Re: Female on Campouts (12 years of this)

>From an earlier posting:

> I believe women have no place working as Scoutmasters
> and Assistant Scoutmasters. Committee Members, fine.
> But not SMs and ASMs. The reason is simple and logical:
> How can a woman possibly mold a boy into a man of
> character by example? She's not a MAN of character!

When this came through, I sent a private reply to the author. But I've
been thinking about the posting, especially about some of the women who
affected my own character and the character of the boys I've worked with
during the past twelve years by the example these ladies set in their
daily lives.

The first lady I think about is my Mom. She is now 81 years old and in
a nursing home. I'm very fortunate that I see her almost every day.
When I visit with her, we sometimes talk of the great outdoor adventures
we had together when I was a boy...hunting, bird-watching, boating,
swimming and water skiing. She still loves flowers and birds and being
near nature. But most of all, I think of the scores of young people
(boys and girls) whose character she helped mold along the way as a home
room mother, tutor, mentor, Sunday school teacher and friend.

The next woman I think about is my wife of almost 33 years who has also
been my best friend since I was age 17. I think of our three grown sons
and the fine men they have become. And I think of the hundreds of boys
she has helped as den leader, day camp leader, school volunteer, soccer
mom, Sunday school teacher, merit badge counselor, high adventure
advisor and summer camp leader. During our troop's 10th anniversary
banquet two years ago, our Scouts presented her with a plaque
recognizing her efforts as "Troop Mom" with a spokesman stating, "She
was there at every campout. She made us clean up every mess. She taught
a bunch of boys how to wash dishes."

Next, I think of the many women, including several Assistant
Scoutmasters, who have provided leadership during our troop's twelve
years (we celebrate our 12th anniversary today). I think of the women
who have backpacked the trails at Philmont, sailed at the Florida Sea
Base and in the Bahamas, canoed the Boundary Waters in Minnesota,
backpacked the Colorado Trail and traveled the Arkansas and New Rivers
in whitewater rafts. I fondly remember the two women who were the very
first ladies to participate in a week long horse trek at the Circle Ten
Council's Camp Cherokee back in 1990.

So when I review the past twelve years and all the women who have had a
major role in helping our troop grow from 14 Scouts at that initial
troop meeting back on May 20, 1986, to the 83 active Scouts registered
today, my hat's off to those "camping women" who have helped mold the
characters to a significant number of young men. May there be more of
them in the years to come!

YiS,

--
Calvin H. Gray
Scoutmaster, Troop 405
Georgetown, Texas
mailto:405geezer@igg-tx.net
mailto:scoutmaster@troop405.org
http://www.troop405.org

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