Re: Introduction
settummanque, or blackeagle (blkeagle@DYNASTY.NET)
Sun, 4 Jan 1998 01:21:31 -0600
This is my followup to my response to John Calkins, who asked us all:
>Sorry for the soap box sermon. This has been building for some time and
>I can't seem to find good answers here locally. So I'm reaching out to
>you. I hate to see the program going the way it has. For you
>woodbadgers out there, can you help get back the Gilwell spirit?
Sure I can, John.
Do this right now. Go get your Scout uniform shirt. I'll wait.
Take a good look at it. Look carefully at it. What are you looking for??
You're looking for those memories of those great times you've had as a
Scouter within that uniform. You're looking for the tearstains from a
Scout that was scared of the darkness the night before and you've held him
and told him that everything's going to be alright. You're looking for the
coffeestains, the spills from cola products and from water and ice from
Scouters bumping into you during an excited Roundtable meeting, whereby in
the hallway, they were so happy to see you, that they spilled stuff on your
shirt...remember what you said..."Don't worry about...it'll come clean"??
Look for those small holes caused by pins attached to your shirt, hastily
taken off and put back on and taken off over the years. See those inkpen
marks there? Remember how you got those marks...from telling someone "Hold
on...let me give you my phone number...I want to really help you..." and
scraping the shirt, the pocket, or both, you without thinking provided your
phone number, your fax number, your internet email address and even your
wife's name and work number before putting the pen back into your
pocket...without capping it.
You were too excited being of service to someone else, John. Remember their
smile when you gave them that information?? Remember how it made you feel
inside...deep inside, not just under the shirt or the undershirt that you
wore occassionally because the cotton/poly blend sometimes would chafe you,
especially in the summertime.
You're looking for those underarm stains and the ring-around-the collar from
those many meetings and actvities with your unit. Building things, teaching
things, trying to explain to parents what Scouting is and what it isn't.
Worrying about that Scout that didn't show or that Scout that somehow went
"zagging" when the rest of the Troop went "zigging". You're looking for
those missing buttons, too, and for those snags on that shirt and the wear
and tear. Notice that "Boy Scouts of America" isn't as "Scouting Red" as it
was when you first bought or was given that shirt.
Nah, John...it's now some kind of bright orange-red color now, but that's
from taking that shirt out and using as it was made to be used: as a banner
for everything right about youth, for a youth program that has withstood
lots of "negativity" about it. Just like our hair, getting lighter with
age, our shirts and the threads have gotten lighter with age. With
experience. With knowledge. You know a whole lot more in Scouting than you
did last year and it all didn't come from books.
While we're on the subject of books, John, go put your shirt away and find
your Scout Handbook. Or your OA Handbook. Or that Scoutmasters' Handbook
over there. Take a look at the book. You'll see that the binding's
cracked, that you've dog-eared pages and highlighted or underlined stuff in
that book. You probably used that book to kill a fly with; or to use as a
paperweight. But as you take a look at your book, you'll see some other
things. You'll see that you've used that book to prove your point to a
Scouter. You've used that book to read passages from it aloud. As an
example to others to use their books and resources.
As a youth, you probably snuck and took your Handbook to school with you and
read it in secret, hiding it in a locker or under some school books.
As an adult, you probably took it to work with you, and proudly laid it on
your desk, so that others can see it and say something about it to you.
You really brought it to work, though, so that you can sneak in and use the
photocopier to make copies of the packing chart. Or to make an additional
copy of the health and safety form for some Scouter that doesn't have access
to the form and in your thinking, would never go to the Council office to
get on on his own.
And, John, if truth be known, you've probably slept under it or used it as
part of your pillow, to keep it from getting wet, or damp, or just to
protect it. And you know what, no matter what you did, you couldn't protect it.
The same way the BSA is being pummelled for money. No matter what we do, no
matter if we reduce the entire program to a handful of professionals and
four or eight local Councils to serve the entire nation, we are still going
to need money to send Scouts away to camps. To run those few facilities and
to get people to man them. We need the money to make sure that the program
survives the next generation of kids and to keep the program as intact as we
can make it.
People complain, John, about the costs of the uniform. They complain about
the lack of guidance and information in our literature. They complain in
part, because it is true: our uniforms DO cost more than they used to and
our literature needs to be improved. Those things take money and time, two
things that many people today don't want to part with a whole lot. But
you've seen the benefits from both of those special commodities through your
involvement in Scouting. You've seen the impact that what YOU DO in
Scouting does and makes to so many others.
When we're all gone from this earth, when our bodies have turned back to the
minerals and metals....and when our uniforms and books all have returned to
cotton and papers.....we won't see the impact that our participation in
Scouting has made. There's not a way we can.
But think about what impact we CAN SEE NOW if there wasn't any Scouting.
Think about what could and would happen if we weren't involved -- in
whatever role we play -- in Scouting right now.
John, the time for our whinning about the costs of Scouting is past over.
We have a job to do, and while it does cost money and time, we can't afford
to leave it to someone else nor can we can afford not to do the best jobs we
can: We've got to get past the "money talk" and get to the heart of the
matter: We need to tell as many other people as possible about the good
that Scouting provides and what Scouting has done for us as individuals and
as families and as participants in a program.
When they ask about "money for this" or that, explain firmly but
confidently, that "I know that money is important; but let's get back on
track here and talk about why we're here: to imflunce and give a quality
program to each and every American boy that wants it."
When they insist, let them go onward with their discussions on SME or FOS,
about Boys' Life and the importance that every unit is a 100 percent Boys
Life unit, about the fact that unless we have a successful financial
campaign, we won't be able to afford the new dock or the new campsite.
Take a look at those uniforms around the room and remember the REAL reason
why we display them and what we are doing there. Take a look at those books
on the tables or desks and remember the many things that you're sure that
they've shared through looking and reading and having those books.
It's not much. But it's all we have. That's the way Scouting started in
this country. That's the way we're going to keep it going in this country.
I saw a "tagline" from someone's car on the way back from taking my daughter
home today:
"I'm NOT a Boy Scout....I prepare Boy Scouts for life!"
Hope that these two long postings helps you, John, and others wanting to
know the same kinds of things. Keep pushing FORWARD, John!! We all need you!!
Settummanque!
(c) 1997 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") (502) 827-9201
(settummanque, the blackeagle) http://dynasty.net/users/blkeagle
241 Fairview Dr., Henderson, KY 42420-4339 blkeagle@dynasty.net
kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@hq.21taacom.army.mil
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