Re: Prehistoric Scouting (My Scout Career)
(no name) ((no email))
Thu, 17 Dec 1998 00:05:21 -0600
Wow, John...you took *me* back down lanes of memory with your
posting/question. I'll solve SOME of the mysteries but I'm sorry,
I couldn't tell you about a couple of your items:
John Peschken <john.peschken@BIGFOOT.COM> asked:
>- A couple of ID cards from the two troops I belonged to,
>(Minnesota, Viking Council) 306 and 247, both now apparently
>defunct.
Perhaps not, John. "Local numbers" get reused frequently. The
Troop in which I started my Boy Scouting career (Troop 63) was
originally chartered to the American Legion Post 63 in Ludwigsburg,
Germany; when I returned to Europe in the middle 70s, the Troop
moved across town and was chartered to a military organization (I
can't remember the military designation, except it wasn't a "line"
unit (in other words, "military Scouters", it was "TDA unit" and
not a "TOE" unit"). When I returned again in the middle 80s, it
moved to the American School in Bern, Switzerland. They kept the
flag through all of those moves.
So, there's a fair to better chance that Troops 306 and 247 are
still around somewhere within the Viking Council! Maybe not in
Maple Grove, but I would call the Council office and just *ask
them*. It could make for a nice display in the lobby of the
Troop's chartered partner!!
>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.
And they actually were the size of a *real wallet*!!
(you described the neckerchiefs and advancement card well...)
>- 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.
That was a Wolf Badge, from Cub Scouts..and yeah, you probably wore
it centered on your left pocket when you were a Cub Scout. Where's
the rest....the Bear and Lion Badges?? And them Arrow Points??
(WEBELOS didn't come around until after you left Boy Scouts.)
>- 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.
And you need to hold onto that, John!!
>- 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.
I challenge those "ball cap" Scout hats to endore *that long*!
*broad smile*
>- 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.
OOooohhh...Hold onto those, John!! I've been looking for one over
at ebay(tm) and I've been outbid every time! Silva went plastic on
us all...I would have thought that the BSA would exert some
pressure on them to keep the metal housings, but....
>- 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.
That was the first patrol I belonged to, and my "personal emblem".
There's a scan of one on my website on the page which explains
where "settummanque" comes from!
>- 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.
You have one of the older Universal pins, which was used for
everything from induction into Boy Scouting to recognition for
people in support of the BSA's programming. See, back then, it
didn't take a $40 plaque to please people...just give them a 30
cent (they didn't know how much it costed!) lapel pin and they'll
be your friend for life!
(especially since back then, getting a BSA pin REALLY meant
something!!)
>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.
It could be a pencil sharpener (for those big pencils) or a
shavings creator. Other than those two, I don't really know.
Anyone else out there??
John, you've found some really great treasures. I would find out
if your old Troop exists, and if they do, I would make an
appointment to talk with the chartered organization's head and set
up a display in their "main offices" with your things and a short
note explaining where they came from and what they are, along with
information about the Troop, the night they meet, etc. etc.
In my job search, I've frequently passed nice displays put up by
the firm or company, displaying their community spirit and photos
of their employees or owners or logos being associated with local
efforts. We're getting close to Scouting's BIG MONTH, and such a
display would remind that chartered organization every day that
"Hey. We have Scouts!"
Thank you very much for sharing your *finds* with us all. It makes
me sad in part, because much of my youth was tossed out by Mom,
thinking the Biblical verse "When I was a child...." Unfortunately
for me, she also tossed out much of my youth as a Scout.
(Moms, Dads...don't toss anything of your children's...even if you
think it has no relevancy *now*. You never know in 20 years what
5.25" diskettes and old photos of Cub Scouts or Brownies, or even
old books would mean to an adult man or woman!)
Settummanque!
(c) 1998 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") blkeagle@mninter.net
http://mninter.net/~blkeagle Burnsville, MN 55306-7130 (612) 435-3085
privately at kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@server.kaiserslautern.army.mil
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