Just One Day

[Beavah]

Eagledad asks:

 

I have another question that I guess all of us should answer. If you could have every boy in your community for only one day of his life in your scout unit, what would you want him to take from your unit that he could use for the rest of his life?

 

Seems like a good question for a new thread, eh?

 

This old Beavah would hate to have a boy for only a day. I think Scoutin' is like rain. It is the steady practice of livin' the fun and the Oath that gradually forms channels and brooks and streams, which later become rivers to refresh and nourish a man for a lifetime of service. One day of rain just gets you wet, eh? Many years of rain gets you fertile valleys. And Beavah ponds!

 

But if I only had a boy for a day, I'd like him to experience a brotherhood of adventure and service. For that day, I'd like him to touch, taste, feel, hear, see what it's like to do something scary, and challenging, and worthwhile, supported by skilled and caring peers in a group that really were brothers in the Oath and Law. So that, for the rest of his life, as he faced challenges and hard work, he'd have at least one good image of "the way it should be" with caring and talented people engaged together in a worthwhile cause.

 

Give him the memory of an ideal to live up to, and the desire to do so.

 

Yah, I think dat's it, eh?

 

 

 

[resqman]

For just one day I would want the boy on a camping trip.

 

You rise from your sleeping bag a little groggy with messed up hair. You stumble out to the fire pit from last night and begin the process of starting a fire. Are there any coals left you can coax with some kindleing? The whole ordeal of getting the fire started brings all the people around the cold fire pit together. The rustlings of others getting out of their beds and the beginning of getting a hot breakfast made. Some of the scouts are cooly effiecent and organized while most are a bit impatient and make a few mistakes while getting the stove lite, the pans out, and the various foods blended, heated, and served. That moment while all the still sleeply headed boys sit on the logs around the morning campfire pushing the morning breakfast into their mouths while they stare into the magic of the flames dancing. Soon that food brings them alive and they start chatting. Good natured ribbing and true fellowship are shared during the morning meal.

 

During the day they all learn new skills, practice old skills, and share experiences with others. A mixture of atheletes, brainiacs, socially aware, and socially stunted. They are scouts, not all the various cliches and sub-cliches from school.

 

They all belong to at least two teams, the troop and their patrol. They know acceptance and committment on both a small and larger scale. They work together to complete some task, reach some goal, teach or learn skills, to share a day of experiences. No longer strangers but rather a united group with shared adventures.

 

That time after the evening meal but before the evening campfire starts is a time where many spend some time paired up with new friends. Talking about nothing or that insect over there. The evenings campfire where they get to share in creating skits and songs with thier patrols in a friendly competition. To laugh, sing, enjoy the crisp night air.

 

And finally when they settle into their sleeping bags with their tentmates. To have those intimate chats before dosing off.

 

To me that is scouting. A full day of outdoors will show any boy that scouting is adventure, teamwork, and leadership. It is facing new challenges and learning something new, either about themselves or just the activity.

 

 

[eagle90]

Beautifully said, resqman