Prehistoric Scouting (My Scout Career)
John Peschken (john.peschken@BIGFOOT.COM)
Mon, 14 Dec 1998 23:41:08 -0600
Scout-L'ers,
Well, Mom was going through an old trunk in the basement, and she found
some memoirs (remains?) of my illustrious career as a Scout. During my 4
year Boy Scout career I rose to the lofty rank of 2nd Class. I can not
remember anything we did related to advancement. I don't recall anyone
getting past First Class, or anyone earning merit badges. I think the
troop I belonged to paid little or no attention to advancement. Turned out
okay, though. I remember it fondly, and I feel that Scouting had a
profound effect on my life. I can still tell you the names of my
Scoutmasters, too. Amazing how things early in life are firmly fixed in my
brain, but I can't tell you what I had for lunch today. Ah well; I digress.
She found:
- A couple of ID cards from the two troops I belonged to, (Minnesota,
Viking Council) 306 and 247, both now apparently defunct. The ID cards
really were nicer in those days; nice artwork on the back depicting a
troop going on a hike. Printed on much higher quality stock than the
computer generated ones we get nowadays. These were valid through Oct. '64
and Feb. '66, and had a dire warning about them being non-transferrable.
Okay ....
- A card certifying that I had risen to what was to be my ultimate rank
(3-15-66). I think I quit about a year later.
- Neckerchiefs from both troops ... One a standard BSA issue in black on
yellow, the other a custom jobbie from the troop that I spent the last 90%
of my scout career with.
- A diamond (square turned 45 Degrees) Red with black stitching Cub Scout
patch with a Cub and the words "Cub Scouts B.S.A", that I think rode on the
pocket of my Cub Scout uniform.
- A felt puppet of a Cub Scout, which I'm convinced I remember making in a
Den meeting with Mrs Drelow our Den leader. Complete with the gold piping
on the beanie with a little visor hats we wore.
- My old Boy Scout hat (flat military style type) This sucker looks like
it had a hard life. Still fits. I bet that it and the neckerchiefs are the
only parts of my old uniform that would.
- Two official BSA compasses by Silva. Plexiglass base with aluminum
housings around the compasses. They've got declination adjustment screws
and everything. Quite nice, actually.
- A round patch with an Eagle (wings spread) in black stitching on red and
the letters B.S.A. at the bottom. I'm guessing that this is a prehistoric
patrol patch, and that I was a member of the Eagle Patrol.
- A gold pin in the shape of the Scout fleur de lis with Eagle. I suspect
this is gold plated, since it's spent the last 33 odd years in the basement
yet showed no signs of tarnish, and got real shiny with just a little
rubbing on my shirt. I do not know what this is, but if memory serves me,
I think it was the equivalent to the "Scout" patch we now give out. I'm
hoping one of you folks will know for sure.
Almost as interesting is the shoe box this stuff is in. I seem to recall
that this is itself, a Scout project. It has a square hole, about 3/4"
square on one end, precisely in the middle. You can see that I pencilled
lines from opposite corners to target the center. Also in the box was two
halves of a double edge razor blade with pieces of yellowed curled up tape
attached. I seem to remember that you taped the razor blade halves on the
inside of the hole so that two edges were nearly touching. It did
something, but I can't remember what. Maybe one of you will recall.
It's fun to turn up this stuff. It would be nice if some of you students
of ancient Scouting out there could tell me if I've figured out the last
few items correctly.
Thanks,
John
John
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John Peschken
Maple Grove, Minnesota, USA
