The Boy Scouts of America began with service when a young scout did his daily good turn and helped William Boyce find his way through the London fog. From that time in 1909, to present day, millions of Scouts have performed service projects and good turns for the betterment of America, its people, and the world.

In April of 1997 the BSA committed to providing 200 million hours of community service each year by its youth members in response to the President's Summit for America's Future. This commits each Scout to a minimum of 12 hours of community service each year through the year 2000.

The SCOUTER NetCompass staff reminds you that Service is a two-edged sword of good. Both the community, and the Scout performing the service, can benefit. Benefit to the community is obvious in the lives of those who receive the service. However, let's not forget what performing service can also do to a Scout. The sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction of helping others, and the pride in knowing it made a difference, can inspire a Scout to do more and spur him to continue to help long after he hangs up his uniform.

Consider this story of an average troop, who tackled a hefty project, and came away better for having done so. Read The story of the "Bertrand Historical Cemetery Clean-Up."

The Story

The first year they helped clean up Bertrand Cemetery, Troop 421 from Granger, Indiana, was a troop that had been chartered less than a year. Most of the scouts were 10 and 11 years old, along with a 16-year-old Eagle Scout and a couple of 12 year old First Class Scouts. All in all, the troop was a bunch of skinny little boys whose combined strength was barely equal to the strength of one man (all right, maybe TWO men). When their Scoutmaster and his Assistant learned of the Clean-Up Day for Historical Bertrand Cemetery in Southern Michigan, they relayed the information to the Troop.

The first reaction from the Scouts was someone's answer of "...if we want to clean up something we can stay home and clean our rooms."

The Cemetery

"What is Bertrand Cemetery?" one of the Scouts asked. The men explained that this cemetery is a private, very old cemetery. None of the family members is left to care for it. The area Boy Scouts had adopted it as a service project. However, it was one of those projects that usually have little participation.

"What kinds of things need cleaning?" was the next question.

"Since this project takes place only once a year, expect a year's growth of weeds to remove, grass to mow, and perhaps a headstone or two to set up if they have tipped over," explained the ASM.

"This could be fun," said the Eagle Scout. "In any case, it would be a much better outing than staying at home and cleaning my room. It might be kind of fun to take care of a part of history. Usually, that kind of thing is only done by park rangers." With the prodding of the older Scout, the Troop became mildly excited about the clean-up project. They voted to participate.

The Service

The Saturday arrived. Armed with work gloves, and assorted grass and weed removal tools, the troop set out. When they arrived at the cemetery, they had to look twice to find it. The entire space was filled with weeds that were taller than most of the boys. The Scoutmaster took a deep breath. This clean up was going to be a lot of work - even for grown men. He had faith in his Scouts, but wondered how they would react. He didn't have long to wait. The SPL began handing out tools. The Troop talked about the tasks that needed to be done. Everyone choose a job. They set to work.

And work they did! Because they were cutting into a solid bank of overgrowth, things went slowly at first. Then, as a headstone was discovered - and then, another, and another, hard work blended with sense of mystery and discovery. As the day went on, the shirts came off and the weeds came down. As they worked, the Scouts read the inscriptions on the headstones.

"Wow! Listen to THIS date!" or "This one was just a kid when he died" or similar remarks were repeated throughout the day.

The Result

There was little controversy on this day. The Scouts were too busy to argue. When evening came, they stood back and proudly surveyed the day's work. The trip home was quiet since the Scouts were tired. But, they were tired from a good day's work, a satisfying day's work. The success or failure of an outing is often evidenced by the remarks made on the way home. Remarks such as: "that was fun", "we sure chopped a lot of weeds", "can't believe how much better it looks" and "I want to go again next year" convinced the Leaders that this one was a success. Later, the mother of the smallest Scout in the Troop told the Scoutmaster that the cemetery clean up was her son's favorite outing.

The Troop did return the next year. And, it returned the next. In fact, for Troop 421, it was one of the best attended outings each year. They returned and helped clean the cemetery until its care was taken over by a government agency.

No one was ever really sure why the day was so popular with the Scouts. It is the Scoutmaster's opinion that they faced a task that looked impossible and found out that they were capable of conquering it. They discovered the satisfaction of honest, hard work. They discovered the joy of making a difference in the world around them. For the Scouts of Troop 421, Historical Bertrand Cemetery became a place of self-discovery - and what they discovered made them proud. Of those young Scouts, most went on to become Eagle Scouts. Each, Eagle or not, has become a worthy citizen of his community.

Did it all start that first day at Bertrand? Probably not - parents, teachers, pastors, and friends all are influences in a boy's life. Did Bertrand Clean-up Day make a difference? Probably, it made more of a difference than we realize.