A Scoutmaster's Blog

I began my career as a Boy Scout troop leader early in my life. I was only a few months shy of my twentieth birthday when I became the assistant scoutmaster for Troop 68. Two months after my twenty-first birthday I was appointed the scoutmaster, a position I still hold today. There have been a few unique markers along this highway of my Scouting life that I would like to share with you.

The first marker was when I became the scoutmaster. Suddenly I was “responsible” for the troop. I was not the young assistant scoutmaster any longer who was practically still one of the gang. I was now the adult “figurehead” of Scouting in town. More then anything else, becoming the troop’s scoutmaster marked the beginning of my adulthood.

During the eighties the troop began going to Philmont Scout Ranch. I will admit that one of the reasons I stayed on as a scoutmaster is because I wanted to go to Philmont. I went to Philmont in 1986 and 1989 with the Scouts from Melrose. That first decade seemed to go by pretty quickly.

The second marker caught me a little off guard. Boys began joining the troop that were born after I signed on as an assistant scoutmaster. Two years later boys entered Scouting that would come to know me as the only scoutmaster in Melrose during their lifetime. I was beginning to feel old at thirty-one.

The third marker was when I began receiving invitations to weddings of troop alumni. I was even asked to be the best man at one of those weddings.

The fourth marker was when I noticed that the parents of some of the Scouts were younger then I was. Holy cow, I thought. I have been doing this scoutmaster thing for a long time. I was really starting to feel older.

Another marker came along when next generation cousins of former troop members began joining Scouting. In fact, my assistant scoutmaster, who is eighty years old, joined the troop when his youngest son was a Boy Scout. Since then, two of his grandchildren, sons of my assistant’s oldest son, have been members of the troop. I have seen three generations of this family involved with the Scout program on some level.

I think the next marker will be when the son of a former Boy Scout joins the troop. That has not happened yet, but it could. While most of the troop members have moved to other cities as they got older, there are a few that have decided to stay in this area. There seems to be more daughters then sons among that small group at the moment. I am thinking it may be time to retire when the first son of a troop member joins the troop. (he writes with a grin on his face.)

Whoever says that one person cannot make a difference obviously has not met Eagle Scout Andrew Larochelle. Check out what he did by reading this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer which was posted on October 12th. It is great to see a Boy Scout making a positive difference in on country.

Buffaloeagle, on the Lone Star Scouter blog, has posted an excellent poem about Confidence. I think it would make for a great scoutmaster minute at the end of a troop meeting. Check it out and see what you think about it. Click HERE to read it.

There is a post on another Scouting Blog, The Scoutmaster Minute, that has an excellent description on styles of leadership. He writes about the various styles as used in a football team, but they work well with a Boy Scout Troop also. Give the site a visit and check it out HERE.

Joe Timmins had been the cubmaster of Pack 68 for five years as the year of 1985 began. Two of his boys were already in the Boy Scout troop after their tenure as Cub Scouts, one was currently in Cub Scouting, and one would soon be a member of the pack. Joe was an excellent cubmaster. He was enthusiastic. He was willing to put in the time needed to have a successful pack. He surrounded himself with a good committee. And the boys liked him.

It came as no surprise when I was told that Joe was to receive the district’s Scouter of the Year Award at the annual recognition banquet in February. He deserved it. He and the other pack leaders had built up the pack to nearly 50 members in a town of only 3000 people. When asked if I would attend the banquet I did not even have to think about it. I was going to be there to support Joe.

About a dozen of us carpooled to the banquet, including Joe and his wife Carol. I do not think Joe suspected anything. They had told him that someone he knew would be receiving an honor so he was attending to support that other person. The plan was working well.

After the meal they began to present the various awards to leaders from around the district. Then it was time for the Scouter of the Year. The presenter of the award started by talking about the recipient’s achievements and community service. It did not take me long to realize he was talking about our cubmaster. Joe was both surprised and honored as he accepted the award. Those of us sitting at the table were wearing ear to ear grins as he sat back down among us.

The presenter began reciting the achievements of a another person who would be receiving the Scouter of the Year. This time it would go to a scoutmaster. It did not take long to realize that the recipient was the 24 year old scoutmaster from my own troop. Me! I was shocked, and very honored, as I walked up to accept the certificate. I had no idea that this would be happening.

The pack and troop committee had told me that I should attend to support Joe. They had told Joe to attend to support me. It was a sneaky but great way to get the two of us to attend the banquet and keep it a secret from each of us.

As the new program year begins once again for Cub Packs and Scout Troops, I thought it would be time to review a blog post from one year ago. It is called “Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader“. The article lists ten reasons to become a leader of your pack or troop.

Everyone always seems to have plenty of reasons not to be a leader. I always thought there should be more reasons to become a Scout Leader then reasons to avoid being a leader. After all, these are our kids we are talking about. This is the next generation that (hopefully) will be taking care of us as we get older. If we (the parents and adults of today) do not take the time now to spend the time with our boys and train them to be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight, then who is going to do it? We certainly cannot trust our school systems to do it.

Scouting gives us adults a perfect opportunity to help our youth become good leaders. Scouting teaches our boys many things that will help them throughout their lives. The question is, are we ready to take the challenge? Are you ready to to take on the responsibility? I think it is time that parents, and other concerned adults, take the time to invest into our youth, and quit trying to find reasons not to get involved.

Click HERE to read “Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader.”

Last night, when I was checking out a few Scouting related blogs, I had a quick flashback to the early 1990’s. BuffaloEagle, at Lone Star Scouter, had posted a list of the eleven skills of leadership. Upon seeing them I was taken back to my Woodbadge training at Camp Stearns.

The skills are:

Buffalo Eagle wrote that these skills were discussed during a COPE course that he attended. I went through COPE nearly ten years ago, but I do not remember discussing these during the course. Maybe we did. I do not remember. I was having too much fun climbing things and riding the zip line.

The Eleven Skills of Leadership. It has been awhile since I have thought about them. Maybe it is time to review them. Now, where did I put my Woodbadge notebook?

If you have been involved with Scouting for any length of time you have probably heard someone say, “It only takes an hour a week.” What a joke that is! Just a bit of a misleading line there, huh? Let us take a look at a typical month of Scouting during this scoutmaster’s life.

We have three troop meetings a month. At ninety minutes per meeting, plus drive time, plus waiting for parents to pick their boys after the meeting, I can estimate two hours per meeting. Monthly total here is 6 hours.

One committee meeting per month, average of 1.5 hours. One patrol leader council meeting per month, average two hours. One district roundtable meeting each month with drive time to council office, average of three hours. Total of monthly meetings is 6.5 hours each month.

One weekend camping trip per month. The Scouts arrive at 6:00 Friday evening. Parents pick up the last boy at 11:00 Sunday morning. Total hours of camping trip is 41 hours. (Yes, I counted the sleeping hours. I am still in charge of the Scouts, am I not?)

Now, let’s add this up. It comes to 53.5 hours during the month. (Keep in mind that this does not include any prep time, fund raising, training, or special activity time yet.) Divide this figure by four weeks per month. Gosh! That comes to an average of 13.75 hours per week.

An hour a week? Not even close! But this demonstration does show that those of us who are scoutmasters can be quite dedicated to the program and the boys. The amazing thing is that I sometimes feel that I am spending more “quality time” with the boys then some of their parents do. What does this say about our society?

Scouting can be a great organization for boys and their parents. It gives them a chance to do some things together. Come on parents! Get involved with that Cub Pack or Boy Scout Troop. Become a committee member, a pack leader, or an assistant scoutmaster.

After all, it only takes an hour a week