The more technical you make it the more chance you have of things going wrong. I also think that it is important to recognize the spouse of the Scoutmaster and maybe his kids.

Her That Must Be Obeyed tells me that once her Dad got the Scouting bug family vacations went out the window. Her Dad used his vacation to take the troop to summer camp.

Eamonn

[Twocubdad]

I was going to mention the West Fellowship, too, if you can go the $1000 they require.

 

How many Eagles has your troop produced? How about a plaque with one "Silver Eagle" dollar coin attached for every Eagle in the troop?

 

Does he have a red Woolrich Scout jacket? How about one personalized with a SM logo, his name, and something about Scoutmaster Emertius? (This is somewhat going along with Eamonn's thought that no one really retires and will have other opportunities to wear it.)

 

 

[Fuzzy Bear]

Sixteen years is not a lifetime but it is long enough to have a nice sized history with allot of emotion. All of those emotions are attached to events and people. For something on that order, it calls out for a banquet. The food is not as important as who comes, so don't be afraid to Potluck it. Memories can be recreated by having tables of things collected and pictures, videos, albums of memories. Speeches should be made by key persons, short but to the point, remembering specific events. Let the SM give his last SM's minute at the end.

 

Take a year to plan it. Recruit a Banquet Committee of active and former Scouts and Leaders. Involve the SM in an oral history. Record it and outline it. Gather pictures from him and his family. Then move on to others that were close to him. Make a scrapbook of copies of the information. Use the information to contact past Scouts and Scouters and later make it a gift.

 

Ask each Patrol to be part of the event in some way. Have the Planning Committee meet once every other month to check on the progress. Gifts can also be donations to favorite charities and then a certificate can be given to honor that donation. Young and old may have something important to say so record the banquet as well for a gift afterwards. A banquet gives focus and reminds a person of the joy and growth that has been shared over the years.

 

Take your time and give it your best. Many things will fall out of the planning process that you didnt expect. All of the efforts will be fully appreciated and well remembered not only by the SM but by the youngest Scout.

 

Merry Christmas,

 

FB